Closed [Stormhold Salves] A guessing game of bottles (Lexitia)

[M'Wanii]

18th of Winter, 513AV Even though the weather outside had taken a turn for the worst, the only signs of disturbance in the Salves was the soft edged shadows of snow dancing from beyond the windows. The black holes of light ghosted over the rows of multicoloured glass adorning most of the surfaces inside the shop, adding to the calm mood. Balanced carefully on top a short stool, a few jars of ointment held carefully in each gloved hand, the amphibian stood admiring the snow falling outside. It was one of M'wanii's many secret joys in life. Having lived under the surface of the water most of her childhood, snow had been a truly unique gift. It was dazzling white and melted instantly as it touched the skin, sending chilly sensations over the body. At first it had been great but with so much it had began it cause her problems along side the cold weather. However from beyond the protection of the glass, it could easily be enjoyed. she was soon shook from from her glazing as another customer entered the shop. Winter was a busy season. The cold brought on many an illness and dried the skin out like no other. To those entering the shop, Mistress Blackleaf was firmly stood by the till, guiding the sparse mob of customers to different sections of the shop like a four armed living sign post. One of the other advantages of work in the Salves, she only got half the odd looks she normally would get when her boss was working. Scarred all the way down her right side and missing an ear on top of her sea-born appearance, it was a nice change not to be the man focus of every air breather in the room's attention. Smiling to her self, she refocused on stacking the shelf. The larger jars first then the smaller ones nearer the front, burn cream then a few beauty products and a salve for rashes. Now empty handed, the amphibian stepped off the stool, stooping down to extract some more glass jars to put away from a shallow wooden crate relaxing at the foot of the stool. The weather was cold, the shop was warm and only a handful of customers had paid her notice as they had entered, today was a good day. 'Wanii. I'll need to go make more of the Rosemary Salve, Mr Wadle has run us dry again. If there is anything you need, you know where to find me.' By the time she had time to look up the Eypharian woman had already disappeared in to the workroom, leaving the few meandering customers in her webbed hands. Rosemary. rosemary. What was that used for again? The salve was definitely for hair since old Mr. Wadle was determined to hold onto his last few strands but it had other properties when made into a tea. Mentally running though her knowledge of land dwelling plants the answer seemed to evade her. Getting back onto the stool, M'wanii shrugged it off. She would remember it later for now she could only hoped nothing crazy would happen in the woman's absence as she returned to stacking the shelves.

[Letixia Raigner]

Leti had awoken a complete and total mess. Winter was wearing on her and her body. Her hands where dry and cracked from constantly handling her sword in the cold air constantly. Her hair, though not normally a concern of hers by comparison to most of her responsibilities, it had lately begun gaining a mind of its own. It always seemed to be going every which way, and felt like straw. It constantly caused her neck to itch, keeping her awake at night quite often. This had caused her to become quite grumpy and annoyed at the world. She knew if she went to training in this mood, she would end up getting herself or someone else hurt. Leti would have to take care of herself first. But she didn't know where to go to get this part of herself taken care of, so as usual, the young woman went toward the Great Bazaar. She wove through the morning crowds of people getting ready to work, politely apologizing to anyone she bumped into. She ducked around several stalls and minishop setups, until she found her father's. He wasn't a specific type of merchant, he specialized in learning what would be especially needed at a given time, and stocked up on it ahead of time. Right now he mostly had equipment one might need for traveling and surviving outside of the city. "Hey Papa. How's business?" He just smiled. He wasn't huge on conversation, but the smile meant he'd been doing quite well. He was also the kind of guy you needed to get right to the point with. "Do you know where I can get something to treat my hands and my hair? They are driving me nuts lately." She held out her hands, which he came over and inspected. He harrumphed a few times, felt at her hair, then leaned back and thought for a moment. Then he smiled, "Stormhold Salves." She thanked him, hugged, and left. She'd heard of the Salves, but had never been personally. She knew it to be up in the Third Tier, and quickly made her way there. She stepped inside of the shop, noticing a few customers in there as well. She looked up at the counter and saw a Charoda sitting there. While rare for her to see a Charoda, it wasn't her first time. She walked up to her, "Hello. I'm Letiixa Raigner, squire to Ser Ranqor Grayne. Do you by chance know anything that could help with my dry and cracking hands? It just started this season, and makes holding a sword unbearable at times." She left out the bit about her hair for now, taking one step at a time, and the most important one first.

[M'Wanii]

Slidding the last jar in place, the Charodae hoped down off the stool. All the Shelves were stacked to their fullness, M admired her work. Elegant rows of clear coloured glass shined back at her, telling her of a job done well. Although the task was simple it had to be done and with the underwater plants in the green house requiring not a lot of attention these days, M'wanii often got her fair share of simple tasks. It didn't bother her too much, the shop was more suited to working with land grown plants than her specialised area of those that grew in the water.

Still she would on occasion find herself, arm deep in water tending to her 'babies' as Mistress Blackleaf playfully called them. The woman was quite nosey about the nature of aquatic flora, obviously intrigued by an area of the plant ecosystem she had yet to encounter. M swore the four armed herbalist had been cutting samples off her plants again when her back was turned. Either that or half a leaf had grown fins and swam off over night. Thankfully the majority of common aquaculture could handle a few hungry fish nibbles, or in this case an overly curious Emphyrian taking trimmings.

Hefting up the stool under her scarred arm and grabbing the empty crate with her freeone , the amphibious woman quickly tottered across the shop back to the till to deposit the two. Setting down the stool roughly behind the counter, the crate found itself leant up against the wall. Lounging against the wall, the amphibian throw her arms above her head and stretched, swimming muscles unused since autumn popped and cracked under her skin. As soon as the weather warmed up she was throwing her self into the sea without a doubt. Nobody in this city was going to stop her.

“Um.. excuse me.”

Whirling around M came face to face with a middle aged air breather, male with grey hairs clinging to the edges of his scalp. His accent was broad and soft, deeping at the edges of words, he held on to an oddly shaped bottle and a jar within his hand, both rough and worn, skin dry and pink. His dark eyes fluttered nervously between her scars and her teeth, no quite sure of which worried him more. Grinning widely in hopes to reassure the man opposite, the charoda only managed to make him shuffle away a few feet.

“May I help sir?”

“Th-thes- Ahmm I mean. I would like to purchase these salves please, Miss?”

“Certainly.”

Her body language and expression were a poorly copied version of the Mistess's way of dealing with customers and only caused the man to once again question the likelihood of being eaten before he left the shop. Ignorant of this, M'wanii carefully slid behind the counter, retrieved the key from it stealthily placed hook under the counter and unlocked the till. Hesitant hands placed the glass containers on the table as the amphibious foreigner turned them over and assessed their value.

Chirping out a figure she hoped was correct the man quickly handed her the money before dashing out the door into the cold air beyond. Confused by his sudden departure, M counted the money and added it so the till. Locking up the till and returning the key to position, she wondered why he had seen the need to pay six extra silver coins for his items. Must be the local sign of respect or something.

Shrugging it off she plucked the quill sitting next to the log book out of the ink pot and scribbled down the details of the purchase. Her messy ink splatters standing out from the neat handwriting of the other employees. She was in every way the fish out of water in the group. Slumping down onto the stool, she barely got a chime's peace before the door opened and welcomed in another customer.

Tall with brown hair, the woman immediately introduced herself as a squire, throwing all notions of rest out of the charoda's head. Knights and their squires weren't to be messed with. She had learnt that the hard way after being 'trained' by an overly vicious clay man in servitude to the realm earlier in the season. As a result the stool was sent skidding over the floor as she rocket up to stand and listen to the woman's words. Dry skin. Dry skin. Where were those shelved again? The layout of the shop spun in her head, before throwing up the vital information. Now knowing her destination, the scarred face curved upwards, showing off far too many of the pacifist’s sharp teeth than most people cared for.

“This way, Squire.”

One booted webbed foot in front of the other, lead the duo to one of the many columns of shelves adorning the walls. It looked no different from any of the others surround it but it was definitely this one. Waving her scarred hand in front of a selection of pots of an off white substance, pupil-less eyes kept a close eye on the woman face.

“Skin cream. Some have nice smell. Help dry hurting skin. Very popular at moment.”

[Letixia Raigner]

Despite having been as polite as she figured she could be, the Charoda woman stiffened up as if she'd seen the ghost of a parent or something. She could understand criminals being nervous around members of the Order, but this woman seemed to be an honest shopkeeper. The Knights would never harass her or bother her unless she did something wrong. If anything, they kept riffraff from stealing from her. But some people just have trust issues she supposed. Leti was watching the woman curiously as she appeared to be deep in thought or constipation, one couldn't be sure with that face. Much to the squire's surprise though, she saw row upon row of sharp teeth in the woman's mouth. She'd seen Charoda from afar, but never this, those teeth looking like they could take a hand off. Soon, she found herself following the shopkeeper, curious eyes wondering around the shop. Listening to her talk, she assumed Common wasn't her first language. Perhaps Charoda have their own language? Seemed likely enough. Leti could look at the pots all day long, but wouldn't know the first thing about their contents. Soon, the assault of questions of the product began. She was her father's daughter after all, and he was a merchant in the bazaar. "Will any of these heal my hands? Do I need to continue using it after it is healed? Do you know what might be causing my hands to dry and crack? What's the difference between these differing skin creams, and what are their prices?" That volley of questions would warrant no pity from the merchant's daughter. She'd helped her father sell things as a young girl, and there was one important thing she'd learned. Always know everything, or as much as possible, about what you're selling. If you couldn't answer a single question, you were likely to lose not just that customer, but possibly others in the future. Leti had no concern over the scent of the cream, looking more for practicality and cost efficiency than anything.

[M'Wanii]

The wave of questions spoken at her unbalanced M'wanii slightly as she mentally paused to translate them all through. Following this the charoda face was pulled into a confused frown as she stared blankly at the squire infront of her. Why did the woman think she had taken her to those specific creams if they weren't going to heal her hands? Maybe she had trust issues or was going soft in the head. Maybe she thought M'wanii was going soft in the head.

Ha, typical land dwellers, yes, her accent was funny and she didn't know the language as well as she should but that didn't mean she was stupid. She wouldn't be working here if she was an idiot, Mistress Blackleaf wouldn't have hired her if that had been the case. Either way the woman wanted answers. Sharply shrugging off her confused expression, she was fast to retain her overly wide smile as the amphibian set about explaining what she could remember of the properties for the creams.

“Yes, these help heal hands. Put on hurt area, rub to skin and then leave. Help 'hydrate' skin. So cream help. Good for dry skin, so for you maybe keep using for few days after it stop hurt.”

Slipping a webbed hand around one of the smaller ceramic jars, M'wanii held it up for the woman to see. The cream was not pure white in colour and appeared as a smoothish paste. The volume contained in the pot would probably last a few days at most before running out but it's not like the shop was going to go anywhere, so restocking would be an easy task for the squire.

“Difference between them? Simple. This one be plain. No extras. Just heal hands. Not fancy. Others have special thing. More expense but very interesting.”

Trailing her free hand along the shelf, her grey finger stopped on each variety of the cream as she continued to chatter on. Squinting at the first one she vaguely remembered the seeing the plant in the green house but the name escaped her. Aloe something or other. It was mainly used on burns she recalled or to soften skin.

“This have aloe in. It soften skin, make smooth. But more expensive."

The next few were easier. The extra things were simply to give them nicer, more relaxing smell. Simple dried 'flowers', which were odd colour multi-leaved things land plants had. M'wanni thought they looked like anemone personally.

"These have dried flower petal, they smell nicer. Help relax or woo love interest."

Reaching the end of the selection the seadweller's focused of keeping her grin in place.

"Last one has powdered clam shells, said remove wrinkles or blemish on skin. I now leave you to make choice. ”

Stalking back to the till, a dull shiver echoed down the amphibian's spine at the ingredients of the last cream. Hopefully Mistress Blackleaf would stick to putting only shell fish into her salves and not venture on to any other aquatic life forms. Least she attempt to butcher up M'wanii like some monstrous Myrian, ha ha that'll be the day. The four armed herbalist coming at her with a knife muttering out a deadly ' Wanii, I just need you to help be out a little bit. I only need-'

“-a couple on extra hands moving these boxes from the workshop.”

Frog licking coral when the bubbles did she get there? Having near jumped out of her rubbery hide, M'Wanii spun around to face her employer. Four arms laden with a sizeable boxes of mismatched glass and ceramic containers, the Eypharian greeted her not with the murderous look of killer intent but the gaze of a woman who wasn't going to take any nonsense at the moment. With a quick 'Yes, Mistress Blackleaf', the charodae quickly danced around her employer into the workshop.

Crinkling her nostrils as the stench from what she assumed was half-made salve in the maze of glass work and fire on the counter, M soon found the other boxes. Picking one up, she barely lifted it a finger width when it slid from between her slimy fingers. Seemed the boxes were a lot heavier than they appeared at first glance. A quick check to see nothing had broken and the amphibian tried again. The box hoisted up against her shoulder as she used the rest of her arm to hold it steady. Turning to collect another box, the coral sculpture sat on the table caught her attention. Grinning to herself, a fond memory returned to her. The Charoda had been working in the garden when it had arrived. Mistress Blackleaf had simple placed it on the table for her to find, having not felt like disturbing her at the time. It hadn't moved from there since, not causing any bother to anyone and even brightening up the place or at least she hoped it did.

The piece had been a gift from Una, a long distance friend M'wanii had known nearly all her life. The two of them had never met in person but their parents had been close friends as children, making them almost like cousins in her mind. Chalk white bar the soft pink tints painted over the eyes and the mouth after the coral had hardened, it was a beautiful impression of her race's features. Which had surprised the amphibian when the letter attached claimed it to be a sculpture of herself. Ha, she was the daughter of some south water kelp farmers, plain in colour and tentacle-less. The only thing that was vaguely interesting about herself was the scars and they had been an accident. Still it was complimentary and always improved her mood that Una thought of her as such even if the truth didn't match up.

Looking back to the boxes, a second one was carefully balanced on her hip as her other hand found a better grip to hold the thing steady. Already feeling her should ache under the first box, the charoda decided two was the limit, a box for each arm. Carefully making her way back into the main shop, she spared one last glance at the coral face before focusing back on the task at hand.