Solo [Solo] When shopping goes wrong!!

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Second of Spring 513 AV(mid morning)

(Permission from Noblesse to buy things from the Frozen Falls Market if I stick to Price guide Prices)

It was mid morning and the sun was just peeking out to meet the Everwinter city. It had been snowing lightly for the night and the snowfall continued to this hour on the second of Spring 513 AV and the frozen falls market was, as is often the case, alive with activity as Pyren entered the U-shaped clearing that was the market. It probably got it's name from the waterfall that was forever frozen in time by beautiful ice. They were the Tanvalis Falls, and as Pyren looked upon the glistening surface of the falls he thought they were breathtaking. It seemed the falls froze in midaction as it resembled the water going down the cliff and splashing on the rocks below but every droplet of water was crystalized. It would have been a wonderful thing to draw...if he had any kind of skill at drawing.

Small stalls lined the marketplace some were fenced in but all had the extreme sence that they were temporary structures at best. Pyren walked about ten feet from the entrance passing weapon stalls filled with shiny daggers and swords, "Finest swords and steel in all the world here in the ice covered city. You look like a man who could use a good sword" a burly bearded fellow proclaimed. Pyren smiled, all the world huh? He doubted it. Besides he wouldn't need a sword, with his father's bow he would be able to strike down something within range what would he do with a sword that he couldn't do with a bow and arrow? Grant it for one Pyren was but a novice in the art of archery and for two...well that comes to the reason he was in the market in the first place. He was severely lacking in the arrow department and he was in need of a quiver since he had...misplaced his the day before. It was the reason he didn't see his beloved Goddess Morwen's homecoming. He was looking for the quiver. While he was in the market he might as well get some hunting equipment as well. He would need a hunting knife to be sure at the very least maybe some animal scents to attract deer, caribou and the ever elusive rabbit.

He passed more stalls selling some exotic meats from "across the world", another stall selling the finest cloths made from the silk of rare spiders, and another stall selling "all the supploes one could want for a day of juggling". Pyren had to snicker at this, he doubted he would want any supplies for any day of juggling. He didn't see any stalls selling hunting supplies or archery equipment yet. It was a little discouraging to say the least. "Finest birds from the far off cliffs of Wind Reach" wherever that was thought Pyren as he moved on.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren continued to browse the various shops in the large U shaped outcove. The pressure seemed to be on, at least in his own mind, to make this trip not a total waste of the day. Maybe he would buy a pouch or something from the loud abrasive leather salesman shouting as he passed him. Pyren finally just stopped at the next stall he saw and layed down some gold mizas. "What do you sell here, whatever it is I'm buying." He said. Sometimes it was fun just taking a gamble.

A short, wheathered, rugged old man came out and smiled, showing a mouth that consisted of maybe five crooked teeth, "Well, I'll tell ya son. Yer won't find any finer supplies for the Wilderness than rit her." Pyren thought the man's accent was unfamiliar, maybe it was just because of the lack of teeth that the man spoke in such a...odd way. Yet, the man seemed to be Pyren's savior. Wilderness suplies might be just the thing he needed, afterall hunting wasn't just about shooting something with an arrow it was about surviving in the wilderness and about out witting the animals you were trying to hunt. "Alright, show me what you got Sir." The old man seemed to get a spark in his eyes as he grabbed a pouch and what looked like some cages of various sizes. The man grabbed the pouch first. "This her, is most everything you need. Huntin' knife, rope, animal scents and some snares for the animals. Thats what them cages are fer. Ther snares for catchin' animals. Keeps 'em safe 'til ya get a chance ta bring 'em back and sell 'em or kill 'em. The huntin' and trappin' pouch is 25 gold mizas and the snares for the small animals are 5 gold mizas a piece, really tiny ones are 1 gold miza a piece, for the brids thats 2 golds a piece. Since ya don't got nothing to carry anything in, I gotcha a backpack here, sturdy and well kept, and i'll give it away for two golds."

The man seemed to be hard to understand but he got the gist of it. Maybe a little negotiation could get the price down. "I'll tell you what. Why don't I take that hunter's and trapper's pouch, two snares for small animals, the back pack, one snare for the birds, and finally one snare for the tiniest creatures. I'll give you thirty gold mizas for the whole lot what do you say?" Pyren tried to sound confident and stuck out his hand to the man. If he added it all up he would have realized that the proper price was in fact 40 GM. The man sat there for quite a while before a frown set upon his bearded face. "No negotiations son, the price stands. If ya want all that it's 40 golds take it or leave it." Pyren sighed, guess negotiations wern't in his blood. That or he just wasn't good at it yet. Pyren sighed and tried for it once again "Now come on, give a guy a break. I don't have that much money and you don't think your prices are a little steep? I mean look at that back pack...it does have a few seams loose." The man's eyes narrowed, "Now son it's forty. If you don't like and ya keep gettin' on my nerves that can change to sixty for the lot or you can put down forty golds and be on yer way." Pyren admitted defeat, besides he was obviously irritating the merchant and he definitely didn't want to do that at all. Pyren layed down forty glittering gold mizas and slipped the snares into the back pack, along with the good sized leather pouch that held the hunting and trapping supplies. "Thank you sir for your wares." Pyren said as he walked off, the man just replied with a short grunt and went to work polishing some hunting knives.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren shook his head in disappointment as he edged toward the other end of the U-shaped outcove. He had passed countless stalls and saw nothing else that had what he was looking for. He had passe stalls full of exotic meats, one selling model ships, and even one that claimed he had rare sands from across the world. Nothing he saw came close to the quiver and arrows he required from this trip. He sighed and shouldered the backpack and heard the metal clank together as the cage snares rubbed against one another. He took one last look at the magisty that was the frozen Tanvalis falls and left the Frozen Falls Market without his prize in hand.

Pyren left the market and headed home to the Frostfawn vintana. He thought of the archery shop somewhere in Avanthal...he remembered it was named something like snow stained bows or something that sounded like that. He was just about the head to the shop that might have been his salvation when he saw a wheeled cart set up outside the market dripping in bows and arrows. The stall was nicely set up with dozens of beautifully crafted bows. He also saw some excellent quivers made from rich leather. He looked at the woman at the stall and smiled. She was an elderly woman, short compared to Pyren with long white-silver hair. "Well met good woman, I don't care how much it costs but can you give me a quiver and load it with shortbow arrows please." He said as if his very trip depending on these very objects, which in Pyren's mind was exactly the case.

The woman nodded and grabbed a quiver that seemed to be made of a dark rich leather that was painted a forest like green. It looked precious to Pyren's eyes. As the woman plucked arrows into the quiver as if she had been doing it for years, which for all Pyren knew was the truth, he saw a brilliant longbow mounted on the backwall of the cart. It seemed polished but it definitely wasn't new. It had the worn look of use, perhaps even battle. It was a bow with history and it was ornately carved and etched with symbols embossed with gold. It was no ordinary bow for sure and had the look of importance and expensiveness. Pyren pointed to the bow, "How much for that bow Miss?" He said geniunely curious though he knew he had no where near the funds to purchase such a thing. The woman just gave him a gentle and warm smile and spoke in a voice that seemed to command a great deal of respect despite it's gentle tone. "I'm sorry my dear, but it's not for sale." She said as she handed him the quiver, now packed with maybe a hundred arrows.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Maybe it was the way the woman said it, so definitely that made him ask. Maybe it was the ornatefulness of the bow itself. Maybe it was Pyren just being inquisitive. "May I ask why it isn't for sale Miss?" He said as he took the quiver from her. The old woman looked directly into Pyren's eyes as if searching for something...what he couldn't say but her eyes were truly piercing the very substance in his soul that gave him life. Alright that may be a little dramatic but at long last the old woman smiled and nodded as if finding what she so sought after within him.

"I was eighteen at the time. A young Ice maiden in her prime and my parents were pushing me to find a mate before becoming an old crone." She laughed as if she told a joke and shook her head. "Well I for one was in no rush to get married now. I was young and a bit wild. While the other girls were swooning over bronze skinned young men I was less than excited to settle down and give in to the monotony that I felt defined marriage in this city covered in ice. I wanted to travel the world, go to exciting places, meet interesting people yada yada yada." She said, seeming to remember a time a long long time ago.

"Well I can tell you my parents wern't too happy about my plans to go to places like the mountains of Wind Reach, the island of Mura, and to travel the Suvan Sea." She sighed and Pyren looked puzzled at the mention of these foreign words, but the point of the story was to learn about the bow not these exotic places that seemed to sound fascinating none the less. She continued, " Well for a year I worked for a man selling bows and arrows in the Market here, I was lousy at it but I could weave a yarn that made the old Iceglaze laugh and cry so he kept me on if only for that. Plus I was darn good looking back in the day!! She said this one with a little glint in her eyes as if she were half-kidding and half-serious.

"It was a nice winter's day when a young Frostfawn, much like yourself, came walkign up to the cart where me and Poltere Iceglaze were selling bows and asked for some arrows to go hunting with. He was broze skinned and good looking as Morwen is beautiful. I hated him right from the start too. I always hated the pretty boys, to me they were only looking for a sweet little girl to run off and get married with and have a hundred kids and open up a little shop and just have the most peachy laugh." She huffed at that thought, "Well like I said, that wasn't for me. I packed some arrows and wrapped them with cord and grabbed another quiver and packed it full of arrows and grabbed the best bow that Poltere made from his own two hands, he called it the 'emerald falcon'. It was a beautiful bow. he named it that because it was hand painted with dark green accents and gold and right at the center was the carving of a beautiful falcon. It took him so long to craft that bow, I think he poured ten years of sweat and blood just to make it perfect. I took it and before he could protest grabbed the pretty boys arm and pulled him to the Icewall gates to do a little hunting...out of a thousand protests from Kyven Frostfawn."

[Pyren Frostfawn]

She smiled and sort of shook her head. "Well to sum up a tale of adventure and steamy romance..." She said this with a wink, We tracked caribou hoof prints, saw where they rubbed themselves against trees and finally hunted them down all day. Well I did at least he stood around looking like a lost ape. Well at least he brought a sled to bring back the one Caribou we brought down…I brought down. She said with a smirk. I expected him to be indignant that a female Vantha actually did better than him in the wilderness but he surprised me… he was actually glad I was there. He was a silk tongued charmer too that one. Tried his best over the next few years to win my heart. Asked a hundred times for me to marry him too. His parents were pushing him to marry as well and me and him seemed to click in some way. Eh, it’s better to make em wait anyway I suppose. She said trailing her thoughts off for a moment. Anyway, I finally said yes some odd years later, but only if he would take me out of Avanthal to see the places I wanted too. We actually fell in love like that…traveling in Wind Reach =, sailing with the Svefra on the Suvan Sea, enjoying the wheather on the island of the Konti on Mura…it was as if I were living in a dream and the more we saw and the more places we went the more we fell in love with each other.

She grew serious when she looked at the bow "He earned the Emerald Falcon after we returned to Avanthal. He said it was a marvelous bow and the old Iceglaze was proud to give it to him as a marriage present and a reminder of the first time we met. He joined the Icewatch after years of traveling. His knowledge of the different races of the world and his connections to each of them made him a valued asset to the guard. Plus he wasn't bad with a bow and arrow. Well...he went hunting one day. He was ony supposed to be gone three days but...he was gone two weeks before his best friend and one of my closest friends as well, a Kelvic falcon came back with the emerald falcon in hand and thats when I knew I wouldn't ever see him again..." She had tears in her eyes as she finished her tale. He felt she had left out a lot from her story about her husband, someone special to her. Understandable of course...it was a very personal story.

She wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. "So that's why it isn't for sale young one...funny...I haven't told anyone that for quite some time. Theres something about you..." She paused and stared at the Frostfawn again, still searching until finally she seemed to give up, "What's your name young one?" She asked as if she needed the answer to solve some sort of riddle. He answered with his name, Pyren Frostfawn. Her eyes lit up and she nodded, "You remind me a lot of him...and me. I hope you know you have some amazing potentials young Frostfawn. I can sence these things.
She giggled when she said that.

Pyren took another look at the bow with new respect and reverance. It seemed that it held a lot of history, and a very special meaning to this woman. Pyren thanked her for her short tale and began to dig for some mizas. "How much do I owe you Miss...?" She smiled and thought for a second, " 25 Gold Mizas...sorry no discounts just cause ya indulged an old woman by listening to her stories. And my name is Auracle. That's all ya get." He smiled and dug for the 25 he needed for the woman.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren placed the gold mizas down ont he counter and grew tense for some reason. It's a strange feeling when someone walks up beside you. This person was way too close into Pyren's personal bubble for him. He was a very tall hooded figure, the talest Vantha he had ever seen. He was shrouded in a dark green cloak. Pyren glanced down and saw that his own feet paled in comparison to this behemoth. Everything about this guy seemed large from his height to his shoe size. Pyren pulled out some gold mizas when he heard the man speak.

"Bow is expensive yes?" The old woman turned to look at the dark figure but didn't respond to this. The Figure threw a large hand against the cart's counter making a loud smack and spoke again. "How much is bow?" He said, his voice was deep and his Vani seemed rough and unfamiliar to his tongue. The old woman didn't even glance at the man as she waved a hand as if shooing him off, uninterested in speaking with him. "it's not for sa..." The woman didn't have a chance to get the last word out before the man pushed her over and grabbed the bow and a handfull of arrows...maybe ten. He glanced back to Pyren, his eyes a strange yellow as he pushed Pyren back and took the gold mzias running off into the noon day. The shove wasn't all that powerful, might leave a bruise Pyren thought as he assessed the situation. He suddenly thought back to the old woman and got up in a hurry running to her.

The old woman wasn't in horrible shape Pyren thought as he leaned over her. She was certainly hurt as she groaned from behind the cart. Another Vantha, presumably who had witnessed the event take place ran from the side and looked at the woman. "It's going to be ok we'll get you some help Ma'am." the female Vantha said in a soothing voice. She seemed to be in control of the situation with Auracle so Pyren made himself scarce and went off to the left, the direction he thought the thief went. "Please take care of her, her name is Auracle, she might need a medic!" He called back to the Vantha woman attending to her.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren ran off in the direction of the thief who stole his money and more importantly one of Auracle's prized possessions...her husband's bow. Pyren only had the one encounter with the woman before the attack from the thief but still, the bow seemed important to that woman and Pyren wanted to help her at least in this small way. His run began to become a walk and slowly dulled to barely moving forward. He sighed, the thief could have gone anywhere in the city and he had no idea where to even start with this man hunt.

He kicked the snow under him and when he did he sent a piece of dark green fabric into the air. It seemed to be torn from some larger piece of fabric or clothing, a small square five by five inches. He ran to catch the fabric from blowing any farther away from him on the snow covered ground. He looked back to where he kicked the snow from and saw a metal fence. It seemed obvious from the scene what happened. The thief was in a hurry after the attack and caught his cloak on the metal fence, he tore the fabric in his frenzy. It was the same color fabric from the cloaked figure at the stall. It wasn't positively the thief's cloak fabric but it was all Pyren had. That...and the footprints on the ground.It was incredibly hard for Pyren to discern the footprints, he had no skills in tracking man or beast. It had been snowing all morning and it had finally just started to calm down recently. Most of the footprints were starting to get filled in by now from the steady snowfall...all except a few pathways. Two that were going in the direction the thief were running. One pathway of footprints were at the very least half the size of Pyren's average sized foot...the other was huge by any Vantha standard.

Pyren smiled as he followed the footprints. It wasn't much to go on at all but it was something...and it was the only thing he had. Pyren tried his luck at tracking. Each footprint seemed to be more pronounced than the last. It wasn't hard finding the footprints unless another stepped along side the print or even on top of it. Though the thief seemed to have run in a straight line. It was a slow and arduous process trying to track the footprints in the snow. It wasn't exactly hard since they were freshly made and very pronounced but it was tedious work to follow them for so long, maybe a few hours until they turned into some place.

The Rancid Reindeer. Pyren entered the bar, it was packed as he walked in and sat down. Pyren eyed the bar patrons and tried to make himself scarce. Even if the thief were in here...he was lost in the sea of faces. Pyren shook his head. Even if the thief did show his face Pyren wouldn't know it. He never saw the thief's face. This hunt was stopped cold before it even began.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren was just about to leave at this point. There wasn't any sense staying in a bar that may or may not even have the thief in it. As he turned toward the door he saw it. A dark green cloak...with a small piece torn from the bottom. Maybe it was worth his time to stay after all.

What Pyren didn't notice was that everyone in the bar really didn't take any notice of him...except one man. A blonde haired squirrely kind of man, thin and unmuscular. He had been eyeing Pyren nervously for quite some time, ever since he walked into the building in fact. The bar patron stood up abruptly and walked to the front of the bar with his head down, no eye contact with Pyren and took the cloak from the hook at the front of the bar entrance.

Pyren frowned as he walked out of the bar following the dark green color of the cloak. How was he going to apprehend this person and get the bow and his twenty five GM back. He pondered this thought for a few blocks of trailing the thief. He could knock him out from behind...or bring him to the Icewatch by arrow point. One thing was for certain...he had to give him a chance to turn himself in. That was just the right thing to do. They were out by the Frostfawn hold by now. Trees were placed here and there making for a thin or bare sort of wooded area as was often the case around the vintana. Pyren quickly unshouldered his bow and before he could an arrow fell short of it's mark and landed right between his feet. He was so concentrated on his thoughts that he hadn't noticed that the thief had unshouldered the emerald falcon...and was preparing another arrow. He also noticed that the thief had lead him to a place without any people...he was completely alone. Before the thief let another arrow fly, Pyren ran for his life for a tree about ten feet away unshouldering his bow behind the tree and panting from the sprint. The hunter just became the hunted.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren hid behind the tree with his bow in hand. He grabbed an arrow from the quiver on his back and came out from behind the tree ready to shoot. He caught a green blur and shot hitting a tree from the distance. He stood there puzzled until an arrow wizzed beside his head at an alarming speed and Pyren ducked behind the tree again.

He grimaced as he pulled another arrow back on his bow and stalked out from behind the tree. Again he saw nothing. Suddenly an arrow grazed his left shoulder and he istinctively shot in the direction the arrow came. He ran back to behind the tree and waited yet again. If he remembered correctly that was the third arrow the thief had shot now. He had only grabbed a handful of arrows...maybe ten in total. All he had to do was fend him off. Might be a little easier said than done.

Pyren took a few deep breathes as he ran from behind the tree. The plan was to draw his fire. He had his bow at the ready as he ran. The nearest tree was several yards away and he ran for that one. When he made it half way he heard the whistling of the arrow zip by him only inches away rather than saw it. He crouched down after the shot, though he didn't have any cover he made himself a smaller target and he made himself as if he were a solid rock, a nice foundation to shoot from. He scanned the field for any trace of the thief and finally caught a glimmer of an arrow from behind a tree. Pyren shot first at the thief trying to scare him into shooting. It worked as Pyren released his arrow he ran for the tree and heard a thud of the arrow hitting the grund he just was. As he ran behind the tree he heard one thud hit the tree. Five down...five to go.

[Pyren Frostfawn]

Pyren crouched behind the tree. He was wondering why Icewatch wasn't coming to his rescue right about now, a shoot out in the city seemed to be right up there alley after all. He readied another arrow and waited. The thief didn't seem to have an objective in this little shoot out other than to kill him. Pyren thought that was odd in itself. The thief could have escaped after the first shot was fired. Pyren inched out and took a blind shot at a nearby tree and hid, hearing the expected thump of an arrow hitting the tree indicating returned fire.

It was like a well orchestrated logic game of sorts. Pyren definitely had the edge as he had more ammo, though it was clear he was the more untalented archer. Pyren inched out again and shot out into the white landscape, aiming for a tree but landing short about five feet to the left, hitting the Frostfawn vintana. He was ready to release another arrow when he saw the thief about ten yards away hiding behind a very narrow tree. The trees in Avanthal wern't much to hide behind and barely made much cover. Pyren himself had to contort himself and sit sideways for even the most moderate cover.

The thief...ten yards away. The thief now probably had four arrows. Pyren saw three on the ground and one that the thief had at the ready, drawn on the stolen bow. They traded shots back and forth. Pyren creeped out and took a shot, the thief returned after Pyren took cover. Pyren creeped out and shot then returned to cover and heard two thumps. Pyren smiled. The thief was out of arrows. Pyren readied another arrow and called out. "You can give yourself up and I'll tell the Icewatch you cooperated. Maybe they won't be hard on you then."