[Sayana] Alone In the Sandstone City

by **Zephari** on May 20th, 2015, 9:34 pm

Timestamp: 70th of Spring, 511

Everything was so noisy and busy, everyone scuttling about from one store to the next, trying to con each other out of good products and services. It was mid day in The Pavilion Market in Ahnatep. Slaves carried huge, overly large loads for their masters, who carried nothing but a coin purse. Humans and Eypharians held stalls selling everything from fake immortality potions to swords to jewelry.

Zephari hated this place. In all the cities in Eyktol she hated this one the most, because of how chaotic and busy it was. It is a city driven by nothing but greed and lust for power, and those in charge were those the most cruel and most willing to step on everyone else's neck to get what they wanted. Around every corner there was someone being harassed by royal guard for some false crime or a human being accosted by one of the multi-armed natives.

As much as she hated this place she needed to be here. Zephari knew that because Ahnatep was a city driven by beauty and greed, it was here that she would be able to get the best price for her hard earned gems. She was hear for a two week stay while her caravan stocked back up and did some trading before heading back out into the grueling desert.

Gems were how she earned her living and kept her place amongst the caravan. It allowed her to bring in extra cash for the group where they would not normally be able to, so they allowed her to travel with them. However she had not made a good sale for over three months, and badly needed to get a good sale of her current batch.

Zephari had now been in the city for four days, and had almost been able to make a few sales, but none of them had come to fruition. Her attempt the previous day had been to sell her entire collection to a wealthy eypharian luxury merchant, but the negotiation on price had quickly gone downhill. Not only were the prices he had demanded well below what she needed to make her keep at the carvan, but the man had also made many racial comments that made talking to him in a reasonable manner damn near impossible. In the end she had to cut her negotiations short and storm out of the shop in a fit of rage, leaving the merchant without even saying thankyou or goodbye.

She had been steaming ever since. Does nobody in this city have any sense of decency! She wanted to scream that thought the entire day, but knew better than that. She was not an equal here, and could get in serious trouble for causing trouble of that type. In an attempt to calm herself, Zephari purchased a cup of herbal tea from a street vendor, and sat down against a corner building to drink it.

After taking four or five sips, she looked up and noticed two larger eypharian men staring at her from across the street, both of them not wearing any identifiable markings. Not knowing what the men wanted, but not really wanting to know, Zephari stood up slowly and walked down along the main road, making sure to stick to groups of people to make her harder to see.

After walking for about one hundred feet, the benshira looked back, and saw the two eypharian men were following her. Now knowing that she was being followed, Zephari sped up. I don't think those two are looking for directions! I better hide. Now at a fast walk, she ducked and weaved in between people, able to nudge past people with ease. Her hand clutched her shoulder bag, which contained her collection of gems and her money. Once she separeated herself from a large group of people, she ducked into a side street hoping that the two men had not seen who do so.

Looking back in a flash, not seeing either of them, she sped up to a full sprint, blasting past a small cafe and a few mirage dealers. Coming to the end of the side street, one of the men was standing at the end. Oh no they trapped me in here! Zephari frantically looked around for a way out, but found none as she was boxed in by the two building walls. Turning around she saw the second eypharian trudging toward her, putting a pair of brass knuckles on two of his hands.

Panic set in, and Zephari grabbed her pick ax from her belt, readying it in her right hand for battle. She put her back against one wall so that neither of them could get behind her. At the sight of the two large men surrounding the benshira woman, the people standing around the cafe in they alley quickly left, as the scene looked like it could turn ugly at any moment.

The larger of the two asked; "So miss, our boss still wants to make a deal, but he is now thinking something more along the lines of a donation. So what do ya say we make this easy and just hand over the bag eh?" The one standing guard at the end of the street had his hand ready at a dagger on his belt.

A donation to that prick? Yahal grant me the strength to work through this one! Clentching her teeth, zephari retorted; "I think you miss understand, I don't run a charity service for greedy and idiotic sleaze balls." She immediately regretted saying that, realizing how arrogant and strong headed it sounded. Her grip tightened around her pick, knowing that she probably just started a fight, and was badly out matched. Forgive me Yahal, I just messed up real bad!

OOC NoteHere we go I think this is a solid start, let me know if I got anything wrong lore wise or did anything that doesn't fit so i can edit it out.

by **Sayana** on May 21st, 2015, 2:30 pm

All eyes were on her, or at least they better be, as Sayana spun in a circle with her bright red skirt flaring out. Her six arms flowed up and down like water and her torso bent and twisted to the steady rhythm of the drum. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the brilliant Syna above but she was rather pleased by the small group that had formed outside the cafe to watch her busk. Often she danced inside one of the taverns but today she wanted to try something new. Thankfully her beaded top was light and airy allowing her to move all six arms in different directions. It also comfortably rose up to expose her stomach which did wonders in the soft breeze.

However, just as she was starting to get to the climax of her performance several heads turned and there was a scamper of movement to the right. Sayana immediately brought her mid hands to the pair of golden cobra hilted daggers in her belt but it seemed as though the people who had caused the disturbance had already dashed off. And same with her drummer and much of her audience. “Petching Hai. They scared everyone away.” The Eypharian muttered darkly under her breath.

“I will return,” she announced with a swoop of her skirt to the few who remained as she followed the direction in which the trouble makers had disappeared to. Ruining my performance… I’ll ruin a performance.

However, when she stepped into the alley she saw a rather large Eypharian towering over a smaller… Benshira. Her figure lacked the usual upper bulk of Eypharians and she seemed to be cowering with a mere pick axe for protection as he had at least two or three fists raised. “Hey big guy. She ain’t the one you want. She just got two skinny little arms, whereas I…” Sayana spread out her six arms in a flourish while drawing her two daggers. “I have six rather talented ones, if you’re looking for a good time.”

The larger man in front of Zephari seemed to speed up the ‘transaction’ at Sayana’s appearance. “If you don’t hand the gems over right now, you’ll be regretting it for days,” he said sounding a little rushed but there was now anger in his voice. With one hand he reached to nullify her pickaxe and with another, with brass knuckles, he aimed a punch for her stomach.

The other Eypharian with the dagger was already moving towards Sayana. There was a slash and a ring of steel, and Sayana blocked his attack with one of her ornate daggers. For a moment she froze holding his blade with hers and then she recognized his face. “Akan?” Bewilderment struck his face and she used the tick or two to get in a quick swipe with her other dagger. “Gotcha sweetie,” she said with a smirk as she nodded to the thin line of blood on his forearm that held the dagger.

With the sound of metal on metal she disengaged from the man. “So what are you doing harassing a little slave girl with your friend over there?” “She…” The bigger Eypharian began before the one named Akan interrupted him. “She stole some of your father’s merchandise.” There was a confident air about his tone as if he was rather smug about the situation.

Sayanaa frowned and strode over to the Benshira. “Did your owner set you up to this?” She asked as she made to grasp Zephari’s upper arms with one of her high hands. “I should give him a firm talking to about theft.” Sayana still held her daggers in her mid hands but they were relaxed near her sides.

OOCSince Sayana generally gets around in terms of knowing people and sleeping with people, I figured it wasn't too much of a stretch for her to have slept with Akan once or twice. Just as an FYI. Also, if you need a name for Sayana's father, I've just come up with the name Jelani for him.

by **Zephari** on May 21st, 2015, 4:50 pm

Just was a fight was about to break out, an eypharian woman stepped out into the alley, and she strode toward the two men and the benshira gracefully, her movements precise and determined.

She challanged the larger of the two men, nearly shouting, “Hey big guy. She ain’t the one you want. She just got two skinny little arms, whereas I…" then pulling her daggers out and brandished them in a threatening way. “I have six rather talented ones, if you’re looking for a good time.” the larger of the two walked over to the woman to confront her, the other staying by Zephari to further pressure her. Now knowing she was in real trouble, the benshira shuffled to her right, so as to keep herself facing the one next to her. Keeping her pick raised, Zephari readied her arm to swing if he encroached any further.

"If you don't hand over the gems right now, you'll be regretting it for days." the man threatened moving closer to Zephari. Her focus was shattered as she heard the clash of steel as the larger man and the eypharian woman met in combat. In that single tick of lapse in focus, the one with brass knuckles closed in on her and grabbed her pick, but was unable to remove it from her hand. He then raised a fix and swung at her chest. Now unable to use her pick to block, Zephari acted purely on instinct, twisting around him so that his punch connected to her upper arm rather than her rib cage.

The dull pain of the impact set in quickly, but it was relieving to not feel the sharp pain of a broken bone. Shyke this is bad!. In pure reaction, before the man could pull his fist away from her shoulder, Zephari turned her head and sunk her teeth into his wrist, making him recoil and let go of her pick. The two stepped away from each other, both equally surprised by what had just happened.

“So what are you doing harassing a little slave girl with your friend over there?” the six armed lady demanded, her voice still calm and collected, speaking with a unnering level of command. "She.." the other interrupted before the first could finish; "she stole some merchandise from your father" the man claimed.

The eypharian woman looked at Zephari and questioned; "Did your owner put you up to this? I should give him a firm talking about theft."

This made Zephari's anger boil over. "I ain't a petching slave! I am a trader from the Bravil caravan!" the benshira shouted. "And I didn't steal anything! I tried to trade with a man Jelani yesterday but he demanded insanely low prices and was a complete racist so I cut off negotiations with him! I don't know how anyone gets anything done in this damn city!" she ranted, starring at the 3 eypharians.

"Those two are the petching thieves, I bet they are highered thugs working for Jelani who was sore because I walked out on him!" she claimed pointing at the two men with her pick ax, while holding her shoulder bag tight with her other hand.

OOC NoteI am experimenting with Mizahar swear words so be patient with me on that. I don't know exactly how each one is used yet. And tis fine that Sayana has some "experience" with one of the thugs, it make it sooo much more interesting! And since Zephari pretty much entirely lost her temper and made her claims against those two it could cause an interesting rift

by **Sayana** on May 21st, 2015, 7:01 pm

“How about I clear things up with the benshira, and you two… can go home.” Sayana suggested with a glare at the two Eypharian men. “You aren’t helping matters and you’re only making her more agitated.”

The one named Akan spoke up not liking the way things were going and knowing that his pay depended on acquiring those jewels. “And how are we supposed to trust a slave-lover like yourself? Maybe there’s a good reason your father keeps you out of his affairs. You like these scum. Maybe even love them, you filthy slut.”

“Slut? You’re the one who had sex with me.” Sayana taunted. “You paid gold mi-zas for me to suck your little…” Wham! His punch caught her hard on the side of her head causing her to stumble so as not to fall to the ground. That was the last straw. She didn’t care if Jelani had hired them to steal or even to get back what had been stolen. They ought to shrivel up in some ditch for the birds to pick away at them.

As her vision cleared and she regained her balance, Sayana recklessly lunged in the direction of Akan. He managed to get a clean swipe at her right mid arm but she blocked his second strike while making a good long slash from shoulder to stomach with her other dagger. Her arm stung but she felt alive and vigorous with the shining twin blades she wielded. Akan was merely a four-armed Eypharian and as he aimed a couple punches at her she dodged the first and the second only hit her shoulder. With a low arm she grasped his dagger wrist and twisted it hard. He let out a yelp and dropped the blade. She tried to throw a punch in his direction but he had already leapt back and was retreating from the alley. Even though her slash upon his chest had been shallow, it still looked pretty nasty.

Sayana bent to quickly retrieve the dagger that had been dropped and wielded it in her high right hand. The second Eypharian, fully six-armed, had meanwhile done all that he could to take the gems from the benshira. And now, mostly out of spite, Sayana didn’t want to see him get a single one.

OOCYou were totally in sync with the swears. I didn't even notice till you pointed it out. And feel free to roleplay the other Eypharian as you like. If we don't finish them off in this post, we can wrap up the fight in the next. Then have some really interesting interaction.

by **Zephari** on May 21st, 2015, 8:43 pm

Through the noise of the city and the sound of rushing blood in her head, Zephari only herd one word; Slut. This immediately caused a second round between the six armed lady and the four armed man, and this time is was the man that started it, landing a hard hook to the side of her head, making an audible smack. The fight in reality only lasted a couple of ticks, but it felt like it lasted minutes, and in the end the man ended up running off with a thin slice across his entire chest.

"Ouch that's gonna be a painful one!" Zephari yelled, turning to the six armed one who had just assaulted her. He seemed stunned by the fact that his larger compatriot had just been beaten so quickly, and Zephari took that chance. She swung low with her pick, jabbing it into his knee, forcing it to bend sideways at an awkward angle. He yelled in pain and stumbled backward. Remember your training, don't let up!. Closing the distance as fast as she could, the benshira jabbed the handle of her pick into the eypharian's sternum, making a loud clacking noise. He let out a loud and harsh breath, the wind having been knocked out of him.

But it seemed that was not enough. While Zephari was strong she was no gladiator, and the man quickly recovered and lunged at her, aiming to grab for her neck.

But just as he did so, he saw that the woman had now turner her attention to him, and he turned to face the six armed lady. His posture went from an an attacking very forward one, to one of both respect and hate, his shoulder drawn tightly back, puffing out his chest.

"Your father will hear of this!" he exclaimed, turning on his heel and running into the main street, disappearing into the horde of people. Once the man was entirely out of sight, Zephari turned to the woman, and pleaded to her "Please you have to believe me, I am just a trader from a caravan. I don't know what drove Jelani to try to have me mugged but I swear I didn't steal anything!"

Zephari gawked at the six armed lady, hoping that she would believe her. She kept her pick in a tight grip, ready to defend herself. In case the eypharian decided that she wanted the gems for herself. Thank you Yahal for sending her, I would not have a chance against those two. But please don't let her end up being even worse than them...

by **Sayana** on May 22nd, 2015, 8:23 pm

“Ha! Tell him! I’ve done worse and he knows it.” Sayana shouted back at the man as he fled. Jelani. He was a man driven to succeed but sometimes his love of money went very far indeed. The benshira, for it was obvious that she was neither Eypharian nor chaktawe, turned to plead her innocence to Sayana. There was merit in both stories. Sayana chewed her lip as she gazed at Zephari’s face trying to determine whether it contained truth or lies. She still looked afraid and her hands were tight around the handle of her pick axe.

But what was the deciding factor was how the two men had behaved and their reputation, or at least Akan’s. Had they actually been trying to retrieve stolen goods, they would have tried much harder. Elsewise Sayana’s father would have had their necks. As it was, they tried but they still fled like cowards when it wasn’t going their way. And Akan… he was one to pick up a bit of coin here and there doing all manner of deeds so that he might pursue various worldly pleasures.

“It’s okay, you can relax your grip,” Sayana stated as she sheathed her two ornate daggers. She watched the benshira carefully to make sure she wouldn’t use that moment to attack and then eventually relaxed herself. “So you’re not a slave,” Sayana spoke, half a statement and half a question. “You’re not an escaped one, are you?” She pursed her lips at the thought. It was uncommon to see benshira, or any race really other than Eypharians and Dhani, who were not owned in some manner. But they still existed.

“Are you from the desert? Or from the…” She was about to use some common derogatory term for Yahebah but stopped herself. “From the city of benshiras?” She glanced over at the nearby cafe that had chairs outside which were still mostly empty. “Shall we sit down?” Sayana asked as she gestured to the seats and reached out in attempt to take her free hand in one of her low hands. Despite trying to be friendly, it was a subconscious gesture to use her low hand when interacting with someone she thought was of a lower status than herself.

by **Zephari** on May 22nd, 2015, 11:28 pm

The fight was now over, but Zephari just couldn't settle down yet. Eypharians always considered themselves superior to other races, so she knew that the six armed lady could just be trying to deceive her. After several seconds she sheathed her daggers and acknowledged "So your not a slave, your not an escaped one are you?"

Shaking her head, the benshira lowered her pick, putting it on her belt. Letting her shoulders relax, she let herself leave battle stance, returning to a normal standing position. Looking around at the area, it seemed that the fight had scared away any bystanders, and now it was just an empty alleyway, with a cafe devoid of customers. After taking a couple step toward the other woman, the eypharian asked "Are you from the desert? Or..." she paused a for a second before continuing, "or are you from the city of the benshiras?"

As she asked the question, she walked toward a group of chairs outside the cafe, and gestured toward them, following her question with "Shall we sit?" I don't like this, but she doesn't seem to mean me any harm.. Zephari grabbed a seat across from the woman as she sat, keeping her hand on her shoulder bag the entire time.

"As I said I am from a caravan that has stopped here for a short time, so I am from the desert." she answered, still wary of the lady. Now close enough to study the eypharian in detail, she let her eyes wonder around her body, and her lavish, thin silken cloths. A street dancer? But one with that type of combat training? I REALLY don't like this! Making a friendly gesture with her hands, Zephari replied; "I am a geologist and gem miner, and I work directly the the Bravil caravan leader. I am here to try to sell my current stock of gems, though that seems less and less likely now..."

"Thank you for the assistance miss, I would not have been able to get out of that on my own... My name is Zephari." she said, unable to find any trace of ill intent on the eypharian's face. "Would you mind explaining what just happened? You seemed to know what was going on." she asked, hoping to get some answers for once.

OOC NoteNow we can really get into it, also do feel free to let some derogatory or racial slurs slip, it will annoy Zephari and make this more interesting.

by **Sayana** on May 23rd, 2015, 1:53 am

“Would you mind explaining what just happened? You seemed to know what was going on.”

Sayana let out a light laugh. “I do and I don’t. I do know that Akan enjoys his evening pleasures and he’ll do a variety of deeds to get the money for it. Once or twice he even paid me for a night. I dance and petch. And my father, Jelani, doesn’t appreciate my particular… skillset.”

With a smile and a seductive glance she gave a brief shimmy of her chest. “But he’s got his mizas and his princess Karu, my sister. And I’m quite happy when he doesn’t bother me. But he sure loves his mizas. I love his mizas too, but I can make enough coin on my own now.” The Eypharian reached to her belt and drew one of her daggers to place on the table between them. “Plus I’ve got these. They keep me safe.” The dagger was hardly more than a foot long, blade and hilt combined. The hilt was rather ornate with a carving of a cobra’s neck and head with two bright red glittering stones for eyes.

“My name’s Sayana,” she introduced simply. Pointing to Zephani’s shoulder bag she asked, “Are those the gems you were trying to sell?” The woman had been clenching them protectively nearly the entire time and it hadn’t been hard to notice and then guess.

As Sayana leaned back in the chair she noticed that people were slowly beginning to make their way back to the cafe now that the ruckus seemed to be over. A young Eypharian man sat down at the table next to them and started making passes at Sayana. She gave him a glare in response, not wanting her present company and conversation to be interrupted. However, he then moved on and attempted to flirt with the benshira.

“She’s mine!” Sayana spoke as she sat up suddenly and reached for the hilt of the dagger on the table. The benshira, Zephari, had probably had enough excitement and unwanted attention for one day that Sayana didn’t want other Eypharians trying to paw at her. And claiming ownership was the easiest way to dissuade someone.

by **Zephari** on May 23rd, 2015, 4:03 am

After listening to what explanation the eypharian could give, Zephari looked down, deep in thought. This is why I hate this city... Everyone is just in it for the mizas. At least now I have some one who seems- her train of thought was cut off by the clack of the dagger being set on the table. It first is scared Zephari, but she quickly registered that it was a simple demonstration of the dancers 'safety'.

"My name's Sayana" the woman said with a friendly tone. She smiled at the benshira, looking genuinely curious about something. After a couple ticks she asked; "Are those the gems you were trying to sell?" pointing at the shoulder bag. Attempting to respond she was cut off by an eypharian guy walking over to her and stroking her shoulder. Zephari flinched away, and balled her left hand into a fist.

However before she could react to the stroke, Sayana warned him off, claiming Zephari as hers. Clever.. Annoying but still clever. Smiling at Sayana, Zephari said; "Thanks, I've had about enough of men grabbing me for one day. And yes this is them".

Opening the shoulder bag, placing it on the table with a very heavy thud, Zephari revealed her collection:

Secret :

"This is my largest haul of gems in years, if not ever. Yet your father wouldn't even consider buying them for more than 40 gold mizas, which barely buys one of these Eyktolites!" Zephari claimed, making an annoyed grimace. She closed the bag again, making sure that only Sayana was able to get a look inside the bag. "I so I walked out on him, not to mention he couldn't go a single sentence without talking down to me... Its why I hate this city'" Zephari said with a grimace, irritated at the memory.

"Thank you so much for helping me out of that, but I doubt that is the last I will be hearing from them. Is there anything I can do to repay you?" Zephari said, finally letting a smile cross her face.

Notes of the GemsIf you don't know what some of those gems look like here is a link to the mizahar gems list: http://www.mizahar.com/lore/Gemstones

by **Sayana** on May 23rd, 2015, 4:36 pm

As Zephari plopped the bag onto the table, Sayana relaxed her grip on the dagger and set it down so she could look inside. It was quite the haul. They were strikingly red, and blue, and one with a greenish tinge. Not to mention the two large black ones. Black… those would certainly get quite a nice price here. It wasn’t common to see such a pure colour as these. And yet it was the blue one and the slightly darker red ones that caught her eye. Without asking permission she reached in to hold the Chrysocolla and the Eyktolite side by side but not quite out of the bag.

But as Zephari made to close her bag, Sayana quickly put them back in and returned her hands to the table. Frankly, the benshira’s story sounded quite like her father. He was always ready to haggle to the last copper and often forgot that lasting business partners resulted in higher profits than the couple of extra coins he might gain in a single transaction. Still, he did quite well and despite lacking status, at least Sayana’s family had sufficient funds.

At Zephari’s question, Sayana didn’t hesitate to supply an answer. “How about one of those darker red stones?” She asked as her materialistic side kicked in. But then she realized she was probably sounding no better than her father. Quickly she added, “And I’ll also help you to sell the others. At a fair price. We’ll go to the market together. Sell them to his competitors. But you’ll have to act as my slave. And you’ll have to tell me what they are called, and how much they are worth.”

Sayana thought it was a fair enough offer. She doubted the benshira would have much better luck with the other merchants, solely due to her race. And even if Zephari didn’t want to give up one of her stones, Sayana realized that the prospect of parading about the market with her own ‘slave’ would be exciting, more than exciting. She always dreamed of achieving enough money or status to own a slave. The way people would look at her, the ease of having someone attend to her slightest need. Whether it was merely pretend and only for an afternoon or evening, the proud 17 year old coveted the experience.

Flashback [Sayana] Alone In the Sandstone City