Open Seeing the sights.

[Larka Faux]

Season of Summer, Day 51st, 515 AV [15 Bells and 17 Chimes]

After his fit of revelry inside of his apartment in Traveler's Row Larka finally calms down enough to start planning the rest of the day. The word planning is thrown loosely here as the only thing Larka has planned to do is dive headfirst into the city, figuratively, and see what there is to see. Turning towards his bed Larka stares at his bag for a good minute while silently debating with himself. He could take his belongings with him thus meaning he'd be able to purchase anything if he needed to. Though he knew fairly well that if he did take his bag with him, and thus all his money, then there would be nothing stopping him from spending every last miza on whatever his eyes fall on.

Ah, I know. I'll just hide my money here and take a small portion with me. Where shall I hide it though? He thought to himself as he looked about the small room. It didn't take long for him to form a plan. With a heave, Larka flipped his mattress up so that it was laying on its side. Stack by stack Larka took the coins out of his bag and placed them into the bed frame. The frame itself was hallow but because it rested on the floor of the room, due to its legs having been broken off from tenets past, Larka was able to hide his money under his mattress with ease and not have it easily able to be seen from the outside.

Putting the ten gold mizas, twenty silver mizas, and forty copper mizas into his bag carefully hiding them under the dried strips of meat he had prepared before his escape from the troupe. The rest of his belongings he had already taken out of his bag and placed onto a table for now. They were just simple toiletries and items he figured wouldn't need during his trip through the city. However the one item he did keep on his person was his trusty penknife. Ever since he was given that penknife by Ringmaster Faux he has always kept it with him. The blade was dull now and could hardly cut butter, but he liked having it around. Slipping the penknife into his shoe Larka strapped the bag to his back and head on out of his apartment making sure to lock the door behind him with the spare key he was given. Heading down the long hallway that lead to the main waiting room of Traveler's Row Larka nodded at Matilda as he headed out the front door and into the city. Normally it would have been useful to ask Matilda questions about the city first before heading out since that was a surefire way to get lost, but Larka's curiosity would not be satisfied with just some simple questions. He had to go and see it for himself! Standing out in the open air and taking a deep breath Larka soaks in all the sights and sounds of the bustling of life outside of Traveler's Den. Looking around Larka decides where next he wanted to go. So much of the city was hidden within the walls of the castle, but there were also a road of sorts that was completely open to the air. He thought that would be a great place to start and thus started making his way up the main road heading towards the Maiden District.

Larka was quite used to being in crowds given his past experiences within the troupe. While the bustling crowds on the main street weren't as thick as the crowds that would all gather in one spot during the troupe shows Larka couldn't help but feel a sense of peace within it. There was nothing like melding into the crowds and becoming one with them. Where everyone could see you, and yet also you could go completely unnoticed. It was the perfect to gather scraps of new information. Groups of people holding open conversations about their current happenings or life would never notice a single person in the crowd listening in. They would just assume their voices would be drowned out by all the noises that permeated the city, and they weren't wrong. With his enhanced hearing all the noises were actually somewhat overwhelming for the little half-zith and it took him some time to adjust himself to the noise and get used to it. Even then it was still somewhat uncomfortable to be outside on the main road what with the sunlight beating on his eyes and the noise assaulting his ears. None of that mattered to him, though, as he was merely too overwhelmed by the fact that he's finally able to wander the city on his own. All the while he was wandering the main street Larka started to notice passing glances by a large amount of people who walked by him. The stares didn't bother Larka at all as he was used to being stared at and watched. In fact he merely thought that everyone that stared at him as they passed by was just curious as to who he may be or if he was new. What he may not have realized was the oddity of seeing what looked to be a young dark-skinned child with coal-black eyes and thick, long midnight-black hair happily making his way through the streets not even accompanied by an adult whilst looking at everything with wonder in his eyes. How very odd indeed, but there was none who would even waste their time to stop and ask this boy where his parents were. No, everyone was far too busy with their own lives. Not like Larka was concerned as he was currently debating on which direction to take at a fork in the road.

Standing at the very first fork in the road that sat in between Dyres District and Maiden District Larka debated on which way he wanted to go. He really wanted to see what lead down the past to the west, but if he were to go down that way then he wouldn't know where the rest of the road to the north would take him. Not to mention there were also the districts themselves. At any point in the day would he be able to enter the enclosed districts explore to his hearts content. It was far too much to choose from.

[Larka Faux]

Larka continued to stand there at the intersection between the Dyres, Maiden, and Bittern districts. While there was so much he wanted to see the city was just simply far too large for him to explore all at once thus his current hesitation. If decided to take a road then he would continue to follow it until it split off once more only to then be faced with the same problem. However if he were to enter the confines of the castle and roam one of the many districts he knew very well that would be all he could explore on his own for the rest of the day. Having to choose between so many options put him in an annoyed mood and he stamped his foot in frustration as he thought of a way to choose. Thinking back to the troupe he brought up a memory of what happens when multiple children were fighting over a toy. An adult would come and pull out a copper miza from his pocket. Using a knife or sharp rock he would scratch the gemstone on one side then flip the coin and catch it. After catching it he would slap the coin against the back of his other hand and call out the side that was facing up. The child who guessed correctly as the coin was in the air would be the winner. Larka smiled fondly at the memory as he rummaged through his bag for a copper miza and pulled the steel penknife from his shoe. The blade was dull but the tip was pointed and was still capable of scratching the gemstone the coin was made from. Nodding Larka slipped the penknife back into his shoe and looked around.

Alright first I will choose between either taking a road or going into the castle. Scratched will be roads, and Smooth will be castle.

Flipping the coin high into the air Larka caught it and slapped it against the back of his left hand. Pulling back his right hand with a bit of hesitation he saw that it was the smooth side that was facing upwards. Looking about, Larka tried to see where the walls ended and began. From where he was standing the roads split the walls into three parts. There was a district to the northwest, west, and east of him. There was a way that the coin-flipping strategy could be used when multiple people were fighting over something. The person flipping the coin would choose two people and have them guess as he flipped the coin. Whoever guessed correctly was eliminated, and this process would continue until only one person was left standing.

The place to the northwest shall be Smooth, and the East shall be Scratched.

Once again Larka flipped the coin into the air and caught it. Slapping it onto his left hand and revealing the coin he saw that it had landed on its scratched side leaving the smooth side facing up. Eliminating the Northwest choice from his mind Larka set the East to smooth and the West to scratched. For the final time Larka flipped the coin high into the air. Catching it and slapping it against his left hand Larka revealed the coin. Scratched. Larka clenched the coin in his small fist and looked to the left with a feeling of accomplishment. He quickly pinpointed one of the entrances that the city dwellers were using to enter and exit the district at will. Slipping the scratched miza into his shoe Larka quickly wound his way through the busy street that he had been standing still in for so long. Stopping just at the doorway that led into the castle Larka stared inside, ignoring the annoyed comments from those who were trying to get past him. Everything was built from the same grey stone that the walls outside were made of yet despite this he couldn't help but feel it looked far more impressive on the inside than it did on the outside.

With that in mind Larka stepped into the third tier of the Dyres District.

[Larka Faux]

As Larka wandered the third tier of the Dyres District it was quickly apparent to him that this was nothing more than a place for people to live. From what he could see from any rooms which had their doors left open by their careless tenets the rooms themselves were plain, simple, yet still fairly comfortable looking. It was clearly a higher level of comfort than his own room, and he wondered quietly to himself how one got a room such as this. The farther he went into the Dyres District the quieter it seemed to got as soon enough the only people around were those who lived in this district and the knights that patrolled the hallways each of them giving him a questioning look as they passed him. While the dull sounds of smacking wood and metal could be heard in the distance, echoing through the hallways, Larka was far more interested in where all the city dwellers that were much thicker around the entrance to this district had gone. Retracing his steps back he noticed that while some went deeper into the district like he had there were many that traversed up and down stairwells that were located not too far from the entrance. Tilting his head to the side for a moment Larka followed the flow of people that traversed the wide stairwell that led downwards to the district's fourth tier.

Upon exiting the stairwell, Larka was suddenly assaulted by a large host of wondrous sights, sounds, and smells. It was as if a rainbow had exploded in front of his eyes. Everything was so colourful and vibrant each. Vendors and their stalls were sprawled all over the place each one displaying their unique wares. From pottery to weapons just about everything imaginable was located right here. Larka quickly began to make his way from vendor to vendor eyeing their wares like a child in a sweets shop. One certain vendor had an interesting piece of parchment that had pictures drawn all over it. The pictures looked almost like buildings if you were to look at them from the top and next to these pictures were strange runes.

"Hello there youngster! I see you're interested in my fine maps! You wont find anything more accurate than my maps. Here you go why don't you have a closer look." The vendor picked up the map Larka was looking at from its spot on the stall and handed it to him.

"That there's a map of this beautiful city of Syliras. Although I'm sure you've already noticed by now. My maps are the best in town! As long as you've got one of my maps you'll never be lost ever again. That's a guarantee!"

Larka held the parchment in his hands with a wide smile on his face as he looked over the details on the map. While he was unable to read any of the writing on the map he was able to find the entrance to the city on the map. From there he attempted to trace he steps through the city dragging the tip of his finger across the parchment. Tilting his head from side to side Larka slowly painted a mental path onto the map starting from the entrance and going up into the mass of buildings where the taverns and inns were located. After about another minute of recalling his steps Larka pointed with a flourish onto the map the area on the map where he stood and showed the map merchant.

"That's where we are, right?"

"Indeed it is, boy! Very good. Now would you be interested in purchasing this exquisite map?"

"Oh, yes, very much so!"

"Wonderful! That'll be five Gold-Rimmed Mizas if you please."

Larka's heart sank when he heard how much the map cost. He had only brought ten gold mizas with him when he left Traveler's Row. That would leave him with just over half of his allotted cash left over to spend.

"Are.. Are you sure it's five gold mizas? That sounds like a lot, right?"

"Are you insulting me, kiddo? My maps are of the highest quality. Selling them for anything less than ten gold mizas is unthinkable! However I had the good will to have a little mercy on someone as young as yourself, and dropped my price significantly." If Larka wasn't mistaken he could almost imagine the map merchant smiling deviously at him.

[Asen]

With her hands in her pockets, Asen strolled throughout the city at a leisurely pace. She was feeling less down than usual, which was great, and she was supposed to meet Marissa for training tomorrow, which was also great. Marissa always brought her spirits up, even if the physical exertion became unbearable. Marissa was a purpose for her.

Her sleeves were rolled up to her elbows, proudly displaying the elaborate tattoo that ran up her entire right arm. It was an interesting conversation piece, but she didn't want to talk to anyone so she mostly ignored those who asked about it. That was a bit rude, but did she care? Nope.

She was heading over to the Inked Pen to get another tattoo from Lichenan, coins rustling in her pocket. An arrow this time. Why? Well, it was sleek. She hated archery, but with Marissa it was better. An arrow also had a target when it was fired, and if she was the arrow then the target was knighthood and Marissa was the archer. A good metaphor, if you asked her.

The half-Dhani was passing one of the stalls on her way when the sounds of a merchant hawking his wares reached her ears. More than that, however, because it sounded like he was trying to sell the person something for more than it was worth. She stopped mid-stride and pivoted on a heel, casually walking over to the vendor and his potential customer. The customer felt wrong even considering his youth, but that wasn't the reason she'd approached them.

"That must be a mighty fine map if it's worth five gold mizas," she said, peering at the parchment. "Most've the maps I've seen're only about two gold mizas. Looks to me like you're tryin' to get more money outta these things than they're worth, buster."

She fixed the map vendor with a cold, hard stare. "Now you'd best leave this kid alone 'fore I call on someone who knows this shyke. There's a chance they'll arrest you, an' that en't good for business. This kid owes you no more than two gold mizas, you hear? Even that's overpriced. I'd suggest givin' him a discount since you tried to oversell it."

[Larka Faux]

The merchant quailed under the piercing stare of the woman that stood before him, "N-Now just wait a second. I've got my own family to feed you know." It was a lie of course, but after having his entire plan to completely rip off the child absolutely ruined he figured it was best to play it safe and avoid drawing any more attention. Normally he would have fought the woman, but her strange tattoos along with her fierce gaze was more than enough to shut him down completely. This woman meant trouble and it was time to make a tactful retreat, "I am deeply sorry my dearest and most valued customer. Times have been tough for me, er, my family. Tough enough that'd I would have to resort to tricking little ones such as yourself. I will not charge you any more than two gold mizas in the hopes that you will forgive me."

Larka had just started to count the coins needed to pay for the map when behind him he could hear a woman's voice he had never heard before. Quickly standing back up and turning to face the new arrival Larka was quickly greeted with the sight of a woman glowering at the merchant as she scolded him for deceiving him. Feeling immediately grateful towards this new and strange woman he watched and listened as the merchant immediately began to sweat and stutter. While Larka felt betrayed that the merchant would lie to him so easily he also couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The merchant was merely only trying to feed his family. At least that was what Larka believed. Smiling as he pulled two gold mizas out from his bag. Larka placed them onto the counter then rolled the map up and stored it in his bag.

"I forgive you mister merchant. Here is the two gold mizas." He said while slinging the bag over his shoulder. Turning towards the strange woman he looked over her features and smiled, "Thank you very much for your help, miss stranger. You have some very interesting pictures on your arm, you know? Ah, of course you would know. They're on your arm after all." Laughing he walked past the woman a small ways and turned around to face her once more, "I have lots I would love to ask you. I don't know a lot, but I do know I am in your, erm, what's the word." Larka thought deeply for a second, his eyes screwing together, as he tried to think of the word he wanted to say, "Ah! Debt, that's the word. Debt. I owe you one. You've done me a favor. Yeah, that's the correct word." Simply nodding to himself feeling good that he was able to find the right word as well as obtain a really interesting object Larka almost turned to leave before suddenly remembering something, "Ah, yes, can I get your name? I wont be able to return the, uhm, debt if I don't know who you are."

[Asen]

Most valued customer. What a load of bullshyke. Asen was tempted to forced the vendor to drop his prices even further, but she managed to hold back. He may have been a groveling, filthy bastard, but he still needed to make some kind of profit off his trade.

The kid, however, seemed rather pleased with himself. As he turned it gave her a chance to look him over properly. Despite his young appearance he was about her height, with dark skin reminiscent of a Zith that made her narrow her eyes. She couldn't hate him, though. His bloodline wasn't his fault and he no doubt faced worse prejudice than she did when she was younger. Halfbreeds weren't exactly the most favored of races, and Zith and Dhani mixes were probably the least-liked.

"You en't in my debt, kiddo," she said as she walked towards him, "That vendor was just tryin' to rip you off an' it wasn't right. You don't owe me anythin'. Don't worry 'bout it."

When he mentioned her 'arm pictures' she looked down at her tattoo, nodding. "Mhm. Name's Asen. I'm a squire. Say, would you like to come with me while I head over to get another tattoo? If you see one you like I'll pay for it. 'Course it en't very polite o' me to tell you my name without askin' for yours. What can I call you?" she asked, taking money out of her pocket to count it.

She'd brought ten gold mizas along, enough for two small tattoos or one small and one medium tattoo. The extra money was brought along in case she wanted to get another one while she was at it, or maybe buy a trinket or a snack along the way. Buying a tattoo for a Zith halfbreed wasn't really planned, but she might as well go with it.

Of course, that was only if he wanted a tattoo. He didn't have to get one if he didn't want to.

[Larka Faux]

The woman, known as Asen, gave Larka a strange look when she finally got a chance to look at him properly. Making a mental note Larka added this look to the list of looks that people have been giving him today whether not they know he notices. It was strange because while some gave questioning looks most gave looks that felt of great loathing. This confused Larka greatly because he just couldn't quite think of any reason why he would be hated when none of them actually knew them. While Larka listened to Asen's tough to follow speech he couldn't pick up on any blatantly obvious ques that would make her seem angry.

"Tattoo? Tattoo. Tattoo, tattoo, tattoo." He mumbled as he rolled the word around in his head while he tried to save it in memory matched with the pictures on Asen's arm. Thinking back to his past years he recalled some of the people from the troupe who also had tattoos on their body. Larka smiled as he remembered the times when he would constantly pester those who had the tattoos trying to figure out what they were, how they got on there, what they meant, and what exactly were the fantastic things that were tattoo'd onto them in the first place.

"Ah, er, my name's Larka Faun." He was starting to get used to using the fake surname he had given himself. Finally able to say it with a bit of confidence and less hesitation while preventing himself from accidentally saying 'Faux' which would be recognized as he shared his surname with Ringmaster Faux's.

"You're a squire? What is that? Wait, no, I think I remember this. Oh yes that means you're a part of the Knights here in Syliras, right? That sounds really interesting. Could you tell me about the Knights? Oh! You're going to get a, erm, tattoo? I'd love to come watch. How exactly do you get them to stay on your skin like that? Is it some sort of special paint? Oh, and you shouldn't keep your coins in your pocket like that. Someone could easily take them while you're looking, and I would hate if someone money from someone as nice as you. Well, although, it's in your pocket and not in a coin-purse so I guess it would be much more difficult to take it. A coin purse would be much easier to take since you could just cut the string while they're not looking."

Larka continued to ramble on about how to take a coin purse whilst getting quieter and quieter until he was inaudibly mumbling to himself completely deep in thought. It had taken him a good long minute to realize he was just standing there talking to himself while Asen was just watching. His faced flushed Larka quickly apologized while shaking his head.

"Ah, erm, uh lets go to this tattoo thingy you were talking about."

[Asen]

Good gods, she'd made a talkative friend. He talked even more than she did! Or maybe it was because she'd been unusually quiet for most of the season? Her roommates had mentioned something about being moody; was she just moody?

The ghost of a smile hovered on Asen's lips as the kid repeated the word 'tattoo' several times. He was talkative, but also kind of cute -- yes, even for Zith spawn. Or Larka, as he called himself. Larka Faun. The surname sounded foreign on his tongue. She almost thought he hesitated before he spoke it.

Now normally she would've interrupted him with a stream of her own words, but she simply let him talk until he was done. She stored away his questions one by one as he asked them, thumbing one of the coins in her pocket.

Once he finished, the half-Dhani held his arm gently just above the elbow and pulled him along. The Inked Pen wasn't too far, but at this time of day Lichenan would no doubt have other customers and she wanted to get there as soon as possible.

"I'll answer your questions as you asked 'em. Yes, I'm a part of the Knights. I en't gettin' paid, but once I get knighted I will be. It en't really that interesting, but it keeps me busy. I've got a patron, a knight, who trains me until I'm deemed good enough to join the ranks. I en't really sure how it works, Marissa didn't tell me much."

The Inked Pen wasn't as busy as she had thought it would be. There was only one person sitting in the chair, getting a tattoo on their bicep. It looked like they were almost finished.

"As for the tattoo questions, I'unno. It just hurts a lot, in more places than others, an' dependin' on where you get it there's even a chance you'll pass out. I almost did when I got this one," she said, gesturing to her colorful arm.

"'Course that was the first time I'd ever gotten one. In hindsight it probably wasn't so smart to get an entire arm, but I was also drunk. Obviously there'll be some problems there," she laughed.

"Y'know, you seem to know a lot about theft. Any criminal shyke I should know about? I'm kiddin', I'm kiddin'. 'Sides, nobody's gonna steal from a squire unless they're dead stupid or don't know I'm part o' the Knighthood. Nobody's really gonna steal from anybody if there're knights around."

The blonde took a moment to check on the progress of the person before her. Lichenan was wiping away some of their blood. "Oi, Lichenan! You done yet?" she called.

Her answer was the person getting up, thanking and paying the Svefra, and leaving with their things. They were replaced by Asen, who eagerly slid into the chair. "A'ight, so I was thinkin' an arrow from about here to here," she said, measuring it with her fingers, "but stylized. Like... Hold up, I saw it the other day..."

She flipped through several pages of the various sketchbooks sitting on the table beside her until she found exactly what she was looking for and pointed it out to Lichenan. As the tattooist prepared the inks and her skin she watched.

"Oh, an' I'unno if this kid wants one. Larka, you want a tattoo?"

OOCSo sorry about the delay. I had a week full of band, but I'm back now! And I also feel like I'm kind of taking over the thread, which probably isn't so good. Feel free to like, hiss at me or something.

[Calisto]

Calisto was wandering the street, making the most of a nice day and ignoring the voice in her head that said she should be searching for work. She still had a few savings from when she traveled here five years ago, she promised herself. The shops, vendors and booths of the city fortress that she had seen so far cried out their beguiling goods, but she had managed to ignore the temptations thus far. Ahead of her, she caught sight of a small stand that had a sign stating it was "The Inked Pen." Curiosity took over and she came closer. Seated in the chair, a girl was searching in the books for a certain tattoo she claimed to have seen. Standing to the side, was a boy, who seemed to be completely fascinated, though Calisto wasn't sure what of. That was when she caught sight of the girls arm, and a bit of fascination crept up in her as well. She was suddenly imagining what kinds of tattoos she could get, and what they might mean. Perhaps she could get a snake! It would be ironic, since she was a snake, but nobody knew. Calisto laughed a little at herself, and settled in to watch the tattoo come to life on the girl at the hands of the ink master.