Completed To Feed A Beast [The Syka Mercantile]

[Rakhasta]

3rd Day of Autumn, 516 AV It was late morning by the time Rakhasta finally managed to find the Syka Mercantile, its long platforms shaded by a combination of jungle canopy and well made roof. He’d been seeking this place since the sun rose, but the people he’d spoken to had been unreasonably vague in their directions, and he’d passed the place several times in search of various landmarks. Now, however, he finally found himself at the foot of the stair and he climbed them purposefully. The land sickness he’d suffered the night before, the night of his landing, had nearly passed. Now it left only a feeling of gentle swaying, something that was not altogether uncomfortable to experience. As the floor of the Mercantile came into view he cast his eyes about, taking in the simple delights the shelves held for him. There were sacks of rice and flour, even sugar all around, with other food items in more limited supply. Baskets hung from hooks in the rafters, and tough looking boots that looked suitable for deep jungle travel sat in neat rows along the wall. It looked as if the boat that had brought him to these shores had also brought a number of supplies from Riverfall, something he hoped meant they would have what he needed. Among the various people that seemed to be browsing the store for its various wares there was one girl who looked to be putting things on the shelves rather than taking them off. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders in calm waves, and her light brown eyes flicked him over as if to judge his worth as he stepped forward. “Looking for something?” she asked, a friendly smile spreading across her face as she brushed her hair aside and rose to her feet.

[Rakhasta]

’Yes, truly,” he murmured, trying to arrange his thoughts into words in the common tongue. ”I have a...large pack animal that requires food. I wonder if you might have some.” Her smile grew somewhat wider. “Like horse feed? We just got quite a bit with my fathers shipment he brought in yesterday. How much do you need?” ”I...horse, yes, that is what I need food for. I do not know how much, you see, for I have never owned a horse before. Do you know how much food these creatures would need for, say, a season? And, wait, you say your father is Captain James Chaliva?” “Mmm…” she hummed. “Well, depending on the size of the horse, somewhere around 10 lbs. of food a day. So for a season? Maybe 900 lbs. A 20 lb. sack costs one silver miza these days, so for a season that’d round out to 4 gold and 5 silver mizas. “And yes, that’s my father! I’m Juli Chaliva, and I run the store while my father is away, though for now he’s just resting after his most recent trip. I take it you’re fresh off the boat, aren’t you? I think you might be the only Eypharian in the whole settlement, unless others came off the boat with you and just haven’t stopped in yet.” He shook his head. ”No others I have seen, and I came on this voyage alone. But yes, this is to be my new home here. I hope is will be for some time yet.” That wasn’t even remotely true, he wished he could earn the valor he needed to justify returning home and be rid of the place. Her eyes narrowed as he spoke, as if she sensed his poorly crafted deception and resented him somewhat for taking a dislike to the place she called home. “It grows on you, you’ll see,” she replied curtly, her hands straightening the front of her shirt as if to keep them busy.

[Rakhasta]

She cleared her throat, and seemed to force her cordial manner back into place, smiling slightly less than she had before. “I don’t mean to pry, but how are you going to be storing all that feed?” ”Storing…?” he asked, whatever guilt he had harbored for the lie being washed away with a new wave of confusion. He’d just planned to put it in the sand, perhaps under a large tree to keep a bit of the rain off. “Oh, yes,” she nodded, speaking as if the knowledge she touted were a common sort of sense.. “You’ll want to be keeping the food as dry as possible, to keep away the rot and the mold. And you’ll want it somewhere secure, too, so that scavengers from the jungle can’t get to it. The rainy season is coming, so you’ll want to find shelter for it all fast.” He swallowed, his eyes growing wider with each new problem. He hadn’t considered any of this. He just wanted to feed his horse. Now he needed a vault to hide the feed in to protect against the elements and thieves? It made his head spin. ”I...“ He licked his lips, looking down and then to the sides, as if seeking an escape from an ambush as he’d been taught in the military academies his father had put him through. Her features softened somewhat as Rakhasta stood so befuddled before her, and she sighed sympathetically. “You don’t have anywhere to put it, do you? Haven’t found a home yet?” His jaw and fists clenched at the weakness she recognized in him, and he silently scolded himself for the reaction. She is not your enemy. She seeks to help you. Listen, and you may gain the wisdom you need to move forward. ”I...am in a tent. I camp at the jungle edge, and my tent is not large enough to keep all the food. Nor is it sturdy enough to keep out thieves.” “Well, you may be able to talk to Randal about that, Randal Zor. He’s one of the founders of Syka and owns the Bungalows just past the Commons from here,” she said, pointing out to the southeast. “There are six of them, and I’m sure at least one of them is empty now. They’re 2 Gold Mizas a day to stay in, but if you don’t have the money you may be able to work out another arrangement if you talk to him. He really is a nice guy, we wouldn’t have this shop, the Commons, or really any buildings here in Syka if not for him. He’s an incredible carpenter, and I’m sure he could always use another pair...or three...of hands. I heard a rumor that he has plans to set up a sawmill pretty soon, though I’m not sure how he means to power it yet.” “Though if you fancy yourself a carpenter, we just got some hammers and nails in from Riverfall, and I think I have a carpenter's axe and saw around here somewhere. Regardless you’ll want to build a home for yourself sometime, and I can’t guarantee I’ll have them after the first rains and the campers start getting uncomfortable.” Rakhasta thought it over. This Randal would likely be a good man to talk to regardless, having both the storage space he needed and the skills to build him storage of his own. Either he could stay in one of these Bungalows and work for his shelter or simply try to build his own shelter, though he knew nothing of the “how” regarding that just yet. Still, he would have to do it sometime, and the materials that were plentiful now might be scarce later on. ”Would you be willing to store the feed I am purchasing for seven days while I speak to this Randal?” “I don’t see why not,” she said with a noncommittal shrug. He smiled, a plan slowly forming in his mind. ”Then I will take the lot.”

[Rakhasta]

“Carpenter’s axe, 1 gold. 3 lbs. of nails, 1 gold, 5 silver. Nail hammer, 5 silver. Metal saw, 4 gold. 900 lbs. of horse feed, 4 gold, 5 silver. Am I missing anything?” she asked, eyebrow raised as she looked up at Rakhasta over the receipt she had written up. ”A sack to carry it in,” he said gruffly, trying to make the calculation in his head. He’d never really had a head for mathematics, and doing it silently without paper in front of him was difficult. 1 plus 1 plus 5...wait, those are different currencies. Count it in silver. 10 silver in a gold, so 10 plus 10 plus 5 plus… “Adding the sack means another silver so...11 gold and 5 silver mizas it is, then,” she said cheerfully, interrupting his calculations. He grunted in agreement, counting out the coins on the counter between them and taking the receipt before signing her ledger, gathering up the building materials in the sack and slinging it over his shoulder. “Uh, thank you! And good luck with your building!” she called as he turned and began walking out towards the exit. He glanced over his shoulder at her, doing his best to smile as friendly as she had to him, and waving his goodbye. ”Good day to you, Juli. I hope to see you again soon.”

[Gossamer]

The Fates Have Spoken
Here is your thread grade!

Character: Rakhasta
Experience Awarded: Observation +4, Mathematics +1, Negotiations +2
Lores Awarded: Syka Mercantile: Location, Juli Chaliva: James’ daughter, Randal: Builds Buildings for people and rents out bungalows.

Notes: I really enjoy your writing. You convey a lot of detail without being overly heavily worded. Also, I like the way you do dialog. It proves easy to read and entertaining to follow. However, next time you need to ask me if the mercantile has something in stock that’s unusual like horse feed. I would have said no… because horses don’t survive long in the jungle. I’m letting this stand, though I can’t believe you found 900 lbs of horse feed in the mercantile because that’s like a whole horse’s weight worth of grain. And its more valuable to use as food for people (aka baking bread) rather than food for an animal that jungle creatures are probably going to eat anyhow.

As always PM me if you have issues.