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Bright Journey	Between the bright, gaudy day and the wild, festive night in the Temple District lie all the things that make a city actually run. The main thoroughfares near the temples themselves might be the hottest ticket in town, but some days, a girl just needs to go out and buy potatoes, rosemary, and a plump, good-sized chicken for a nice stew at home. Potatoes may not be on the brochures in the tourist bureau, but they're still available in the markets, and Bright Journey and Silk Moon Lotus find themselves wandering some of the less traveled, but surprisingly no less interesting stalls off the beaten path in the wilds of the Temple District. Hey, you never know what you're going to find. The sky is turning ruddier as the sun sinks slowly westward. This of course means it's creeping past afternoon towards evening for Bright, and an unholy accursed-be-the-Daystar morning for Silk. Bright has a large, and mostly still empty bag with her as they travel. "I know we don't get to do this kind of thing too often, but thanks for coming with me. It's good to get out sometimes, you know? And I kind of wanted to get your opinion on something."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk has dressed for the occasion in much more casual attire than normal. She has on a wide brimmed woven hat, a loose fitted blue silk shirt and a gray sarong wrapped around her waist. Her attentive eyes taking in all of the stalls as she walks with Bright. Silk smiles a lazy smile and takes a deep breath of the spice filled air. "I do enjoy shopping occasionally. I'm sure you are looking for some odd ingredients again. This part of the market does cater to unusual requests in addition to the more mundane."
Bright Journey	Bright Journey giggles a bit, hand in front of mouth, as she glances over a fresh fruit stand. Well, that's what the sign says at least; the fruit might tell a slightly different story. Only a glance before she moves on. "You got me, m'dear. I -do- have a couple things I actually want to get, but sometimes the out-of-the-way stalls have much more interesting things than the area around the mansion, don't you agree? Aside from the basics, I don't really have any weird, obscure nonsense I'm looking for in particular...um. Well." She chuckles. "Come to think of it, there -are- a couple things I could also use. There was that herb I read about that's good for opening the inner eye--uh, not the way Amethyst does it, I mean--and some of those fluffy Austrech feathers should make a good start at an offering for that summoning that..." Bright freezes for a moment, dread coming over her features. "Gods in heaven. It's true what they say about sorcerers, we can't pass as normal." She facepalms and groans. "I'm a -weirdo- now." As if the multicolored eyes weren't giving it away?
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk laughs, then snorts, then covers her face with both hands for a moment willing the red to fair from her face. "At least you keep normal hours. I'm up a couple of hours before sunset, then in bed an hour or so afterwards. I guess it's the price I pay for the business that I do. Gamblers spend more at night." She fans herself with her hat momentarily. "Some strange bird feathers? as long as you don't need a whole one I guess that's ok. Silk stops at a stall with bolts of cloth for sale and starts examining them. She points to a bright red one and an vivid yellow. "Which do you think would look better on me? I've been invited to a party and I was thinking a new dress would be nice to have."
Bright Journey	Bright laughs in reply. Clearly, she's not quite as put out about it as she'd been implying--hamming it up a bit. "I don't know, Silk, you keep pretty typical hours for some people in this town." She grins cheekily. "Of course, most of them are sleeping it off come morning. You're sleeping the sleep of the just...just acquired riches, that is." Now," Bright says, tossing her hair behind her and taking a good look at the cloth bolts. "A seamstress I am not, I admit. But with that hair of yours? I think that red would be perfect to go with it. The yellow would work too, though..." She chuckles again. "You're lucky, you know. My hair doesn't go with nearly as many colors. And my eyes, perhaps too many!" She giggles again, but keeps looking over the stall as she does so. "That's why I wear white and black, of course, for the most part." She touches a bolt of velvety black material, considering. "I bet I could have a nice evening dress made of this, though. You'd look...funereal, in something like that. And the red with my hair would look silly."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk nods her head knowingly. "You know, I don't make money every night? Some nights I just watch the happenings of the city and teach lessons to the deserving." Her eye twinkle a little at that. "I promise they will never forget my lessons." Silk nods to the cloth "Yes, black on black always looks like I'm in mourning. I can see why you would want to go with neutral colors with your hair. You know a light green could be very striking with your hair, perhaps a darker green as well." She touchs the red satin and nod, very well. I shall go bold. She turns to the merchant and begins to haggle for the entire bolt.
Bright Journey	"Hmm," Bright muses to herself. "Maybe a forest green, actually..." She smiles a little more brightly and looks over the various shades. "Y'know, I rather like that idea. I might not use it right away, but I really don't have anything evening-wear-y, you know. I really should fix that, and no time like the present. I think a light green might make me look a little -too- pastel, with how light my hair is. And my skin too. But a darker green...y'know, that might just work. Maybe I could use a fashion consultant." She smiles fondly. "I love my mum, you know, but she was always shit at that kind of thing. 'Who cares, dear, it's just going to get blood on it anyway.' That will actually go quite well with my Collar, actually, though I might want to look at a little more gold jewelry in general with something like that...hm." She frowns thoughtfully. "Maybe later."
Raullaur	Raullaur makes his way through the streets, dressed, as often, in white silk and cream-colored leather, with his large daiklaive seated on his back. He strolls easily, while some vendors clamor for his attention, and others think it better /not/ to yell at anyone who can wield a weapon like that. When he sees two that he recognizes, lips pull up in a smile and he walks towards them. "Good day to you both," he says and gives a deep nod, mane ruffled in the breeze. "I hope you are both doing well?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk nods towards the choker "As it is an enchanted item, I'm sure it will fit well with anything you wear with it. If you are that concerned, you can wear a high neck dress with some sort of keyhole in it to show off some of that pale flesh. Silk turns around and smiles at Raullaur. "What a pleasant suprise Raullaur. What brings you to the markets today? We have been looking at wonderful fabrics to make dresses with."
Bright Journey	Bright gives Raullaur a wicked grin and leans over a bit, eying him. "Well! If it isn't Raullaur. Keep running into us like this, I'm gonna start thinking you're following Silk around." She grins mischievously. "On the other hand, clearly the gods are now in agreement: We were talking dresses and you immediately showed up." She nods sagely. "Clearly, destiny demands you wear a dress. Do you think Great Forks is ready to see you at your absolute most svelte?" She does a bit of a pirouette, mainly to try to hide the hilarious grin on her face, rather poorly as it happens. "Go ahead, dear, show me that -sashay-..." Bright can't take any more, she starts giggling uncontrollably.
Raullaur	Raullaur chuckles to the pair of them, "That depends....will you make me look better than I already am in the fur?" And he sets the sword down to start taking the jacket and shirt off first, shamelessly exposing his chest. The merchants and other passers-by, well, some look to enjoy the show, others just look pained, resigned, or disgusted. "Do you think you can accent my best features?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk looks at the golden brown of Raullaur's fur and smiles. "I believe a nice black or silver would do very nicely. I believe we make it with a deep plunge to show off all that wonderful fur."
Bright Journey	Chuckling, Bright can only nod in agreement. "Yeah, Silk has the right of it. It'd be a crime to hide all that fur. A nice black and silver swashbuckler's shirt, open in the front...yeah. I can see it. I just got done telling Silk I'm not a great fashionista, mind you, but still, I see it. You -could- look pretty sharp if you did it right. "So what brings you here, Raullaur? I'm assuming it's not so the two of us can hone our sense of style." She grins. "Though it should be."
Raullaur	"Oh, but there's even more to show," Raullaur says with a grin, hitching his thumbs to his pants...and then taking them out with a laugh. "Rishi offered to teach me--all the Pride--to read. I'm not sure...I'm not sure I trust marks on paper, instead of in the ear. And I was asked...what will I want. Not now, but when my ability grows more than my current ambition...So...I'm thinking."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk's face brightened with Raullaur's movements to take off his pants then returns to normal with him laughing. She laughs behind her hand a little after. "Shall we continue to shop and talk at the same time?" Silk picks up the bright red bolt of cloth, pulls out a net from a pocket, wraps the bolt up and slings it over her shoulder. She looks at the other questioningly.
Bright Journey	Bright nods to Silk and slings the sack she's carrying over her shoulder again. She doesn't buy anything at the cloth merchant, though, at least not today. "That sounds lovely, Silk. Raullaur, come and join us. You can give us that unique masculine perspective." She chuckles. "Besides which, if I know either of us, let alone both, you might be carrying a package or two of ours before the evening is out." As the three of them travel down the row of stalls on the hunt for another interesting place, Bright gives Raullaur a perceptive look. "About reading, though. Let me ask you this, Raullaur: If you don't trust the written word, do you trust someone else to tell you what a letter says?" She shrugs elaborately and points off down the street, to a mapmaker several stalls down. "You can't deny it's useful. Can't hardly make use of maps, and while most signs out here are pictures obviously, there's places where they will have words instead." Bright pauses and turns halfway, looking upwards to catch Raullaur's eye. "Above all, remember this: When someone lies, is it worse if they lie to your face or lie on parchment? The answer is it doesn't matter. Writing itself was never the problem."
Raullaur	Raullaur is standing with Bright and Silk both, his tail lazily flicking behind. "I can understand that," he says. "It is...strange, is all, but our hunters are taught to read markings of prey on the ground, or the plants. To know the meaning of streaks in the ground where water is found....if such marks bring knowledge and wisdom, words can as well." He chuckles a bit, "And what will I have in exchange for being a beast of burden for you lovely ladies?" He grins, "Perhaps you, Silk, would like to see more than before? If I get the right cloth, would you make the clothes for me?"
Amethyst	The young dragon finds herself walking down the street, a large sachel around her arm full of various reagents and herbs and stuff. Her eyes are clear and wide as she goes about her business, when she spots three figures away that she recognizes. She grins and calls out to her friends as she heads that ways, "Hey! Didn't know I'd be running into you guys." Ears perked, Amethyst grins.
Silk Moon Lotus	"I'm probably not the best person to talk to about honesty. I lie all the time, it's why I'm good at gambling." Silk smiles broadly up at Raullaur." Silk smiles for Raulluar "I have many books you could practice reading with? I would be willing to spare with you if you would like?"
Bright Journey	Bright grins. "Well, look at it this way. Words -can- bring knowledge, and eventually wisdom. Or they can be horse droppings. All depends on whether the author actually knows anything or not. Don't take everything you read as the unfiltered word of Ignis Divine. But still, can't get very far without words at some point. You'll see." Bright perks up and stretches on her tippy-toes to see if she can see who's calling out. She spots a hand waving up from behind a group of people, but the voice is distinct and puts a grin on her face. "Oh, hey. Speaking of shopping, here's the mistress of herbs herself. Amethyst!" Bright waves back, and waits for Amethyst to arrive before speaking more. "Yeah, Amethyst, it's starting to be another grand occasion, isn't it? How are the gods treating you today?"
Raullaur	"If you like...I suppose I should learn myself before asking my troops to," Raullaur says to Silk. "As for gambling? I'm terrible at it. Prefer other contests...maybe have you bet on how well I do something?" He chuckles, then nods to the dragon blooded. "Good day Amethyst. Doig well, I hope?" The lion-man still has his shirt and jacket off, but still has on his pants, at least. "What brings you out?" Bright gets a nod. "I haven't really heard the Sun's word. Nothing clear. Just...what you do, do well."
Amethyst	"I've gotten a lot of good deals today. And a lot of high quality reagents for alchemy and sorcerer. Should be a good week now that I've made a few months worth of maidens tea. I swear this city lives and breaths its passion. Truly is it worthy of the name Decadeance." "So today's been pretty good." She nods. She's in her more human-looking form today, less conspicious that way. "I'll be making good use of these reagents, maybe do some actual experimental alchemy rather than just studying all day. Still, I gotta make sure I have all of that knowledge for the trials that await me." She breaths in and sighs. "How's the day finding you three?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk smiles at her alchemist friend and smirks at Bright. "We are doing very well. Bright's basket doesn't have as many interesting things in it as yours does. I have a lovely bolt of red silk that I'm going to have made into a wonderful dress." Silk looks around, mischief in her eyes "I think Raullaur likes walking around shirtless to make the other men jealous."
Bright Journey	Bright chuckles and gives Raullaur a sidelong glance. "Something about that leonine strut says, 'Yep. I walk around shirtless and every block more and more gorgeous girls join me. Up to three now!'" Bright laughs and shrugs. "My basket doesn't have the goodies, it's true. I'm still looking at what I would need to try a little elemental summoning, to be honest, but to do that I need to do a little more hunting to find out which might know something I'd like to learn. I've got it narrowed down to a few, but it's not like I'm in a rush. And to be fair, I'm not the herbalist or sorcerer you are, Amethyst. "Speaking of which, what trials are these?"
Raullaur	"I still say if she wants Maiden's Tea, then I'm doing it wrong," Raul says with a chuckle. "And why should they be jealous? THey can get all the girls who don't want me," he says with a nod and a laugh. "So...what are these trials, and...why summon an elemental, anyway? What can it do that we can't ourselves?"
Amethyst	"Oooooh, I oughta have some new clothes made for myself too. Maybe I can talk to Rishi and have her summon another one of those spider demons... Though hopefully this time they don't try to make me anymore uh," Amethyst coughs. "Anyway, as for trials, the most obvious is going back to the wyld to talk to and learn more about my own mother. The other will be testing myself against the other side of my family. And that situation's gotten much more interesting since we last spoke." "As for elementals, they tend to have powers tailored to their particular existence, a river element is not something I would want to put my wits against if I were trying to swim in the same river, just as an example. Those who aren't trained to deal with them can find them to be quite a handful. And their powers can be just as great as the gods and the demons."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk looks at Ames "You want to go into the Wyld and meet the "family"? That sounds like a dangerous idea. Are you planning to go alone or are you taking some friends with you?" Silk thinks for a minute "As for the other side of your family, that's dangerous for different reasons. The both sound exciting."
Bright Journey	"Mmmm...to put it simply, Raullaur, elementals know things we don't. And I think, from what I read in the library, that I should be able to pick up some of their tricks." She does not say out loud which library, but it's obviously not one of the public ones. "But who knows what, and whether it's worth the time and effort...well, you know how it is. I think I just need to jump in the water, really, instead of toeing it like I have been. As long as I'm careful." Bright gives Amethyst a beaming smile. "Can't wait to hear what the spider demon made you, Amethyst. I'm sure Rishi only wanted wholesome, demure potato sack dresses for you." She giggles a bit. Bright's expression turns a bit more worried as she looks at Amethyst. She frowns slightly, face thoughtful. "The Wyld? That's an incredible risk, but..." She pauses, thinking. "I admit to some curiosity, though. And I might be able to help."
Raullaur	"If you're going out to the Wyld, I want to come along. Maybe some of the Pride, or all of it, to stand guard against regular threats..." Raullaur grins, "I'll accept a nominal payment, just so it's all legal to go with a client. ANd...what did this spider demon make you? Does its venom cause....odd effects?" He gives a throaty growl, amused at the idea.
Amethyst	"Yim Ashuria has things that I'm sure I'd like to know. And theoretically I should be welcome in Elderloch, the tattoos they gave me were to mark that I was one of them." The young dragon explains, but then deflates, "That was all before I exalted though. I have no idea how the Raksha might treat a Prince of the Earth. None the less, I need to know more about my family, now more than ever. And for what it's worth, my mother isn't actually a fae herself. And if I'm going to find my father, I might just need her help." It definitely sounds like something's really changed Amethyst's priorities. When did she care so much about her family before? "Payment can be arranged, though I pray that I won't need your services. Then again, usually one who hires bodyguards never wishes to be hurt." "As far as venom? You should come to my shop sometime. We can talk all about the sorts of venom I keep in stock. And the stuff the spider made for me is between us three." Ears go down and she flushes just a little considering that spider and what was made for her.
Silk Moon Lotus	"How big of a group are you planning to take into the Wyld? Is this an instance of the more the safer or the reverse?" Silk pats Ames on the shoulder "I did warn you about demons, right?" Silk chuckles to herself.
Rishi	Rishi, in her usual leather cloak and figure displaying outfit, looks rather preoccupied as she walks through the market, focused more on several pieces of paper in her hand than the basket of various assorted fruit on her arm. For all that, she's still not colliding with anyone, just moving with the crowd... until she bumps into Raullaur's broad back and finally looks up and peeks around him. Rishi brightens instantly. "Ah! It is most wonderful to be finding all of you! How are you all doing!?!" Rishi tilts her head to the side, her unbound hair swishing. "Ah, Ammy, are you being in need of more clothing? I still have my tailor being summoned!" The fact that all of Rishi's clothing is apparently made by a demon might explain a few things. Or not.
Raullaur	Raullaur smiles and grins at Rishi, "Be curious about that tailor, what it does...and I have a question I'd like to ask you sometime, just...not out with everyone, if you don't mind? Other than hat, being just fine. Who wouldn't be with four lovely ladies about?" The bare-chested lionman gives a smile to Rishi, Amethyst, Silk, and Bright in turn.
Bright Journey	Bright frowns deeply. "The Wyld is dangerous, and not just because of the things that live there. I think your Pride would do a lot better just outside, ready to meet us coming back, Raullaur. The Wyld can...do things...to people. I'm pretty worried about it myself, though I know there has to be ways for us to protect ourselves." Bright looks up, eyebrows raising as Rishi straight up bumps into Raullaur. "Oh! Speak of her and she appears. Good evening, Rishi. I was busy busy embarr--uh, talking to Amethyst about..." Bright breaks off, turning a bit pink herself as a certain incident a couple weeks ago comes to mind. She frowns cutely and changes course. "Uhm. Anyway. Amethyst, in all seriousness. If you want to talk with them, then take me with you. There's some amazing ancient pact type things I should be able to use to keep them...polite. I don't know any of those names, though, I admit."
Amethyst	"Actually planning the entirety of what this expedition to the wyld oughta include should be something we do." Amethyst says, "Figure out what does and doesn't make sense. Although I have only a single book on Elderloch, I do have some sort of lead on what to expect there." Amethyst says, contemplating. "Oh dear, I almost forgot about the warping aspects of the wyld." She rubs her head, "A formal plan would be good. Same goes for the Isle whenever that happens. Though I won't /ask/ any of you to accompany me to either place. I'll be fine in the wyld or on the Blessed Isle, I'm utterly immune to the wyld's twisting power and the worst the isle will do to me is trap me there for a few yhears." And then Amethyst smiles towards her love, "Rishi!" Hug. And after the hug she glances wayward, "Maybe it'd be best to find a different tailor than that spider if I want to have professional clothing..." "As for you," Amethyst looks towards Raul, "Don't get any ideas you shirtless silly." Finally, she nods to Bright, "Maybe we should all head back to either my shop or Silk's place and talk about things so I can get everyone caught up."
Rishi	Rishi hugs Ammy back then, sounding mock affronted, says "And what is being unprofessional about my outfit? It is being most utilitarian in nature! But, if you are wishing for something in a different style, my tailor can be handling it." Rishi looks like she's about to say something, then looks around. "...Perhaps it is being better if we are going back to Ammy's shop or Silk's house to talk, yes."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk looks around. "I think if we are going to talk about another else, we should probably take it off the street. I would rather not upset these fine people. I believe Ame's shop isn't too far from here?"