((A new rp thread with @dentonclone and his lupe!))
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick-ding!
A small, neovian-styled wallclock chimed a single note for the hottest part of the day in a small shop tucked in the markets of Krawk Island. Winding cobbled streets with buckled shoes clacking upon them echoed their roots across the South Neopian seas so far, far away. It echoed the thoughts of Bonny, perched atop her clerk’s stool, quill in paw, paw in chin, eyes closed in thought. Spread before her were simple timesheets and sums, marking trends in popular business hours, what sold well when and why, with freshly-drawn circles around strange upticks, deviations from the norm. She had come across a recent trend in the artisan trades, with a surprising uptick in small metal bits, lanterns, and rope. Large quantities of rope. Many different kinds of rope. She had been comparing cost versus gross income of the types of rope they had bought, wondering the comparative cost of buying smooth, well-treated rope versus simply buying lower-quality rope and using oils that hadn’t sold well to soften and increase the quality when—
Ding!
The bell above the main shop door chimed, waking Bonny from her reverie and jostling her quill against her cheek. A small yelp escaped her throat and she scrambled to grab a rag above her workstation, arising such a clatter that a deep voice called from the front door,
“Is everything alright back there?”
“I’ll just be a moment, hold on!”
Alighting from her stool, she smeared the rag across the fur on her cheek as she made her way from the cozy room to the main shop. As years passed she learned the change of air in each House Jade shop: from scrolls and papers to the smells of mixed commerce; crates and burlap, salt and iron. The scent brought a small smile to Bonny’s face as she sat behind the clerk’s desk and scanned the customer, a tall, long-muzzled figure with grey hair spilling from a woven traveler’s cloak. A thieves guild member?
“My apologies for the delay, may I help you?”
It had been ages since Draug last strolled through the cutthroat streets of Krawk Island, though it had changed little in the years since his last visit, still full of that sense of lawless freedom. The scent of rum and gunpowder amidst the salty air stirred something in his wilder side. No doubt on a moonlit night this was the perfect place to get into some trouble, but for now he had other business to attend to.
The lupe’s sturdy oaken staff, clutched in his left paw, tapped loudly against the floorboards as he walked into the shop leaning heavily against it. Pushing his hood back, he peered around curiously through his half moon spectacles. There was quite the assortment of trade goods and sundries… some of it useful to him, but not quite what he was looking for that day.
When a xweetok entered through a side door and settled in behind the counter he stepped closer and gave a courteous bow. “No apologies needed, dear.” He said with a warm smile. “As for whether or not you can help me… I’ve heard that Jade Trade specializes in more than just the usual stocks and market goods, correct?“
“You’ve heard correctly,” Bonny replied, apprehensive of what ‘goods’ the rumor mill had placed on their shelves in this tall, mysterious stranger’s mind. She winced at the memory of last month, when a rival merchant shop had accused them of selling counterfeit codestones. “Are you looking to purchase something in particular, or to sell?”
Bonny tucked a strand of loose, wavy hair behind her ear as she looked down behind her desk for a pad of paper and a quill, her eyelashes brushing against the pale markings on her cheek. “If we don’t have your item in stock, you can give me your name as well as a location where we can contact you, and I can see about acquiring it for you.” With quill and paper in paw, Bonny’s sunset-orange eyes flicked back up to the stranger’s face, admiring the spectacles perched atop his muzzle.
Draug held up his free paw. “It’s nothing sinister or dubious, I assure you.” He seemed amused at the notion, a small smirk coming to his muzzle. “What I seek is knowledge to fill some gaps I’ve been neglecting for far too long.” He peered over his glasses as he studied the xweetok with crystal blue eyes. “Do you have any literature on… curses?” There seemed to be more he wished to say but he held back, perhaps hesitant to reveal too much.
“Oh! Forgive me, I should have introduced myself earlier.” From a pocket in his robe he produced a card and handed it to the clerk while keeping his eyes on her’s. “You may call me Draug, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The card was full of Neovian styled flirtations. When he flicked his gaze down at it the warm smile on his face turned into mild shock and faint blushing. “Ah! Th-that’s the wrong one.” He quickly snacked it back and handed over a more proper card with his name written in an ink that shimmered in the light.
In a flicker of a moment Bonny had spied some of the words on the card: “attention”, “spooning”, “affections”. The nature of the card brought a flush up her neck, but covering her lips with a fist she cleared her throat. Bonny’s curiosities on the nature of this lupe’s line of work came to mind but were quickly stamped out. “Draug, that’s a fascinating name!” She remarked upon accepting the lupe’s card with her free hand.
She pulled a rotating spindle of business cards and personal cards from beside her clerical codex and slotted the finely printed cardstock into place, easily accessible under Personal-D, and thought on his question a moment. Her eyes drifted downwards as she was lost in thought, thinking of possible friends or connections who would know more about curses. Possibly Roulad, given his lifelong citizenship in the forest between the Haunted Woods and Brightvale?
“Then again,” Bonny wondered, “I did find that book about hauntings to deal with the ghost lupe..maybe there’s something there about curses—“ she caught herself, realizing she had mused aloud. In an attempt to complete her own thought and be of better assistance she clarified, asking “is there a specific kind of curse you’re looking to research, or are you reading for pleasure?”
