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 Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2023 7:08 pm
Despite having lived a few of her childhood years within the capital of Zena, Hjordis felt uncomfortable in the crowded city streets. Living with the Ild’vann for a few years had toughened the previously soft child, the young woman growing into a lithe creature who carried the grace and strength of a hunter. Even the way she glanced through the crowd with her bright green gaze darting across every earthling she passed made it seem as if she was scanning them for predator or prey. The one gentleman who made a mistake of reaching for her arm had his wrist promptly twisted behind his back, Hjordis remarking that she needed no help guiding the city. Of course such a feat did not go completely unnoticed and as the other iceling scurried away she found herself glaring back at spectators before going on her way. “Like he was actually interested in helping me. What søppel.” She spat the insult sharply at his disappearing back before turning away and focusing back on finding her path to the market. This place was far too crowded and she much preferred the sounds of the forest or better yet the silence of the nearby valley as winter snows covered everything in a thick blanket, muting any movements from animals and earthlings alike.
Though the scene was anything less than muted here. The market was busy as usual with traders coming all over to trade and swap goods before winter moved in and blocked half of the paths in Zena. That was the real reason that Hjordis was here at this time. Even though the Ild’van was a lot closer to the capital after having relocated from the far northern mountains the people there preferred to get any trading done before the winter set in, just in case of any blizzards blocking the main trading route between the village and city. Since her uncle was busy tending to emergency repairs in the village, Hjordis had offered to take some of his work to trade in the markets along with some of her own. “Weapons, tools and jewelry for trade.” She stated simply as she set down the burlap bag she had been carrying, the iceling waiting on the merchant to browse the wares while she kept an eye on him and the crowd as others passed the shop.
[Hjordis 1]
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Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2023 9:51 pm
Why did he have to be the one to go look? Apprenticing at his father's shop was just miserable! Eirex dragged his feet as he looked over the paper in his hand again to make sure he was going in the right direction. Someone had come to the shop seeking a loan for repairing fire damage to their shop. He thought it sounded shady as heck, but it still bore looking into. Of course, his father was too busy going over the details with the potential client to go check out the shop for himself. So, off went the errand boy... He paused and looked around with a sigh. The market was so busy today! It would be so much more interesting to just forget looking at some burned up wood and interact with those around him. Of course, he didn't feel like getting kicked out to his grandparents' house tonight for slacking at work, either. The building itself didn't look bad from the outside. With a sigh, he sucked it up and eased his way through the crowd to approach one of the merchants digging through some big, burlap bag. "Excuse me. Sorry for bothering you, but do you know anything about that shoe shop there? I heard there was a fire recently." The merchant looked up briefly, and snorted with amusement. "I figured someone would be coming around to ask questions about that lay-about. Let me finish up here with this young lady and we can talk." He pulled out a lovely stone necklace and turned it for inspection. "Is this a solo or paired piece? Hard to tell with everything jumbled in one bag." His observation held a tilt of disapproval as he looked at Hjordis over his glasses.
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Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2024 6:33 pm
Hjordis barely gave the newcomer a second glance. Her vivid gaze was narrowed in fierce concentration on the merchant as he dug through the bag. “It wasn’t jumbled until you fiddled through it like a barbarian.” And they said her village was full of feral icelings! Ligger. Just because they knew how to survive and didn’t have some luxurious lifestyle full of wealth and gold like these lazy city earthlings…sheesh. “Look, there’s separate pouches inside each with a marked pair.” Little woven cloth bags with her people’s runes marked each set, not that she expected him to know how to translate that. But couldn’t he at least do a bit of matching with the designs? Hjordis resisted the urge to roll her eyes before holding out her hands. “Give me.”
“If you insist.” The merchant shrugged as he glanced back towards the newcomer. “Should be finished shortly once she puts the pieces together.” He reassured the other teen, looking back to Hjordis as she made a spread of jewelry on the counter. The lovely stone necklace paired with some curled iron earrings that had smaller stones at the base where they clasped onto the ears. A couple of other necklaces with matching iron and crystal bands, engraved with local flora and fauna, and several other stone pieces that she paired with similar earrings to the first. Each had different swirling designs though and gemstones to make them different from the next. The merchant picked up the matching earrings and made a hmm noise before moving onto the next as Hjordis continued placing them for review. “Did you say weapons as well?”
“Yes, I did.” Hjordis pulled out wrapped items from the bottom of the burlap bag. “A jeweled dagger, knives, even some letter openers and the like.” She explained as she took out each item and lined them up. “Now you seem to have some other business at hand, do you mind picking quickly so that I can move onto the next merchant? I always get a good amount from around the corner, perhaps I should have gone there first.” Though she wasn’t certain about any fire. It didn’t even remotely smell like scorched wood or stone around here. She would know after years of helping out in her uncle’s forge, right? Either way she only took a peek towards the other teen before glancing back towards the merchant, the man suddenly in a hurry to appease Hjordis after she threatened to move onto the next merchant with her goods. “If he takes too long even you could have a say in the matter, if you’re into purchasing some goods.” She mused towards the teen, a small smirk crossing her lips as she looked at the merchant with defiance.
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Posted: Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:25 pm
Eirex smothered a smirk of amusement while watching the merchant and trader interact. Merchant would could be dull as heck some days, but then others proved to be spicy indeed. Still, he took a step back to wait patiently. In his head though, his foot was tapping rather impatiently. He didn't want to get back late and then have to stay at work late to catch up. As the items were laid out for display, he couldn't help leaning forward with interest. The work looked like it was high quality, and the style... "Actually, I know a place that will certainly make offers on at least a few of these." He leaned in to peer at one of the jewelry pieces closer. He definitely knew that style! That could wait for later though. It simply wasn't polite to completely swipe a client from a fellow merchant, so he would wait his turn.
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Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2025 8:36 pm
"You do?" Hjordis raised a brow as she looked over the other boy, her gaze narrowing suspiciously before she looked back towards the merchant. "You have one minute to pull aside what you want and then I'm going with him." She advised, holding up a finger and giving the merchant a serious look as she watched him quickly start pulling through things.
"You're really going to take a gamble on another shop?"
"Better than waiting until the next morrow with you." Quipped back Hjordis as she looked over what the merchant pulled aside and said her price. Of course he wanted to try to haggle but she stood firm as she held out her hand. "Twelve silvers."
"I'll give you seven." The merchant started before Hjordis let out a sigh and shook her head.
"Ten silvers and nothin' less since I know you can probably turn those around for nearly double with all these city folk and travelers." It was a fair price, just a bit over what her uncle would expect and a damn good deal for this merchant. "Or I can just take it all and go with him." She nodded her head towards the other iceling and smirked triumphantly as the merchant sighed.
"Fine. Take your coins and hurry up so I can get back to business."
"Appreciate it." Hjordis smiled sweetly before looking over at the iceling boy. She was still wary, but selling the goods was more important in the moment. "I guess I'll be lingering since you have my interest. Are you serious about knowing a place to buy some of these pieces? If so I believe introductions are in order."
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Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2025 8:17 pm
Seeing the young woman's interest piqued, Eirex only gave a knowing smirk in reply. It looked like she didn't exactly believe him, but surely he was a better prospect than this grumpy man. The smirk lightened with further amusement at the look he got from said merchant. It was always more fun when he had the advantage. Or, an advantage. It was the best way to make a deal. "Ah, no need to linger out here. We can head back to the shop and-" he paused and glanced at the neighboring shop. Ugh.. he'd come out here for a reason. He straightened up and focused on Hjordis. "So, I did come here for a purpose other than your goods. If you would be willing to wait ten minutes at the most, I can almost guarantee that I can find you a buyer." He put his hand over his chest and grinned encouragingly. "I swear it on the honor of my name, Eirex."
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Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2025 11:29 am
"Oh? Here I was thinking that you were smart enough to recognize a good deal from a mile away." Quipped Hjordis as she looked over the other iceling. He did look like he had some coin on him, so she truly was hoping that this gamble would be worth her time. So far he hadn't come across as sleazy in comparison to others that she had encountered in the past so that was a plus. The weight of her bag also kept her alert, Hjordis wanting to make a good deal as quickly as possible but not wanting to be completely reckless with her trades. At least now she had some coins on her, thanks to the merchant who was looking like he would rather the pair of them move along as quickly as possible so that he could focus on the new customers wandering into the shop.
"I will hold you to that even though I have no idea how far your honor stretches." Hjordis gave the boy a nod of acknowledgment, her own lips turning down from the teasing grin to something more serious as she studied him. His name did little for her, since she didn't recognize it especially if he had no family name afterwards. If she could memorize his features then she could give him serious helvete later if he did try anything fishy. "My name is Hjordis. I might just have to keep you in my line of sight since my time is limited, but go ahead with your business." She raised a brow, waiting to see what his next steps would be now that she had secured her travel bags again and pocketed the coin from the merchant into a safe spot within her own separate pouch.
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Posted: Tue Feb 18, 2025 6:55 pm
Eirex felt the sting of the quip, but managed to straighten his back and avoided flinching. "I recognize the potential. It would be silly to just take on a stranger's product with minimal inspection." He cocked his brow with an almost playful smirk. "Just like you being unable to tell how smart I am just yet." Despite his attempts, he couldn't help his grin broadening while he shook his head with a shrug. "One would think that not simply dropping one's responsibilities for the sake of a possible deal would be enough to convince you that some honor resides within this skin. But I assure you it will not keep me long." Honor.. and the reluctance to get chewed out by his father again... bad enough he was grinning so much. Both were strong motivations to stop a young lad from loitering. He turned back to the merchant to ask his questions about the neighboring shop. Already irked by Eirex's presence, the merchant was short and sharp with his responses. Well, at least he got what he had come for. He was quick to return and hopefully deliver a supply that might impress those at the store. "Hjordis, you said? If you would follow me, the shop has the information of the buyers you will have the most luck with."
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