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 Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:58 pm
The young woman moved through the vendors, occasionally stopping to chat with one. Really, she was less concerned with wares than she was with people. She didn't want to draw from the same pool as her parents had for her crew, or take potential replacement crewmembers from them, so she'd gone to the Earth Kingdom to look.
She knew that Earth Kingdom crewmen tended to be hard workers too, and loyal. This would help her build a reliable place to start from, for certain. Of course, she hadn't finished arranging contracts with other merchants and vendors yet, but she could still interview potential crew members and let them know what was in the works if they were good enough. She'd had very little success so far, of course, but soon...
She lifted her parasol over her head as the sun rose higher in the sky. Not that she minded the sun so much, but one could see better with the parasol shading her, and besides, it was fun to play with.
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:08 pm
Chao-shi sat back and watched the crowd. He politely spoke to those who approached him, reading their palms for a few coppers and things like that. He had branched off from his traveling group a day ago, and set up his own table. He was sick of the old lady taking his profits- he was a better fortune teller than her anyways! Why should she get 50 percent?
He was waiting for just the right person to walk by- someone with fine clothes, preferably a lady (they were more suseptable to his particular charms), and someone with a large coin pouch. And he finally found her.
It was a young woman, with fine tailored clothes and a parasol. Perfect. As she walked by he smiled at her charmingly. "Excuse me miss, may I speak to you?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:14 pm
Ina tilted her head towards him, smiling her most winning smile in return. She knew his sort, of course-- she'd seen too much of the world not to, but it wouldn't do any harm to humor him afterall. Besides, perhaps he could help her anyhow.
"Of course," she nodded elegantly, putting on her best I'm-a-rich-merchant's-daughter attitude, "What can I help you with?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:28 pm
"There was an aura about you that I couldnt resist Ma'am. Sorry if I disturbed your day, but from the looks of things I doubt I did." Now that he got a closer look at her, Chao-shi knew who she was. A couple other people had been talking about a rich merchants daughter looking for employees.
And judging by her attitude and clothes, he had found her. What a lucky day. He continued with his charming smile. "The spirits move around you heavily- you've got a touch of determination in you. I'd like to do a full reading on you if you dont mind?"
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:35 pm
She had to stifle a laugh. As much as she enjoyed stories and adventure and all that...well, she was a -bit- of a realist, and this whole palm-reading thing didn't do much for her. The girl nodded,
"I wouldn't mind at all," she said. She had a few coin she could bear to part with, and after he was done and paid he might be willing to let her know if he knew of anyone that would possibly be interested in working for her.
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Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:42 pm
Instead of taking her hand like most people would have suspected, he led her to a plush pillow, that was laying on a large mat. His booth wasnt really a booth, but rather a low table with a bunch of pillows laying around it.
The idea he had taken from his father, but it served well- it added an ambiance that added to his accredidation afterall. Taking a seat on the other side of the table, he pulled out a small silk sack.
Giving her a winning grin, he emptied the sack into his palm. Inside there where a bunch of random bones- carved and decorated with various precious stones and metals. "Most expect palm reading from a fortune teller, but you warrant something special my dear. Its not often that the spirits lead me to do a bone reading- you must be very special." With that, he cast the bones out on the table in front of them.
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 12:10 pm
She allowed herself to be led and settled down on one of the pillows.
"Oh really?" she asked, examining the bones. She thought she recognized some of the animals a few of the bones might have been taken from, but for the most part they were too small to really tell. The stones and metals, of course, she recognized. A quick assessment told her these were rather valuable even for what they were, and she entertained herself pricing them in her head,
"And what do the bones tell you?"
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 11:35 pm
"They tell me many things." He studied the layout of the bones, picked them up, and tossed them again. Chao-shi repeated this a third and final time, each time studying how the bones landed. "How interesting."
Taking a small moment to combine the configurations in his head, he looked up with a grin. "It seems, that you have a small endeavor underfoot. There are some indications that it you are having troubles with it, or will be soon if you are not. However, it seems that fortune and perhaps luck will be on your side." There were a few more interesting tidbits in the reading, but he figured he'd hold those out in case she asked for anything else. It was difficult to do a general reading with bones, because they were normally used to answer specific questions.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 7:23 am
"Aha," she said thoughtfully, resting her chin on one hand as she observed these goings-on. In all likelihood, if this boy were around here a lot, he knew most of the vendors. And if that were the case, he probably knew a bit about what she was doing. That would explain the accuracy of his assumptions. Of course, it was a safe bet anyhow that he'd recognized her sort by her appearance as well. Either way, however, he could probably help her out a bit. She might as well divulge the details, play his little game.
"As a matter of fact, I am. You see, I recently acquired a boat and I've been looking for crewmembers. Fortune is good, though. Perhaps that will mean I can find the officers I need here."
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:48 pm
"I see then. I'm afraid I can't help you much in finding people, for I'm fairly new to this city myself." It wasnt completely true- he had been here when he was a child for a brief time- but he had not stepped foot inside of this city in many years.
"However, I have heard that there are many a worker out by the docks who would probably be willing to help you on your little adventure though." He swept up the numerous bejeweled bones with one hand an deposited them back into his pouch. It really was a magnificent set of bones, he was lucky to have inherited them.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:10 pm
Ina nodded, feigning as though impressed by this information. Well, of course looking by the docks would be an obvious choice for sailors, but most of those were already engaged by some ship or the other, or at least salted and probably not willing to risk it on a new venture. No, she needed some new blood.
"I suppose that would be a good place to look," she said softly, letting her parasol fall to her side. She pulled out a few coins-- a generous offer to be sure-- for the reading and a mischievous smile crossed her face, "I don't suppose you might be willing to do a palm reading as well, just for the fun of it?" she asked. She rather enjoyed palm readings. They always told her different things. The last fortune teller had told her she'd live to a ripe old age, the one before that had said she wouldn't make it to her eighteenth birthday. Of course, that one -had- been traveling on the ship with her and seen her dangling off the port bow, but really a little danger didn't always mean an early death.
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:47 pm
"Of course m'lady. I would be honored to read your palm as well." Chao-shi took a moment to store the pouch of bones inside of his sash while studying her face. She was playing along with him, that much he could tell.
Not really bothering to pick up the coins of the table, he held out his hands. "Please, lay your hands flat on the table, palms up." He grinned at her. "Oh, and please tell me- which hand do you write with?"
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:52 pm
Ina did as instructed, then grinned,
"Both, actually," she said, "I've trained myself to do so. Naturally, however, I was inclined to be right-handed."
There was no room for a weak left arm on the boat, that was for sure. You had to be able to use both hands if necessary. Besides, her archery practice required strength of both hands as well. It didn't hurt her write, either, when she could eat and write at the same time, or hold a candle and write.
"Tell me, how did you get into the fortune-telling business?" perhaps she might get a story out of him yet. That would certainly make this venture worthwhile.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:31 pm
"Ah, I see then." He looked at her hands, sometimes running a light finger over the lines to be sure of their paths.
When he heard her question, Chao-shi looked up at her and smiled. "Both of my parents were fortune tellers... we used to be the fortune telling family before one day the old hag that runs the troupe told me they left. They didnt really leave, but I never could get enough evidence to convict..." Realizing he was rambling on, he shut his trap and got back to studying her palms.
"Well, your heart line is longer than your head line, meaning that you tend to have more mental prowess than physical. Your life line is slightly confusing, seeing as it forks in the middle- so I cant really say anything in particular about that. And I can also say almost for certain that your fate line indicates you will make your fortune using your head more than anything else." He smiled at her. There were a few more things he could've told her about her hands, but he figured that he had rambled enough for the day.
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Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2007 5:23 pm
She nodded thoughtfully at his words,
"I'm the same way-- my parents are merchants, and I'm going the same route, ultimately."
She grinned, her head, huh? Well, she supposed that made sense. Her father did always say she was 'headstrong' afterall.
"And the forked life line does explain why I've had two different reports on my lifespan. Though, admittedly, the woman who said I wouldn't live past eighteen must've been wrong, as I don't see myself dying anytime soon."
She took out another couple of coins and set them on the table,
"Thank you so much. Is that all?"
Well, it was entertaining anyhow. Even if she hadn't gotten any advice she could really use.
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