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 Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 9:34 pm
Zephyiote was used to being alone. Painters tended to avoid her. Once glance at her was enough to drive most away. But the fact that she was the only painter on the ever popular Sun Alter said something. She had reached new heights in her talent of chasing off others. And she didn't even do it actively. Oh well. If others chose to stay away, that was their problem. It wasn't like she'd actually done anything to them.
Her noses crinked with distaste, and she folded her arms on top of each other. Whatever. It wasn't like she cared. She was here on business. Beside her sat a few well crafted gold bracelets and other trinkets, that she had to trade. Merdracs, of all the Painter races, seemed overall the most 'accepting' of her...peculiarities. And it was a good thing. For she needed a new supply of pearls. And Merdracs time and time again proved the best providers of such.
Her tail swished back and forth across the rock she perched on, as she hummed to herself, and watched a relatively cloudless sky. Sometimes Merdracs would surface, as if to talk to her, but upon seeing her features, would quietly leave. At least they had the courtesy not to stare, or point out the obvious to her. She would just have to wait until someone showed up who had a supply of pearls, and could look over her differences for a few minutes until the trading was done. She wasn't too worried about someone popping up for a chat, or asking if she wanted to take a swim. No one was that brazen. Right?
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 10:17 pm
“ Da seas be ours and by da powers, where we will we’ll roam.”
Alvilda sang in throaty voice, pausing occasionally to grin and wink at bemused Merdracs. She did not come to the Sun Alter often, but apparently the tides of gossip had circulated faster then she had expected. Not that it mattered; Alvilda felt comfortable in her ability to charm anyone she needed, or outswim them, should it come to that.
“ Yo ho, ‘aul together, ‘oist the Colors high. ‘eave ho, t’ieves and beggars, never shall we die.”
A bulging, worn leather sack was clutched in Alvilda’s claws. Alvilda had not come to the Sun Alter for pleasure – she knew of far better places, free of water-logged bints, where she could sun bathe – but for business, not knowing of any other place where she’d have as good a chance as running into a land-dwelling Painter as she would there.
“ Some men ‘ave died, an' some are alive, an' others sail on the sea – wit' da keys to da cage,” A glint in the water made her trail off and look up eagerly. She knew that sort of shine anywhere: gold! The mere thought of acquiring a new golden bauble or two caused Alvilda to do an odd sort of jig as she rose to the surface.
“ … an' da Devil to pay, we lay to Fiddler's Green!” Breaking the surface, Alvilda did a short double-take upon seeing the appearance of the hopeful merchant. Granted, she had interactions with only a select few Painters, but she had never seen one quite as… unique as this one.
‘ Well, she’s got gold, an' it looks nice, so at least she got good taste.’
“ ‘lo dere! Who might you be, o keeper of da lovely gold?”
Perhaps the many-eyed, winged snake would find such a greeting offensive – others had before her – and yet it was simply how Alvilda greeted others. It was true she could be more tactful and polite, but more often then not she was far more rude and informal and this was a day where she didn’t feel like schooling her tongue too closely.
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The Red Dame Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 8:38 pm
Zephyiote didn't jump when the stranger suprised her. She thought of herself too highly to bother with such undignified things. However, she did snap to attention immediately, all her eyes latching onto the stranger, as if trying to bore into her for some information. Her mane bristled a bit, but this was the only indication that she was slightly bothered. She didn't like being suprised, and inwardly, she cursed herself for not paying better attention.
Despite how ruffled she was, her voice was calm and cool, even slightly musical. "Why hello there, stranger. I am none other than the infamous Zephyiote," her lip twitched upward slightly at the mention of her own name, revealing a set of unnaturally sharp teeth. "And I do happen to have a rather nice little assortment of gold. Available for trade, provided you have goods that are suitable to my own tastes." By this time she had stood up, to give a little acknowedging nod of her head, her version of a formal bow.
She wasn't at all put off by this painter's...'oddness'. What were a few odd words compared to her own apperance. Rather, it was amusing. Whether it was an act, or simply her nature, Zephyiote could not gather. But she hoped that this was the merdrac that could satisfy her desires, and then she could go home. Wherever her home was, anyway.
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Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:28 pm
The twitching of Alvilda’s tail briefly switched from excitement to a tense defensiveness when she felt the gaze of the Painter’s multiple eyes upon her. The feeling of so many intense gazes was typically the prelude to a fight, something she had experienced on many occasions. Within a matter of seconds various schemes and scenarios flew through her head as she sized up the P’an-Lun, taking note of the sharp teeth and counting the number of eyes; the odds were not in her favor with such an opponent.
Just as quickly as the adrenaline rush came and had Alvilda on defense, it left, leaving a bemused Merdrac behind.
‘ ‘onestly, only a thrice-damned fool o’ a Painter would pick a fight ‘ere. I be getting’ paranoid.’
“ Zephyiote, eh? I’ve not ‘eard of you; perhaps I should come ‘ere more.”
Absorbing the last words of the unusual P’an-Lun, Alvida’s mind perceived a challenge. Pushing the wet leather bag up onto rock, she grinned at the P’an-Lun.
“ Well, I think I be just da Merdrac yer lookin’ for.”
Hauling her body up onto a shallow ledge – treading water became tedious after a while – faint scars could be seen littering the damp parts of her body out of the water. Lowering her head, she gently opened the flap of the leather bag with her teeth, revealing its multi-colored contents.
“ I be Alvilda, scavenger of the seas. I bring sponges, conchs, coral, pearls, and doubloons.” The last two she indicated with a claw, pointing out some small metal circles. “ I also be willing to wager that if I don’t ‘ave what ya’ fancy that I can get it.”
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The Red Dame Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 6:32 pm
}~{Oh wow! I just notticed Alvilda's face pattern is like a skull. That's awesome! heart }~{
Had Zephyiote known what Alvilda was thinking, it would have made her day. For she had come to the exact opposite conclusion of the other painter. Sure, she herself had a great deal of eyes, could fly, breathe fire and whatnot, but she was completely out of her element. Were they to get into a fight, and were the other to drag her into the water...it could prove highly dangerous. And weren't Merdracs extremely poisonous? She cleared herself of the thought. She was on business. She would have to try and remember that.
Seeing the other's scars was amusing though. Zephyiote herself didn't scar. She couldn't say why. The healers back at the temple were excellent she supposed. But she'd seen more than her fair share of fights. More often than not over something as trivial as her appearance. Oh well. It couldn't bother her. It was the only life she had ever know. Or at least, could recall.
"Well Alvilda, it seems we would be able to help each other. Now there remains the matter of price." She inched over, peering over Alvilda's goods. And boy did she deliver. They were all beyond her expectations. They were near flawless, or simply perfect. She'd never seen so many things she wanted in all her life. It was cliche, but she admitted to herself the feeling of a child in a candy shop. She wriggled with inward delight upon seeing the doubloons. She'd come here for pearls, but...they were so shiny! And though she'd read about such things, she'd never met anyone who posessed such treasure. She would be willing to trade everything she'd brought today for just a few of those coins, but it was not good strategy to let your opponent know that. For as soon as she'd come to the conclusion that they'd barter, this other, peculiar painter became her enemy. And it was her job to negotiate the best price possible. If she could get a few good shells out of the deal too...that would be terrific.
"My my, you weren't kidding. I believe these are...acceptable quality." she would first downplay the others selection, as if she normally recieved better. It was a good bartering strategy after all.
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Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:06 pm
“ Acceptable?” Alvilda queried, eyeing Zephyiote . “ Aye, I suppose that they could be called acceptable.”
Conchs, sponges, and coral did not impress Alvilda. They were, in her opinion, too common, yet because they were in demand she did make a point of collecting them. Boredom often provoked her to participate in the tedious task of hunting for pearls, and because while she found many pearls, her quality of those that she would barter with were high. However, what Alvilda truly took pride in were her doubloons.
Doubloons were hard to come by because of where they were found: shipwrecks. Some Merdracs didn’t trust humans and were suspicious of anything associated with them; shipwrecks definitely fell in that category. The other factor contributing to the scarcity of doubloons was the inherent danger involved in exploring shipwrecks. Alvilda loved exploring shipwrecks and to her the danger was only an added thrill.
“ I guess if dey be acceptable den you could find better quality elsewhere, mm? ‘specially pearls and dem pieces o’ gold since I don’t have as many of dem. I’d love to meet da Merdrac with better-den-acceptable goods; I might learn me a thing or two.”
Alvilda was no fool. It was a pirate’s job to steal and rip Painters off, not the other way around. “Acceptable” was a mighty low evaluation of her pearls and doubloons and she knew it. However, in case business with the P’an-Lun proved good, Alvilda didn’t want to directly insult her, so she felt it best to do a bit of verbal sparring instead.
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The Red Dame Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:55 pm
Zephyiote smirked. So appearently Alvilda knew the mechanisms of bartering well. Hrm. Good. Zephyiote's respect for the Merdrac grew. Saucy and strange as she was...it wasn't as if she wasn't strange herself. Zephyiote almost felt bad when she was able to swindle a paint out of their goods. Almost being the key word. Zephyiote laughed, teeth flashing a brilliant white underneath the blinking sun.
"Oh good! I was almost afraid you would prove to be incompetent. Now that we have established that neither of us are fools...perhaps we can beging the real discussion of price?"
Zephyiote fingered one of the dubloons, letting it roll between her fingers, her torso eyes trained on its movements, while the eyes on her head watched Alvilda.
"Do you have an established price system, or should you like me to propose my idea?"
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Posted: Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:32 pm
“ If you has an idea I’d mightly like to hear it. ‘m ‘fraid my habits may be a wee hard to break.”
By this Alvilda was referring to her tendency to rip off those that she dealt with. Originally she had planned to offer her terms, but she realized that the words that were ready to roll off her tongue would have insulted the smart P’an-Lun. Instead of risking her tongue being the causing of her going home empty-pawed, she decided it was probably best for Zephyiote to begin.
Watching Zephyiote play with the doubloon, Alvilda soon found that, unlike the P’an-Lun, she could not look in two directions at once. It made her envious; there had been many an occasion when Alvilda could have used an extra set of eyes or two.
“ Havin’ dat many eyes must be mighty useful.”
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The Red Dame Vice Captain
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