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Sairaag. The once holy city where the Swordsman of Light slew the demon-beast Zanifar. Now barely holding itself together. If Teosinthe stood on her horse's back, she could probably see the ruins of the city just outside of the patched-up houses that made Sairaag as it was now. Her ears folded down as she sighed and guided her horse, Marcus, into the marketplace. Well, she assumed it was the marketplace; it was the only place she saw people with temporary shops.

Parking Marcus in an empty spot against one of the walls, Teo jumped down and rolled out a mat in front of her. She normally used it for peddling, but she wouldn't be so harsh in Sairaag. Driving up prices and hawking one's wares was a quick way to get a mob on her tail. Don't want that ever happening again. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice... I don't get fooled twice. Laying small boxes of nails and water resistant tarp on her mat, the merchant smiled at the wares she had collected. They were definitely things the people of Sairaag needed to rebuild; they probably would need the same things for several years to come. As awful as the tragedy of its destruction was, it had also given Teo a stable source of income, provided she could buy the wares they needed first.

"Open for business!" she shouted before sitting down and allowing Marcus to rest behind her. She quickly got several offers for the nails as, apparently, one of the walls of an under-construction building weren't quite stable enough yet. She gladly parted with them for ten gold pieces.

Soon enough, she only had a few things left to sell and people were beginning to drop out of the market. Hm... must be lunchtime. Teo got some bread and cheese from her pack and began to munch on it as the door to the building behind her opened. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw what it was: a man of brown stone. Teo had heard of demons and monsters and creatures, so her tensed for a moment before realizing that it was a foolish fear to have. No one would let a monster roam free in this city. Even as it is now, they'd still just skip town. Eying him up and down - and the coin purse in his hand - an idea formed in her head. I just got some herbal remedies from Saillune. Perhaps I could peddle them off on this man. I'm sure one of them was supposed to be good for dry skin.

Couldn't hurt to try. Putting her index finger and thumb in her mouth, Teo gave a whistle, attempting to get his attention. "Hey! Tall, dark, and rocky," she called out. "Have I got a deal for you."

Beautiful, eh? Teo was used to either that or being called a mongrel and chased out with a broom. Of the two, she greatly preferred the former. As the man sat down, her wares bounced a bit and so did she. Teo had to hold onto the mat to keep from falling over. She wouldn't hold it against him; after what he said, she definitely wasn't going to hold it against him. A smile, he says, the cougar woman thought as a nice grin spread across her face. I can do that. It's not even false. She'd never had someone's sitting down make her bounce before; it was funny.

"What a nice thing to say. And you're lucky; smiles are always free at my stall." Teo was ignoring the fact that she didn't have a stall. Saying 'mat' just didn't have the same ring to it. "My horse? Yes, he is indeed. And so much more, too. Marcus is as loyal a steed as one can get." At that, the brown horse swiveled his head around to bump Teo's hand with his snout. It was an affectionate gesture; he was quite the smart horse.

"I couldn't help but notice how extraordinarily unique you are," Teo said. Wheeling and dealing was what she did best, and the cougar woman loved talking. "Which made me wonder: does that stone skin of yours ever crack? I've seen my share of rock on the road, and those with cracks seem to lose their charm. Quartz, obsidian, shale... you name it. That is why I thought it in good taste to offer this: an herbal rub from the city of Saillune itself. I've seen it work wonders for dry skin, and I'm sure it'll leave you looking fine and strong."

Well... she'd gotten the rock-man to come over to her stall, but she got a sinking feeling as soon as he began to ask questions. There was just something about his voice and demeanor that screamed "I'm not interested." Teo knew a difficult pitch when she saw one, and this would definitely be one of them. Bah! This probably isn't worth the effort. This stuff cost me more than a pretty penny, and I'm not letting it go for anything less. The way this is going already... I get the feeling he'd take it for maybe... half of what it's worth, if that.

All that thinking went through her brain in a few seconds, along with the calculations of profits and loss. It just wasn't worth peddling when there were other things to sell. Teo didn't let that show on her face, though; instead, she smiled softly, like she usually did. It was much better to leave a customer - even one who bought nothing - with a good impression so she'd have a better time selling things the next time she came around. "It does work, don't get me wrong there, but I've only seen it on pale, old humans with wrinkling skin and lizard-men. No one quite like you."

She watched as he picked up a jar and sniffed, but she knew what it was just by the smell. Teo didn't label things; she kept all that information in her head. What he had just picked up was not an herbal rub. Gently prying it from his hand, the cougar woman put the cork back on and set it down. "Of course this smells bizarre; it's sealant. It'll smell even worse once you add water, but it's perfectly odorless when it dries. This," she tapped on a smaller jar, "is the rub. And it's a paste, so I suppose it must have water in it. I got the ingredient list when I purchased it, but the water must just have been implied."

A little thought perched in her mind, though. "You wouldn't be averse to water, would you? How would you go out drinking?" It was getting close to sundown, so Teo would probably pack up soon and be off to do just that.

Teo's ears flicked forward when she heard him laugh. It was an odd sound, though not unpleasant. Chimera, eh? Explains a lot, that does. Sorcerers aren't supposed to experiment on people, though... The cougar woman shook the thought from her mind as he explained why he asked about water; she'd been right on the money. "Oof," she sighed. "You've definitely got my respect. I don't think I could go for two weeks without a nice, warm bath."

On another note - which he seemed to change to very quickly, considering - the chimera man had just said that he would buy something. That made Teo's tail wag happily. "Well, let's see... your mother, you sa- My name?" She hadn't seen that one coming. Teo supposed she should've, given how he was acting enamored with her, but she'd gotten a bit too used to men just whistling and calling her 'Kitty' to expect anything else. "W-well... I'm Teosinthe Levin," she quickly recovered from her shock. "Teo for short. But you were asking about what your mother might like, yes?"

Teo scanned her merchandise, hand flitting from jar to jar until she found one that was just what she needed. "Aha! This one," she said, taking the jar and uncorking it. "This is also a rub for dry skin. It's not as strong as the other one; less for medicinal purposes, but perfect for smoothing skin. It also has traces of lilac that leave a nice scent. Sound like something your mother might like?"

Wrong Place: Marketplace, Sairaag
Wrong Time: Afternoon, Spring 1

Not many merchants were wealthy enough to warrant attention from Jack's Gang. Even fewer were stubborn enough not to take the hint. In Sairaag, there was one such merchant who had set up a stall one week ago and had yet to pay for "security." That just wouldn't do at all, so Jack had actually gone to the market to make sure the job got done right. But now that he was actually in front of the stall, looking down at the potato merchant, he was beginning to wonder why there had been a problem with him in the first place.

"P-please. I was going to get around to it eventually. Just had to get it all together first." The feeble man quivered before Jack's two bruisers: a big human with a giant club slung over his back and a lanky snake anthro with sharp claws. Nobody wanted to be in front of those two when they went berserk, but they were generally too dumb to know when they were being played.

The snake anthro scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, Bossssss," he said. "Can't we jusssssssst wait?"

Jack groaned and rolled his eyes. He was standing between and behind them, the one directing them but not actually doing any intimidating... which probably made him scarier given how small he was in comparison. "No. He's obviously lying." Some days, he wondered why he put up with their idiocy. "He's got the money here. And he's gonna give it to us. Right. Now." Jack glared at the merchant, who promptly ducked into the tent behind his stall, yelling something about getting it right away. Jack motioned the snake to go in with him. "Make sure he actually gets it this time, Toothy."

Toothy nodded and followed the poor man back into the tent. Jack sighed and looked around the market. Well this is annoying. All this work for 50 gold... but we can't just let these merchants walk over us. I just wished they had bigger purses. Then, he caught sight of something that made him smile. Is that a priestess? Possibly a shrine maiden here? Oh, this just got good... A delightfully fiendish idea took root in Jack's mind: he'd capture her and demand ransom from the city. Then, he'd set up an insurance policy so that no more "accidents" happened.

"Tiny, you see that girl over there," he tapped on the big man's shoulder a foot above his head and pointed at a little, blue-haired girl wearing robes. "Grab her and take her back to the base. And make it snappy; I don't want anyone to even have time to think of being a hero. So get to it."

Tiny nodded and plodded over to the girl, waiting until the last minute to reach down and grab her. Brains, he may not have, but he's good at getting things right, Jack thought, watching from the merchant's stall. Now why didn't I just have him rough up this merchant? Wouldn't have gotten this opportunity, though. This is a good day.

This city Sairaag which once held a holy tree, the young lady didn't plan to end up in this city, but its where her travels took her. Her older brother had decided that this place would be good to stop at for a while during their travels, so here they were. Today was as important a day as any as Ms Valatores had to gather ingredients for dinner. If Ketos was going to be breaking his back doing a hard days labor being a lumberjack or rebuilding the city or whatever he was doing to earn an honest days wage she had to do something as well. Even if it was as simple as getting groceries and cooking dinner for them. The girl that dressed in robes, often mistaken for a priestess for that, and it didn't help to be in a city like this.

Making her rounds around the city market place, she just finished up with a potato merchant and was not far away. The girl was blissfully unaware of the eyes that were locked onto her. "Excuse me. Can I get three sticks of carrots and an onion?" From one merchant to the next, checking over what she could get on a deal, having to shop on a budget wasn't the easiest but she could make do with very little. Arty just had her own tune in her head as she kept walking down the market place, not noticing the giant of a man walking behind her, not until a sudden lifting sensation. Not the quickest of reaction time as she kept trying to walk while being held over someones shoulder. "Um, excuse me. Sir. Could you please put me down?" Still holding onto her sack of vegetables, wondering why this stranger had just gabbed her. Is he trying to play a game? I haven't played this once since I was little. No that can't be right. She could tell the person holding her was running, heading straight out of the market and towards somewhere out of town. "I don't require aid in walking if thats why you're doing this. If you could let me down it would be very appreciated." Somehow Arty was getting the feeling this gentlemen wasn't listening to her, nor was he a gentlemen.

Even though she was being kidnapped she didn't have any sense of danger. She was tempted to simple make this guy let her go, to place her hands upon him and use her magic to blast a clear hole through him, but that idea was put aside, what if this guy needed her help for some reason and was just too shy to ask? Artelind had a bad habit of seeing the best in people without thinking of possible danger. "Can you at least tell me where we're going, please?" Letting out a sigh, she didn't see the point in fighting back yet. Maybe she should have brought her knife with her? She didn't think she would need it for a little grocery shopping. Suddenly letting up a light struggle as she felt a sandal slip from her foot and hit the ground, she didn't want to lose a shoe. "Wait! Can you please go back. I need that!" Sadly all protests seemed for naught, she was stuck on this ride.

Well, it was more than he was willing to pay, but Teo expected that. The real trick was to pitch so that she could get a little more than what he proposed. "Oh, this definitely does something. Normally I'd recommend trying it yourself, but as things are, I'm afraid you only have my word to go on." The cougar woman's mind was working overtime, trying to figure out how best to turn things to her favor in terms of price. I shouldn't press too hard; no guarantee on the product means the price goes down. What would be a good compromise that doesn't feel like I'm forcing it...

"This stuff isn't exactly common fare," Teo said to his offer of 10 gold. "It's not easy making a lotion with a dual purpose. Selling for too little would be an insult to the herbalists who made it, but I could lower the price to a mere 12 gold." She was ready for the counter-argument, willing to settle on 11 gold for the jar, when something caught her eye.

It was a man with a little girl slung over his shoulder running out of the market. That's not normal, she thought as Hyrum voiced her thoughts exactly. "I saw it. And I do believe it's worth investigating." Everything about how the big man was running screamed that he wasn't a good citizen or playing a friendly game of... okay, there were no games that involved doing that. Teo jumped to her feet, swiping up her mat and bundling it up so that all her products were safe and secure before tossing it into one of Marcus's sidebags. "I'm going to see what's going on. No need to alert the guards if nothing's wrong."