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 Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:37 pm
 Flavius was out away from the herds for his first ever trip to trade these lovely goods. He had a couple of pouches slung over his back, one side full of willow bark, the other jewelry and accessories. There were a few small lanterns latched onto the loops that were on the outside of the pouches on one side of him, and a couple of baskets hanging from the other. All in all, he looked like someone who was just a mish-mash of items. It was a bit of hard work navigating through some of the forests and areas with closed in areas with things hanging off of him. Those times he usually risked trying to fly and hoped beyond hope that he wouldn't drop anything on anyone's head. He had some high hopes though as he navigated the lands trying to find someone to trade with. A new herd started out, he knew it wasn't going to be easy, espeicially since he had heard wind of a couple herds dealing with skinwalkers, that may not want to deal with outsiders. But, worse they could say was no. He had to try. Taking a pause in his walking, the soft jingle of his bells pausing in their song, he looked around. The area looked a bit...worn down. Not obvious but it was more subtle, so he knew he had to be close to at least a small group that might be interested in trading with him. Flavius started walking again, a happy beat in his steps, and the bells ringing once more.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:07 pm
In the territory at the base of the mountains, three mares were enjoying the summer day. Amitorlin was a beautiful, opalescent kirin, standing slightly back from her herdmates. She wasn't unfriendly, just very shy and mostly kept to herself. She snuffled around the grasses, knowing the berries were out in full force this time of year.
It was her familiar, Elsu, who saw the stallion approaching. "Someone's coming," he told her as he landed on her shoulder. The kirin mare looked up and nickered to her companions. Dahlia and Candy Striper were much more chatty than the kirin mare. Dahlias specifically was more interested in collecting her materials for jewelry making than food at the moment. She was casually going over the grasses and vines, picking the prettiest flowers she could find; tucking them in her fur for storage not unlike a bird. Occasionally she would find a stray feather or beetle wing; she knew those were Mirari, the jewelry-makers, favorites. When Elsu announced someone was coming, she smiled; maybe it was her mate coming home at last?Candy Striper was speaking with Dahlia while looking for her own treasures. She was experimenting with a whole new mess of healing salves - she knew she was so close to a breakthrough! She picked at bark on the trees, scooping up mushrooms and dried grasses- placing all her finds in the satchel she kept around her neck. Her own familiar, a fuzzy chicken named Pixie Stix, was happily and blissfully pecking around her feet, eating little bits of stuff that fell from her collection.
"Who's coming?" she asked excitedly when Elsu spoke up. She was always so friendly and eager to meet new Soquili, she gave a little bounce of happiness as she scanned the treeline.
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 4:36 pm
The stallion looked ahead and saw in the distance a few gathered together! Oh it was Flavius' lucky day. Finally someone to try to offer the herds goods. He kept at his pace, the bells ringing in time to the swaying lanterns and baskets. As he got closer he could make out three mares and one of them seemed eager for a visitor. "G'day m'ams. I'm sorry to intrude." He lowered his head low in a bow before looking back up at the three. "I'm a trader from the Silver Willow Bell herd. And I have a few items that I hope might interest you." He glanced back at his laden pouches on his back. "I have some willow bark which does wonders for healing, baskets for those young foals, and a few other assortment of items." He looked at each mare individually, trying to watch their reactions and see if maybe they might possibly be interested. "If you're not interested though, I do apologize for the intrusion and I will gladly go on my way." Flavius smiled as he spoke. He really didn't want to be a pushy trader and so he waited, anticipation building. This was so exciting for him!
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Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 5:24 pm
 Amitorlin had not conversed with many other Soquili in her life, especially those outside the herd. But she was curious and the jingling of the bells made her smile. She got a little closer to the other two mares - even though she was there elder by far, she trusted them much more with these kinds of matters. She has not used to the idea of wordly possessions.
She felt safer with Elsu by her side. He was the first creature she had really spoken to in this land, and being a 'local' of sorts, she trusted his judgement. *
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*"Welcome," Dahlia said, stepping up beside Candy. She looked over the stallion and his wares, curiously. While she had heard of much larger, more organized herds that made things, their small informal family group seemed downright quaint to many outsiders. But she wasn't going to discount anything just yet. She had never heard of the 'Silver Willow Bell' herd, but making new friends and allies was always a treat.
"How interesting," she said, taking the lead in the conversation, though she knew she would need to get her father for anything formal. "I don't think we need baskets, there's a two-legger neaby who makes them for us," she said. But they look very nice." *
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*"Hi nice to meet you!" the brown mare said enthusiastically. "Wow, welcome! I like your bells, those are so cute! Oh, healing?"
She came close, eager to see the willow bark. "Oh, Dahlia, can we get some the willow bark! I could really use some! Please please please!" she whined, not unlike a small filly, trotting on her feet in place in anticipation. "What do you want for it?" she asked the stallion. "Oh, I'm Candy, by the way!" she said, almost as an afterthought.
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 6:51 am
The stallion smiled at them, especially with Candy's enthusiasm for the willow bark. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I believe I failed to mention my name before. Which I do apologize for. I'm Flavius." He lowered his head slightly as he mentioned his name. "The willow bark has many uses in healing. Right now all I have with me is the bark itself. Which when you place it in some hot water, makes for great drink that helps with fevers and all sorts of pains. We also make it as a tincture type thing, but I do not have any with me as the two-leggers are still in the process of completing the current batch." He paused after his explanation of the bark, and smiled at quiet mare. "I am looking for things like seeds and bells mainly, but make an offer and most likely I'll consider it if it's reasonable." Turning his attention back to the one whom he assumed was Dahlia he nodded. "Not many are as fortunate to have the luxury of two-leggers nearby, or just don't trust them. And since Adelle, one of our herd leaders likes to make sure everyone is helped, she likes to send out the baskets. We were very fortunate to have a small village of two-leggers who consider themselves a part of our herd." He gave a small nod, trying to not ramble on to terribly much. "Oh! Another bit on the willow bark," turning his attention back to Candy, he continued on with the thought he had forgotten. "We only have the bark available to trade just a few times out of the year, so it gives our willow trees a chance to replenish and we don't accidentally kill them by over-harvesting."
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Posted: Wed Jul 03, 2013 7:19 am
Amitorlin, ever shy, continued to to hedge closer, her ears pricked in curiosity over at the exchange being made. She let Dahlia take the lead, but made sure to listen to everything just in case. When he introduced himself, she gave a smile and a nod, trying to be polite while reconciling her lack of confidence talking to strangers she didn't know. She had spent nearly a year watching Sequoyah from across the river - exchanging glances and smiles, before getting the nerve to speak with him. *
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*"Nice to meet you, Flavius," Dahlia said, taking the lead role. "My name is Dahlia, I'm the eldest daughter of the herd leaders. This is Amitorlin," she said, motioning towards the friendly but shy kirin girl, "and this is Candy, as you know. I must say, I really don't know what we can offer. We're a pretty, uh, simple herd compared to some I've heard of. We don't tinker or make a lot of things: mostly live off the land and such." She looked over the goods, taking note of Candy's enthusiasm. We've had an exceptional amount of dewberries growing in our herdlands right now. Its been a good summer for it. Mirari, my sister, makes some jewelry sometimes. She have some kirin-scale ones stashed away for a special occasion." *
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*"I have some herbs in here," Candy said, flipping open her satchel and rooting around. "These are a mix of milk-flowers and pine straw...its really rough and fibrous so what you do - you see if someone has a bad gash or a cut or something, you chew it up really good in your mouth, right? And then you put it in the wound - it will stop the bleeding and it keeps it from getting all oozy like you know, sometimes bad cuts get and make you sick?"
She rooted around some more. "Oh, and maybe some dried bitter cherries. They taste horrible but they are great for stomach aches, like if you ate some rotten food or something."
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Posted: Sun Jul 07, 2013 10:57 am
They were offering things and it made Flavius glad that this trading thing might just work out. He couldn't blame them for not having much to trade with, as he did just kind of happened upon them, and they probably never were expecting the possibilities of trading with others."I do apologize for giving no warning in advance but I was just hoping that there were other herds and not just those vicious demons." He said as he recalled seeing a quick glimpse of a pale bat-like creature not far from the borders of their land, but before he could get a closer look, it had disappeared. "To be perfectly honest, this is my first attempt at trading, at least coming from a herd. The Silver Willow Bell, just kind of happened and now that the leaders have established essentially a set of ground rules, they took on the task of figuring out trade knowing there were things we wouldn't be able to access on our own." He explained to Dahila, in hopes to make up for the lack of preparation or anything of the sort, he would hate to have these mares feel at fault in any form. Turning his attention back to the mare who was eagerly wanting the willow bark he nodded. "Those that you have in your pouch are something that we lack, I can give you a few pieces of bark in exchange for a tiny bit of your healing herbs." "And, is there anything you might like?" Directing his question and a glance towards the mare who had yet to really say a word.
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Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2013 6:51 am
Amitorlin skirted around his two herdmates, peering over their shoulders. She looked up at Flavius when he addressed her. She gave a soft smile and shook her head. "No thank you," she said, her voice surprisingly melodic and charming. She was a simple enough mare, if she couldn't take it from her own herd lands then it was something she could live without. *
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*"I see," Dahlia said, listening to him intently. "We've always just kept to ourselves, but I can see how this could be advantageous. As I've said, we don't produce a lot, but we can certainly make sure nothing goes to waste with some good trades," she offered with a friendly smile. "I'll talk to my father as well, he's kind of the head stallion around here, but I don't imagine he'll have a problem. He's a nice guy." *
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* Candy seemed ecstatic that he was willing to bargain with her. "Perfect!" she trilled, pulling out a bit of the herbs from her pouch and eagerly passing them to the cream color stallion, her eyes sparkling. "I'm a healer, you know," she said, puffing her chest out a bit. "Er, well, I'm learning, at least."
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Posted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 10:04 am
Flavius gave the bark to the excited mare and took the herbs in exchange, giving her another smile. "Healers are wonderful things, some of the most helpful ones out there. Perhaps maybe I'll hear tales of you in the future of you saving the life of another." He gave a small chuckle, knowing that at some point that it would probably come true. Being a trader had its advantages after all. One hears all sorts of gossip when one is traveling a lot. He gave the quiet mare a small nod in reply to her answer. The stallion didn't want to make the poor dear uncomfortable. "Well, if you don't think he would have any problems with it, that would be great. Though I'd like to speak with him myself at some point. Since I kind of came upon you unexpectedly, I can always return back later on down the road so you've had a chance to speak with your father." He paused a moment to think. Flavius didn't want to accidentally intrude on a herd with such short notice. One day he would get himself a messenger bird to have fly on ahead to let the herds know he was coming, but for now he just kind of had to be a surprise. "Unless you think he would not be upset with strange company sooner rather than later?" ((I'm sorry! D8 I could have sworn I had replied to this awhile ago. My bad. Thanks for being so patient! ))
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Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 8:27 am
Amitorlin backed up a few paces, looking towards Dahlia for her assessment. She was close to Sequoyah as well. Eventually they planned to have children together, though he was hesitant to say so out load, she knew she would mostly be a surrogate for him and Xandir. Not that she minded at all; Sequoyah had assured she would be involved in raising them and they would know her as her 'mother.' But that was neither here nor there. Dahlia was a much better candidate for second in command; she was so bright and friendly and not as shy as she knew she was.
After all, Amitorlin wasn't much for politics anyway. *
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*"Hmmm....." she tossed her brilliant colored mane over her shoulder and looked to the sky. It was a beautiful summer afternoon and still several hours away from dusk. She didn't know of any pressing matters that would interfere. "Oh, I don't think he would mind if you wanted to talk to him," she said, making the executive decision that she would bring him to meet the Alpha. "His name is Sequoyah, by the way, I don't know if I mentioned that. He's a nice guy." She gave a nod and smile and turned towards the deeper thickets of the meadow. "He's usually around this way, closer to the mountain. Follow me?" *
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* "Oh.... saving someone's life is my dream!" Candy chirped, beginning to fall in line with Dahlia and Flavius. "Except I feel really weird wishing that, because, in a way, isn't that kind of like wishing someone someone got hurt? And I certainly don't want that to happen! That would be awful! But you know, bad things happen and it certainly would be pretty amazing to know you were the one that saved their life, yes?" She giggled. "Oh, well, in the meantime I'd rather just wish that my family and friends stay safe and all and I can help them with their headaches and tummy aches!"
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