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 Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:21 pm
Quote: It was already late in the evening but the merchant seemed unfazed by the passing of time. He sat, poised and elegant, watching the world around him. He didn’t seem bored but he sat, fingers laced atop the table; below it, he kept his toe tapping to some silent tune in his head. He was tall, by human standards, though while sitting down he didn’t seem particularly threatening. If you didn’t look at his face. He had graceful features--sharp and refined. His chin and nose tapered to a point, giving him an air of sophistication, but that, combined with his slitted eyes and pointed teeth, there was something undeniably predatory about him. He watched with a hungry gaze and a mischievous, nearly sinister smile. His ears were pointed and were prominent despite being tucked behind his vibrant, multi-colored hair. The most intrusive feature that indicated there was something not human about him were the curling horns protruding from his temples and the oil-slick black scales that brushed his cheeks and forehead. He was well dressed, in a fashion obviously otherworldly, and seemed to enjoy dressing himself up in glistening gemstones. His tables were somehow both simple and overwhelming; each table was draped with a dark purple tablecloth, all with extravagant embroidery in different designs. Scattered neatly atop the tables were an array of items that seemed to carry some magical weight to them. He did not seem intimidated in the slightest and, upon noticing that the barrier surrounding him rippled to allow his visitor to pass, he smiled. He did not rise to meet them nor adjust his position in the slightest. He followed them with his fierce eyes and greeted, in a silky voice, “Welcome.” As Kurma passed through the barrier, the area was filled with the timeless aroma of smoked meat. At some point during his search for the home of the wisp he'd found, a craving that had been brewing since before he returned to Earth had caught up to him -- and so, he had dipped into a barbecue place before heading back out to complete his quest. He'd already devoured one sandwich, but there was plenty more where that came from in the large brown paper bag tucked into one of his arms. In his other arm was his star buoy and, of course, the wisp, which he'd carefully guided into a styrofoam cup. Its gentle flame licked at the lid, causing it to glow with a faint light. "Howdy," he said, returning the greeting. "I noticed your sign. Pretty sure I caught one of your little guys out there."
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:38 am
The aroma met the merchant’s nose at the same time he caught sight of the wisp and it was impossible to tell which was the inspiration for his wistful sigh. “Ah, did you now!” It was an exclamation more than a question, and he leaned forward a bit as he looked Kurma over. “You are not a Senshi. Or a Knight. Or covered in Chaos, even. You’re a treasure yourself, aren’t you? Come closer,” he insisted. “Let me take that wisp off your hand. You’ve come to make a trade, yes? And to tease me with that food. It’s divine. I haven’t had the luxury of leaving my booth yet in quite some time. It’s been very busy, you know. I’m fortunate so many Earthlings are so eager to trade with me. You’ve come to as well, haven’t you?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 10:20 am
The merchant's energy was rather infectious, and Kurma met it in equal measure. "You've got your senses about you, huh?" he replied jovially, with a bright chuckle. The merchant was nothing familiar to him either, and there was a mutual curiosity bubbling in the room from all the sources of novelty present -- from the food, to the wares, to the two people here. With appreciative eyes, he peered around at the merchandise on display. There was such an extensive variety of items. It was clear they were from an extensive variety of places. Meeting another traveler was an unexpected delight. "You've really been all over the place. I've never been the souvenir type myself..." He placed the cup housing the wisp on a table, easily within the merchant's reach, without a second thought. "But if you're hungry, I got plenty," he grinned. "I swear, Earth has got some of the best food I have ever seen. You've gotta try this." He sat up cross-legged in the air so he'd have a lap to place his bag in, and enthusiastically dug out a paper basket of saucy meat and thick-cut fries. In a tone that suggested he was sharing one of the greatest secrets of the universe, he said, "They're called 'rib tips.'"
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 10:30 am
Once more, the merchant was clearly delighted with him; he seemed impressed that Kurma could just float there. “I will try anything,” he said shamelessly, and for as tempted as he was to just take the wisp while Kurma was sharing this magical secret, he instead managed to listen. Instead, he reached below his table and withdrew an extremely ornate chalice that could have easily doubled as an extravagant candy dish, complete with stem and lid. The crystal bowl was cut with many facets that all perfectly seemed to capture and accentuate the light inside. Atop of the clear crystal, an ornate silver lid encrusted with what looked to be a giant diamond in the center. It had a large silver stem and a beautiful, sturdy base with a few more gemstones embedded within it. A few wisps danced around inside already, and he left it on the corner of his table, obviously with the intention of suggesting he reunite the wisps and get them all off the table. “Although, if you’re offering to share, I’ll have to make sure you get an extra precious treasure. I’m here for the wisps, but I am quite smitten with a good meal. They look a bit messy, would you mind if I popped that little wisp in here with the others, first? They’re a bit finicky, you know how magic gets, I’m sure. May I ask, what a creature such as yourself is doing here on Earth? The others, I understand. Sort of. But you,” he hummed appreciatively. “You, like me, could be anywhere you wanted to be, I’d imagine. Are you here for the rib tips, or something else?”
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 5:37 pm
The merchant was quite eager to get the wisps back, and Kurma could understand why. The one he had found had seemed so lost and out of place out in the big city. It would probably be overjoyed to be back where it belonged. So he said, "Sure thing. It's yours, right? I'm betting it'll be happy to be home." With that out of the way, he rubbed his chin at the inquiry for a good, long moment. "Good question," he said. "I guess one thing is, it's where most people are nowadays. All of the senshi are here, right? But they're supposed to be from all over, and they forgot that. So at first, it was to show them a way back home..." Kurma's eyes closed, remembering that moment. It hadn't been that long ago, so it was still clear in his mind. Europa, Bellatrix, Castor, Merope, Pegasus, Maia, Metis... he could recall all their names and faces with ease. And it had been the first time, in a long time, that he had seen snow up close. "I've been out looking for people elsewhere for a bit, but haven't found anything," he continued. "Used to be so easy." There was a momentary frown at that, but the smile returned as he looked at the merchant again. "Where are you from, anyway?"
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:26 pm
The merchant scooped the wisp eagerly into chalice and, just as quickly as it had appeared, he tucked it back under his table for safe keeping. “Oh, here and there,” he said nonchalantly. “Hard to say anymore, it’s not like there are many places to call home. If we’re being completely honest, I don’t remember the last time I found somewhere worth visiting.” He shrugged, a bit dismissively. “There’s life out there, it’s just that not all of it’s worth interacting with. I found a planet just swarming with bugs, oh, I don’t know. In Earth time, maybe a few years ago? But they just wanted to eat everything. I couldn’t even look around. Very disappointing,” he sighed. “Earth is far more tolerable. I like the neon lights, too. And all the fast food. May I?” he asked, and gestured to the portion Kurma had produced. “My name is Almadel. I haven’t forgotten about our trade, I’ll get you something charming in a moment. But I want to get to know you a bit better. What’s your name?”
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Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2021 2:39 pm
Kurma laughed a bit at the fellow traveler's story, in that oh, I know how that goes way. At the same time, it was a a little dismaying, a little worrisome, to learn that he hadn't found much in the way of people outside of Earth either. "Go right ahead, eat it while it's still hot," he nodded at the food. "Good to meet you, Almadel. You can call me Kurma."
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:22 pm
“With pleasure,” he said, and reached to sample a bite. Ordinarily, he might have taken some time to offer a more courteous introduction--shake hands, and all that--but how could he when Kurma brought him something that smelled so good? He’d barely swallowed when he was declaring, “Oh. Oh, that is divine. What have I been missing out on all these years? Tell me this is new, tell me I haven’t been depriving myself of this for long,” he insisted, absolutely unable to resist a second bite. He didn’t speak with his mouth full, as though doing so would somehow dampen the taste in his mouth. “I think I’ll owe you something very special in exchange for introducing me to this. Oh, and my wisp, of course. Thank you, again. You’re not really from Earth, are you? I doubt you’ll be as impressed with my wares as the Earthlings. I don’t suppose you collect anything? Are you in the market for any particular rarities I can dig up for you?”
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:23 am
"You're telling me," Kurma gushed along with his new friend. "I can't believe I skipped out on Earth for so long. There's amazing food all over the place." His mind was bubbling with all the delicacies he could show to Almadel. It was a shame he couldn't take the merchant on tour right this second. Then, he shrugged. "I didn't know I'd be shopping," he grinned. "Usually travel pretty light. But let's see what you got."
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:58 pm
Almadel nodded as he finished his third bite, and made a noise that sounded very much like a purr. “I’ll have to bother you for all of your recommendations. I can’t believe I’ve missed out on this for so long.” He sighed contentedly and had to reroute his brain back to business. He’d already received the wisp, so now that payment was completed on Kurma’s end, it was his turn to pony up. “I’ve got a little bit of everything, if you tell me what you like, I might be able to make a suggestion. You’re more than welcome to pick up anything you like if it catches your eye, I don’t have anything too dangerous up on display.” He had a few small weapons that appeared more ornamental than dangerous. Aside from that, he had a few items that had some distant, hazy, magical glow about him. The rest seemed like antiques, or shiny things he’d picked up and thought he could convince someone they had value. He moved a few things, including a scarf, embroidered like the night sky. It seemed he had noticed it was obscuring something, so he folded it neatly and placed it back on the table in a smaller space. With the scarf gone, the moonlight glinted off a golden instrument sitting on the corner of the table. It was clearly old but well very well maintained. It was stamped with a little star, but had no other identifying features easily found on it. Almadel’s eyes went to it, and then to Kurma. “I’ve got boxes of things, too. Don’t be shy if you don’t fall in love with any of this. I won’t let you leave without something you love.”
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:37 pm
The gleam of moonlight on the instrument caught Kurma's eye. Immediately, his eyes widened with delighted surprise, as if he had just spotted an old friend in the most unexpected of places. "Well, I'll be..." He smiled appreciatively at it. "It's been a few trips around the Cauldron since I saw that thing!" Then, he laughed. "Where was it? It wasn't around Ophiuchus, was it?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2021 1:50 pm
Almadel seemed to brighten at this. “Did you leave it there? Something so precious, how could you just forget about it? --By Ophiuchus, of all places,” he huffed. “ Please. Do I even want to know what you were doing out there? Tell me you had some interstellar band you were playing with and had to make a quick getaway from all your adoring fans.” Tell him something, anything; he seemed like he was enamored with the idea of finding something and returning it to someone who knew what it was. He already had his wisp, the hard part of this transaction was over. Now, he was just enjoying Kurma’s company.
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Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:32 pm
"Got it from a Mauvian originally," Kurma brightly recalled. "I wasn't much for mouth words that time, so she followed me around making stuff I could use to talk to people easier. This one was my favorite. It always got the point across better than any words could." Setting the food bags aside, he reached over and settled the instrument in his lap. It resembled a zither. With a curious expression, he plucked a string -- and the note that rang out was so sharp and sour it made him cringe. It was terribly out of tune. He laughed at that. "Anyway, so we were in Ophiuchus. Chaos was causing some problems there." He closed his eyes and crossed his arms as he recalled events that took place long, long ago. "The big problem was that it could possess animals and space fauna, so folks were getting mauled and ecosystems were getting messed up. on top of the usual events." As he tried to remember how to tune his instrument, he continued, "But then a senshi I met there discovered you could break the possession with a traditional song from her world. So we joined up, us and her and a few more senshi, and went around everywhere playing it whenever we saw that kind of trouble. People were always real happy when we showed up." So, yes indeed -- he was in a traveling band, and had fans.
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Posted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:27 pm
Almadel watched with great interest and he listened with his full attention, occasionally nodding as Kurma spoke. He winced at the sharp noise but remained amused. “Oh, that’s a charming story. Very wholesome. Not quite as dramatic as I was hoping, but I think I like it all the same. I haven’t got any musical talent, but I do have an appreciation for well-made crafts. You must forgive me for the condition it’s in. Unless it’s supposed to sound like that.” He looked to Kurma with one brow raised, like he was hoping to have some light shed on the whole thing. “I’ve heard there’s a talent in magic, of course. There aren’t that many musicians left out in the universe. Seems like Earth is the only place that’s got time for leisure and entertainment. If you can get that thing tuned up and back in pristine condition, will you play me something? I want to hear what you can say with it.”
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Posted: Wed Oct 06, 2021 6:46 pm
Kurma waved away the apology. "It's just out of tune, probably mostly my fault." He had, after all, been the one who had lost it in space. "But I can play something for you, sure." As he tested at the strings to bring them back into proper harmony, he continued his story. "So of course, they were able to take down that bit of Chaos and the whole neighborhood threw a big party about it, right? And you know it's always a real fun time when that happens." He gave a rare, sly and suggestive grin at that. Almadel seemed like the type who would know. "That's when everyone breaks out the good stuff. There were these vendors who came up from the tail end of Ophiuchus, and..." A bit of nostalgic laughter broke out. "Maybe you've had 'em. These sour little fruit cakes, shaped like..." Kurma drew a complex, curvy symmetrical shape in the air. "They told me not to have more than one," he laughed again. "And the next time I woke up, the cat and I were on the other side of the galaxy." He laughed some more, for a good long moment. "I wasn't happy I'd left my friend here behind, but they're back now. So it's all good." He brushed a hand across the strings, now in near-perfect harmony. It was quite pleasant.
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