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 Posted: Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:41 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.” Of all the places Asphodel could have expected the suspicious wisp he had found to come from, a store was absolutely the last he would have considered. But here he was, at a strange flea market being run by a strangely inhuman individual. The Knight had startled a bit upon being greeted and seeing the piercing eyes and horns and teeth and scales, but in spite of his appearance, the man clearly was not a youma. So, he sighed and accepted that he was dealing with either a slightly suspicious alien or a human in an extremely convincing costume. Knowing Destiny City, it probably wasn't the latter. He honestly didn't know what to say, so he just nodded at the merchant and slowly turned his head this way and that, taking in the space. There was quite the collection of things here. Something about that was nostalgic in a way he couldn't quite place.
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 7:34 am
“Oh, not the talkative sort? That’s alright. I’ll make enough noise for the both of us. Come closer, I won’t bite. I’m sure you saw the sign out front--I’m looking for wisps,” he explained. “Little floating balls of light. They’re harmless, they just sort of float around. Only, they’re not supposed to be separated like they are. I’m hoping I might be able to recover them--and,” he smiled as sweetly as possible, “If you tell me you’ve found some, I’d be more than happy to make an exchange with you. As you can see,” he gestured to his tables, “I’ve got plenty of wares to part with.” Tables of them, and even more boxes stacked beneath them. “Rare treasures,” he explained. “I’m being very generous with my trades. I’m sure I can find you something wonderful, if you’ve got something worthwhile to trade me.“
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Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2021 1:15 pm
"Yes, I saw the sign," Asphodel stonily replied. "And I have a wisp." In a way, he was pretty relieved to learn that the wisp was just some odd treasure that had been misplaced by some odd merchant. There was plenty of things to wonder about here, like what the wisps were supposed to be when they weren't separated... but the Knight was already mentally strained beyond his limits from everything else he had rediscovered and seen. So, for now, it was good enough to know that this hadn't turned out to be some Negaverse scheme. "Honestly, a good cup of coffee would be fine," he mused as he let his eyes wander around the tables. With the merchant's tone, he half wondered how much of the stuff here was junk and how much of it was treasure.
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Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2021 7:36 pm
“Oh, I wish,” the merchant sighed. “I’m afraid I haven’t been able to leave my table for some time now. I might have a bag of peanuts, but I’m afraid anything worth indulging in is long gone. Unless you like to eat flowers, I think I’ve got a few of those.” He moved a few things around on his table, opened a few small boxes, and paused when he found a whole set of small vials, each one stamped with a different color and flower shape on it. He seemed to consider this for a moment and turned to display the collection. “Humans don’t drink oils, do they? I forget. I’ve a set of twelve here. Enchanted, of course. The bottles will never empty. Which is fantastic, when you don’t travel often, and don’t have to worry about tipping one over and it spilling over all of your rare artifacts.” He wore an incredibly pressed smile, obviously reflecting on past issues.
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Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2021 2:01 pm
While it didn't show much in Asphodel's face, hearing the merchant complain about minor annoyances in his life made him suddenly endearing to the Knight. While the circumstances surrounding his arrival in Destiny City were mysterious and magical, he was still a person with places to go and things to worry about. Plant oils? The item peaked his interest immediately. "Must've been a nightmare to clean that up..." he sympathized, while leaning in to take a closer look. What kind of essential oils could be found in space, anyway?
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Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:27 pm
“Horrible, really,” the merchant replied, undeniably a bit dramatic, but he elaborated, “I couldn’t get the smell out for--well, I suppose it’s something like ‘weeks’ here. My conversion ratio might be a little off, but you get the point. Even now, I sometimes catch a whiff and it turns my stomach. They’re lovely smells,” he insisted. “Or, they were. Before all that mess. But I’m sensitive to smells anyway. You can uncap them and smell if you like, see if they’re something you’re interested in.” He pushed the box a little closer in offering, but leaned back in his chair as if to escape it as much as possible. “I only wish I knew what the flowers were. I don’t recognize the symbols on the tops, really. For a while I used to smell every flower I found to see, but I’ve found too many that turn my stomach. I’ve had to stop my investigation.”
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Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 7:37 am
None of the flowers on the labels were quite recognizable either. Sure, they vaguely resembled some of Earth's flowers, but they didn't stand out as particular species used in aromatherapy. That further ignited Asphodel's curiosity. He cautiously removed one of the caps, closed his eyes and took a whiff. And he struggled to pinpoint what the scent was. Was it cedar? No. Tangerine? No. It didn't have the complexity of a blend, either. "This doesn't smell like anything I've come across," he noted. And his collection at home was pretty large. Was he really being offered completely unique oils from some alien world? That seemed a little too good to be true. But if there were something more threatening about them, the merchant probably would have complained. Probably. So he said, "I can take these off your hands."
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Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:56 pm
The merchant brightened at this and his smile grew; if his teeth weren’t so sharp, he might have looked friendly about it, but there was still something just a bit off. “I would be very much obliged. And the wisp?” he prompted, ever the businessman. He was patient, at least, insofar as he returned to the subject of the oils while he waited. “You’ll have to tell me if you do happen upon any of them. I can’t help but be curious. Whoever collected these had talent, I think. But it’s not my realm of expertise. ‘Rare and exotic’ is, but beyond that I’m a bit out of my element with this one. But yes, please. I’ll be happy to have them in more appreciative hands.” And, away from all his other treasures.
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Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:42 pm
For a moment, it felt like he was doing business with a hungry shark. Asphodel figured it was because the wisp was far more valuable than any of the items being sold, and he was being suckered in for cheap. That, and maybe some kind of interspecies communication barrier that made perfectly benign facial expressions for one species seem offputting to the other. He was an alien, after all. So, he said, "Right," and pulled a clipped bag of prawn chips out of subspace. "In the bag," he clarified, placing it within reach. "Have the chips if you want, I guess."
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Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 7:22 pm
The merchant blinked when he was presented with the bag, because he did not immediately seem to understand--and then, when it hit him, he eagerly took the bag and unclipped it to peer inside. “...What is this?” he asked, and drew the bag away to read the label, and then he looked back into the bag. “I will have these, yes,” he confirmed, “But this is by far the most interesting thing I’ve been given since I arrived on Earth. Did it--” He paused and looked into the bag again to scrutinize its contents. “...Did it like being in here?”
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Posted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 5:12 pm
"They're prawn chips," Asphodel explained as the merchant examined the bag. "So they're crunchy and taste like seafood." As far as his other question, the Knight shrugged. "I thought it was some kind of Negaverse surveillance tool when I found it," he admitted. "So I'm sorry if it didn't. Good to do business with you." With that, he was ready to head home and make himself dizzy smelling some alien fragrances. With a polite wave, he made his way out of the strange little flea market he had found. The Space Cauldron this can be a wrap so you can focus on meta if you like! :3
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