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, even as he leaned forward and laced his fingers 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 table was somehow both simple and overwhelming; it was draped in a dark purple tablecloth, with extravagant embroidery in different designs. Scattered neatly atop the table was 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 when his visitor entered, 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.”
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 table was somehow both simple and overwhelming; it was draped in a dark purple tablecloth, with extravagant embroidery in different designs. Scattered neatly atop the table was 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 when his visitor entered, 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.”
Lepus had seen the signs around, and had eyed the tree a couple of times, but it had taken her some time to put two and two together for it to click that the tree that the sign was taking about was the one that everyone was talking about lately, with the weird pods and all. Although some people she was acquainted with had probably encountered the mysterious person who had put up all these signs, Lepus hadn't communicated with them to learn any details about it, such as the name of the individual posting them. No bother- Lepus, being Lepus, had no problems with ducking under all the tape blocking off the area, climbing the tree, and collecting a handful of the smaller pods, placing them in a bag she had brought with her, and also getting her hands on a few of the larger-sized ones just for good measure, because the sign did specify it wanted some bigger ones.
No, she didn't know what the sign-maker wanted with these fruits, and yes, there was a chance that this could be some kind of ruse, but Lepus ignored all of that. Instead, treating this as some sort of RPG sidequest, she had gladly collected as many of the fruits as she could reasonably carry with her, being sure to get them from the tree when possible and not the ground, and had carefully transported them with her to... Well, actually, she didn't really know where to go, honestly?
After a bit of head-scratching, and some wandering around downtown to see if she could find any more signs, Lepus finally managed to discern the merchant's whereabouts after doing some asking around. Perhaps, if she had thought about it, she'd have asked for the name of this mysterious merchant, but ah well, this was Lepus, who was famous for acting impulsively, leaping without looking (or thinking), things like that...
"Behold, quest-giver, for I have collected the items you have requested!" Lepus declared, as she approached Almadel's table; she still didn't know his name, but his appearance was highly intriguing, and led to only further her assumption that this was just like one of those video game quests. Producing the sack of fruit pods, she held them out for the merchant to inspect, very proud of herself and not at all questioning who he was and what he wanted with all of this. "I have heard you will reward those who bring you these fruits; if these are to your approval, then I would like to consider this as 'Quest Completed'!"
There she went again, going around talking to people in that weird overly-dramatic way of speech where she tried to sound cooler than she really was.
The Space Cauldron
