Just By Chance... (DragonSong)

[Wrathwyrm]

"You have got to be kidding me.  The Palace?"

He gestured in the general direction of the palace of Essyrn, home of the Shah of Essyrn, in disbelief.  He couldn't be serious.  Except he was, and that kind of shocked him.

"'Tis true, my friend.  A knight from the north, they say, much like yourself, except they're saying it was a woman."

"A lady knight?  Interesting...  Why?"

"Akbar will tell the tale..."

Welcome to Akbar's Emporium, a little shop just off to the side of the main market place.  You've seen it before, you've been here before, and you could swear you've seen the funny little man behind the counter before...but in other countries.  This is because...well...he has been in other countries, running a little shop.  He walks to and from them like you do from one room to the next.

However, our focus is a bit more on the man talking to him at the moment, the one described by the shopkeeper as a knight.  Sano did nothing to dissuade the notion, even though he was not an official knight by any measure.  At the moment, he wasn't even in armor because...well...it's hot out here, and unfortunately the young man had the habit of wearing black.  So, standing in his normal everyday clothes, his armor and black mantle were off and he was more-or-less cooling off while listening to this strange tale from the shopkeeper.

There were no other customers in the shop at the moment and Sano was buying the water he was drinking now, so it was all good.  Anyone walking in right now would be hearing about how a traveler from the north with a bigass sword somehow snuck into the palace and freed a woman of incredible power from the dungeon, and then after a knocking out or killing just a few guards...vanished without a trace.

[DragonSong]

Ally had never really liked Essyrn. It was hot and sandy and arid and people looked at her like she was goods for sale.

Hell. She knew well enough that if she wasn't careful, she might be. Gods knew these people loved a little something "exotic".

If they only knew. She shook her head and kept her eyes downcast as she made her way through the market district, glancing up only to read signs or listen as merchants hawked their wares. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nope, nope, nothing.

"Damnit." She growled and ran a hand through her hair, then forced herself to breathe, releasing the frustration. Gods only knew why, but after that one disastrous attempt at reversing her transformation, she seemed to have keyed into her emotions when changing forms.

Not that she wanted to. She had next to no control over the transformation now, which was almost worse than being stuck as a dragon.

Which was why she was here. She sighed and looked around- and realized she'd gotten herself hopelessly turned around. She ducked into the nearest shop, hoping to ask for directions.

"Ah, hello? Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt..."

[Wrathwyrm]

The shopkeeper is a man who knows his business, and how to deal with all kinds of customers.  You must welcome them with open arms, guide their hand to the purchase, and then send them on their way...with hopefully a number of things in hand, all well-paid for.  Akbar turns nobody away, but he handles this business professionally.  As soon as he lady walked in, the tone of the man changed from storyteller to-

"Welcome to Akbar's Emporium, shop of all shops!  Many are Akbar's wears, not all on display!  Come!  Tell Akbar your needs and he will see to them as best he can!"

The sudden shift caused the young man on the left of Akbar to flinch in surprise, then smirk with amusement.

"And yes, he actually talks this way."

This shop did, indeed, contain a number of things, seemingly at random but...useful or interesting for the incoming customer.  Akbar's inventory got a little strange, though, due to the fact that he produced items...pretty much at random.  For the time being, Sano stepped out of the way to allow customer and shopkeeper to converse.

[DragonSong]

"Oh, well..." Ally rubbed at the back of her neck, the redness in her cheeks now not just from the heat. "I'm...actually looking for some alchemical supplies. I thought I was heading in the right direction, but..."

She shrugged a little helplessly.

[Wrathwyrm]

"Ah, but nothing, Akbar says!  But you are here, and Akbar will assist you."

He seemed quite adamant, but then...he always did, rubbing his hands together, ready to get to work.  This was curious, though.  He was not expecting to be asked for alchemic items, not when his mana phials were currently in high demand.  Nevertheless, he would see what could be done.

"You are needing whatnow?  Details, if you please.  Akbar has many things."

"And many yarns to tell."

"Akbar is never lying!  Story is true!"

Sano kind of figured it was, but it was funny to get that kind of a reaction from the man.

[DragonSong]

"Um..." Ally glanced back and forth between the two of them, eyes wide, and sort of hunched her shoulders as though trying to disappear in on herself.

"W-well...mandrake root? And some nightshade- ah, belladonna, it might be called here. Silver essence, some blessed flasks- I have a list, give me a moment." She dug into the pouch at her hip, dark hair falling just a bit in front of her face as she did.

[Wrathwyrm]

Akbar smiled patiently, mentally running down where in the shop(s) he kept the items she had mentioned.  Because of his uncanny ability, he had access to all of them at any given time.  While he was doing that, Sano took a moment to really look at the woman.  First of all, she wasn't Essyrnian.  That didn't mean that she was a slave or oppressed, but it seemed less likely when you consider he could have placed her as Serenian or even from Connlaoth if her birth had been different like his own.

But what caught his attention - apart from the fact that she was nice-looking - was this meek and downtrodden look about her, or at least that's how he saw it.  Sano knew that from experience.  It was the posture of someone trying to look insubstantial, unimportant, and keep out of harm's way...or anyone's way.  This woman, he surmised, was having a hard time, and possibly having done so for quite a long time.  As he watched her exchange with Akbar, he felt that maybe he should make sure she was alright.

[DragonSong]

When she received no answer, Ally shuffled her feet and glanced up, then down again quickly, biting her lip. "If, um, if you don't...know where I should be going, I can just leave. I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to bother you..."

She glanced at the other customer and away again quickly. The two mean seemed to have been in the middle of a conversation when she walked in, and she hadn't meant to interrupt.

[Wrathwyrm]

"Do not mistake Akbar's silence, young lady.  That was not the intention, merely awaiting the full list for quick assessment and retrieval, for Akbar has access to those things."

For instance, he already had the Mandrake Root AND its more potent and volitile form - Essense of Mandrake - behind the counter, as well as the Nightshade.  He brought both of these up and considered where he'd have to pull the Belladonna from, because the silver essence and the flasks were in Serendipity.  Meanwhile, Sano spoke up to ease the girl's insecurities.

"Don't let his eccentric behavior get to you.  He wants the sale."

And she badly wanted the items, didn't she?  Sano wondered...whatever for?

[DragonSong]

"Oh, well..." She glanced at her list, then took a few shuffling steps toward the counter. "Um, just a few other things, but some of them are...rather rare. I don't want to make any sort of imposition..."

She cleared her throat, glancing between the two men. "Tears of the Fallen? I know that sounds mad, but it- it really does exist, in diluted forms. It's usually called angeldust. And, um-" She looked at the list again, despite the fact that she had it memorized. "The unbound feather of a phoenix, starmetal, and ah..." She cleared her throat, then lowered her voice a bit. "Actually, never mind. I can get that last bit myself."

[Wrathwyrm]

Akbar was curious as to the nature of the last item, but he would leave that for later as he went down the list.

"Akbar is definitely having Mandrake and Nightshade, right off."

He pulled up the two containers.  Had to keep them out of sight.  They could be dangerous, of course.

"Silver Essence, Blessings Flasks, and Belladonna probably in back."

In the back storage of one of his other shops, which he would head off to in just a second.

"Tears of Fallen is tears of fallen angel, maybe?  Akbar fairly certain that never happen in his presence.  Am not sure about phoenix feather, but star metal.  Yes..."

And suddenly, storyteller Akbar was back.

"Deep within the Seraj Isa, found within the Valley of the Scorpions of Glass, Akbar did manage to find a supply of star metal!"

Sano's attention was now on Akbar for a second.  Star metal?  If he could see it or even just touch it...

"Would you please be so kind as to tell Akbar the ensuing amounts of each item?  And you must understand, of course...  Others are normal items.  Star metal IS rare, and must be charged higher."

[DragonSong]

"Oh, yes of course, I understand." Ally offered a small smile and nodded. "I only need a few ounces of the starmetal, and a small flask of the silver essence. And honestly I'll take as much mandrake and nightshade as I can carry."

[Wrathwyrm]

"Very good, very good.  And Akbar promises to search in back for other items to be sure."

And with that, Akbar stepped in back and...Sano couldn't hold in his laughter.  You see, he'd noticed something while the other two were talking, and he'd only just managed not to laugh it up until now.

"He forgot that Nightshade and Belladonna are the same thing.  He'll be tossing the place over for it now."

In reality, he was tossing over a completely different place, but yes, he HAD made that blunder.  After recovering from the funny part, though, Sano poured some water into a cup and offered it to the woman.

"Here.  You look like you could use it and he's already charging me for it."

[DragonSong]

"I, um..." Ally stammered a moment, blushing, then giggled. "I- I didn't want to say anything," she admitted, smiling at him slightly.

"Oh, are you sure?" She glanced at the cup, then took it hesitantly. "Thank you."

She hadn't realized how thirsty she was. Parched, actually. Still, she tried to maintain a sense of decorum as she sipped.

[Wrathwyrm]

It's funny how different backgrounds can lead to the same conclusions.  Allaeya wants the items for alchemic purposes.  Sano knew about those two in particular because his mentor is an assassin.  Allaeya was politely sipping for appearance's sake.  Sano knew that sipping was better for thirst than gulping for health reasons.  Funny old world, innit?

"I take it you're a mage, then?"

This was a fair guess, since the amount of practices that could possibly involve the use of those things was pretty small.  Of course, the question was also designed to address the other thng.  If she was a mage, then whatever she was dealing with was related to that.  However, if she was picking it all up for aother, then her life situation must be hell.

[DragonSong]

Allaeya paused, then shook her head. "No, actually. Well, not really. I am an alchemist though." She smiled. "You don't need to be a mage to practice alchemy, though I'm told it helps. I have a...knack, I suppose you might say, but I've never trained in magic."

[Wrathwyrm]

Alchemist was his second guess, which would've been great if he had a third, but Sano was not exactly a man of the world yet.  He hadn't been around all that far, just a few places.

"I wouldn't know.  I'm kind of a mage, but I never studied that kind of magic.  I'm more of a...sword mage.  I work with metal."

To demonstrate, he glanced at the torso armor leaning nearby and began to levitate and rotate it with his mind.  Then, he made it contract and reshape into a small coin - a mere copper - then undid the whole thing to return it the way it was before letting it sink to the ground once more.

"Unfortunately, my teacher said that you have to be born with that kind of ability.  I couldn't teach anyone that unless they had it within them already."

He shrugged.

"I guess it's also like an alchemy, a very specific area, maybe.  I don't know.  It's all magic and careful concentration to me."

[DragonSong]

"Oh." Alleaya watched with interest, then looked back to his face. "My brother has gifts like that, things you can't teach. I was always quite jealous, when we were children."

Of course, she was the better alchemist- or she had been.

She shook her head. "My name is Ally, by the way. Alleaya, actually, but Ally is usually easier."

[Wrathwyrm]

Yes, talents DO tend to run in families, something that his father could never accept.  Sano tried not to look glum at the prospect of thinking that way.  He seemed alright by the time Ally introduced herself.  It was a nice name, Allaeya.  Sano wasn't the sort of person who'd make those sort of over-the-top compliments.  He just stuck to being himself, which was hard enough, at times.  That irony aside, he offered his hand in greeting.

"Sano.  I'm originally from Connlaoth, but don't worry.  I hated it there."

So, in case there was any concern that a citizen of Connlaoth would be here to persecute or at least disapprove of something magical, that was simply not the case.

[DragonSong]

"Ah." She took his hand carefully, almost replying with Most people seem to.

But she held her tongue. "Well. It's a pleasure, Sano."