The Hag's Cauldron (Cinnabar)

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

"Isn't there anybody here who sells licorice root?"

Eckhart had been in the town of Marshfog for two days now, and none of the shops seemed to sell the reagents he needed. A cut Eckhart had received the other day was starting to show signs of infection, and he knew licorice was supposed to help with that. Searching through the market stalls yielded no results, and the larger apothecaries in town had only the very basics in terms of non-magical ingredients. Eckhart didn't know potion making, so "powdered tusk of morlotte" was unlikely to help him- he'd just stick to poultices and herbal teas. Finally, Eckhart found a small shop in a back alley that he hadn't been in before. He looked at the small wooden sign tacked onto the door.

The Hag's Cauldron

Hesitantly opening the door, he walked inside. The shop was dimly lit, with only a few candles and a small fireplace providing light. Strange looking plants grew from the ceiling, and upon closer inspection Eckhart could see that what he had though was a carpet was in fact moss growing on the floor. Boxes full of odd looking ingredients lined the walls. After a moment, an unnaturaly tall old woman walked out from behind the counter. "Why, hello there dear! Is there anything in particular you're looking for today?" Eckhart stared at her with wide eyes. "Oh fuck, this is literally a hag." Now rather nervous, Eckhart nodded. "Y-yes ma'am, licorice root." The hag seemed to think on this for a moment, and then pointed to one of the boxes with a gnarly finger. "If my memory still serves me correctly, there should be licorice in there. It may have fallen to the bottom though, you may need to rummage to find it." Eckhart smiled a frightened smile, thanked her and began to dig through the box of reagents...

[Bunbun]

The Hag's Cauldron.

Juliana spoke the shop's name in her mind as she stood outside it, debating whether or not going inside was a good idea. The place didn't exactly look to be in ideal condition from what she could see, and being tucked away in a back alley didn't inspire much confidence in her. On the other hand, though, she wasn't sure what other choice she had. She was searching for spellbooks- rather advanced ones, at that- and there didn't seem to be any other place that had what she was looking for. Magic was her specialty, but there was only so much she could do by mending bones and closing cuts; if there was any way she could learn how to cure illnesses, that would be a huge improvement.

Was there really any chance that this place, of all places, had what she needed, though? Somehow, she doubted it- most people weren't capable of using magic, let alone on her level, so spellbooks were pretty niche. Then again, it would only take a few moments to check... and it was better than standing around like an idiot, waiting for some random asshole to ambush her.

Slowly, she creaked the door open and poked her head inside, taking a few moments to get an idea of what the place looked like before stepping inside. It was practically overgrown; she wasn't entirely sure that there was more building than plant. The dim lighting, along with the fact that everything was stored seemingly at random in boxes, made it a wonder that people could find anything in here. Her face screwed up slightly as she took it all in; it looked like it had been ages since the place was cleaned. Despite all that, though, it was apparently popular enough to attract at least one other person to it, so there had to be something worthwhile... right?

She opened the door some more, until there was enough room for her to stand in the doorway. Her arms moved to cross over each other, and she silently watched the stranger dig through the box for a few seconds before giving her signature frown and glancing over at the hag.

"You really ought to get this place cleaned up, y'know. I don't imagine people find it very... comfortable."

[Eckhart_Von_Musel]

Eckhart grinned as he pulled out what he thought was the root he needed, only to sigh in disappointment upon looking at it closer. "Nope, that's not it." Eckhart heard the door open behind him, but he only looked when he heard a female voice insult the shopkeeper. It belonged to a short woman who looked to be about his age. The girl's hair was an odd pink color, which caused Eckhart to raise his eyebrows. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that," he thought to himself. "Serendipity is way too colorful for my taste."

Giving the rude woman a look of disapproval, he went back to searching for the licorice. "Were you planning on making a purchase today sweetheart? Or have you just come to insult my feng shui?" he could hear the hag say in a dark tone of voice. "God damn it, why? Why would you insult the creature that eats people?" Suddenly finding the root, Eckhart rushed up to the counter hoping he could distract the hag from making any sudden moves. "Found it!" he said with a anxious smile. "How much?"

The hag raised an eyebrow. "Eight bits." Eckhart frowned. "I'm afraid that's too much ma'am. I'm really poor you see, and my healing magic isn't strong enough to cure infections yet. I don't suppose you could settle for five bits?" He gave the crone a sad look, which seemed to do the trick. "I can do six bits." she sighed. "How does that sound?" Eckhart grinned. "Sucker! Eight bits was already a low price for licorice root!" "I can do that! Thanks ma'am!" After putting six silver coins on the counter, he turned to leave the shop...