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Out of the Frying Pan (Open)

Started by PixelatedGlory, March 22, 2018, 12:15:19 PM

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PixelatedGlory

The reddish glow of the sun preparing to set lit the tops of the walls, though the sun itself was no longer visible from the streets below. Despite the lack of direct sunlight the heat still radiated off every surface. Every time Aulora thought she had grown accustomed to it she was reminded just how wrong she was. At least I haven't given Master Shess a reason to punish me today. He would probably take away my sandals again, she thought to herself.

Aulora didn't fit in with the crowds finishing up their shopping for the day. She was far too fair-skinned to be a local and her blue-green hair drew quite a bit of attention. That is it drew attention up until the onlookers spotted her black leather collar, at which point she instantly became invisible again. Slaves were common and it is best not to pay attention to them.

Aulora stood in her proper position, two paces behind and to the left of her master, with her head slightly bowed as she waited to be called upon to serve. Her master, Shess Etrys, was not a cruel owner but he did treat her and the others with the tough hand of a slave owner and trader.

Shess leaned against the wall as he discussed business with one of the stall owners in the market. Children ran through the area bumping into people and stalls as they went. "Come,"he barked in a gravelly voice, "You are no use to me far away."

Aulora had been trained to keep this exact distance, but there was no reason to argue. She approached and noticed one child headed directly towards Shess. She took a quick step forward and planted her hand on the child's chest, whispering softly so as to not disturb the business conversation, "Careful where you run little one, I don't want you to get hurt." She pressed firmly to direct the child back the way he had come.

The child ignored her words but did change direction. There was a hint of a smile on his lips as if a great secret had just been revealed. As he left he bumped into another man and Aulora saw the child put a small pouch of coins, freshly cut from the passerby's belt, into his pants.

Aulora finished approaching Shess and he pointed to a small jug that smelled sickeningly sweet despite being sealed with wax, "You will carry that back with us. You all need to smell better tonight at the party than last time. I had complaints and if it happens again I may just lend out my switch in recompense." He grinned at the merchant he had been talking to and Aulora picked up the jug and stood by. The aroma was bothering her but she had little choice in the matter.

Shess finished his business, though curiously no coin changed hands. The master and his slave departed the stall and headed towards the exit of this portion of the market, passing by the ornate fountain in the center. As they passed the fountain Aulora felt a sudden impact to the back of her right knee and she collapsed into the wall of the fountain. The jar shattered into thousands of pieces and whatever concoction inside splattered all over Aulora and the ground. A small amount landed on Shess' shoes.

As Shess turned beet red and whirled to point his anger at Aulora, she saw a familiar young boy slipping out of sight around a corner with a huge grin on his face. This was not good.

Longbeard

Durin Ironfist
Essyrn Market

Finally, somewhere to sit!  Before him stood a beautifully crafted fountain, but it was the water that drew his attention.  Having just ended a three week trek across the Moraki desert to get to Essyrn, a bath of cool refreshing water was irresistible, the fact that this was a public fountain didn't even matter.

He sat down on the wall of the fountain, immediately he began pulling on his boot.  With one final pull his foot came free of the stinking leather boot, tipping the boot upside down the dwarf vigorously shook it and emptied it of a large handful of sand.

"Damn desert," He cursed, "and DAMN the heat!"

As he began to remove his other boot he heard a loud crash, the source of the disturbance wasn't far away from where he sat, the old dwarf could see a young woman who had apparently dropped whatever it was she was carrying.  He was about to pay it no mind, but a breeze caught the fragrant aroma of the containers contents, it was disgusting, reminded him of elves.

Durin was about to let her know of his disapproval of the scent when he noticed that she wasn't concerned about what had been lost, her concern seemed to be focused on a rather angry looking man.  He thought it may be her husband, or father, having no knowledge of the slavery laws in Essyrn that scenario never crossed his mind.

Deciding to just leave it be Durin finished emptying the sand from his second boot, then started rolling up his pants a bit so he could wade into the pool basin of the fountain.  He kept watching the couple to see what would come of it, he greatly enjoyed the spectacle of a public domestic argument.

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PixelatedGlory

Shess nearly shook as he stood over the young woman. Aulora merely sat there in the atrocious smelling goop with her head bowed, waiting to hear her punishment. As she waited Shess leaned down and struck her across the cheek with his open hand. One of several golden rings on his hand caught for a second and left a small cut. The woman swallowed a tiny whimper and remained where she was.

The locals seemed to be paying absolutely zero attention to the man and woman, though several were frowning as they gazed at the unwashed dwarf who was close to sullying the purity of their water. A few guards were just now taking notice and heading in his direction.

Shess continued ranting, "And now look at you, you'll be worth even less to me tonight with that on your face." He pulled out a small square of cloth from his pocket and dropped it in her direction, "Get over here and clean off my shoes while I think." Aulora crawled a bit to get to the cloth and then reached over the side of the fountain to dip it into the water.

No one but perhaps Durin and the two people he was watching were near enough to the fountain to notice, but as the cloth reached down it seemed more like the water reached up rather than the cloth reaching down to meet it.

"Don't give me any trouble now, you'll only make things worse for yourself," Shess growled. A quiet voice answered, "I'm sorry." And after a few minutes of Aulora scrubbing her master's shoes, he had apparently figured out his new plans. Dropping a few coins on the woman's head he practically hissed out instructions, "After my shoes are clean you are going to go get some new fragrance. Something floral perhaps. Then you are going to bring it back for you and the others. Fail me again and I will be rid of you one way or another. Give me your sandals. You have until the lanterns are lit to return.

With her sandals in hand he turned, knocking her hands away from his shoes and started to storm off, stopping once to turn back and add with a sneer, "And clean yourself before you come back, you smell awful." He strode off out of sight into the crowd, leaving the woman kneeling on the ground and picking up the coins he had flung at her.

Longbeard

Durin Ironfist
Essyrn Market

Durin's beard shook with rage upon seeing the woman treated in such a demeaning way, nor could he understand why nobody else seemed bothered by it.  His much desired dip in the pool was all but forgotten, bare feet and all he approached the woman with the blue hair.

"You shouldn't let anyone hit you like that girl." The old dwarf stated, his anger in his voice obvious.  Now one must be clear here, Durin himself had struck plenty of women but he wasn't exactly sure if goblin, giant, or troll women counted, and all the civilized women had had struck were trying to kill him so he didn't feel guilty over it.

The odor of the spilled fragrance was making him feel nauseous, and he had noticed the attention he had gained from the guards.  Apparently they weren't keen on his plan to take a bath in the city square, maybe it would be best if he and the girl find a different place to talk.

"Durin's my name, the dwarf struck out his hand, "grab those coins and get up off the ground." His hand was large for his short stature, and his knuckles scarred from use, these were hands of a working dwarf, not the pretty manicured hands of a lazy royal or wealthy businessman, they were callused and the skin wrinkled from centuries of labor. 

"You can trust me, let me help you."  Durin said with a grin.

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Longbeard

EDIT: Boo for double posting, sorry.  ;D

PixelatedGlory

Aulora carefully tucked the cloth into her shirt, a garment that was better described as a wrap of cloth around her chest. She was surprised by the approach of the unfamiliar man, but she did not raise her head to look at him.

In a very quiet, submissive voice she responded to the stranger's words, "Master Shess doesn't do it much, but I cost him a lot of money today with my carelessness. I am sorry to have disturbed your day, sir." She gathered the coins that had been strewn about and held them tightly in her left hand while she very reluctantly accepted Durin's hand to help her stand up, releasing it as soon as she was standing.

As she stood up from the ground it was quite clear that the disgustingly sweet smelling liquid had spilled all over the woman and was not being dissipated much in the open air. The woman turned to face Durin, keeping her head respectfully bowed. Of course this was quite awkward as she realized he was shorter than her and she quickly turned to avert her gaze to the side as well.

"Thank you for your concern Mr Durin, but I am owned by Master Shess. You do not want to be mistaken for a thief or a troublemaker."Quietly adding, "I'll handle the guards, since you don't seem to be from around here."

It was odd that she had noticed the guards, with her head bowed and gaze averted, but a closer look at her face revealed that she was watching her surroundings out of the corners of her eyes. Sure enough three of the guards spread out and encircled the woman and dwarf.

All three guards were focused on the dwarf and ignoring the woman. The oldest of the three cleared his throat and when he spoke his voice was raspy and tired sounding, "There a problem here foreigner?" Aulora remained where she was standing but replied as soon as the guard finished, "No problem here, sirs. This man was just unfamiliar with the laws here and looking for the public baths. I can show him the way so you don't have any more problems, if you would like?"

The guard didn't even look towards her, instead addressing Durin again, "Is this true?"

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