10th Ymiden, Mid Afternoon, 717
Kali browsed the markets in the central square casually, perusing the wares with what could be at a first glance a nonchalant face. In fact, she was looking purposefully for specific items. Since the hunt on the 5th, she'd realised that her hide dress - whilst fine for casual wear and hunting small creatures - was not at all suited for a larger hunt. The hide had taken hours to clean, and needed to be stretched whilst it dried to keep it supple. Plus the lack of leg coverings meant that her tanned skin had been scratched in the climatic last few moments, and of course the sound kick from the dying beast had roughly split the skin. Even now, the thigh was black and purple from knee to buttocks and she walked very slowly with an obvious limp.
The woman needed cloth, something easy to wash and dry by the fire. She needed breeches, leather if possible. Browsing the stalls and wagons, she paused in front of a red tented stall and lifted a garment. It was a linen tunic style dress with a built in hood, open loosely around the arms and v-neck front. The edgings were embroidered with a green inlay, and the skirt was somewhat indulgently finished with a hafrein fur trim at the bottom. Kali held it up to her frame testing it for size with a satisfied nod.
Moving to search the rest of the garments, her periwinkle gaze landed on a pair of thin dark leather breeches. Rubbing the leather with her fingers, the brunette contemplated for a moment. Leather could be just as frustrating as hide, but at least this one had been well oiled. It should provide self-care with little effort. Picking it up she moved towards the stall holder, and elderly greying thing with her hair wrapped into a bun and smoking a pipe.
"'Ello luv. Is that all?" The stall holder said, glancing at her with rhumy green eyes and offering a yellowing smile. Keen eyes spotted the young Sev'ryn's knife on her belt and pointed excitedly.
"Ye need somefin' better fer holdin' that, somefin' a bit fancy then?" She rummaged through boxes at her feet, under the table of the stall, swearing slightly and puffing like an angry volcano. She sat up with a grunt and presented a leather garter style holster, designed to be strapped to mid thigh.
"'Ere then pretty, ye think how easier this'll be when ye're out doin'....er....things." Clearly the elderly merchant wasn't entirely clear on Kali's profession, but was trying the upsell none the less. The Sev'ryn took the holster, rubbing the thick brown leather with her fingers and testing the clasp. It wasn't entirely a necessary purchase, but it was practical. Kali nodded at the woman.
"I'll take it. How much for this, the dress and the breeches?" The old woman sucked on her teeth thoughtfully, brushing the hide on the dress and pointing out the embroidery.
"Well considerin' th' fine fur trim n' this delicate embroidery, fifteen gold nels." The brunette scoffed, shaking her head and poking the fur trim.
"You're joking. That is hafrein fur, as common as aye-aye. Nine gold nels." The merchant grasped her chest as though having a heart attack, shaking her head and hand.
"Tha's robbery! Ye ent serious!" Pursing her old lips, she tapped the oiled leather breeches.
"That's proper leatherwork there, ye'nderstand? Twelve gold nels." Kali rubbed the breeches again, thinking the situation through. It was true, they were well made, but the asking price was still higher than she knew it needed to be. The huntress glanced at the elderly woman again.
"Ten gold nels and fifty silver nels."Hacking up a lung as she inhaled on her pipe, the grey old woman shook her head before pointing at the pile of garments with the thin end.
"Eleven." The brunette raised her brows and made to leave, her thigh now throbbing and patience wearing thin, causing the wirey merchant woman to jump up.
"Ten, and eighty silver nels! Tha's me final offer girly." Kali stopped, turning back with a smile and reaching for the spindly wrinkled hand that shot out immediately.
"Done." She said, reaching into her purse and handing over the nels.
"Pleasure doing business my good woman." The huntress said, picking up her purchases and making her way carefully back to camp. Once at the site, she took the time to put her new garments away, before gingerly settling down by the fire to rest the leg. It throbbed terribly, and sitting down was almost impossible, the act itself bringing a gasp of pain from the young huntress. Frowning, she moved to pull together her tea making items, pushing the kettle over the fire with a groan and an exasperated huff. She was annoyed that she’d managed to get hurt in the first place, knowing that it was something her grandparents would have soundly berated her for. Was she loosing her focus so soon after leaving Poppa’s side? Of course, Pash’s voice came to mind. Was she still really holding herself to account over the teachings that had perhaps restricted her learning and growing as an adult?
The thought frustrated Kali, and she sighed heavily. On one hand, the Biqaj would have been right. She needed to let go, be a little gentler on herself, live and grow in her own way. On the other, the Sev’ryn was still a party of one – even if the seafaring bard had indicated he wanted to travel this road with her so to speak. An injury could easily take her down, and if it happened to be too far from help or too bad for her to recover from, the brunette could very well find herself in a dangerous if not fatal situation. That terrified her more than words could express. She felt panic rising unbidden, anxiety and fear rearing their ugly heads. Kali’rial realised she had to do something, before it overwhelmed her.
Closing her eyes, the brunette Sev’ryn took a deep breath in, resting her hands on her knees and squaring her shoulders. Breathing out and relaxing her body, she visualised a forest, the jungles of Desnind. In this visualisation she was sitting on a log, beside a gently flowing river. Kali imagined the sounds of the water flowing and the birds singing. She breathed in again evenly and slowly, almost feeling the warmth of the sun on her back as it filtered through the trees.
Out, she breathed again, imagining the injury on her leg as a pile of rope knots in her lap. Each was looped and wrapped over and under in various complex ties and gnarls, almost impossible to define where one ended and another started. Working gently, she envisioned in the scene that she was picking up the ropes one at a time and pulling the knots loose, unravelling the thick rope to smooth and straighten it. Each rope that she unknotted, the brunette imagined she dropped onto the river, where it would hover to float gently downstream away from her. The meditative technique, whist not proven to work, was supposed to help encourage her body on its path to healing the deep tissue bruising on her thigh.
In through the nose and out through the mouth, she breathed slowly and calmly. Her mind was clear and focused on the image in her head. Bits passed by, and by the time the last knot was loosed and set to flow on the river, the young huntress had been seated for at least half a break. Taking one final breath in and out, Kali opened her eyes. She felt rested, calm and focused. Whilst the injury had not vanished, and without medical attention who knew if it had mended in anyway, but the Sev’ryn herself believed it had in some way. That knowledge, and calm of the meditative state was enough to satisfy her. She had also calmed her mind and staved off the anxious panic that had welled up previously.
Unwilling to break the careful weaving of calm and focus she had created, Kali stayed seated, picking up one of the mole rat hides she had previously cleaned. It had been soaked, washed and staked to a small handheld rack made from twigs and board. Picking up a small container of rendered fat that had been boiled from the rats themselves, the huntress worked the fat into the inner side of the skin. This would give the soft hide of the naked creature a good water proof coating as well as keep it soft and supple when it was completed. She completed this same action with the other two hides, before wrapping them around themselves and putting them away in a dry seal-able basket. It would be a few hours before they were ready for the next steps. Until then, she would enjoy her tea and her fire, whilst allowing the meditative state to continue working on her injury.
Kali browsed the markets in the central square casually, perusing the wares with what could be at a first glance a nonchalant face. In fact, she was looking purposefully for specific items. Since the hunt on the 5th, she'd realised that her hide dress - whilst fine for casual wear and hunting small creatures - was not at all suited for a larger hunt. The hide had taken hours to clean, and needed to be stretched whilst it dried to keep it supple. Plus the lack of leg coverings meant that her tanned skin had been scratched in the climatic last few moments, and of course the sound kick from the dying beast had roughly split the skin. Even now, the thigh was black and purple from knee to buttocks and she walked very slowly with an obvious limp.
The woman needed cloth, something easy to wash and dry by the fire. She needed breeches, leather if possible. Browsing the stalls and wagons, she paused in front of a red tented stall and lifted a garment. It was a linen tunic style dress with a built in hood, open loosely around the arms and v-neck front. The edgings were embroidered with a green inlay, and the skirt was somewhat indulgently finished with a hafrein fur trim at the bottom. Kali held it up to her frame testing it for size with a satisfied nod.
Moving to search the rest of the garments, her periwinkle gaze landed on a pair of thin dark leather breeches. Rubbing the leather with her fingers, the brunette contemplated for a moment. Leather could be just as frustrating as hide, but at least this one had been well oiled. It should provide self-care with little effort. Picking it up she moved towards the stall holder, and elderly greying thing with her hair wrapped into a bun and smoking a pipe.
"'Ello luv. Is that all?" The stall holder said, glancing at her with rhumy green eyes and offering a yellowing smile. Keen eyes spotted the young Sev'ryn's knife on her belt and pointed excitedly.
"Ye need somefin' better fer holdin' that, somefin' a bit fancy then?" She rummaged through boxes at her feet, under the table of the stall, swearing slightly and puffing like an angry volcano. She sat up with a grunt and presented a leather garter style holster, designed to be strapped to mid thigh.
"'Ere then pretty, ye think how easier this'll be when ye're out doin'....er....things." Clearly the elderly merchant wasn't entirely clear on Kali's profession, but was trying the upsell none the less. The Sev'ryn took the holster, rubbing the thick brown leather with her fingers and testing the clasp. It wasn't entirely a necessary purchase, but it was practical. Kali nodded at the woman.
"I'll take it. How much for this, the dress and the breeches?" The old woman sucked on her teeth thoughtfully, brushing the hide on the dress and pointing out the embroidery.
"Well considerin' th' fine fur trim n' this delicate embroidery, fifteen gold nels." The brunette scoffed, shaking her head and poking the fur trim.
"You're joking. That is hafrein fur, as common as aye-aye. Nine gold nels." The merchant grasped her chest as though having a heart attack, shaking her head and hand.
"Tha's robbery! Ye ent serious!" Pursing her old lips, she tapped the oiled leather breeches.
"That's proper leatherwork there, ye'nderstand? Twelve gold nels." Kali rubbed the breeches again, thinking the situation through. It was true, they were well made, but the asking price was still higher than she knew it needed to be. The huntress glanced at the elderly woman again.
"Ten gold nels and fifty silver nels."Hacking up a lung as she inhaled on her pipe, the grey old woman shook her head before pointing at the pile of garments with the thin end.
"Eleven." The brunette raised her brows and made to leave, her thigh now throbbing and patience wearing thin, causing the wirey merchant woman to jump up.
"Ten, and eighty silver nels! Tha's me final offer girly." Kali stopped, turning back with a smile and reaching for the spindly wrinkled hand that shot out immediately.
"Done." She said, reaching into her purse and handing over the nels.
"Pleasure doing business my good woman." The huntress said, picking up her purchases and making her way carefully back to camp. Once at the site, she took the time to put her new garments away, before gingerly settling down by the fire to rest the leg. It throbbed terribly, and sitting down was almost impossible, the act itself bringing a gasp of pain from the young huntress. Frowning, she moved to pull together her tea making items, pushing the kettle over the fire with a groan and an exasperated huff. She was annoyed that she’d managed to get hurt in the first place, knowing that it was something her grandparents would have soundly berated her for. Was she loosing her focus so soon after leaving Poppa’s side? Of course, Pash’s voice came to mind. Was she still really holding herself to account over the teachings that had perhaps restricted her learning and growing as an adult?
The thought frustrated Kali, and she sighed heavily. On one hand, the Biqaj would have been right. She needed to let go, be a little gentler on herself, live and grow in her own way. On the other, the Sev’ryn was still a party of one – even if the seafaring bard had indicated he wanted to travel this road with her so to speak. An injury could easily take her down, and if it happened to be too far from help or too bad for her to recover from, the brunette could very well find herself in a dangerous if not fatal situation. That terrified her more than words could express. She felt panic rising unbidden, anxiety and fear rearing their ugly heads. Kali’rial realised she had to do something, before it overwhelmed her.
Closing her eyes, the brunette Sev’ryn took a deep breath in, resting her hands on her knees and squaring her shoulders. Breathing out and relaxing her body, she visualised a forest, the jungles of Desnind. In this visualisation she was sitting on a log, beside a gently flowing river. Kali imagined the sounds of the water flowing and the birds singing. She breathed in again evenly and slowly, almost feeling the warmth of the sun on her back as it filtered through the trees.
Out, she breathed again, imagining the injury on her leg as a pile of rope knots in her lap. Each was looped and wrapped over and under in various complex ties and gnarls, almost impossible to define where one ended and another started. Working gently, she envisioned in the scene that she was picking up the ropes one at a time and pulling the knots loose, unravelling the thick rope to smooth and straighten it. Each rope that she unknotted, the brunette imagined she dropped onto the river, where it would hover to float gently downstream away from her. The meditative technique, whist not proven to work, was supposed to help encourage her body on its path to healing the deep tissue bruising on her thigh.
In through the nose and out through the mouth, she breathed slowly and calmly. Her mind was clear and focused on the image in her head. Bits passed by, and by the time the last knot was loosed and set to flow on the river, the young huntress had been seated for at least half a break. Taking one final breath in and out, Kali opened her eyes. She felt rested, calm and focused. Whilst the injury had not vanished, and without medical attention who knew if it had mended in anyway, but the Sev’ryn herself believed it had in some way. That knowledge, and calm of the meditative state was enough to satisfy her. She had also calmed her mind and staved off the anxious panic that had welled up previously.
Unwilling to break the careful weaving of calm and focus she had created, Kali stayed seated, picking up one of the mole rat hides she had previously cleaned. It had been soaked, washed and staked to a small handheld rack made from twigs and board. Picking up a small container of rendered fat that had been boiled from the rats themselves, the huntress worked the fat into the inner side of the skin. This would give the soft hide of the naked creature a good water proof coating as well as keep it soft and supple when it was completed. She completed this same action with the other two hides, before wrapping them around themselves and putting them away in a dry seal-able basket. It would be a few hours before they were ready for the next steps. Until then, she would enjoy her tea and her fire, whilst allowing the meditative state to continue working on her injury.
Off Topic
Spendings: Dress, 5gn and 78sn; Breeches, 4gn; Holster, 1gn, 2sn
