3rd of Cylus 722
A pair of piercing blue eyes glowed in the depths of the ocean, watching as the long-tailed mer dragged his collection of salvage behind him in a carry-net. Caphinkla caressed Eia, her tame Särkïn with whom she'd been traveling since Rynmere. Her sisters had trailed behind her for the time being, each going through their tasks. Lyriope was likely lost near the coral growths to the west, lingering there and admiring their beauty, taking inspiration from them. Menopeira was probably stalking the perimeter, scouting for threats, while Nerostreia searched out and gathered food. The oceans here, in the Hollow Seas were full of fish, and her hunt was rendered rather easy for all that.
As for Caphinkla, she considered the strong figure of the mer, carrying his salvage to who knew where. Perhaps he knew of a decent grotto where they could settle, at least until they found a place where they could establish themselves permanently. She considered that notion for just a moment longer, before she tapped the side of Eia with her fins, urging her down into the depths, to intercept the mer.
He wasn't alone. A small pack of sea dogs accompanied him, shoring up the buoyancy of his salvage, lashed as they were to his carry-pack. Ink held out her arm to the mer, a gesture of submissiveness while sending a signal of peace through their telepathic link. Her words flowed through the shadow-shrouded waters, into his mind. As she established the connection, she sought out his tangle, trying to establish that he was not too alarmed. Although she'd rarely met a long-tail that was skittish, one couldn't be too careful with the presence of Eia. The least she could say was that the Särkïn acted as a deterrence to mischievous fellow mer.
She saw the colors of his tangle, as they shifted from what she imagined was alarm, to the next most likely emotion, caution. She sought out signs of comfort and safety in his tangle, extending both arms to show that she carried no weapons in her hands. "Peace, merkin. I wish to trade."
She felt his tension edge from one emotion to the next. While she couldn't quite place it, it felt like curiosity sliding into need or greed. She strummed his curiosity.
He lowered his head to her, and then lifted his large eyes to gaze into hers, "I have many salvages. Trinkets, weapons. A nice cobalt hook, forged by land dwellers."
Caphinkla slid down from Eia, caressing her animal once more to keep it still, but signalling to it that it ought to remain stationary in the water. She swam over toward the salvage that the Mer told her he had. "Show me?" She asked, strumming the colors that she imagined were his sense of greed. At this stage, she couldn't be sure what emotions she was strumming, but an educated guess could be made.
He met her halfway to his salvage carries, and began rifling through the small trifles and objects. Caphinkla saw many things that might be of use when it came time for Swarming later this arc. She and her sisters were due to lay their eggs, and would need to find a safe and unclaimed spot to do so. It'd been around seven arcs since their last swarming, and the devastation that befell Rynmere had forestalled their ordinary cycles.
But once they settled down, it would be time to set the stage. She eyed those trinkets as potential prizes for the babies to claim and quarrel over. It was well established in Tidewhisper lore that nicer trinkets could make for stronger babies, when they quarreled with each other. She would ask him later about those, but for now her interest lay on the cobalt hook and chain that he'd boasted of.
He gestured affirmative to her, and sent telepathic signals to suggest that he would show her what he had in good faith. He brought out a chain with several hook-heads on it. Three to be precise. "These hooks are blunt, so they don't catch upon the hull or decks of ship... but they can catch upon clothing and pull fisherman's catch overboard... or the fisherman." The last bit was mentioned with a mischeivous glint to the merchant's telepathic tone. She noted the shift in his tangle, guessing that it was somewhere between conspiratorial and jovial. It would be useful knowledge if she met this mer again.
"How does it work?" She thought to him. He grinned, his more alien features stretching to make the gesture seem awkward, to the siren.
"You rise above the waves, and begin whirling the chain over your head." He said, making the motions with his arm beneath the water. "Then, when you've got a bead on your target, you let loose and throw." He then pointed toward her kelp clothing, the catches and metal rings that were woven into it, which attached to her personal baggage. "You fasten the chain to this part, and then swim underneath the water. Then your target will be as good as yours to feast."
Although she tried to tamp down on her enthusiasm, Ink couldn't hide that she was very interested in that tool and weapon. It might be useful to dissuade fishermen from poaching her grounds, wherever she and her sisters decided to settle. "What do you trade, brother?" She asked, pulling up her pack, to sort through what she had that was valuable to trade. She had some surfacer nels, and other trinkets that she'd saved for a future swarming. But then, she could probably part with those trifles if it meant the means to defend those grounds...
"I trade surface." He thought to her, "Men here have many useful things, that I like to trade between the people and men. Nels, if you have them?"
Ink sighed, tucking away the small sculptures and trifles that were for the swarm. She'd have to make a straight currency exchange then. She was hoping to use those coins to trade for sealskins, so that she might venture onto land without worrying about the elements and cold. She might have a bit left over, however, for when she met the fur traders.
"Very well. Gold nels. Silver." She said, handing over some nels that were strung together by strands of kelp textile. "I trust these will do?"
"Very good, sister." He said, taking the nels by the strand of kelp. He counted them quickly, and then stuffed them into his pack, taking out the chain gingerly and handing it over to her. The thing was long, about a few fathoms at least, with three foot chains that led to three separate hooked heads. She accepted it, and tied it into her pack. Ink was about to depart his company, when another thought was sent her way.
"Wait, I do have something that may be of interest, if you would look? I don't shortchange our kind, and you gave me more than this chain is worth." An honest merchant, wonders never ceased. Yet Ink's curiosity was piqued in spite of her caution.
She turned around in the water, and quirked a brow expectantly.
Then he smiled again in his strange way, and produced a pack of kelp, with several cobalt tools within them. They looked like weapons at first glance, and she was about to turn him down. She had enough blades. But when she began sending the thought, he interrupted her.
"SIster, these may come in handy before the swarm." He said. She frowned at first, wondering how weapons would be useful for a swarming. Then she looked closer at what he was offering. They weren't blades, but tools! Tools for carving stone and bone and coral! She could make many more trinkets for the swarm. Her heart swam in the possibilities that occurred.
"Oh!" She thought, and he had to know that he had her interest. He could've easily have squeezed her for more trade, but she supposed he was using good will itself as a form of currency.
She accepted the toolkit, and brought it into her pack, nodding in thanks to the kindly merchant.
She swam away, guiding her Sarkin away from the path of the merman, to gather her sisters and see what they might've gotten up to.
