Roleplay

(( FREE FOR ANYONE TO JOIN. This is meant to be casual, so no need to bother with a character form. Just don't make single-sentence replies or try to control other people's characters, and we'll get along fine. Feel free to start a shop, or just play a traveler passing through if you don't want to commit too heavily. ;)

This is a repost of an RP from several years ago that I found while I was cleaning out my Bookmarks. xD I liked the premise and enjoyed the characters, it just didn't live for very long.

Edit: Also! Feel free to establish preexisting friendships/rapports between your character and any of the shopkeepers, if your dragon is already familiar with or returning to the town. :) ))

~~~

It was a quiet little town on the Highland Scrub. Not quite picturesque, but peaceful enough for the dragons that lived and worked there.

It had started out as a trading post, much like the one a little ways down in the Carrion Canyon, which was tucked into its own little niche and always bustling with activity. But here, between flights and just a short distance from the Hewn City of the Sunbeam Ruins, things were a little more subdued. Shops took the place of stands and caravans, selling food and clothes and all sorts of other goods to the travelers that came through. The residents themselves were kind and friendly, always willing to lend a set of claws to help anyone out as much as they could.

... After all, it lent to the illusion of being a sleepy little town, instead of the meeting and breeding ground of the dubious, the shady, and the downright low that it was. There was hardly a soul in the place that hadn't washed blood off its hands at least once, and even fewer that could say with a clear conscience that the treasure rolling into their pockets was made by providing the goods and services they had neatly painted onto their shop windows. Those shops were merely fronts for the real businesses conducted in their back rooms, available only to those with enough treasure or gems to pay for them. Mercenaries favored the place for the wide variety of services they could pay for. Whether it was a vial of lethal poison for a job or a quick place to drop off a corpse, there was always someone offering a worthwhile deal.

And so, the sun rose, and another day began.

~~~

TURN ORDER / CHARACTER REFERENCE

1. @digipup -- Ashan (fae apothecary), Contessa (nocturne tea shop owner), Mordecai (unwilling fae tea shop assistant)
2. @LordeGreydall -- Oberon and Persephone (Gaoler conmen, very cursed)
3. @DancingSkye -- Eclor, Asu, Fate (mischievous and dangerously unsupervised hatchlings)
4. @Monrose -- Honey (pretty pearcatcher innkeeper with a fancy desk)
5. @ComaFei -- Sonnet (Magic item vendor, masked fae) and her hatchling (also masked), Ion


PING-ONLY
@thedivision -- Diablerie (traveling bogsneak merchant; BUYING LOTS, selling some)

Just on the edge of the town, before the sun was even up, a glimmer of light shone from inside a shop, and the sign in the window flipped around to OPEN. Overhead, a lovely sign had been painted, with lots of pink, red, and white swirls, “TEA HOUSE.” [center][url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=6317330][img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/350/63174/6317330_350.png[/img][/url][/center] A pretty little Fae flitted into town past the tea shop, singing a tune softly. Over her shoulder was a big basket of herbs, and in her claws a few shiny baubles, and a half-eaten insect that she still snacked on – the prizes of her foraging. She made her way back to her shop – a triangular hut, newly made, but still lingering somewhere between a state of makeshift and permanent. Built of twigs and long switches, it had been patched between three trees, and was held together with some sort of hardened, crystallized substance; perhaps tree sap. It was guarded on two sides by thorns that had crept in from the Tangled Wood, and were already starting to overtake the dwelling. The Shadow was strong with this one. Over the entrance hung a sign that read "Apothecary," scrawled in white chalk with a few pretty swirls – stylistically almost identical to the sign over the tea house. Perhaps, in addition to potion-making, she was a bit of an artist, and had drawn them both. Or perhaps whoever ran the tea house had a bit of a partnership going on with the big-eyed fae. She fluttered toward it cheerfully and pushed open the door, still singing. [center][i]"A pickaxe and a spade, a spade,   For and a shrouding sheet,  Oh, a pit of clay for to be made   For such a guest is meet."[/i][/center] Her song was muffled suddenly as she closed the door.

(( @Lordegreydall
oh... my lord, I love them so much
This is beautiful and a recipe for disaster xD ))

The Gaoler pair had to duck a bit to avoid clipping their tall horns on the doorway. Though the hut was new, the apothecary had succeeded in making it quite a dusty garret in the short a span of time since she had built it. The space was crowded with shelves, all cluttered with jars of odd ingredients and bottles of doubtful liquids, and strings of plants and herbs had been strung up to dry from every rafter and stray sprig available. Nothing was labeled and, while many of the potions looked drab, there were many more that glowed, fizzed, or even convulsed inside the glass. There were even a few containing dead little creatures, preserved and suspended in the fluid. Right next to Persephone's head, a one-eyed frog stared out at her. At the back of the room, an elaborate, and very active, laboratory bubbled quietly, lending the room a peculiar ambiance.

The few bluish night flame candles only provided a dim glow to the hut, but their pale, ultraviolet light gave some of the other objects in the room a strange, bright glow -- some of the fluids in the jars, and particularly, the beautiful, elaborate patterns of flowers painted on the two fae fins that perked up behind the counter. Vibrant blue, turquoise, and purple, the tiniest of details dotted in, no nuance left unpainted. The little dragon must have spent hours on them.

"Hmm?" Her face, also painted just as brightly, followed the fins. "Ah! Good morning, gentleman and lady." She climbed onto a three-legged stool and leaned her elbows on the counter -- a great slab of stone with a bit of faintly-glowing white chalk dust left around the edges, as if something had been wiped away recently. She smiled so strongly that her eyes closed into little upwards-facing crescents, and clasped her front feet together, tilting her head to rest her cheek on them. "I am indeed! I take it you're interested in a brew, of delicious or dubious intent?"

(( I'm a huge nerd. Here's some nice Potion Shop Ambiance to set the mood. :P ))

((Greetings, @Digipup! Mind if three mischievous hatchlings join the chaos?)) A hyperactive dust cloud can be seen on the outskirts of the sleepy city of Highland Scrub as a tangle of scales, fluff and traveling bags makes its way to the first few buildings of town at top speed. A determined Gaoler is the first to reach one such dwelling, crowing triumphantly soon after he does so. [img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=127&bodygene=38&breed=17&element=4&eyetype=0&gender=0&tert=136&tertgene=37&winggene=33&wings=75&auth=793463e4447651c3dd423054ba50a9c2731153b4&dummyext=prev.png[/img] "HA! I made it first, so I get to be the leader!" He puffs out his chest in triumph as his siblings catch up, their pounding feet and lashing tails conveying their displeasure at the results of their race. A green striped imperial is the first to vocalize this, pouncing atop the Gaoler playfully. [img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=14&bodygene=15&breed=8&element=11&eyetype=2&gender=1&tert=38&tertgene=10&winggene=1&wings=9&auth=2c46713215193a981acadb4e1b0568ef91216f06&dummyext=prev.png[/img] "Asu, you cheater!" She says, "You toppled me when we were running! Besides, [i]I[/i] should be the leader cuz you were it last time!" "Toppling isn't cheating, Fate! We all said so, remember? Cuz you and Eclor are taller than me!" Asu says in defense, "Besides, I'm the oldest!" "Well [i]I'm[/i] the sparkliest," the Fate huffs, "and what does height have to do with anything, anyway?" [img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=0&body=11&bodygene=24&breed=8&element=10&eyetype=0&gender=1&tert=2&tertgene=7&winggene=25&wings=11&auth=88bcd9f02d24f4823cf94b8d97401edb775e343f&dummyext=prev.png[/img] Eclor, the third hatchling, finally pipes up. "It gives us [i]anda-vaahn-tage[/i] because we run faster with tall legs." She says, unphased by Asu's victory and nods a bit at her own wisdom after speaking, causing the starry pattern of her scales to blend and swirl. Unable to argue with such logic, Fate scuffs her paws in the dirt, "Well I'm still sparkly," she mutters, before realizing there is no winning this time. Noting her distress at yet another loss, Asu says "Well, maybe we can play the shiny game to choose the leader next time," in an attempt to cheer her up. This has the intended effect, and the Imperial looks up happily, pressing the advantage of the trio's rule-maker and coin carrier caving a little. "Can we get icecream too?" Understanding what her sister is doing Eclor joins in with her own plea, tempted by the promise of her favorite treat. "Yeah, icecream is the best after a long journey! And we're on vey-kay-shun!" Asu wordlessly agrees with the two of them because he wants ice cream too, although he'd never admit it if he thought that such a desire would make him seem less responsible. "Fine," he says, "But I'm still the leader!" And with that matter settled the trio parades into town with their hatchling-sized travel gear and coin pouch in tow, ready to ambush the first dessert shop they see.

(( @DancingSkye @LordeGreydall Aw, thank you [emoji=familiar heart size=1] This is turning out to be a delightfully motley crew already, I love it )) As the hatchlings rolled into the little town, someone inside the tea shop moved to the window to see what was going on. It looked like a pale-colored nocturne, though it was hard to tell through the thick glass... and in light of the much more eye-catching pastries and pies that she was placing in the display. One of them -- a cherry pie, by the looks of it -- was still steaming. ~~~ "Souvenirs, eh? Well, I do love my pretty things; I'm sure if you see something you like, I can put a price to it." She picked delicately at the purple bow fastened to one of her fins, straightening it out. "Oh, a little while ago I was just passing through, but I had a chat with the tea house across the street, and they told me this town could use someone who knew a little alchemy. Makes for good business, you know, even if I [i]weren't[/i] very good at it, which I am." A sweet, coy little smile. Though still bright and cheerful, her keen dark eyes followed the black-and-blue Gaoler for a moment as he stepped out, before flicking back to his... "sister." "Something in the Wyrmwound?" She quirked her head to the side, fins perking straight up. "Plenty of wonderful slimy little things come out of there. Let's have a look."

((@LordeGreydall Thank you, they're future permababs I have projects for! Your characters are wonderfully wacky and I can't wait to see the hijinks they eventually start!))

At the sight of the Gaoler approaching them, the hatchlings come to a rocky stop, tumbling over each other comically, and share what might've been a skeptical or even judgmental glance - if they were anything other than mere hatchlings, of course, seeing as hatchlings had no concept of complex adult things like judgement or the realm of dubious morality! Right?

The vivacious Asu seems to prove this common perception, as he looks up brightly at the Gaoler and answers his question with a grin. "You can tell anyone you like, mister! Then they can get icecream too!" At this, Fate chimes in with a, "Yeah, icecream is the best and we're allowed to get some for vey-kay-shun!" As if that explains everything.

Spurred as always at her siblings' boldness, Eclor nods sagely once more in agreement. "Besides, mister, it's bad to get icecream and not tell others about it." She says this with of all the hatchling-patented, judicial seriousness and authority of condemning someone for ice cream fraud.

At this, both Asu and Fate fall silent and nod too before Asu, determined to live up to his hard won title of leader, speaks up again taking the recent agreement of his siblings into account. "So do you know where the icecream might be mister? We're on a quest to find it."

[center][ woof dont mind me just going to sneak sneak along in here hello good morning! ] [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=59198341] [img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/350/591984/59198341_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] Lovely little place, this was. Really. Had just about anything a wandering merchant might want to get her sneaky little claws on- imports from the neighboring flights were plentiful and there always seemed to be somebody around with a few ill-gotten goods in their pockets. Diablerie was more than happy to swap coin for just about anything, no matter where it came from. It wasn't her first time here and surely it wouldn't be her last. Without the pressing need to return to the Lightning Farm she could spend as much or as little time as she liked and given that the day was turning out to be a warm one and the streets were coming to life, it looked like she'd be here for some time. 'Here', as it turned out, was between a pair of shops across the way from what looked like a quaint little tea shop, in the mouth of a dimly lit alley she'd squat, perfectly still and nearly invisible against the backdrop, with the occasional flick of a long, prehensile tongue signaling life. It seemed as though she were but a statue otherwise, a mottled turquoise and copper-colored Bogsneak with her simple burlap hood up around her crest and more baggies and pouches than one could count on her person. The hand-written, portable sign propped up against the building beside her read as thus, in untidy scrawl: [b]BUYING LOTS[/b] and then underneath, [i]selling some[/i]. Though exactly what she was buying and selling was unclear. Still... that tea shop. A pair of gleaming eyes settled on the sign. When was the last time she'd had a proper meal? A day at least. What she would have given for a nice tart made of engineered superberries, or a cup of cool alstromeria tea. The trail bars she took with her when she traveled from her place of employ were fine but not entirely tasty. Commotion came down the path in the form of a trio of hatchlings. Again the long tongue flipped from between her teeth to smell the air before it was gone again. The peace of the morning was beginning to ebb away, and so the stocky body rose from where it'd been lying on the ground and gave a monumental stretch, crest and wings flaring briefly before they settled, and the bogsneak was on the move. Tea, tea, tea, and breakfast, that was her goal now. Her sign would be fine where it stood, she'd simply take her chow to go and return to her spot in a matter of minutes. No one ever seemed to quite catch her on the move, as was common with bogsneaks they were simply in one place one moment and gone the next, and the sign stood temporarily abandoned as she entered the tea shop. The sign had just barely been flipped to open, hopefully she wasn't too early but it was better to be here before breakfast than during.

@thedivision (( Hel-LO lovely~ Can I just say I love her name; it feels like a pretty mashup of "menagerie" and "diablo" )) A bell jingled above the door as the bogsneak slithered into the tea shop. The place wasn’t what you would call fancy or frilly, not exactly—but it was definitely kept by someone who had a sense of taste and cleanliness. Constructed sturdily and almost exclusively out of dark-colored wood, it felt cozy and snug, and there wasn't a speck or a crumb anywhere. The shop didn’t scream ‘obviously maintained by a Nature dragon,’ but there were hints of it – some of the boards in the ceiling and the corners of the room had started to sprout anew with leafy little sprigs of green or, in one particularly thriving case at the end of the bar where it met the wall, brilliant snowy white. The space offered booths, open tables, and the bar up near the register. The standing tables were covered with pleasant red tablecloths, embroidered at the edges with pink and white swirls, and each bore a pretty little arrangement of flowers in a vase, as well as a menu. All of the simple chairs had matching cushions. Near the bar and the register, there was a large display case already filled with pastries and treats. An additional display was set up before the window, and was currently being decked with more mouth-watering consumables by a gorgeous nocturne. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/34083981][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/340840/34083981_350.png[/img][/url] “Good morning!” She greeted Diablerie, glancing in her direction briefly before looking back to the muffins she was stacking in a little pyramid at the front of the display. “Pick a table, any table, I’ll be with you in just a moment!”