Of serpentine streets, and hallowed halls

[Kroua]

This is the most lopsided post in existence. XD

Why does a chair

have arms and legs like a man

but cannot walk or hold things?

Normally, Semti's Hammer was her refuge -- the place where she had the chance of being overlooked due to the presence of other drow. She knew a few here, of course, humans, dwarves, and elves alike -- but that number dwindled more often than it rose. At the very least, plentiful ale brought about some cheap amusement, at least when the drunks weren't being disgusting, that is. The dwarves themselves weren't that bad a folk, but their endless patience and stubborn edge not unlike her own were rather annoying to come across. No, Kroua wasn't here for the people, nor the local culture.

The only thing that currently had her attention at this point was making sure not to fall off her perch atop the wide archway that lead to the underground part of the city. Technically, she wasn't even supposed to be there, but nobody, as far as she knew, had seen her hop the railing and decend the few feet to where she was now sitting. Quite frankly, she'd never met a guard who tried to keep a drow from potentially injuring or killing themselves -- how calloused of them! She was quite the distance up, and seemed to be enjoying a little picnic of sorts, but by now her food was done and gone and the only evidence of its existence was a suspiciously empty wineskin and a few crumbs of bread. In fact, it had progressed now past the point of picnic and onto just loitering about enjoying a smoke. -- Hell, she'd get stared at for sitting near the edge of a sheer drop to begin with, why not give any onlookers the confusing picture of some random drow lady smoking a pipe!

She wasn't bitter, really.

[Hazenmore]

Ignorant to many of the rude races around herself, Haze and her shortness pushed through a rather large crowd of dwarfs. She gagged due to their sweaty scent, for they seemed to have finished working or something of the like. In fact, she nearly gagged once more at the thought of their next shower, and nearly spun to speak her mind when her conscience decided the better of it. Better silent than beaten she supposed.

Grunting and yanking on the worn rope halter attaching her to the ass she led, Haze huffed and pulled into a clearer patch of road that took her out into the open skies ahead. The movement caused a fuss to come from the larger creature, and she toppled over as the beast skidded to the side, braying like a newborn child in need of care. It only figured. As if her day couldn't get much worse.

Unaware of the stings of cusses flowing from her small mouth, Hazenmore gripped the beasts halter and pulled him into line. The locals were already staring; she could tell by the short glances risked, not that they stopped her. She'd rather be away with the coins she arrived with rather than with nothing. It was one of those virtues she held, not that anyone cared.

"You lousy, good for nothing beast!" she hissed in its’ ear, then yanked it after her, pushing through the open line and out form under an arch. The clouds ahead welcomed her and it, but she only muttered and cursed once more as the idiotic donkey skidded to the side once more, jerking his head and tossing her single bundle onto the street.
Of course, she slapped it in the head and dropped the lead to pickup what she could, deciding she was most likely better off without the creature. It was only to her dismay as it stood there, dumbfounded, then nudged her as she attempted to avoid other beings and find her lost ball of belongings.

"Go die and rot in a hounds’ stomach," she yelled at it, smacking it as she eyed her goods soaking in a small puddle. She could have screamed then, her frustration to the point she couldn't see the ironic happening of the only puddle in the whole area catching her belongings.

[Kroua]

Sorry it took a while. I thought that Bryn was going to join, but she went on vacation O.o;

Why does a chair

have arms and legs like a man

but cannot walk or hold things?

So now what was the drow to do this day? She pondered idly as she puffed her pipe and sent smoke rings spiraling upwards at random. Now that she thought about it, going to see how the price of enchanted armor was doing seemed like a good idea, but that required movement and not much was inspiring her to actually stand up and go do so. It was a tough call -- stay here for a while longer, or go windowshop before the laziest of the merchants closed shop for the evening.

Or, on another path all together, maybe she could go see about finding a place to stay for the evening -- but that'd likely end up being someplace in the underground section of town, and she, for once, was enjoying the day. But of course, her reverie would be short-lived as soon some kind of ruckus broke out on the level above. Sighing, she pulled her things together and almost dragged herself up to the railing, leaning on it as she watched the elf have more than a bit of trouble with some ratty old donkey. Whoop-de-do, people were officially crazy.

Now why someone would waste their money on such a crude animal instead of saving up for something a bit more responsive, she wasn't exactly certain, but certainly some runt of a horse would take orders better, not to mention being less trouble. As she stood there, tapping the bowl of her pipe on the stone top of the rail, it became quite obvious she was making absolutely no move to go help the other elf in her plight. The tall darkish figure was quite content to stay put and watch this spectacle unfold with the barrier between it and her.

[Hazenmore]

No problem, I was wondering why, but I'll be gone for the next few days. I have a wedding to attend.
-----

Haze sighed, plucked her now wet belongings, and looked around. Many people seemed to find her spectacle entertaining. It would only figure, since the donkey was nearly as stubborn as some other people Haze knew. Of course, the few staring would possibly continue on, drifting store to store, shopping for random items they thought had value. You couldn't, however, be certain they where quality goods. Plenty of places sold fakes to keep an input.

Wringing out a few drops of water, Haze quickly strapped what she had to the worn strap around the donkeys back. He stood still, head low, half asleep and seemingly pleased with his performance mere moments ago. In fact, he let his lower lip hangs and some drool dripped to the ground. It was both a rather disgusting and bizarre sight.

Once more grabbing the little halter that she led donkey with, Haze turned him in circles before taking him off the road and into a space between buildings. She would tie it here, and perhaps tell simple stories to see what she could gain. Some younger dwarfs eyed her, though she watched patently before actually tying her pet and unpacking her small bundle to air it out.

The satin scarf suffered from being damp, the rest relatively fine. They were wet, but weren't damaged from the fall. Her small blade flicked into her belt, the remains from her last meal silently given to the donkey. Her extra clothing was simply draped over the donkey to rid it of the small spots of wetness, and her small bottle of vodka was placed inside the ouch of the clothing she placed on donkey's back.

While doing so, she carefully watched whoever seemed to show interest in what she did. She glanced around, eventually up the archway where her eyes paused on the drow. It perched itself away from the others, and but she didn't bother with watching. Drow where strange that way, and Haze had her attention elsewhere.

[Mhareh]

OUTOFCHARACTER     At first I was afraid, I was petrified... didn't know how I could live without replies here by my side, but then I spent so many days just wasting time without RP... I shall reply. : 0-D When I've got my morning penchant for bad puns worked out of me, to the utter relief of all others involved.     See, I'm here <.<; Just late. >.> I MAKE UP FOR IT WITH LENGTH! X 0-) --Hehe...hope the wedding's fun, Haze. INCHARACTER     Having, to his utter relief, finally escaped the inn and his unsavory pair of neighbors staying there, Mhareh's mood was improving. Not that this was saying a lot, considering how rottenly his morning had started--first waking to find his former troupe had skipped out on him, while leaving him the bill, then the unhappy encounter with those two brutes sleeping next door, and then, thanks to a decided shortage of funds, being forced to down as much as possible of that watered-down tripe they had the nerve to call breakfast, to make the meal stretch as long as possible...well. All in all, it was truly starting out to be a lovely day, Mhareh thought with oozing sarcasm.     Still, no need to let that get him down now. The sun was shining, the day was new, he was wandering down the cobblestone street that wasn't too smelly, despite its high occupancy, and with mandolin resting easily across his shoulder he was making decent time toward the busking spot he'd had in mind, provided some other claimant hadn't beaten him to it. (Unlikely, but possible, if he hoofed it...) More importantly, he wouldn't be able to play very well if he didn't improve his mood, at least enough to smile at all the hoi polloi, or pretend to, and pander mock-cheerfully to the customers. For right now, really, there was no reason not to cheer up: he was on his way to play his music. To earn his keep if the world smiled upon him and lined his instrument case with coins; to return to the inn with little to show if not, but there was no way to be certain ahead of time, and no use worrying over it before the day was done and coin-counting time came. His mood started to lighten, and for a moment he almost managed to forget how much harder it would be to earn what he needed without the rest of the troupe to back him up.     His optomism was short-lived, however, as a commotion ahead caused his heart to sink. Traffic jam, great. Looks like I won't make that spot by the docks after all-- Irritated, he nudged his way into a small gaggle of onlookers and craned his neck to see what all the fuss was about. To his surprise, it seemed to be a lone gypsy woman, dressed in their telltale tattered wardrobe and leading a donkey that seemed to be bearing the brunt of her ire. She led the creature off into a side alley and the crowd began to disperse. A curious Mhareh, resigned to having lost his musical spot for the day, made a short detour to follow her, wondering what the poor creature had done to deserve such wrath. Unthinking, his hand slipped into his belt, to finger the few sparse coins that lay within a small pouch... Catching his fingers in the act of toying with a silver bit, Mhareh stenly ordered himself to withdraw his hand and forget about it. Ridiculous. What use would he have for an ass? It wasn't likely he could teach it to play accompaniment on banjo, or help him carry a tune. How the hell would he feed it anyway, when he was already strapped for cash to feed himself? And weren't there already enough of them stabled down the hall, as this morning had proved?     Mhareh snorted. Yet he couldn't stop himself from trailing sympathetically after the creature and its tawdry owner, with the vague idea that there must be something he could do. That was the problem with growing up on a farm, he supposed... he couldn't just stand by and watch a poor dumb beast be beaten, no, he had to try to help it. Gods, he was crazy. At this point he wasn't even sure he could help himself.     "Er...lady," he called, uncertain how to begin. "Lady" was rather an odd thing to call a gypsy, come to think, but flattery never hurt... His eyes were pulled upward to follow her gaze, however, and he frowned to see some black-skinned elf hanging over the railing and watching. Puzzled, his eyes flicked over her, and then away--best not to get in a staring contest with a drow; you never knew which one might take it amiss and think you were challenging them. Or something. But his eyes paused again, upon spotting the small round bowl of--a pipe? Mhareh stared. Wet his lips, opened them, but had to leave them hanging; he had no idea what he could say that wasn't just as likely to get him into trouble as not. And wasn't he already dipping his toes into hot enough water with this foolish tracking of asses? He tore his eyes away to glance back at the gypsy woman; more than enough troubles to fill his plate, as he decided to deal with this drow by not dealing with her at all. After all, she was just looking. Not a lot she could do to them from a balcony's height. ...He hoped. Keeping his voice polite and unjudgemental, he spoke up once again, words escaping before he'd really thought them through. "Did you need a hand with that beast, miss?"     Oh, GREAT, Mhareh. Just great. Just what you needed, another delay! Like you aren't already far enough behind in the salary you'll need to earn, now you go around the city offering to lead donkeys? Puh! Stupid notion though it undoubtedly was, however, he found he couldn't just callously around and leave the beast to its fate.

This post has been edited by Mhareh on 08.20.06, 07:59pm