Book Vendor

Tenebrae - Thursday, September 11, 2014, 7:35 PM

-=--=--=--=--=--=<* A07: Local Alexandria Market District *>-=--=--=--=--=--=-

Just west of the Northern Highbridge and east of the arena, commerce blooms. Noisy and bustling, most anything may be purchased here for a price. Vendors from all cultures sell their wares from exotically colored carts, and the smells of different nations and far-off city-states mix with local ones from Alexandria and its riverbanks.

For all its commerce, visitors are advised to keep hold of their purses. Even the merchants possess a certain, cunning look. Most are positioned at carts or stalls as opposed to a formal storefront, with trade here being mobile, and visiting from all parts of the world.

Though the quality of goods suffers here compared to Upper Alexandria, the options are more diverse. Too, the oversight of the Watch is slightly less, and during times events are held at the Arena, chaos abounds. After dark, the square becomes a hangout for bards and other entrepreneurs whose business is best conducted by night; the shadows at the edges of the square often contain furtive figures engaging in their own brand of business.

Mikilos humms a tune absently to himself as he wanders the market. At least, he makes noises that might be mistaken for musical if you aren't really paying attention. Regardless, spying a gathered group, the overtall elf makes his way in that direction, nodding greeting to those whom he recognizes.

Godwyn is no good at appraisal, but she does rummage through the books, looking to see what's there. "I trust there is a bit of... amusement... to come from that particular one." She chuckled. "Still, there are far better ways. Alexandria has a library, the second largest one in the world. You may want to check there." She picks up a tome, opens it, peruses its contents. "Then again, this place does have a few treasures of its own."

Benthus draws a gauntleted finger to his chin and tries to rub it carefully with his thumb and index finger. He looks at Azog and the book that he purchased, and ponders. Shifting a bit to listen to what Solace had to say about the book and the book owner's choice, he ponders even more. And then more familiar people arrive. A curt nod is offered to them as he remains in the background, silent and content just listening to other people talk.

Solace looks to Mikilos, and offers a bow. Most of his attention seems taken up in contemplating Azog and his book. A part of him really, really wants to let the oruch read it without warning, but apparently he does have some decency in him, because he clears his throat, and leans...closer to the horse. "Azog. That book...it deals with relationships of an intimate and carnal nature. You may not find it to your taste. Although I do encourage you to attempt it. You might enjoy it," he adds, with a fleeting grin. Then he leans back and gives Godwyn a look. "...Xila does not make so much in a day that it's polite to tell people not to buy from her when she's standing right here, Sentinel."

"Och, don't you worry about me, boy," the wizened bookseller says. "I take what the Library don't, I do. And sell what the Library won't, too. 's why you gots those books you've got, eh?"

"True enough," Solace agrees, with a chuckle.

Azog shrugs off the library. "I have been there. I am not as welcome there as I am here. Though of course I am welcome here because I have coin to spend." The proprietor shrugs, not disagreeing. "In any event, there is little enough organization to the books there as here, so I may as well start where I, or my coin, at least, is welcome." He peers sidelong (and down) at Solace as the book is described to him. "Why would anyone write about that?" he asks, puzzled. "That is certainly not anyone's business but the people involved." He looks at the cover again, and replaces it on the shelf with a frown, taking the book next to it instead. Goblin Heat, so probably about the same. Or it could be about fire magic, who can say?

"He's right, this is rather interesting... but some other time." Godwyn closed the book, finding nothing of interest inside. "In any event, perhaps I will take you up on that offer of genuine conversation in a more appropriate setting, Solace." She turned toward the horse again. "What do you have to feed a horse for them to get so big?"

Mikilos blinks as he recognizes the cart, and lights up. Almost literally. The magus always has a bit of a glow about him, but it's almost like the sun came out from behind the clouds... just for him. Any sound to trumpets is strictly your imagination, however. Mikilos steps closer for a look, but pointedly clasps his hands behind his back, letting others look over the selection before him. They were here first, after all. "You've a new selection in? Anything of particular note?"

Talithia has disconnected.

Solace cranes his neck back to meet Azog's puzzled look. "Entertainment, mostly. Many people enjoy the vicarious thrill of other people's relationships, so reading about fictional ones is a pleasant way to spend an evening or two. It's not generally to my taste, I confess, but they're very popular." He clears his throat. "You may wish to peruse a random sample of /that/ book as well, before purchasing it." Because Azog desperately needs to read goblin erotica, and this is a good way for Solace to get friend points /and/ cruel entertainment. Win win!

To Godwyn, he shrugs. "As you wish, Sentinel. Ask around Goblintown, and someone can usually direct you to me. I stand out. Not quite as much as Mikilos the Tall, but still."

Xila greets Mikilos with genuine warmth, for he might have /money/. "Few t'ings, sir, yes. The dusky lad purchased a couple of m' Charn books, but I've still got tales from Veyshan, and a collection of old scrolls from a ruin in the Vast. Here," she directs his attention to what she hopes are the most enticing pieces. "Certified non-cursed by clerics of Tarien, they were." So...fifty fifty, then.

Azog gives Godwyn a shake of his head, and explains, "You feed him the same you'd feed any horse, though a bit more, perhaps. As for his size, his sire and dam were this size, as well, so he's fairly typical." He nods a greeting to Mikilos, then turns to stare at Solace in horror. "These are /fictional/ accounts?" he asks, apparently dismayed more by that than by the vague description of goblin erotica. He puts the book back onto the shelf resolutely, and says to the bookseller sternly, "I wish to read non-fictional accounts of persons doing whatever typical things they do in the city. I am trying to learn." It sounds, by his tone and with the Dran accent, that he's trying to declare war on the bookseller.

Benthus seems curious over something and takes his query to Xila as well. He asks, "Do you have any books that talk about Daeus?"

Arlean has arrived.

Godwyn smiled. "Well I still think that's a magnificent horse." She took a few steps back. "I really do have to be going, I've still got an errand to run for the temple."

Mikilos most certainly has money. More to the point, he's quite willing to part with it. But he still stays back for the moment, allowing others their chance. Last chance. The magus does, however, murmur softly to himself, and his eyes take on a distinct arcane glow. A curse tucked between pages will remain unseen, of course, but there's always a chance for an enchanted work... a slim chance, but worth the effort. After a long look, Mikilos blinks away the spell and glances to Azog. "You may wish to stop by my place then. I've recently opened up part of my collection to public use. Non-fictional accounts of daily living, much of it written by city dwellers, though there is a bit of a range."

Solace nods to Azog, with a smile. "Fictional, yes. Although I still don't quite understand this disdain you have for fiction. It tells you just as much about how people think and feel as does a diary or an account of events. Sometimes, more, in that you see how people wish the world worked, rather than how it does."

While he pleads the case of fiction, Xila smiles a toothy smile at Benthus. "Aye, aye. Have an account of Daeusite monks from a couple centuries back, rooting out an enclave of necromancers. 'Fists of Sunlight' it's called." She roots through and offers it to him.

Solace offers Godwyn a bow. "Good evening, Sentinel. I wish you well on your endeavor."

Godwyn bowed in response to Solace. She found herself silently surprised at his change in behavior, though she had the right mind not to voice it. "And to you as well." With that, she made her way along the markets, to finish her shopping.

Azog makes an unpleasant face at Solace and puts the book back on the shelf as well, much to the seller's disappointment. To the bookseller, he demands, "You. Find one with actual tales of people's interrelationships. Real, not made up." The bookseller looks perplexed, and goes to hunt for a volume, finally handing Azog something that might be suitable. He bids farewell to Godwyn. "Thank you for your sentiment," he says, a bit slowly as if trying out unfamiliar words. Not too many people praise him, or his horse, it seems. "Fare well." He turns to Mikilos and, after a surprised pause, nods slowly. "I would be interested in that. I am trying to learn, particularly about people and how they live. Range is fine, I am looking for a broad cross-section of tales." He explains to Solace, "That is the problem with fiction. It says how people would like to have the world be, and not how it is. But some people would have the world be crazed, with no rhyme or reason."

Mikilos grins to Azog. "Quite a few would say the true world lacks rhyme and reason, it is only fantasy which offers the illusion of such. I don't think I agree." Half slipping off his pack, the wizard reaches into a side pocket, his arm disappearing far further than the pocket is deep, rooting around a moment before drawing out a small bundle.

Godwyn has left.

"Please," Solace adds to Azog's demand to the bookseller. "And while I don't agree that order is an illusion, I do think that examining people's better worlds, for lack of a better term, helps one understand the underlying order of a society. Charn does not have the same fiction as Alexandros, nor the towns of the Desolation, and I imagine the Islands and the people of Myr tell different stories, indeed. And even the Dran," he adds, with a brief grin of his own.

Azog shrugs to Mikilos, the shoulderplates of his armor grating. "The world doesn't need rhyme or reason, it only needs to /be/. People that need rhyme or reason are ...." He doesn't have a word for that, it seems. "Why would I want to see things other than as they are?" he asks. He peers at Solace for a few moments, then shrugs again, puzzled. "If what you say is true, then what people make up for entertainment may have .... some value. To an analyst looking into their minds. As if there were not magic for that sort of thing. But that is not what I am looking for. I am looking for information on how people live and interrelate."

Arlean has disconnected.

Benthus says, "I guess that must be an expensive book you are after, sir. Probably magical as well."

Talithia has connected.

Mikilos unwraps the bundle, plunking down a golden ingot before stepping up to the book cart. Seems the elf has every intention of buying a lot. Starting at the upper left, the rapidly scans right, picking out a few works to plunk down in a pile. "Have it. Have it. Read it. Have it. Yes. Have it. Yes. No. Read it. Have it..." Few of the selection are picked out, but as Mikilos seems to be looking over the entire book cart, his pile grows to a fair size.

Solace stares at Mikilos. The entire group is still around the book cart, although Godwyn has moved on, and...well, there may not /be/ a book cart after Mikilos gets done. "There is reading, and then there is hoarding. Do you have a vault?" Solace asks...and is promptly kicked in the ankle by Xila, whose eyes have lit up at the sight of the gold ingot.

Azog tucks his selection into his pack carefully as Mikilos goes into buying up the stall. He watches, puzzled, and asks, "Are you going to read -all- of those?" He looks over to Solace, then back to Mikilos.

Benthus watches as Mikilos gathers all the books that he doesn't have, or have not read, and looks concerned over something. "Are you intending on selling the items you are purchasing to another buyer for a higher price?" He says to Mikilos.

Mikilos mmms distractedly, stepping around to the other side or the cart. Fiction, non-fiction, maps, scrolls, whatever, the elf looks over them all. "I intend to keep all of them, and read each. I wouldn't call it a vault, nor is it just the one. There's my collection as the Society, my library at the shop, and a private collection not suited for public display."

Solace shakes his head. "Wizards. If it weren't for your tendency to rewrite the laws of reality for kicks, some less intellectually inclined people would tease you mercilessly, you know." As he is teasing now, although not that sharply.

Talithia had been looking at some of the merchant stalls until now. She turns around and stares at the larger elf, then shakes her head. Sometimes it was better not to ask.

Azog boggles as Mikilos describes his collection. "You read everything?" he asks again. "That must take a lot of time. What if there is no benefit to it?"

Mikilos at last finishes, stepping back slightly. The pile is smaller than he is, but not by a whole lot. "What's the total?" Glancing to Azog, he shrugs. "Knowledge is it's own benifit. And yes, it does take time, but how much of a day do you spend training? Reading is my training. Not everything proves useful in a practical fashion, but it's impossible to tell what will prove relivant until it does so."

Xila stammers a bit, does some swift calculation, and names her price. It's reasonable, even a bit low - the bulk sale is clearly gaining a discount of some sort, but still a sizable sum. Solace eyes the stack. "You're clearly setting out on an intensive training regimen, then," he says, with a grin. As Talithia approaches, he shifts so that she can get a good look at the books, and says, "Move quickly, before the elf takes them all."

Azog looks startled as Mikilos describes reading as training. He seems to contemplate that for some time. "So, you have to practice reading until you are better at it by reading different books?" he asks. He nods slowly, accepting that for now. "I have not read so much that I find it easier or harder by reading more."

Azog shrugs dismissively at the whole book thing, his single book stashed in his pack. He knees his horse around as he bids everyone farewell, and rides off into the rainy night.

Azog has disconnected.

Talithia says, "never could get the elves to part with the trees when they were alive. What makes you think they're going to part with the trees when they're dead?" She says gruffly as she looks at a few of the books that were left. One of them looked like a crafting book, but she pushed it aside. "Why get so many? Unless you plan on speed reading.""

Mikilos nods at the quoted price, adding a few coins to the golden ingot. A bolt of eye searing yellow cloth comes from out of the haversack, along with a roll of twine. Soon enough, the books have been wrapped into three bright packages, a few select text disappearing into the backpack. "Well, i don't really sleep, so that clear out a few hours for additional reading." Another muttered spell, and each package rises in invisible hands, waiting a moment for instructions. One more spell, and a ghostly set of red eye hover in protection. "Place them in the back storeroom. Avoid crowds, but don't tolerate interferance. Contact me if bothered." Not taht anyone is likely to mess with a clearly magical delivery.

Solace doesn't envy Mikilos his magical delivery system. Really he doesn't. That thing that /looks/ like envy is just...lunch. Disagreeing with him. Surely. He clears his throat, and offers Talithia a sharp little smile. "A fair point, Mistress...?" Leaving the space for her to fill in her name, should she like.

Benthus looks up at the sky and realizes that he has actually overstayed in one particular district. He sighs, shakes his head and quietly slips away while everyone is talking to Mikilos and his training... (RL calls me back to it. Thanks for the scene, everyone.)

Benthus has left.

Talithia looks up to SOlace and tilts her head. "Windhammer. Talithia Windhammer." She then goes back to looking at the books as Benthus slips away.

Mikilos stretches, the spells being nice, but taking a bit out of him. Looking to the new arrival, he inquires casually. "Are you seeking anything in particular, miss Windhammer?"

Solace bows to Talithia. "A pleasure to meet you, I'm sure. Solace," he says, indicating himself. When he straightens, he adds, "And I should also be going - the night comes, and not all of us can avoid the luxury of sleep." A smile at Mikilos. "Good night to you both."

Solace has left.

Talithia watches as Solace disappears now. "It seems I am scaring everyone away." She then looks up to Mikilos. "not really. Just looking for something to pass the time." She then puts a book down. "I just got here and was mostly exploring the city, getting to know people. Most give me a wide berth though."

Mikilos nods, and shrugs, peering aorund a moment before finding himself a seat. "Most folks around here are pretty accepting, but are more than a few who clearly WANT a wide berth. And typically better safe than sorry. Any case, what brings you to fair Alexandros?"

Talithia says, "Curiosity and the wish to assist in gaining my clan honor." She then looks around and chuckles. "and Mead.""

Mikilos grins. "Well, for the later, might I suggest the Ox Strength Tavern, down by the docks? The company is a bit... rough... but the booze are some of the best in the city. And the owner is actually quite nice, when she's time to be around. What clan are you?" He can guess, but best to be certain.

Talithia says, "I'll keep that in mind." She says with a smile. "and I'm of the Windhammer clan out of Valorheim. We're not one of the bigger clans, but we're not the smallest either.""

Mikilos nods. "With intermarriage, is hard to be certain. I've met a couple Windhammers, read about more. Be a task to gain even more honor to such a respected group."

Talithia says, "I don't imagine they were forgers, were they?" She says with a chuckle. "How good is the tavern's honeyed mead?""

Mikilos ponders a moment and shrugs. "Good? I guess? I tend more towards distilled spirits, so my personal knowledge of meads isn't great."

Talithia says, "Meads are a personal favorite of mine, though I don't swill it like some of my more mountainous bretheren." She then chuckles. "Ah well. I suppose I should find my own place to stay....""

Mikilos mmms. "Are a number of places around. Most of the temples have rooms for pilgrims, as do the guild halls. But if you're seaking something unaffiliated, the Fernwood is one of the nicer places in town."

Talithia nods. "I'll take a look at Fernwood then. Thank you.....mister tall elf." She says with a chuckle.

Mikilos grins. "Mikilos Mithralla, Builder Arcane. I'm sure will see you again, miss Talithia Windhammer."

Talithia nods to Mikilos. "More than likely." She says stumping her way off towards the west.

Talithia has left.