Raven's Feast

It's a bitterly cold early evening at the market, but that isn't stopping a certain fixture at the market from eating his way through the free samples the vendors have to offer. The white raven with blue eyes merrily chomps down on a little roasted sausage glazed in some sort of savory-smelling brown sauce, pierced onto a toothpick as his half-elf mistress rolls her violet eyes.

"Okay Pothy, how do you feel about /that/ one? Would you like a full size one?" the sorceress asks.

The raven ignores her for the moment as he finishes his sausage, but he looks up at her with his big blue eyes once the little meat treat has disappeared in full down his gullet. He cocks his head from side to side, much like how a humanoid would tilt their head to the side and rub their chin in thought, and finally says, "Snack."

"You are incorrigible," the half-elf says, before moving on to another vendor... and another free sample.

Less a fixture of the market district and more an uncommon feature, is the darkly clad man who stands at one of the vendors talking quietly to the other man. Their conversation is so undertone that no one even half a step away could hear it. There is a raven sitting on his shoulder, a somewhat large but otherwise average version of its type. The raven keeps an eye on those passing by and finally caws quietly at the man who's shoulder that he is sitting on.

The vendor startles as if only now just aware of the raven and the xian man taps the bird on the forehead briefly. An action that seems to offend the raven somewhat if its ruffled feathers are any indication. This at least causes him to look up. "Ah. The other raven?" His raven shifts from foot to foot in response and makes another low raven-noise. "Well if you insist." Remarks the man, handing over some money to the vendor who takes a wrapped package from behind the counter and hands it over. The exchange made, the xian man heads across the marketplace toward the woman and her distinct companion.

The white raven identified as 'Pothy' is now chowing away on a battered and fried vegetable, the golden flakes of the batter glistening slightly with the remainder of the frying oil on yet another small stick. He pulls it apart to reveal a bit of the veggie underneath, but this sample disappears just as quickly.

"Okay, what's the verdict? Bigger veggie fry?" the girl asks him.

The blue eyes blink. He looks at her. She looks at him. Finally, he says, "Snack."

"Honestly, I don't even know why I ask. I don't even know if you taste things," the sorceress says with an eye roll. She moves to the stand next door. Another sample is offered. The vicious sample cycle continues.

The raven sitting on the xian man's shoulder gives him a reproachful look that clearly says something along the lines of 'you don't treat me half so well'. Fluffing feathers the raven lets out a claxioning noise which is obviously a greeting even if you don't speak 'raven'. At which point the xian man manages to finally catch up to 'Pothy'. "Greetings." Offers the xian man. "Would you mind joining me in that alley over there?" He asks politely, but rather oddly off the woman.

The Gobbo wanders through the market like a child in the proverbial candy story. She stops at every stall to peer at everything for sale, and asks at least a dozen questions about this and that, before she moves on to the next stall. At one of the stalls selling clothing, she peers down at her robes, smoothing them out a little, before going on to haggle with the vendor over a particular bolt of cloth. A deep, sea green, the cloth closely matches the colour of her current robes.

"Irshya thinks that is much too high. Surely you can come down some silvers, yes?"

The man smiles beautifically, and leans in closer to offer his reply at a lower volume. Irshya tsks and moves on to the next stall. Which sells small fried things on a stick.

Both white raven and sorceress look at the man and his raven. The white raven just calmly finishes his new sample, which appears to be some sort of grilled piece of steak covered in a thick red sauce. The half-elf woman, by comparison, raises a brow. "Well, I can't say I've ever been greeted that way. Alleys aren't typically where good things happen. I hope you're not planning on mugging me."

"Snack," Pothy says, already finished with his free sample and indicating he'd like to go on to the next vendor now, please.

The man blinks at the woman and then looks at the raven on his shoulder. His expression isn't mutable enough to tell what he's thinking, but the raven idly pretends to preen himself. "No." His answer is a short reply, but he sighs and meets the woman's gaze. "Wyua would like a chance to... commune with your companion." He seems to be not terribly social under the best of situations, and yet making an effort. Wyua, the raven, nods to the human man's words.

Flush with several fried things on sticks, Irshya raven-ously chews through them. Several shish kabobs are devoured in short order. She delicately licks at the juices that touched her fingers, and she looks longingly at the last full shish kabob.

This is when she walks full tilt into Karasu's back, which after leaving a mark on his clothing, dislodges the tasty meat'n'potatoes-on-a-stick from her hand. It hits the ground with a wet sounding thip. The Gobbo frowns.

At the indication that the raven familiar would like to 'commune', the half-elf looks far more amenable to the concept of going into alleyways with strange men. "Aww! Pothy, do you hear that? They want to be friends!"

The white raven looks at the other raven familiar. He makes a clicking noise, followed by a friendly raven "merp." A true meeting of the minds--

Until the man is bumped into by the goblin woman. The sorceress frowns. "Oh! Everyone okay?"

The man feels the bump, and closes his eyes briefly. A soft sigh exits his lips and he turns. Not to look at the woman that bumped into him, but rather to see if... Yes there's a stain on his clothes. His eyebrow twitches. Wuya on his shoulder makes a comforting noise and he takes another breath before turning away from the goblin. "I am fine." This to reassure the woman and Wuya peers over his shoulder at the goblin's fallen treat with a bit of interest though he makes no move to actually leave Karasu's shoulder.

A growling sound is heard, and the Gobbo's expression changes from unhappy to one of embarrassment.

"Irshya is sorry.", she says softly. "She could take your shirt and have it cleaned. Her business operates a laundry service." Another growl is heard, and she looks to the two ravens perching on shoulders.

"If your birds want, they can have the food Irshya dropped. Irshya isn't hungry any more."

The rumble of her belly begs to disagree.

Pothy is an opportunist. Free food? Free food. He flies down and begins to clean up the food that's tumbled to the ground.

"Sounds like you're hungry," the half-elf says with a bit of a frown. "How about I buy food for everyone? Does that sound okay? Pothy likes sharing snacks with friends and friends-to-be, I've found, so might be a good precursor to them talking," she says, her last point directed more to Wyua and his human.

Wuya looks at his human. His human looks back at him. They share a moment. Silent dialogue that ends with Wuya looking away as if they'd never shared a moment. "That is acceptable." This from the man who offers his hand to the woman as yet unidentified. "My name is Karasu, and your generosity is appreciated." After his introduction he looks at the goblin, seeming to consider her. "It is of no consequence."

The Gobbo cants her head slightly to Half-Elf, and shakes her head. "Irshya is happy to meet a new friend, but she does not require more food right now." Her stomach strongly disagrees with another loud growl. She huffs at that.

"Irshya is pleased to meet you.", she says with a toothy grin, her smile slightly marred by a tooth that appears to be slightly angled back into her mouth.

Irshya also offers her hand to the unidentified woman.

The sorceress smiles, pleased with the sudden emergence of new connections. "You may call me Ravenstongue--or, umm, Cor'lana. Lana for short. Still getting used to that one, so might as well tell people to use it so I do get used to it."

She gestures to the white-feathered menace on the ground consuming the kebab. "That void-stomach bird is Apotheosis, or Pothy for short. He's my familiar. Mostly, he just eats food even though he doesn't have to."

Pothy has finished the kebab and flies with the stick in his beak to a bin, and then to Ravenstongue's shoulder. At least he's polite and doesn't litter.

Ravenstongue takes and shakes both Irshya and Karasu's hands with a smile, one after the other. "Now then, any particular stalls interest people? Or should we let Pothy pick?"

The woman of many names earns herself a small half-smile from Karasu, who is still being ignored by Wuya. "A pleasure to meet you Cor'lana, though I might ask which of those you prefer to be called by given that you have so many names to choose from." His tone is one of wry amusement, but the expression on his face is still quite unexpressive. It's the most he's said this whole time. His handshake is professional, but somewhat tense as though he's not terribly familiar with the custom. He offers half a bow with it, and that's graceful and smooth as silk.

"If I can offer a suggestion, there is a stall three that way and one to the right which offers a fair range of foods from different locations. The food is average, but the offerings wide in their variety." He motions with his hand as he speaks to indicate the proper direction, then lowers his hand again.

"Lanalana!", the Gobbo says cheerfully, and nods. "Sure, Irshya is happy to see what the bird chooses for supper."

She looks to Karasu, and offers up her hand. "Irshya is happy to meet you, too." Her head cants slightly at what the man says, nodding again. "That sounds good also. Irshya enjoys finding new food she has not eaten yet."

Ravenstongue laughs a little at Karasu's comment about her names. "Well, it's a long story, which is really how people get multiple names, I suppose. Umm... Honestly, I'm so used to being called Raven or Ravens that I like it the best. But Lana was my childhood name I've gotten to reclaim, so I'm trying to get used to it again. Anyway, that stall sounds good, so let's go."

She follows Karasu's directions to the stall and buys anything that any of her new companions find interesting. She ends up ordering what amounts to a large plate of random foods for Pothy, whose blue eyes seem to dilate once the food is in her hands. Karasu briefly shakes Irshya's hand before following Cor'lana - or Raven as prefered - to the stall that he indicated. The owner seems to know Karasu, at least a little, and brings an order of hot water for the man without any questions as to what he might want. Karasu slips a small package from his sleeve and pours it into the hot water. A few stirs and he allows the mixture to steep.

When the proprietor brings the water, Karasu does order some food for Wuya of course, and the bird happily hops onto the table in preparation of the meal to come. When the food arrives he gives a pleased whirr and looks at Cor'lana like she's earned his favor, before breaking into the meal. Karasu seems lightly amused by the bird's antics, a small smile actually touching his lips and eyes.

The Goblin orders a haunch of lamb, one that has been slowly cooked for many hours. She bites into it eagerly, her expression one of exquisite satisfaction. Swallowing the mouthful down, she smiles at Ravenstongue. "Thank you! Irshya will repay Lanalana some day, perhaps when Lanalana is down on her luck?"

Irshya watches the two Ravens dig into their respective meals and she hastens to wolf down hers.

Pothy has interpreted Wuya's feasting as a /challenge/. He begins to inhale his food, bits and pieces going down the gullet in smooth motions to the point where it's either mesmerizing or disgusting depending on your point of view. (Maybe both.)

"Is that tea?" Raven asks, peering at the steeping package in Karasu's hot water with some curiosity.

Her attention turns to Irshya at the expression of gratitude as she smiles. "Really, it's nothing--I just try to be nice to people and get along with others unless they give me a reason not to."

Wuya sets to the meal as if not noticing Pothy, but there's a distinct quickness to the black raven's bites. Perhaps the challenge has been accepted? Karasu snorts at the birds and nods to Cor'lana's question. "Yes. It is." He at least doesn't seem terribly verbose.

After a moment of silence, a man comes up to Karasu, getting his attention and then quietely whispering in his ear. Karasu rises to his feet and motions to Wuya who sighs at the half-eaten meal. "I will have to make this a... rain check? Next time I will pay." He bows his head to the two women and quickly hastens away with the man who'd come to get him.

It seems that he leaves as mysteriously as he'd entered into the scene.

-End