...gone tomorrow.

(follows from [Hare today,]

-=--=--=--=--=--=<* A07: Lower Alexandria Market District *>-=--=--=--=--=--=- It's Ceriday, Aestry 16 20:53:56 1018. The full moon is up. The tide is high and ebbing. The sun sets, the western clouds turning purple, red, and gold. It's hazy and warm.

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.

Yelrona is making the rounds of potion-sellers, noting prices and signs of quality. Not buying yet, but preparing to. She walks away from a stall run by a brother-and-sister pair of druids, a somewhat disturbed expression on her face.

THE PRESTIGOUS MOON has doors. And out of those doors walks Sandy. She's stomping her way down out after locking up and looking incensed. INCENSED.

The Fernwood is likewise equipped with doors. Aya exits out of one into the array of vendors and their wares. Some are ignored and passed, others are glanced to.

"So," Yelrona is asking a gnome whose stall is covered with signs that _look_ like common Tradespeak, but don't seem to actually _say_ anything, "do you offer any sort of guarantee, if your --" She trails off as she sees Sandy, and puts down a clear flask filled with purple liquid and what looks like a worm, labelled "For manifestations of flesh separation." She doesn't know what it is, and she thinks she may be better off that way. She tentatively approaches the angry sorceress, deciding she's probably marginally better equipped to deal with whatever has set her off than the crowds at the market. "Hey, Sandy. You do realize if you keep bottling up your feelings behind such a cheerful demeanor, nobody will ever know how you really feel, right?"

ELves. Elves everywhre. It is a nightmare come true! Sandy's attentio is called by Yelrona, though, and shey just eyes her. Eyes her for a long moment. "I think everyone knows how I feel quite clearly right now," she informs her, solemnly, as the irritation still keeps itself obviously written all over her face.

THEY'RE COMING OUT OF THE WALLS. AAAAAAAAH! Wait, no. Actually, Miruan was investigating some of the alchemy supplies vendors. She has a bag of glass bottles in a messenger bag. On the end of a quarter staff, there's a small terrarium with a tiny pond of water and a VERY purple crab. She has grey eyes, and she seems pretty cheery.

And then she spots Sandy. "Oh. MY. GODDESS OF PLUSH!" Squee!

Aya pauses at jewelrysmith briefly to eye, and even touch, a piece or three. Afterwards, she continues on. The call draws her attention to first the caller, then the called. Both are familiar, though it is the latter whose scowl must be contagious as Aya seems to catch it.

Yelrona nods. "I was being ironic," she explains, straight-faced. "With anyone else I'd have led off with 'What's wrong? You look furious.'" she continues, switching into her native sildanyari, "but that seemed likely to trigger, I don't know, a firestorm or something. So I went a different way. But if you prefer, I can --" she's cut off by an impossibly cheery cousin, and stands dazed for a moment.

IS... is that a crab? On a staff? Sandy is about to say something to Yelrona when she catches sight of that oddness. "The hell?" She says.

"That's Courage. You haven't seen a crab before?" Muriel seems puzzled. "We have a lot of stuff like that at home. Well. Former home." Sadface. "Hi! Are you guys from around here?" She seems curious, alert and - almost painfully friendly.

Aya turns her attention from Sandy to the cheerful one with one or more crabs. A brow arches at the cheer and question. "No." Simple answer for a simple question.

Yelrona thinks about the question a bit. In context, it's complicated. "Compared to where that thing comes from," she finally says, "where I come from is around here, yes."

"...I've seen a crab before," says Sandy, dryly, to Muriel, "just never one on the end of a bloody staff, that's what." She gives her a glare, then clears her throat once. Aya is glanced in the direction of by her. Briefly. Then Yelrona. Blinkblink. "Oh. Well, they can't be out of the water more than a day or so," Muriel shrugs. "He's my familiar, I guess you'd say." The crab lifts pincers. True dat. "I just got in yesterday, but I slept a lot. So today I'm exploring and shopping." Beat. "It's not a thing," Muriel asserts. "Anyway, uh. What do I call you?"

Yelrona wonders whether she was this much of a... fish out of water... when she first arrived in Alexandros. She hopes not. "You can call me Yelrona," she offers. Then, on a whim, she adds "Or Yesnigradnojalia," an obscure Mysandraal term meaning, roughly, 'the example that contradicts the rule.' No reason, she just figures it would be amusing.

Aya now looks to the staff and crab briefly, conveniently missing Sandy's near-glance. Perhaps too conveniently. "Interesting. Convenient that this city is on the sea, so there is no shortage of water."

"...you have a crab familiar. Wizards," says Sandy, with a bit of annoyance under her breath. It's likely to be followed with 'they have no sense of right or wrong', but instead she just grunts onec and peers at Yelrona for a moment. "Funny," she tells her.

Muriel looks a bit puzzled. "Well, I'm technically L-- Call me Muriel." She really can't claim a noble title once she got booted out of ElfHaus, now can she. There's a polite smile to Yelrona and she curtsies. "Nice to meet you, Lady Yesnigradnojalia. Yelrona." She adds neatly. "And yeah, it's super handy. He gets to go on walks sometimes." Smile. "Plus, there's lots of alchemy to study here, too." Then a pause at Sandy. She looks - really puzzled.

"Purple hair is so cool."

"I try," 'rona replies straight-faced. She'd forgotten that Sandy was the other person she'd met who spoke Mysandraal, but she remembers now. "I'm not a lady," she explains. "Just a traveller."

Sandy's eyes roll up and she blows some bangs out of her eyes. She scowls briefly, "Yeah. I sometimes forget about that." Her hair is like the same color as Muriel's crab! He might try to break out and hide in it.

Aya notices the similarities in color, herself, though does not voice it at the moment. In fact, she not only acknowledges Sandy, but does so with a nod to her comment. "Wizards." Is it possibly that they have one opinion, somewhere that is ...vaguely similar?

"Yes, what about them?" Muriel seems puzzled. "There are many in the city?" She looks between them. "I like the purple hair. And he's not strong enough to break glass, I don't think," She admits. "Anyway, I was a member of House Arcanum before I guess they figured I wasn't fitting in. So - there's lots to do here? What do I call you two?" A peer at Sandy and Aya.

Yelrona nods, a friendly smile crossing her face. "Yes, lots to do. There's the Bardic College Summer Regatta tomorrow, for one thing... that should be fun!"

"...wizards," repeats Sandy after Aya's acknowledging glance. There's a certain understated understanding there that she doesn't further dive into. Yelrona is eyed some more, then she addresses Muriel. "Tons of them. Not as many as Run, but enough that there's always mischief."

"I'm quite sure we could suggest a number of names for each other," Aya answers Muriel though her glance is split to Sandy. One orner of her mouth lifts in an uneven not-quite smile, "that you probably wouldn't want to use. There's no lack of things to do in the city, now. You could be crushed by a malfunctioning golem, devoured by a demon, or consumed by one of the diseases or forms of madness plaguing many."

"..." Muriel looks uncertain. "I see. Um. What do I call you, then?" She asks. Muriel nods at Sandy. "I'd like to go there one day. But it's a bit far." And she'd likely get splattered by something along the way. Then a pause at Aya's words. "Um. Those sound like bad things. I'll pass. I enjoy the magic craft and alchemy. It's what I do, and it's no worse or better than another. I mean, I can't use a sword- so-" A shrug. "Books it is! I mean, you can't really shoot a book out of a bow. So setting someone on fire is the next logical conclusion in combat." Yes.

"Sandy," adds Sandy after a moment to Muriel. SHe clears her throat, "But, yeah. Lady Sandiel is what everyon else calls me." She makes a face.

Yelrona pauses, looking thoughtful. It's possible she's thinking about whether it's possible to fire a book from a bow. It's possible she wouldn't admit to that, if asked.

"They are bad things," Aya nods, "and they're in the city, now. Welcome to Alexandria. I doubt you'll die of boredom."

"Wow, I'm a fan!" Muriel is going to glomp poor Sandy if not evaded. Oh god. happily, her familiar is safely aside. Because animals get plot immunity. No one can stand movies that kill off the pets. No one.

She looks to Yelrona, and is quizzical. But Aya's words distract her. "I see." She'll let Sandy go if she managed to latch on. "Well. Then I'll just have to help do something about them." Beam.

Sandy does not see that coming. She is immediately glomped.

She just sort of stands there like a deer caught in headlights.

"Has anyone?" Yelrona asks, curiously. "Died of boredom, I mean. Like, ever? It seems really... I don't know, unlikely, I suppose." She shakes her head, as though to clear it. Is it possible Muriel is contagious? She hopes not. Especially not if it involves taking the kinds of familiarities she's taking with Sandy. She takes a step back, not quite conversant with the ranges and areas of effect of whatever spells she might start throwing around.

Aya is amused by the sudden embrace, as her rekindling smirk attests. Amused, but not foolish. She takes a single step back from Sandy and Muriel before rolling her shoulders for Yelrona's benefit.

Letgo. "I am so going to get fireballed. But it was worth it." Beams. Muriel seems unfailingly cheery and friendly. Definitely failing hard at the aloof thing. "Anyway, um. Wow! I met a celebrity, get shopping done and everything."

"...auuuggh!" is Sandy's response as she is hugged so tightly. She finds herself squished into Muriel for a moment before she starts to flail, then falls back on her butt.

Yelrona regards Sandy's undignified fall with some concern. Not that 'dignified' is the first word that comes to mind when describing the sorceress, granted, but it's beginning to occur to her that if _she_ were an assassin given the job of taking out someone that powerful, this is more or less the approach she would take. It's hard to imagine anyone pulling off a con this perfect, but, well, apparently this is a thing people do, if she's to judge from her encounter with Setiewan. She takes a step forward, crouching down next to Sandy's body. "Are you all right?"

"Ack, sorry!" Muriel looks apologetic.

Aya just watches this all, rather amused.

"Ack, sorry!" Muriel looks apologetic. She doesn't approach again. For now, she looks a bit wide-eyed.

"Fwaugh," says Sandy. She gets back to her feet (with some effort, despite being an elf she's not the most graceful thing in the world) and she brushes herself off. "That's fine. It's fine. I'm fine," she grumbles, irritably.

Yelrona watches carefully as she stands... clumsily, yes, but by comparison to her pretty much everyone she's ever met is clumsy... and then steps back. As she does so, she spots a familiar figure peeking out from underneath a nearby cart: an artificial rabbit. Staring at her. The same rabbit she'd spent most of the day chasing? Who can say, all magitech rabbits look alike to her. But really, how many can there be? She stares fixedly at the thing.

There's a blink. "Is that an artificial rabbit?" Muriel seems puzzled. She looks apologetically to Sandy. She takes up her stave 'n crab once more.

"A what now?" says Sandy, giving Muriel a weird look. She turns to peeeeer in Yelora's direction.

"An artificial rabbit," 'rona echoes. "A rabbit. Made of artifice," she repeats. "I was chasing it all morning -- all the way out to that herb shop in the woods -- but I lost it. Too fast. I guess it's following me." She sounds a little nervous about it. "is this another one of those things?" asks Sandy, taking a moment to straighten her bustled coat.

Point. Muriel blinks at it. "I see. I wonder whose it is. Maybe it likes you." She seems uncertain. "I've not really seen one like it before," She admits.

You say, "They're popping up all over the city... ever since the demon attack at the junkyard. Not all rabbits of course," she adds hastily -- _that_ would be weird. "The first one I saw was a frog. The second was a snake. I have no idea whose they are, but I'm guessing whoever it is, I probably don't ever want to meet them. Which reminds me," she adds to Sandy without looking away from the eerily still apparatus, "do you know any reliable potion suppliers in town?""

"I saw a little red floofball the other day," says Sandy, scowling. "We took it to the Guild. What the hell?" She makes a face, then tugs on her trousers, keepign a wary eye on Muriel at the moment.

Muriel blinks again, owlishly. "I'm an alchemist! I am kind of a novice, though," She admits. "And how strange. I'll have to take a look at some of these." Muriel is fearless in pursuit of knowledge! "Maybe once my friend is back," She considers. "Here bunny bunny... Let's see if you're friendly. Is that okay?" She asks.

"How did you collect it?" rona asks Sandy intently. "We were trying to do that, but the two I saw, they just... poofed when we snatched them," she adds, making a forlorn empty-handed gesture. She shrugs to Muriel. "It's fine with me," she says agreeably. "But a friend of mine passed out shortly after catching one. They do something weird to your head... pass on memories, or something. I don't get it, myself. Some kind of demonic thing, I guess."

"Did happen to me," says Sandy, 'or Lilyth." Then again, they don't call her 'the demon elf of Alexandria' for no reason. CLearly. She shrugst owards Muriel. "Go ahead. Pick it up."

"I have an extra glass jar," Muriel offers. Truly, the best-worst elf wizard ever. For now, she seems more cautious when warned. That puts her ahead of many of her scholarly compatriots. "Or don't grab it with your REGULAR hand." Mage hand?! "But I don't know - I wish holding a portal open worked like holding a teleport." Sigh. "Hey! That'll be good research." A memo pad is taken out and sketched on. "Wait, is it like, all mechanical or sentient?"

Yelrona shrugs. "It's not like the two are mutually exclusive," she points out, remembering her experience with the War Golems. "I mean, if golems aren't sentient, I'm not sure humans are either."

"Oh, sure. Down on the humans," says Sandy, dryly, "Elven arrogance again, huh?" She points a finger at Yelrona. It's not like they aren't all elves here.

"I have yet to meet a War Golem! I will look forward to this," Muriel really is fresh elf meat. "Anyway, I'm not keeping you guys, right? We can try catching it or luring it. I wonder if it likes carrots?" Chintap. "Or maybe oil. I don't know." Hmmm.

Yelrona nods cheerfully to Sandy. "It's the best kind of arrogance in the realm. I mean seriously: nobody can be arrogant as well as us!" To Muriel she adds "I tried rabbits, and metal arrowheads. No joy."

"It's true. We're the worst. Why, only an elf would think they could just randomly walk up and hug someone."She smiles at Muriel with a slightly predatory edge.

Hmm. "Well. On one hand, we wanna catch it. On the other, we don't want to scare it off..." She looks puzzled. She blinks at Yelrona. Muriel looks a bit abashed. "Yeah, I guess." She seems less certain. Maybe she's still a bit hurt about the whole being booted out of Elflandia (not related to Portland). "Anyway, sorry. I should - go."

Yelrona chuckles. "Well. And halflings," she corrects Sandy. "Hey, I have an idea... let me have that jar?" The rabbit may be resistant to her arcane connection, but the jar certainly isn't. Then Muriel announces her departure, and she looks back at her. "Oh... OK," she replies uncertainly.

"Well," says Sandy, "It was /very/ nice meeting you." AND THEN SHE HUGS HER.

"Sure," Muriel will give Yelrona the large jar. And then a blink at Sandy. "Sure, the pleasure was all-- EEP." Hugged!

"Why, it's almost like you're surprised to be hugged out of nowhere by someone!" Sandy says this in an too-cheerful-to-be-real tone of voice.

Yelrona stares bemusedly at the two elves, then shakes her head. "Almost," she echoes dryly, then concentrates on the jar, muttering a few words and pointing her finger at it... GAME: Yelrona rolls 1d100: (90): 90 GAME: Yelrona rolls dexterity-4: (17)+5+-4: 18 ...and successfully dropping the jar on top of the insufficiently cautious non-rabbit. "HAH! Got you!" she exults. It's possible she's invested a little too much of herself in capturing this thing.

"It is kind of ironic." Muriel beams at Sandy. And now she just sort of accepts it. Then her eyes widen. "Good job!" She beams at Yelrona.

Sandy hugs her tighter. With a tight smile. She then leans over peer at what Yelrona is doing curiously.

"Oh, don't hug me too tight, I have reagents in my pockets," Miruan warns. EXPLODING ELF.

"I'll survive. Less sure about you," says Sandy to Muriel. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeze. She is trying to make a point here! AND IT IS NOT WORKING. WHY IS IT NOT WORKING.

At first, Yelrona isn't paying too much attention to the embracing elves, her attention is fully occupied with carefully turning the jar over and sealing it without letting the rabbit out. Is it glaring at her with hateful demonic eyes, or is that just the light being reflected? Who can say? Then she turns around and sees the two and laughs. "Are those reagents in your pockets, or are you just..." she starts, then thinks better of completing the sentence.

"I - see. Well, I'd really rather not explode if that's okay with you," Muriel offers helpfully. Then she giggles at Yelrona. "That was good. And you got the bunny!"

"Don't make me hug you too!" Sandy snaps at Yelrona. She squuuuuuezes Muriel tighter. THIS ISN'T FAIR.

"Erk. Cantbreathe." Muriel is going to pass out.

Yelrona raises an eyebrow. "I wouldn't dream of it. But for whatever it's worth, I happen to know that the honeymoon suite at the Fernwood is available tonight... there was rather an unpleasant row this morning between the couple who'd rented it."

Sandy turns bright red. "I'm married!" She counters hotly at Yelruna, grasp loosening.

Blinkblinkblink. "Are they okay? Honeymoon suites? Wow. This place has /everything/," Meanwhile, Muriel chugs along, cheery as ever.

Yelrona nods. "I know - I was at your party, remember? Your wife is lovely. But I've been thinking a lot about what you told me about my father, and, well... mostly I think how other people choose to arrange their marriages isn't really any of my business. So, you know, if you two have an arrangement, I'm certainly not the one to go scolding you for, er... enthusiastically hugging other women in the marketplace."

Sandy /glares at Yelrona. But now hse's not letting go. "IT'S NOT THAT KIND OF HUG," she yells.

Muriel looks lost. "I think I need an adult."

Yelrona shrugs. "I can't help you there, I'm afraid," she explains to Muriel. "I'm just barely past my Century, myself. Now, Sandy here... as I understand it, she's quite a bit more... experienced." The straightfaced expression is looking increasingly strained as Rona straps the jar down more tightly.

"E-Experienced!" Sandy growls the words out, /now glaring/ at Yelrona even more intently. There might be steam coming out of her nostrils. Metaphorically speaking.

"... I really need an adult. Oh hey, I have grease and lube." Apply to arms, then try to wriggle out of Sandygrip. Muriel has got this.

"And you are both young and pretty. Just please stop the squeeze," Muriel requests.

"I think they supply that with the suite," Rona observes judiciously.

"I assume you get the point, then," says Sandy to Muriel, loosning the squeeze wile still glaring at Yelrona.

It is only at this point that it occurs to 'rona that perhaps she pushed the joke a little too far. It's so hard to tell... she'll have to discuss this with the Luckbringers at Temple tomorrow. Assuming she makes it that far.

"Yes! You like hugs," Muriel beams cheerily. "And I see. That's such nice service. Be well, both of you! It was fun!" Muriel gathers her stave, crab and all and skips off merrily. It was a good day.

"There's going to be no suites," says Sandy, firmly. And then Muriel speaks and skips off and she stares after her in horror.

"Ah. Yes. And I, er, ought to be, ah... delivering this to the Guild!" she says as her gaze falls on the forlorn artifice bunny. For just a moment she wonders if it merely wanted to be REAL, then she shakes her head and the fancy goes away. "it's been lovely meeting you both I hope to see you around in the future have a pleasant rest of your evening it really is a lovely crab bye now!" she adds, not really stopping for breath as she puts significant distance between herself and Sandy.