Oh No... Summons in the Shop!

[Swix]

((This is a pretty random RP, so feel free to join with whoever . Everyone's welcome))

A rare thing in Blackstar, a human stood at the counter to a new shop, admiring her work. Karen had her hair tied back with the material headband as usual, keeping her long, silky black hair out of the way of her mismatched eyes. Her left brown eye and right green eye swept across the interior of the store as she endeavoured to make absolutely certain everything was in order.

Karen stepped around the counter and began pacing the aisles, her leather boots making a scuffing noise as she did. She walked along racks of oddities. Amulets, wands, dreamcatchers, even broomsticks lined one side of the shelves. Anything and everything Karen had managed to get her hands on that was perceived to be, or have once been magical. There were even a few swords with runes etched into them in the corner, although the blades were blunted.

Down the middle aisle were lined hundreds of books, some thick, some thin, but all dealing with magic and myths. There were quite a few dragonology books, and books claiming to list all monsters that had been known or spotted throughout the ages. If anyone fancied, there was a small corner devoted to love potions and the like. Karen always had to hide a smile whenever she saw these, they never worked, they were just there so people could say they dabbled.

On the opposite side of the shop to where the magical objects were, there were figures. Some were metal, some were wood, and some had been carved by Karen herself. The figures all depicted mythical beasts. A majestic unicorn stood as the centerpiece, reared up onto it's hind legs with flowing silver mane and tail, golden hooves caught mid-motion as they pawed the air. Griffins, dragons, wyverns, even minotaurs could be seen among the crowd of creatures. There was even a tree spirit depicted in one of the wooden statues, her face covered by wild hair as she clutched her arm and wept for the harm that had been done to her tree. The tree itself was still standing, but a gaping hole in the side showed it wasn't well, and mirrored the spirits wounded arm.

All three displays had gold. purple and silver material draped around them. In the book aisles case, there was a large sign attached to the top that clearly read 'Rental Only', because they were Karens books and she really didn't want to lose them. Some of them were rare.

The clean windows all around let the sun shine in, and showed the edge of the Wilds one side and the Central Plains on the other. She'd heard that most of the inhabitants here spent their time in The Wilds so this seemed the perfect place to set up. Karen walked through the door and spun around to make sure the sign she'd put outside was clear enough.

A stand-up sign had one of her better pictures of a griffin, wings fully extended as it flew through the air, projecting an image of absolute joy even though it was still and lacked runes around it.

Above the picture were the words:

Karens Custom Drawings, 200 per picture.
Magical and Mythical creatures a specialty.
Please enquire at the counter.

Above the shop were the words: Karen's Magical Oddities.

The human smiled as she used her studded leather, fingerless gloved hand to turn the Closed sign at the front to Open and walked back in. She was just glad she'd sent flyers out with the shops name, whereabouts and the fact it was now open today, or she might get no customers. If they turned up with one of the simple pieces of paper and showed it to her, she'd do them a free picture.

Karen hadn't realised though that when she'd said 'flyers' the person in Psychotopia had taken it literally, and now what appeared to be living paper aeroplanes whizzed around Blackstar until they thrust themselves into the hands of any unsuspecting beings. Well, hands, tentacles, bones, paws, hair or anything else for that matter.

[3kul]

A human hand snatched one of the flyers out of the air, and the owner of the hand drew it close to it's lifeless wooden face to get a better look. ~Is this the right kind of place?~ The creature thought curiously. ~It is close enough. Just get the job done, you've been gone for too long already.~ Came the reply.

The creature did not bother to think of any way to acknowledge this reply, for to do so would simply waste more time. It released the flyer back into the breeze, withdrew it's hands into the fur coat that covered it's body and leapt off the side of the skyscraper that it had perched itself upon. For a creature so bulky it's movements were incredibly graceful, it almost looked like it was simply flowing down the buildings, neon signs and power lines that it was bouncing off to slow it's fall.

Landing on all six legs, it scampered through the crowded streets, not really seeming all that out of the place in a city that was largely populated by the bizarre and unusual.

It wasn't long before the creature reached it's destination. 'Karen's Magical Oddities'... What a strange name for a place, the creature thought, entering the store. Not wanting to waste it's time, the creature wandered over to find the store owner. She looked very strange to the creature, for it had never seen a human before - dangly limbs, pink skin with hair flowing down from the top of her head, colourful eyes that were full of expression, all of these features and more struck the creature as very odd. Still, it was no reason to be impolite.

The creature opened it's wooden mouth, and without moving it's jaw again, began to talk. "Excuse me, I'm looking for something with information on..." The human hand extended out again from it's thick fur coat, and it held a list closely to it's expressionless face. "... Bakrus, Bugganes, Cockatrices, Kappas and Tengus. If you have books or something like that on any of these creatures, that would be very helpful."

The wooden face turned to one side as it put the list away, only just now noticing the sign with the picture of the griffin on it. It stared for a moment, then spoke up once again. "If you can make pictures of any of these creatures for me, I can pay you for that too." It added, withdrawing a rather heavy looking sack (with a large mark on it of course ) from it's thick fur coat.

((Sort of a new character here, but it's more of a halfway point really. The information I'm asking for is also kind of something to do with the halfway point, but it's a bit hard to explain .

If you're struggling to picture what the creature looks like, an older pic of it can be found here, and a more recent (yet unfortunately, far too lightly done) pic can be found here))

EDIT: Fixed spelling

[Zerrer]

Samika walked in, pulling out her chainblade, and walked up to karen.

"got chains to replace the rusty ones on this thing?"

[Somefreakoverthere]

"Gah!"

Somebody shouted and fell over as a paper airoplane hit her in the eye. She flowed upright, picked up the paper an unfolded it.

"Hmm...It would be in my best intrest to see what this new shop has to offer."

She commented mainly to herself, her black hands folding the paper up and storing it in her arm before she set out to take a look at this new shop.

The women-shaped creature smiled and hitched a lift with a strange creature's shadow. Perhaps this person 'Karen' would know what the empty vial stored in her throat was for, and if it was important.

((A new character I'm trying out. I haven't actuly made her profile yet, so I'll get around to doing that sooner or later.))

[Panther385]

((Well, since everyone else is using new characters... ))

Two tinted hooves clanked on the walk as the mechanical beast trudged through a crowd. A hiss of displeasure came from one of the steam spirits as a piece of living paper clogged one of their vents. Another black hoof speared the flyer and held it up, so lifeless eyes could scan the text. "Ka...ren's...Mag-eh-kul...Odd-eh-ties?" The thing said aloud in an oddly childish voice. He bit the paper with his blunt teeth and held onto it as he started the trek to the shop.

An equine-like face poked through the door, followed by his metal plated body. All in all, the creature resembled a mess of pipes and metal scraps molded into the vague shape of a bipedal horse. Spurts of steam would occasionally burst from openings, hard enough to make noise, but gentle enough to not harm anything. He hesitantly made his way into the shop, stopping by the figures to admire them.

[Jent]

((I used him once, so he is still somewhat new.))
*Fallowing behind the metal equine was a frail old human in clothes that resemble royal clothes, but cheaper. He walks down the middle aisle, looking at the books. He turns to see the shop keeper next to a quite large creature holding a heavy sack of money. If she was screaming, he would thought it was a bank robbery. He turns back at the books and begins to read some of the titles of the books.*

[Swix]

((Heheh, btw, Karens profile is the one below Furnaces: http://www.blackstardojo.org/viewtopic.php?t=42&start=15))

Karen blinked as her shop began to fill up with many different creatures, trying to stop herself from staring at the mechanical equine, although she was mostly worried that the steam he was spouting would peel off the some of the paint on her figures.

She blinked again, then returned her attention to the six legged creature with the wooden face that wanted information and pictures. She hadn't been in Blackstar that long and she was still getting used to the mass of species that inhabited the place.

"Kappas and Tengus? I've definitely got some books on them"

Karen said, rushing around the counter and making her way over to the aisle full of books. She spent a short time scanning them, offering the old man a small smile as she did, and came back with several books.

Karen resumed her place behind the counter, then showed the books she'd picked up to the creature in front of her. One was entitled
'Lifestyle and Behavious of the Kappa', which she carefullt set down after showing it to the creature. The second was 'Tengus: Study of spirits' and it joined the book on the Kappa. There was also 'Mischievious Bakru', 'Bugganes and Fairies' and 'Perils of the Cockatrice'. They all joined the rapidly forming pile of books on the counter.

"Will they do? You have to bring them back after a month though, I don't sell the books, just rent them"

Karen said, smiling as best she could while trying not to stare. This creature would make an excellent picture, so different was he from the things Karen was familiar with.

"And for the pictures, I can draw them if you don't mind waiting for about half an hour? That's quite a large amount of creatures you want. Would you like them to be colour?"

Karen let an idea play through her mind before slightly shrugging and adding:

"I can add runes to the pictures too if you'd like, sometimes it makes them seem more alive"

[3kul]

"Very well, one month it is, thank you for the help." The creature replied rather hastily - the increasing number of people here was beginning to make him nervous, as could be seen by how his fur kept bristling up. One of it's arms reached up for the pile of books on the counter, but stopped as Karen continued.

The creature was so nervous that it almost forgot about the pictures all together, only remembering because Karen brought them up. "Ah, the pictures, yes. Half an hour is no problem at all, and if you know what colours they are then colour versions would be very helpful." The creature paused for a moment, clacking it's mouth as though it were thinking about something - though it had said that half an hour was no problem it was clearly disturbed by something here.

"I'm not sure what 'roons' are, but just the pictures will be fine thank you." Suddenly the creature froze up as a voice forced it's way into it's head. ~Half an hour is a bit much, isn't it?~ Came a calm voice into it's head. ~I know, but this kind of thing is more helpful than the books in some cases.~ The creature replied, hoping that there wouldn't be any argument about this. Fortunately for it, there wasn't.

"Would it be alright if I came back for all of these things in half an hour?" The creature asked. "I'm not all that comfortable in crowded places like this you see, but it's nothing that a short walk out in the open can't fix."

[Cloud]

*A young girl stepped into the shop. It was already quite full so it must be a good place, she thought. She trudged through to the section of swords, she didn't care that they had been uncared for but rather looked at the runes, curiously trying to pick out a good combination. After many long minutes she sighed, stood up and walked to the counter. Her long brown hair flowed to shoulder length and seemed to dance with intensity as she hurried to the shopkeeper. Her brown eyes gave the woman a piercing stare, almost as if she was reading some thought pattern that the shopkeeper was pursuing.*

Are you able to etch runes on those weapons you have?

*She spoke with a sweet, almost kind tone. She had a curious beauty that not many noticed for she gave most a cold stare that sent many an evil creature quivering with panic.*

[Nasari]

A six-and-a-half foot tall female Tauren walked into the store. Without delay, she walked up to the counter and asked Karen,

"I need a mane brush, a hammer, and a book about the natural history of Wyverns. Oh, and some milk. And please, NO COW JOKES. After the seventeenth time, it gets pretty old."

[Swix]

Karen shrugged at the creature as it mentioned not being comfortable in crowds, she could understand that. Sometimes she got uncomfortable in crowds too.

"Sure, I'll have them ready by the time you get back here"

The human made to turn around to get her supplies of paper, pencils and various colours, but before she did a girl walked up to her and asked about inscriptions on the swords. Karen couldn't help glancing over to the metal figures before looking back at the girl and letting a smug smile show.

"I'll probably be able to, if you have something to show what kind of runes you want?"

She said, then turned to yet another creature that had walked in.

"Cow jokes?" Karen repeated, casting an eye over the myriad of living creatures that she'd never have suspected in her wildest imaginings existed "No no, I wouldn't do anything like that. You'll find a bunch of books on Wyverns on those shelves behind you, a mane brush over by those amulets and assorted other stuff. I think there's a hammer there too, but it's a bit different to a usual one. Oh and I don't sell milk, sorry"

Karen turned again, this time managing to actually go and get what she wanted. She returned carrying two more signs, several pieces of fine paper, pens and pencils, and instruments designed for cutting metal. After dumping them all on the counter and sorting them, Karen took one sign and walked to the front of the shop, where she put it in the window for all to see.

This one read:

Help Urgently Needed
Pay to be negotiated

She then returned to the counter and put the second sign on show, this one reading: 'Do Not Disturb Unless Absolutely Necessary. Work In Progress'.

Karen then picked up a pencil and got to work on the pictures the creature wanted, although she made it a point to show that she wasn't ignoring the girl or the Tauren while her hands flowed over the paper.

[3kul]

"Thank you once again."

The creature hurried out of the store, almost knocking a display rack over in it's rush to escape the crowd. He was usually quite calm and composed, and back at the temple he was highly respected as a leader, but around crowds he'd found that he quickly became uneasy and uncomfortable, especially in smaller places like this store.

~The old proverb holds true for most of us, try not to worry about it.~

The creature thought about the words of his fellow disciple as they came through, remembering when he'd first heard the old proverb and believed it to be a complete load. 'Those who seek the Nothing will fear the Something'... It seemed like such a stupid thing to say, more like poorly conveyed advice than a warning, yet it held true enough for him.

The creature bounded along at a reasonable speed, scampering up a nearby building so that he could be alone with his thoughts.

[Cloud]

*The young girl took out a pencil and paper from her pocket and began drawing out the runes that she wanted. It was a delecate drawing that she took her time over, not wanting to smudge or make a mistake. She even threw the first piece of paper in a nearby bin when she went wrong. This seemed really important to her, mistakes couldn't be tolerated.*

[Panther385]

The horse noted Karen's uneasiness. Calm down, you are making the human nervous. The creature hissed and retreated to the inner workings of the equine, which concentrated on minute and delicate moves; like walking, typing, or picking things up.

He skirted the middle aisle warily and walked to the counter. Eyeing the brown-haired girl warily, he tapped his hoof on the counter. "You need help, right? I saw-" A harsh whistle from one of the pipes signaled the spirit's annoyance. "Er, we saw the sign as you put it in the window. My name is Hagane, and the steam spirit here is Ghost."

[Swix]

Karen had to smile at the strange brown girl as she threw the paper with the runes away, there were quite a few times she'd felt, and done that herself. Practice most definitely made for perfection when your love was art.

Her hands moved over the paper like liquid, as a lifelike picture of what appeared to be a baby with an overlarge head appeared on the paper. It's skin didn't quite look flesh, but partially wooden, as if it had grown out of a tree.

The human looked up at the steaming horse with her mismatched eyes, briefly stopping mid-rune, which she was using to decorate the space around the creature.

"Hello Hagane, I'm Karen"

The human said politely then put her head back down to complete the picture, though she continued speaking.

"Yes, help would be very much appreciated. Do you now how to work a till? I could really use a shop assistant about now.Um, so, where's the other one? This Ghost? I can't see anyone else with you"