| Life in Sigil was... Interesting. To e more specific, Life in Sigil was a Sodding Mess of Addle-coved Bloods making life difficult for an honest cutter or two he knew, and Powers alone knew how he�d survived his first week there, much less managed to put together a coherent thought using the bizarre slang of Sigil. He�d always had a knack for picking up local customs, but what he found here was so bizarrely alien to him, well, he mistook a lot of cutters for Xaositect�s... �Vespis, Be a Dear and Fetch some Dazzledust for me.� Rhisa chimed out from the back of the supply room, where he�d only a week before popped out of from the bizarrely rotating portal that existed in her back room, catapulting him from his own Prime Material Plane to Sigil. The Dazzledust, fine shards of precious gems, when put into the Tattoo ink she used, made it exceptionally shiny. It was often poisonous or deadly to lesser species, like himself, but the Hardier �Cagers seemed to find it an great addition to any tattoos. The Slaadi alone had three different tattoos using the stuff. �Alright, Rhisa!� He called back, regardless of the free kip he had here (Supposedly �until he got on his feet� - �or� as Feeds-the-Crows, Rhisa�s Slaadi partner\student had put it �Until he dies, probably about a week or two either way�). He really hated being little more than an errand boy. Especially with the choking haze that seemed to always permeated Sigil. he was sure his lungs would never get used to it. It was the mid-afternoon, somewhere around 4 After-Peak, though you�d never know it from the ever-changing mob of people, omnipresent at any hour of the day and night. Not that there was really much of anything you could call day or night in Sigil, the bizarre lighting and lack of a sun overhead continued to confuse him. Like so many other things in the Cage, like the variety of Elves, Humans, Dwarves Drow, Lizard-men, and even stranger races that he couldn�t begin to identify.. What seemed to be a company of bards had set up shop on a street corner... Well, if you could call the strange clicking noises the Mantis-man-like creatures were making �music� - or if the what looked like the carved bones a massive, monstrous beast of unidentifiable origin could be termed �instruments� - they were certainly successful though. Beyond that, a number of sunken faces, and chilly visages of Undead were given an unusually wide berth in the otherwise crowded Market Ward, Bleakers probably.. Only in Sigil would that not be considered �unusual.� Further down the ward, what looked like a Beholder was being rounded up by a regiment of hardheads, a collapsed building not all that far away, Rhisa had told him on one of their first walks out, to show him Sigil, that it was a mostly magical construction, done that way to reduce the cost and time spent building it. She�d also told him something like this was bound to happen when you didn�t have a solid physical foundation too, Someone would get careless with an anti-magic ray. Just a few blocks was all he needed to walk in the madness that surrounded him, the ever-present crush of bodies, strange, alien bodies at that.. He made it without incident, even though his obvious gawking at the aforementioned sights had marked him for a newcomer to Sigil. Something he really couldn�t help for the moment, but he survived to enter �The Plane of Minerals� - A shop run, oddly enough, by a Xorn, a native of the Inner Planes, who somehow found it�s way to Sigil, he hadn�t gotten specifics on the story just yet. A few well-dressed women were cooing over diamond- rings, or necklaces of a hundred different precious stones put in one, or any other treasures that would undoubtedly cost their husbands or boyfriends far more than the hunks of rock were worth. He of course, had a special �Getting something for your wife, sir?� A pleasant voice asked him, belonging to one of the most dazzling, not to mention bizarre(even though that word would quickly become obsolete here in Sigil) women he�d ever laid eyes on, her skin a golden tinge, and a pair of large, leathery wings sticking out of her back, folded in to prevent taking up space in the relatively small shop.. �No, I�m actually here to pick up a special order from Lady Rhisa, is Gh.. Geh.. G. The owner available?� He sputtered out, still unable to pronounce the Xorn�s name. Before she could respond, a voice like rocks being grated together came rushing out from the back, �Ghred-ruhd, and yes I am here. What do you want to pick up?� It asked. �Rhisa wanted me to pick up some dazzledust, it�s quite popular, and getting more orders every day� He replied. �I should Charge more for it. But For now, I am fair, her order is ready, one moment, Vespis.� The Ghred-Ruhd said, before vanishing again into the back of it�s shop. It took only a few minutes, which he idled by in conversation with the Golden-winged (and haired.. And, now that he looked closely, golden-eyed as well) woman, �I haven�t seen you around, are you new?� He asked, perfectly aware of how little standing he had to ask that. Her face couldn�t hide the perplexedness she was undoubtedly feeling at the moment, �No.. I�ve worked here for the past few months now, but, come to think of it, I�ve never seen you around before..� His own cheeks a little red at that, he knew enough to know about the stigma attached to being a prime in Sigil,, and saw no reason to advertise, �I�ve only been working for Rhisa about a week myself, � The Scene was interrupted by the Xorn coming back with a large pouch in what passed for one of it�s hands, He turned, and almost immediately reached into a sack at his own waist for a few coins, �Now, how much do I owe...� Did not Rhisa tell you? She has already paid for all I can get for the next two months.� Ghred-Rudh replied, handing him the pouch of Dazzledust. He nodded, and gave a quick �Thank you� - Turning enough to give a polite bow to both Ghred-Rudh and the Golden-skinned woman, passing on an extra �Pleased to meet you, Madame.� Upon Exiting the shop, he immediately turned off to on the side, and began the trek home, too swiftly it seemed, already an easy mark, it was small wonder when several strong hands pulled him off into a side Alley, other passers-by didn�t even seem to notice. - three large humanoids with odd-colored skin, ranging from green to an ugly mud color, enlarged canines, and an ugly pig-like complexion, even a Prime like him recognized them as orcs. Half-growling, half-speaking to him in a guttural, if successfully intimidating voice, �Where ya headed in such a hurry, Berk?� He looked around, the hardheads were still busy trying to subdue the beholder, which had drawn a cheering crowd around the battle, he wasn�t sure for who. �Just taking a walk, why do you ask?� He answered, his voice calm, but on the edge of breaking. �Just walking? Out buying a pretty present at the pretty gem store� The larger of the Orcs snorted at him, �Well come on, show us what it is!� �Uh, er, I�d really , uh, rather not. You see, it�s, er, a rockfish! Yeah, I can�t let it out of the bag, or it�ll spill out and burrow away.� That obviously confused the Orcs, he hoped that they�d attribute the stuttering to them, rather than a feeble lie he was giving. �Rockfish? Skrag! Dreex! You guys ever heard about any �rockfishes�?� he turned to each of them in turn, lowering his arms slightly. That was all he needed, his hand sneaking into the bag of dazzledust and grabbing a handful, when the lead tough turned back to him, he got a nasty surprise, sand-like crystals thrown into his eyes, he, predictably howled in pain and backed off a little. That would have been his chance to escape, if it weren�t for the one on the left, Skrag, rushing in to give a quick punch to his solar plexis. They�d obviously done this before. �Dat wasn�t very smart, �Ooman,� the third one managed to growl out, snatching the pouch from his waist, and looking at the glittering dust inside. �Coulda jus give up, now Dreex gets�ta have fun, Dreex like fun.� He continued, another punch sent for his face this time. The big one seemed to be able to see by now, and, through the streak of blood that was now running over his eyes, he saw the big Orc laughing as his two underlings continued to beat him senseless. he nearly thought it was something to do with hallucinating from the repeated blows to the head, or a lack of feeling from nerves finally dying, but for some reason, the blows suddenly stopped coming... The big one shouted, �Dreex! Skrag! Watc�� before being violently cut off. He managed to open his eyes back up just in time to see Feeds-the-Crows, the Slaadi, ripping Dreex�s head from his body, and turning ack him.. Managing to eek out a �Thank you...� The Slaadi grinned, not a very comforting sight, but it would do considering what he�d just seen, �Rhisa would kill me if I let you die, Prime. This soon anyway. Now com eon, you�ve got some Dust to deliver.� FTC croaked out, handing the stolen pouch of Dazzledust back to him. �H...Help me up?� He n begged the Slaadi, knowing full well it could probably just pick him up, and run across all of Sigil without breaking a sweat. �Now if I did that, you�d never learn, Get up.� FTC said. When he did nothing but lie there and remain half-conscious for a few more seconds, the Slaadi repeated, Shouting, �GET UP!� - mouth wide open, teeth bared, seemingly ready to bite his torso in half. He got up. |