A cloaked figure walked slowly with its hood up, and approached a small stand with a man standing behind the counter. It was quaint: made of old wood and overgrown with moss. Looking past the counter, there was a small garden, abundant with life. Multi-colored herbs and flowers peaked through the dirt to reach the sunlight. The air smelled of rain and the clatter of an open market blended together. The man came up to the counter;
“How can I help you?” He said in an inquisitive tone. He was quite tall and skinny man, with paper white skin and a grey beard. His ears were long and pointed, but partially covered by his shaggy grey hair.
“I’ve come looking for a set of herbs that I think you might be able to provide for me.” The figure’s voice ran smooth.
“Well, you’ve come to the right place! What are you looking for? I have anything you could possibly need.” The man put his arm on the counter and leaned forward. Part of his tattered, brown apron folded onto the counter.
“I need a small bundle of lavender stalks and hibiscus flowers”. The figure requested.
“I see, I see,” The man paused. “You wouldn’t, by chance, need a red rose as well?”
The customer looked surprised. “That’s…actually exactly what I need, how did you know?”
“A good salesman can read his customers like a book. Making a love potion, I presume?”
“Perhaps. But like a book, you can’t figure out everything about me by opening to the first page”. A round-faced woman was hidden in the opening of the cloak. Her hair was cut to her shoulders and colored jet black. She had light skin and looked no more than 18.
The man raised an eyebrow, admiring her young complexion. He pulled back from the counter and walked toward the garden. Crouching down, he pulled up a small handful of purple stalks and pink flowers. He walked back to the counter slowly, eyeing the woman up and down with suspicion. He moved his face close to hers, almost parallel with her ear and lowered his voice.
“Now, I don’t do this very often, but you seem like a very fine young lady. I do happen to know my fair share about brewing, so how’s about I go and brew this potion for you, no extra cost? Just the five gold coins for the lavender and hibiscus”. His voice became raspy as it lowered in volume. It was hypnotizing to listen to.
The young lady swiftly pulled away. “You’ve got yourself a deal,” She pulled out a brown satchel from an inside pocket in her cloak and placed it on the counter.
The man took it and placed it in his apron. “I’ll be right back”.
He turned and walked past the garden into a small, closed off, room in the back. After some time, he returned with a small vial. His voice turned to a whisper. “This brew is quite strong due to the potency of the materials. It’s very important to use this in the right way to avoid harming the vict…the recipient.” He swirled the thick pink liquid around in the vial. The liquid glowed slightly.
The woman rustled in her cloak and pulled out a small notebook with a leather binding. “Would you mind if I write this down?”
“Please do, it’s quite important. Now, you must gently pour the liquid into the recipient’s drink whilst stirring it around to stimulate the herbs. Then, place a single hair from the giver’s body into the liquid. It should go into effect as soon as the victim drinks it, and they will swiftly be encapsulated with the person who put their hair into the potion. I’m actually quite surprised you don’t know how to administer a love potion.”
The woman brushed off the last statement and finished writing in her notebook. “Wonderful, well, I really appreciate your time, thank you kindly.”
“Thank you for your business,” The salesman pulled the satchel back out of his apron and set it on the counter. “Could you please lower your hood so I can identify you?”
The woman resisted. “I’d rather not, I promise I’m of age, I’m 19.”
“I would prefer if you did, I know these laws can be a bit pesky.”
The woman hesitated.
“I am so sorry ma’am. It’s just a formality.” The elven vendor reached across the counter and gently pulled her hood down.
The man looked closer at this new face; emerald eyes stared back at him. His face shrunk in disgust. He shifted away from the counter. “Are you a human?”
The woman darted her eyes back and forth, as if looking for the appropriate answer.
“Well, I’m Valerie.” Valerie held out her hand, cautiously.
The vendor snatched the satchel of money angrily. “You’re lucky I even sold anything to you. You humans are always trying to rip us off and take advantage of us. Who even let you in the Oldswick anyway?”
He grabbed the satchel and opened it to find the coins Valerie was supposed to give him. He took one in his hand, licked his finger and rubbed the center to reveal the copper sheen underneath. He looked at his now gold luster covered finger and then back at where Valerie was once standing.
Valerie put her hood back up and ran through the Open Market, trying to dodge the diverse group of patrons that had been shopping around. As elven curses faded from her hearing, she made sure that the vendor was out of her site before slowing down and eventually stopping. She tried to blend into the crowd, but she accidentally ran into a small child, holding hands with their mother. The child had sickly green skin, and two tiny fangs that poked out from its mouth. The orc child stared at Valerie in amazement before his mother looked down and saw her communicating with her child. The mother shared the same sickly skin tone, but with much bigger tusks, and large pointed ears that were pierced with pearls. Valerie adjusted her hood to cover her eyes and continued to move through the crowd unnoticed.
After Valerie was spit out on the other side of the crowd, she found herself against a line of smaller shops, buildings made of dark wood, lit from the inside with paper lanterns. A small alley bisected the line of shops, filled with barrels and haystacks mostly likely thrown in there to move out of the way. Valerie quickly maneuvered herself past the obstacles and went into the alley and out of sight.
The alleyway was dark and lined with cobblestone, dripping from the previous rainstorm. Stopping at the first dead end, she veered right, and headed toward another wall that stood at the end of the path. Valerie paused for a moment to catch her breath, leaning against the backside of one of the shops. Her ragged breathing filled the silent alleyway; she slowly lowered herself to the ground, sitting on the damp cobblestone. She lowered her hood once more, now out of sight. She opened her cloak, and pulled out the potion. She smiled and laughed to herself, pleased. Wrapping her hands around the vial, the skin on her palm felt strangely warm. She admired the potion; it glowed light pink in the darkness, the glass reflected its color onto the wall in front of her. She noticed her heartbeat pumped faster but adrenaline had finally started to subside from her chest.
A voice cut through the silence of the alley.
“You’re out of shape Val. I could hear your breathing from down the street.” The voice was deep, but bright. A shot of adrenaline flowed from her head to her toes.
Valerie looked toward the way she had come into the alleyway. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw someone hovering there. Her whole body tensed up, as if she was trying to stay as still as possible to avoid being seen. The figure looked as if it was wearing a similar cloak to Valerie’s. The person stepped closer toward Valerie, and the lantern light from the windows of the shop illuminated the figure’s face. Valerie relaxed her muscles.
“Max! Thank god! You had me so nervous! Maybe a little warning or something would be nice, you don’t have to be super mysterious all the time.” She waved her hands in the air sarcastically.
Max came and sat down next to Valerie. He leaned his head on the wall and turned toward Valerie. His dark brown eyes looked like molasses in the warm lantern light. He had sweat dripping down the corner of his forehead, just below the hairline of his messy brown hair. He ran his hand through his hair to move it out of his face. “Loosen up a little Val! You sound like you’re off your game.” Max gave her a pat on the shoulder. “Well, how’d you make out?” He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. The light that peeked through the buildings reflected off of his sun-kissed skin.
Valerie took the vial and placed it in Max’s hand. “I know that the job was just to get the ingredients… but, a little flattery goes a long way.” She showed him the small glass vial and left out the part where she had to run away before the man figured out her scam.
Max took the vial and looked it over. “Well color me impressed Val, but how much did you pay for it? It must have been pretty expensive.” Max looked down at Val’s gold luster covered fingers. “Never mind, I see you got it all under control.”
Valerie took the bundle back. “Well how’d you make out? Since you were so quick to say I was ‘off my game’.” Valerie put the potion back in her cloak.
Max pulled out a small vial with thick red liquid in it. “A quick stop to the apothecary, a little haggling, and we got ourselves a healing elixir. Got it for dirt cheap, and we’ll sell it for way more than it’s worth.” He flipped the vial in his hand, and almost dropped it in the process. Val rolled her eyes but laughed at how excited Max was about the job he just finished.
“Good work Max. Well, let’s head back so we can get these items in the system and get us some money.” Valerie used both her hands to help pull herself off the ground. She then held a hand out to help Max get up. After a quick tug, they were both on their feet. They headed toward the wall on the eastern side of the alley, walking side by side.
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