Neighborly Walk

[Eternity]

Vhalar 12 722


It was an autumn morning when Eternity left her home. She was dressed in her everyday clothes except she now wore a light coat to help with the temperature. The weather had hardly turned cold but she had gotten so used to the sweltering heat of the summer that she was used to being warm in the mornings, thus the coat. She spotted a neighbor who also wore a coat and waved to her. Eternity tugged on her coat to show that they were matching and they both giggled. Not many people were out and about even though it wasn’t all that early.

“Getting chilly isn’t it?” asked the neighbor. Her name was Mary. She was a middle aged woman who’s family sold bread. She was making her delivery rounds just like she did every morning. She held a basket in each hand and her sandy brown hair was always tied in a tight bun to keep it out of the food.

“Sure is,” Eternity said as she approached. She hadn’t intended to make conversation but they were headed in the same direction so she didn’t mind the company. She liked Mary, though Eternity was envious of her financial success. Mary might not have looked it during working hours but her family made good money and she was a bit of a show off. Eternity had never stolen from her because she liked her, but it was becoming harder to avoid the temptation.

“Want me to carry one of those?” Eternity asked, pointing at one of the baskets.

“Oh, that would be wonderful,” Mary said. She handed over one of the baskets and Eternity nearly dropped it to the ground.

Eternity grunted and said, “Who would of thought that a basket of bread could be so heavy? You must be strong to carry this stuff around all day.”

“One gets used to it. The more you carry the less trips you have to make and that makes more money.” Mary sounded relieved that she didn’t have to carry so much. She had to walk for miles so she was happy to take any help she could get.

“Are you still working in textiles?” Mary asked after they dropped off some bread at a home.

Eternity’s face froze. Being a thief that couldn’t lie was rather embarrassing. Eternity was at least conscious of her poor lying ability and her go-to tactic was to just change the subject and avoid lying altogether. She was pretty good at convincing people that they had mis-remembered or tell them that they would talk about it later. She wished she could just drop the basket and run from the conversation but that would’ve made her look like a weirdo. She had to face the fact that lying was the only way out of this, unless she wanted to tell the truth about her profession which she definitely did not.

“No, I don’t work there anymore. I’ve been looking for work actually,” Eternity said. She thought her lie was alright and was going to move onto another topic but Mary gave her a strange look.

“Really? What kind of work are you looking for? Surely there’s plenty of textile businesses that could use the help with the season changing and all.” Mary wasn’t the nosey type but she did want to keep the conversation going. It was going to be a while before their paths would split.

“Um, yeah well I couldn’t find anything and I wanted to try something else anyways.” Eternity said with a nervous smile.

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that. I hope things get better for you.” Marry said with a frown. “Are you heading to the market to look for work?”

“No, not the market,” Eternity said which was a good save because they were not heading in the direction of any market. “I’m actually visiting a friend from another town. But enough about me, what about you? I heard you got a new bracelet, custom made even. I bet you had to pay a hefty price for that.” Eternity was relieved when Mary decided to go with the change in topic.

“Ah yes, heard about that did you? Yes, it’s very brilliant. You absolutely must see it one of these evenings. Perhaps after you’ve found new employment. I wouldn’t dare to bother you with a dinner invitation during a stressful time like this must be for you.” Mary smiled friendlily.

In that moment Eternity wondered whether she should ask more about Mary’s jewelry. It was already so very hard to avoid stealing from the woman and Eternity couldn’t help but fantasize about what other things might be hidden away in that home. She decided to go for it. “What other expensive things does your husband get you?” Surely there was a better way to ask in a more indirect way, but Eternity was no expert when it came to gathering intelligence.

“Oh, nothing that you would like, I’m sure. Mostly things related to our hobbies. Jewelry is a rare gift, that’s why I like it so much.” Mary said.

Eternity tried to think of a way to get Mary to be more specific, but she couldn’t think of the right words to use. She decided to drop it and move on. There was a long silence afterwards as they made several more deliveries. Eternity could see the path split up ahead and she was take that opportunity to leave. The basket was making her shoulders very tired at this point and she wondered why she bothered going to the gym at all if she was still so weak.

The two said their goodbyes and then Eternity was left all alone to figure out what exactly she was going to do with her day. Eternity had in fact been on her way to work, if thievery could be considered work. She had planned on checking out homes but she felt embarrassed about the conversation from earlier and needed something to take the edge off. There was a new shop that had opened up around here and supposedly it sold herbs and stuff like that.

The shop was full of herbs. All kinds of herbs from across scalvoris could be located in the small shop that smelled strangely like lemon. Eternity had heard from a friend several seasons ago that there was some kind of herb that made you calm and relaxed, which is exactly what she needed.

The storekeeper approached Eternity with a half baked smile and asked, “what can I get for you today?”

Eternity said, “I’m looking for a drug. Got anything like that here?”

The storekeeper chuckled and said, “lady, this isn’t that kind of store. If you’ve got a medical problem there’s a shop down the street that should be able to help you out.”

Eternity replied, “No, I mean I had a friend say there was something called reevi and that I should try it. It's supposed to be a herb, I think.”

“Oh, so you’re interested in recreational drug use. Well, I don't sell anything illegal but if you go down the street and look for someone really shady you could probably get someone to help you out."

Eternity nodded and said, "okay, thanks for your time then." she went down the street and sure enough there were some fairly shady characters hanging around. She didn't see a single guard and wondered if she was going to get mugged just for being there. She spoke to one of the shady merchants and he said "I can tell that you don’t really know how any of this stuff works so I’ll recommend some of this, and you’ll need one of these.” He grabbed some stuff off the shelf and gently led Eternity to an alley where they exchanged money.

“You can smoke it or you can cook it into your food. Start with a little, maybe this much at most because you’re on the smaller side. It can take a while for the effects to kick in so only take more if you’ve waited more than a break and don’t feel anything.” The drug dealer looked keen on talking more but a couple more customers walked in and he hurried off to assist them. Eternity shrugged and went all the way back home, somehow passing Mary on the way back but Eternity just waved instead of starting another conversation to avoid explaining why she was going home so early.

“How in the world do you smoke something?” Eternity asked herself when she sat by her fireplace with her small bag filled with reevi. She had purchased some rolling papers as well, though she didn’t really know how to use them. She was too embarrassed to go back and ask for instructions so she decided to scrap the smoking idea altogether. She settled for cooking, but she was not a good cook either. In fact she bought basically every meal that she ate.

“Why do I have to cook it anyways? Can’t I just eat it?” So she did eat it. She ate half of what she bought and felt absolutely nothing after an hour and then she ate the other half and felt nothing. “What a terrible waste of money,” she thought after all was said and done. “Either he’s a snake oil salesman or I legitimately needed to cook it. Either way I’m not feeling any better. Maybe I’ll stop by next time and do it right…”

[Doran]

Eternity:

Knowledge:
Intelligence: Get an idea of what possessions someone owns before stealing from their home.
Deception: 3
Socialization: Be genuinely curious to carry a conversation
Socialization x1

Loot: -
Language -
Losses: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 10

Consequence: The next time Eternity visits the herb shop, she’ll notice that it is closed. There is a notice on the door that says that the shop has been shut down because the owner has been collaborating with drug dealers and sending people looking for illegal stuff their way in exchange for a little extra money. The drug dealer Eternity got her reevi from is gone as well. Has he been arrested or just moved to a different place though?

- - -

Comments: I really like the way you set the scene, with Eternity going on a walk and meeting her neighbor Mary who sells bread and is very successful. The dialogue in this thread flowed well and felt natural to me, and what more, there were parts that amused me. Eternity is a thief that can’t lie! I couldn’t help but grin when I read how she dealt with that handicap!

Eternity’s need for something to take the edge off after the embarrassing conversation with Mary was a good transition to the second part of the thread in my opinion – the drug dealer. I grinned a bit when Eternity got home and tried to figure out what to do with her new drug. She ate the drug, felt nothing and thought it was a waste of time as a consequence!

I wonder if she’ll return to the drug dealer and ask for instructions or give up on drugs now!

That being said, the man at the herb shop just telling Eternity where to find a drug dealer that sells illegal stuff seemed unrealistic as well as a bit uncreative to me. I don’t think most shopkeepers would just tell a customer looking for illegal drugs where to find a drug dealer.I appreciate that you rewrote the thread and changed the most problematic part (a herb shop selling illegal drugs) though.

As the shopkeeper just telling Eternity where to find someone really shady seems unrealistic to me, I’ve decided to assign the consequence you can see above.

Enjoy your rewards!