Elendor

The sweet smell of .. soap?

Aleswyn Faerhan does business, though she alas fails to impress on her client the importance of soap
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Bree - South Market
Game Date: July 3048
IC Time: Morning
Description: Bree Market - South

This section of Bree is known locally as Market South. There are shops lining both sides of the road, selling a variety of wares and services. Here, at the southern end of Bree's Market two roads meet, one from the east and one from the north. Night has fallen and little can be gleaned from the pale light of distant lanterns. A few men scurry about on their business, gone as quickly as they came.

Obvious exits:
 Large Wooden Door leads to The Longhole.
 Sewing Shoppe leads to Sewing Shoppe.
 Alleyway leads to Large Field.
 Bakery leads to The Bakery.
 East leads to Bree Market - East.
 North leads to North Market.

================================== Bree Time ==================================
Real time: Thu Nov 26 14:21:13 2009
Bree time: Morning on Highday of Summer - July 13,1448
Moon Phase: Full  Moon

Breelands Weather
The summer air is very hot and dry around you. The sky is clear with only slight wisps of clouds overhead.
===============================================================================

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
    Though still early morning, the day promises to be very hot and dry. The sky is a palette of soft blue, only occasionally broken by bits of white, fluffy clouds. The sun beams its hot rays down over the south market of Bree, and though many customers seem to be strolling about, they do so slowly and duck under awnings whenever possible.

    Not too far from Mitzi's bakery stands a small, permanent stall. Behind it sits a middle-aged woman, her feet propped on a couple of stacked crates while she awaits her next customer. On the display table are neat stacks of soap samples - plain, coloured, and scented stacks. In her hand, she holds a bit of thick fabric which she waves back and forth in front of her face.

The fellow approaching the market from the east is not dressed for the heat. Brev still wears his leather jerkin, which must be uncomfortably warm, for beads of sweat glisten on his forehead. Slung over his shoulder is a small sack, likely borrowed from Gidon.

He peers this way and that, frowning, until his eyes come to rest on the figure of Aleswyn - at this point he heads directly toward the stand. As he approaches, he wrinkles his nose and mutters sourly, "Kiern, but this place stinks!" A deep breath, and he marches on into the olfactory war zone to offer the woman at the stand a polite "Good morning."

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
    Coming slowly to her feet, Aleswyn continues to fan her face. With a firm smile planted on her face, Aleswyn offers the man a polite nod of the head, followed by a courteous "Good morning, sir." Though she gives no indication that she heard his muttered words, she bends over and picks up an especially fragrant bit of soap. The bar is smooth and milky white, with bits of dried flowers and herbs apparently mixed in. Even an ill person could not mistake the overly floral scent that wafts from the bar, and as Aleswyn holds it out to the man she offers him a serene smile. "For your wife, perhaps?"

Brev stares at the proffered substance, nose twitching, then lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "I look in need of something to poison one with, do I?" He peers a little closer at the bar, his own hands kept well away from it. "What does it do? Apart from stink."

A pause, then he adds casually, "Got some of the beeswax stuff here, if you wanted to see a sample. Gidon's looking after the rest." He swings the sack off his shoulder and extracts a single cylindrical block of yellowish beeswax. In the presence of all these soaps, the faint aroma of honey is well masked.

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
"Poison?" asks Aleswyn, appearing somewhat affronted by the suggestion. "I assure you, I could offer you better than my finest soap if you wished only to poison your wife. Though it is clear," she says, her lips trying desperately to twitch with refrained laughter, "that you have never known the use of such a product." Returning the fragrant soap to its place on the table, she points instead to a barrel of plain white chunks. Looking over the man's clothing, then back up at his face, she says, "Surely you have - from time to time - washed your clothing?" The question is asked with a skeptical tone in her voice.

Her attention turns now to the block of beeswax he presents her. Holding out her hand, as if to take it in her own, she nods her head. "Aye, thank you. I have heard of this," she says, peering at it curiously. "I wonder if it could be used to create a type of soap," she wonders aloud.

Brev tilts up one eyebrow. "Oh? And what would you offer me, then?" It's hard to tell whether his sing-song Common is spoken in mockery or earnest.

The query is answered with a snort. "Last I heard, that's what water was for. They /do/ have water where I come from, you know."

He hands over the beeswax, glancing back to the white chunks. "Looks something similar. It's for weatherproofing, is it - like sheep-fat?"

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
The man's first question is ignored as easily as if Aleswyn hadn't heard it being asked. To his snort, she responds with a delicately answered. "Aye. Of course you have water there," she responds with a nod of her head. "But water alone is ..." but then she laughs softly and shakes her head, as if having second thoughts about entering into the argument.

Taking the beeswax into her hands, she rubs a bit of it between thumb and forefinger of her left hand, then turns it over and does the same again with her right hand. "Interesting texture," she says softly, as if to herself. "Aye, it is made from the fat of sheep," she answers, almost absently, still keenly interested in the wax she holds. "But it is more than simply sheep fat, of course. For your wife," she smiles, finally looking back up. "You should take a bit of it for your wife. She will know what to do with it. And for this?" she asks, holding the wax up. "What is your price?"

Brev watches the smile, rather than the soap. "I expect she will," he agrees, the corners of his mouth twitching. "In a decade or two, or whenever I'm unlucky to acquire one. Until then ... I have no need of a magical simple to wash clothes. If it had other uses I might be more interested."

At the question of price, he looks away. "Well, now. The Beorning lands are a long way away, and our passage was bought with blood." He rubs absently at his right arm, although the leather jerkin hides any scarring that may lie beneath. "So I'd say ... hmm. 80 coppers per block?" He turns his head back, his expression bland and vague.

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
"Per block?" asks Aleswyn incredulously. "For the wax of bees, you would charge 80 coppers?" She seems to have washed clean from her mind the subject of soap and wives. "I know where lie the Beorning lands, though I have not been there myself. My husband Caermin was from there, as was one of our constable's wives. Surely the price you are attempting to extort from me is twice, if not greater, what you paid for it." She looks again at the wax in her hands, then back up at the man. "How many blocks have you?"

Brev's breath comes out in another, albeit quieter, snort. "Like I said, it's a long journey. Space in a cart, living expenses, protection from the goblins - these things cost. Brought back a box yon size." He demonstrates with his arms the size of a smallish crate. "But if you're not interested I'll go and have a word with the lamp-seller. He might have a use for the stuff." He holds out his hand for the block of wax, then glances back up to the woman. "As it happens, there's another price available. I have need of a new cloak - and some herbs. If you can provide me with those, you can have the lot." Is he wearying of 'playing trader'?

[Aleswyn(#21413)]
Aleswyn's snort echoes Brev's now. "Living expenses? Then if you were back home in ... Kierkgard?" she asks, hazarding a guess. "You would have had no need of food or a place for your head? And protection from Goblins ... well, I can't see as they're more dangerous than Strawheads," she says, her voice quiet enough now that it can be heard only by Brev - unless there is another around with exceptional hearing. "If you have a new cloak and herbs, I can help you with that. I will also take all of the beeswax that you have, but only if we can agree upon a reasonable and honest price."

Brev flicks a sharp glance at Aleswyn, then looks away, across the marketplace. "Kierkgard?" he echoes quietly, seeming more amused than anything else. "Been there, have you? Afraid you'd not recognize it, it's been burned to the ground - again." His mouth twists. "Pity. The place had its uses." His gaze settles on a primly dressed woman who appears to be heading toward the soap stall, and he tenses - but when she enters the bakery he looks back to the merchant. "And what would be your 'reasonable price'?" he queries, voice as soft as hers.

[Aleswyn(#21413)] "Before you were born, lad," Aleswyn replies softly, then chuckles. "Though clearly not for a while, as I was unaware that it burned again. Strawheads?" she asks simply. She too watches the woman who enters the bakery before giving her full attention back to the man. "I would want to see the blocks, to verify that they are all like this, and see how many you have. When you have brought me the rest and I have inspected them, I will give you my price. While you go for them, if you leave me a list of the herbs you require, I will see about getting them for you."

Brev's eyes narrow somewhat at that first query of Aleswyn. "If you think that, then you know rather less about the land men call Dunland than you believe." There is a pause before he addresses the other suggestion. "I can bring the blocks here, aye. But if the price is not agreeable to us both, then I'll look elsewhere." He pauses, brushing damp hair out of his eyes. "As to the herbs." He looks vague again, though no doubt he's anything but, then states quietly, "Mallow. Cranesbill. Pokeroot. Hemlock."

[Aleswyn(#21413)] With a nod of her head, Aleswyn agrees, "Aye, of course you would. Like as not, you'll not find another willing to purchase the entire lot, but you are always welcome to peddle your wares elsewhere." She offers a friendly wave to a hobbit mother who passes by, calling out to Aleswyn as Brev lists the herbs he requires. For a moment, she appears not to have heard him, but then she coughs slightly. "An interesting selection you request," she says. "How soon will you be wanting them?"

Brev's gaze follows Aleswyn's, though he does not greet the hobbit. When he looks back, both face and voice are calm. "They're all used for wounds or pain." And if some in his selection have other uses, well ... And I won't need them for a few days. Not much call for them in Bree, with a healer's house standing by to treat those who're hurt." A pause. "Can you manage that?"

[Aleswyn(#21413)] Laughing, Aleswyn nods her head. "Aye. I believe I can manage that." She shakes her head slightly, still laughing a bit, as if she'd just heard a joke. "Is that when you will bring me the beeswax?" She pauses a moment, appearing to be in thought. "Perhaps it will be better if you come to my home it will be a shorter trip to the warehouse that way." And though she doesn't say it, it will obviously make it a bit easier to hand off the herbs too.

Brev considers the suggestion. "It will," he agrees. "But it might be a little less easy for me if you decided to back out, eh?" For a moment his jaw sets - perhaps it is personal safety rather than beeswax that concerns him here? "I'll bring the wax to the Market," he states. "Perhaps it could be exchanged for a partial payment? I can collect the herbs later." Again he brushes his hair back the heat of the day is rising, and the leather he wears cannot be getting any cooler. Perhaps it is as well that the floral fragrances of soap mask any other smells.

[Aleswyn(#21413)] Frowning slightly, Aleswyn considers. "For a man with merchandise to sell, you are rather reluctant to do so," she tells him kindly. "Bring the wax to the market, if you must. I will inspect it here, but if I am to purchase the lot, I will expect you - and perhaps your friend Gidon - to deliver it to my warehouse. You will receive partial payment here, and the rest of it there along with your herbs. IF the lot is to my liking." She takes a step back and resumes fanning her face with the thick fabric fan.

Brev shrugs to that, the leather jerkin creaking. "Just wary of being cheated. I'm a stranger here, and I know most of the townsfolk don't like strangers. Thank Kiern I've found someone above that, eh?" He looks back at the merchant, pulling one side of his mouth back in a half-smile. "Fine then, I'll deliver the to the warehouse. With Gidon's help if he'll give it - the lad's skittish." The issue of the merchandise not being to Aleswyn's liking is not even addressed.

A moment later he steps back. "I'll fetch that wax, then. and stop scaring your customers. Good day," a brief pause, then he remembers Gidon's form of address, "Ma'am." He even nods his head in attempt at politeness.

[Aleswyn(#21413)] "Nay, we are not fond of strangers in Bree, but I once was one myself," Aleswyn admits. "I cheat no man, though I understand your reluctance." She inclines her head in polite acceptance of his farewell. "Come again when you have the wax for me to inspect, lad."

Brev nods briskly at that, not protesting the use of the word 'lad', then strides across the marketplace. When he's away from the soap stand and heading toward the animal market, he halts to take a few lungfuls of clean air. Who says pigs and chickens smell bad?
Players: Aleswyn, Brev
Located in: Dunlending | Breefolk