Tales of the Jewel

Qara held her umbrella above her head, the silk, wood and paper construct seems to have served a purpose among the sands after all. She smiled as she observed all the new stalls being set up, a rowdy affair. It seemed there was even a fistfight. Clutching her talismans as they jingled in her neck, she seemed content to observe for now.

"You are saying-" The doubt is clear even in the heavily accented voice "-this is the curing of all tonic?"
A deeply tanned woman with curly black holds up a small vial of clear liquid, turning it this way and that in the morning rays.
"But of course Sayyeda, distilled water from the pool of five thousand moons can cure any malady." A slightly overly friendly merchant seemed to be putting a great deal of effort into convincing the woman she was holding a cure all.

"I find this very..." Her brow furrows for a moment as she searches for the right word "Not real."
"I assure you mistress, I am as honest as the day is long, what you are holding is worth far more than the meager 2 coppers which I-"
"If this really is a tonic which can cure anything, why are you selling it in this agora and not the halls of your nobles?"
"Because of my love for the people of this fair city, I wish to make it available to as many as I can."
"For 2 coppers?"
"....Perhaps 1 and a half?"

The woman narrows her eyes at him before turning to accost the first passing person she can see, which just so happens to be Qara.
"You there. This man, he seems to me a peddler of cheap tricks, does he really sell a tonic which cures the everything?"

Qara stepped closer, amused by the interaction. "I have never seen this man before in my life." She started simply, then extended a hand.

"This is water...distilled from a thousand moons? Sorry, five thousand....What does that mean? Isn't there just the one moon? Where are the other 4999?"

Qara al-Hazaad wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 8:22 am

Qara stepped closer, amused by the interaction. "I have never seen this man before in my life." She started simply, then extended a hand.

"This is water...distilled from a thousand moons? Sorry, five thousand....What does that mean? Isn't there just the one moon? Where are the other 4999?"

The supposedly blessed water shines in the sun as the shopkeeper sweats under the same rays.
"Y-yes mistress, five thousand. Every moon which has passed overhead has settled in the pools from which this water flowed."
The foreigner cocks her head.
"Every moon? But there is just one moon..."
She glances back at Qara "Yes? Or do your lands have many?"

Claudia Gabinus wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 8:27 am

The supposedly blessed water shines in the sun as the shopkeeper sweats under the same rays.
"Y-yes mistress, five thousand. Every moon which has passed overhead has settled in the pools from which this water flowed."
The foreigner cocks her head.
"Every moon? But there is just one moon..."
She glances back at Qara "Yes? Or do your lands have many?"

"No, just the one moon God, same as you. Or over here at least." She looked at the water again. "I... think this is just water. At least, from the coloring. Maybe something to give it a tint?"

She nods, having come to a similar conclusion.
"Yes, Isatis Tinctoria maybe?" She places the vial on the shopkeepers table with a soft 'tink' "I will not be buying this dyed water today."
"But if mistress might-"
"Not.Today." She gives him a firm glare and turns, as if the man had vanished completely from existence.

"Hail stranger, I am Claudia of the Gabinus family."
She peers at the other woman unapologetically.

"Oh hello sayyeda Claudia." Can't hurt to err on the side of caution. "I'm Qara al-Hazaad, though formerly of the Iuchi." She offered, ignoring the glare of the shopkeeper.

"A strange name, I don't think I have heard it around. Is it an old Mekhem one?"

Qara al-Hazaad wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 8:45 am

"Oh hello sayyeda Claudia." Can't hurt to err on the side of caution. "I'm Qara al-Hazaad, though formerly of the Iuchi." She offered, ignoring the glare of the shopkeeper.

"A strange name, I don't think I have heard it around. Is it an old Mekhem one?"

"Kahra...Kaahra. Kwara?" These foreign names were all so confusing. "It is an honour to be meeting you. My name is not of Mekhem, it is Yodotai."
She pauses and then repeats it more slowly, as if worried Qara will get it wrong "Yo-Do-Tai. From the west."

Although logically
"Your question means you are not of the Jewel I think? Are you also a traveler?" A little excitedly "Perhaps a wise woman or healer? You wear many strange symbols."

"ah, I see! Yodotai!....I do not know anything about the Yodotai. Do you also worship the Sun? Seems like a common theme." She waved at the sun hidden behind the light clouds.

"Ah, I am Qara. Qu-ah-ra." She spelled it slowly.

"Well. I do consider myself a collector of wisdoms if nothing else. Why, you have a problem? A curse, a malady, an imbalance of the elements?" She glanced at her hair. "Too much Earth in your spirit, I can see it from here."

Qara al-Hazaad wrote: ↑

Fri May 20, 2022 9:06 am

Snip

"The sun? No, it's...the sun." She shakes her head before explaining the far more obvious "There are only ten gods, and one of them is the Sky."
The sun, really?

"I am not sick, well, not with anything serious." She slowly raises a hand to her hair before dropping it quickly, feeling foolish.
"I'm a healer myself, a surgeon. I have been looking for others to share knowledge with."
She gestures back at the shopkeeper who just seems even more insulted.
"But most are fools or thieves of my time."