Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Sat Dec 2, 2017 2:23 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

She nodded and gave her a smile. That was one good thing the fox child had going for her. The beastkin senses were always sharper than any human's, no matter how well one could train. Listening as the girl told her about how she had lived up until now, she twisted a piece of bread between her fingers. "Yeah…winter's always tough." If it wasn't for Unna, she wouldn't have made it past the first season. Living with a family of mountain trolls meant she didn't experience the same comforts as most children, but the cave was always much warmer than the howling winds outside. The worst of it was finding food. Most animals and birds were gone, the trees would've dropped their leaves, and fishing wasn't always something you could depend on. You either had to store food like the squirrels, hunt and follow the animals as they moved, or try to wait things out like the bears.

"Hey, Akira. Since I deliver things, I know a lot of people. I'll ask around and see if any of my customers know someone who will let you stay with them until the snow melts. There's a few I know here, so we can start from there." Shiloh thought of a halfling couple who lived a little ways off the main streets in Komiteia. They were middle-aged, and their children had moved out years ago. She had first met with them back when she had to assist a caravan delivering goods during peak season. The carriers needed extra hands and were running behind, so she helped drop off packages all over. Leading Akira along, she navigated the busy streets until she found a homely cottage. It was cozy, with painted windows and cherry-wood shutters. The bricks were a warm red, and smoke was coming from the chimney. There was a thick mat before the door that read: 'Welcome' in bright letters. 

Knocking on the door, it opened as a halfling man with a pipe came to see who it was. "Oh, hello! How may I help you?" Shiloh gave a polite bow, which seemed odd due to her essentially towering over the man. "Good afternoon Mr. Tolbern. Do you remember me? I believe we met last year on the coattails of Venti." Scratching the curly greying mop of hair on his head, Mr. Tolbern thought before the memory came back to him. "Aha! Yes, yes I remember! Edna's quilting supplies, you were the one who sent them to our doorstep when the wagons were overloaded and running behind. Good to see you again! I don't recall ordering anything lately, unless Edna's been sneaking coin to purchase sweets without me knowing." He chuckled, before checking if his wife had heard him. "So, what brings you here?"

Looking down to the fox child beside her, she answered plainly. "I'm here to ask a favor from you… You see, my friend here doesn't have any family nearby. She's still very young, and I don't know if the orphanages will take her, or where to look. If you could, I'd really appreciate it if you and your wife could ask around to see who's willing to look after Akira this winter." Mr. Tolbern was saddened to hear this, and took off his glasses to wipe them. "Oh dear…that's terrible. How old is she? It must've been hard living out on her own with no parents or family. After telling me this, I'm half inclined to take her in myself. I'll need to ask Edna, but I don't think she'll refuse." Shiloh wasn't entirely sure on Akira's age, but judging by her speech and behavior she couldn't be older than ten. "I'm not sure myself, but she's maybe around six or younger? She's a sweet child and very curious. She's also a quick learner." Turning to Akira she knelt down to her level and put her hands on her shoulders. "Akira, will you be ok with staying here with Uncle Tolbern? He says he's happy to let you stay until the snow melts. I don't have a house or a place for you to stay right now, but if you stay here Uncle Tolbern and Aunt Edna can teach you and keep you warm."

Author: Akira, Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 1:30 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Akira tried to put all the new information into her brain, to store it away for future use. However, she was but a child, and it some things would take time to remember. But she did try hard. Every so often, she pointed at a picture and repeated names, details, what to look for. The child was trying to ensure the retention of knowledge. "Akira know ripe better. Akira nose smell it easy. Akira spent long time alone outside cities. Kids always be mean to Akira… Always pull ears, yank tail… Adults chase Akira out… It been cold and hard on Akira, but Akira manage."

She was trying hard not to be so upset about her past. The child reached out and touched the enchanted scroll. Images of different berries and fruits of the wilds she knew were safe. "Akira no know what names are, but, foxes teach Akira to live. Teach Akira to stay warm… ish." An image of a huddling of something under a blanket hiding under a thicket of bushes covered in snow drew itself. "Akira no want live like that anymore, Shiloh…" As her hand fell away, she was attempting to swallow her tears, not wanting them to fall and appear weak in front of the woman who was doing her best to teach the child.

"Akira like travel, but cold no friend. Summer, autumn, those fun times. Winter too cold, too white. Too hard find food." They were the natural hardships of living in the wild. Sadly, she was not a wild child. She was humanoid, and thus required more than furry creatures. No one was kind enough to take her in, no one helped her find orphanages. Akira didn't even know what orphanages were. "Winter coming, Shiloh. It will be hard…"

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Mon Nov 13, 2017 4:07 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

"Yes, that's right. You're learning well. But remember, be careful. Ask for them to give you the money before they take what you sell. Both of you should show the other you have something. That's fair." Thinking a bit, she was considering how to better teach Akira about foraging and basic survival. Foraging wasn't easy. She remembered spending hours searching, until she gradually picked up on where to look and when. Those were the kind of things most people had to try and fail at several times before figuring it out. She worried since the child was so young, so any help she could give the girl now would save her more pain and misfortune later.

"Akira, you have a good sense of smell. There are a lot of plants in the forest that can hurt you, and some plants that won't. But the good plants don't like getting eaten, so they pretend to be the bad plants. They can pretend by dressing up like the bad ones, but you can tell which plants are which if you look closely. How they smell, how many leaves they have, even their colors can tell you and me who they are. Mushrooms are harder to tell, so until you can pick out the good plants from the bad–don't try with them." Taking out an enchanted scroll, she touched it and began to draw the shape of a few plants based off memory. 

"I remember my mother told me something very important when I was small: 'Three leaves, let it be. Don't poke, it's poison oak.' Some plants have leaves that grow in threes. They make you itch when you touch them and hurt a lot, so stay away. Bad plants usually smell and taste bad. But if good plants grow in areas that have bad water or dirt, then they will become bad too. Your nose and eyes are very important, and don't eat things until you know they are good." Drawing out a picture of an edible berry, she pointed to it. "Make sure to only eat berries when they are ripe. They will be sweet and juicy, and won't hurt your stomach. If you don't know if a berry is good or not, see if other animals are eating it. Animals won't eat things that are bad for them, so you can learn by looking at them." Erasing the magical pictures, she then explained to the fox child a few more easy to identify edible plants and how to eat them.

By this way, she could find food in case it was scarce or sell them to others if she didn't need to eat them. Shiloh knew her own knowledge was limited, so she did her best to make things easy to understand. 

Author: Akira, Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 3:08 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Something she liked doing? Something she liked doing? Playing didn't quite help her earn money in any way, shape, or form. Akira frowned as she tried to figure this out. She took another bite of her delicious roll, chewing slowly as she was distracted with her thoughts while trying to listen to Shiloh continue speaking. People teach, make, find and help to earn money. Even Shiloh did just that, helping people by taking things to someone else.

"So… If Akira finds a shiny, Akira trade it for coin?" Shiny treasure, or the promise of, is what got Akira into the predicament she was in now. Some person or another wasn't even talking to her! Yet the little fox child stowed away on their expedition. It's nearly killed her several times now, and she's only trying to find her way back to a place she can only remember by sight. Names were still a little difficult for the child to grasp.

"And coin buy things like food! But… Shiny hard to find… Akira no find any shiny yet, except ghosty stuff." Still, there had to be something else she could do for people though. As Akira began to lick her fingers clean, an idea came to her. "Shiloh, Akira can find those planty stuff. Angel root, bee wax, nuts! People buy from Akira and sell to other, and Akira have coin for things?"

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 1:56 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Shiloh rested her head on one of her hands, watching Akira eat. This was probably the best meal she had in a while. When the fox child asked how she could be able to make money and voiced her concerns on her young age, it brought back memories of her own childhood. Thinking for a while, she tried to come up with feasible options that Akira could do. "Hm…that's a good question. If you want to make money, then that depends on what you can do. There are lots of ways other than making bread. Is there something that you like doing, or something you are good at? That's the easiest way to start until you learn new things. Once you have a way to make coin, you can use that to find people who can teach you things you want to learn." 

She was probably too young to understand what schools and tutors were, so she stuck to using simple terms. "Some people make coin by teaching people things they know very well, others make things to sell, some find things people need and exchange them for coin, and others earn it by helping people." Shiloh had done all of these at least once in her life, mostly the last two. The trick was finding where people were needed and convincing those offering the jobs that she was the right person to handle it. It was a slow, but steady process. To be honest, she was surprised that she had been able to have a steady flow of income just by running errands and deliveries alone. Bounties and other higher-risk requests were a rarity in her schedule. It was proof that you didn't have to risk your neck to earn a lot of money, if you were patient enough.

"I usually make money by helping people carry things to others, like letters and items wrapped up. They want to make sure the one they are sending it to receives it, and that's what I do. Before this, I would find things in the forest and other places, then come to the cities to see if anyone wanted to buy." She said, to give the girl an idea of how she got started. Taking out one of the loaves of bread, she broke off a chunk and chewed it slowly. The rosemary was strong and fragrant, just how she liked it. A little bit too salty for her taste, so she didn't buy it often.

Author: Akira, Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2017 12:07 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

How can one get hurt too much to not be saved by eating? It was something she did not know how to consciously contemplate. Her mind was blocking out the one time she witnessed something terrible, her first real experience with death. Primarily, it was because she didn't understand that it was murder, and the victim would never return. When Shiloh approached, still with tears in her eyes, Akira watched as some round, flat, metallic items were traded for the bread and sweets.

The child frowned at the explanation. Trading something for things to eat? Her ears flattened as Shiloh's hand patted her head, eyes closed momentarily. Soothing touches were still very uncommon for her, so the look of surprise as she looked up at the woman was quite natural. How can so few people be so kind to her when most everyone treated her like she was unworthy of anything but cruel interactions. Hesitantly, she retracted the sweet roll, wearily watching the baker, expecting him to yell at her again. When no words came, but instead he smiled at her, Akira said a single thing as she turned to catch up with Shiloh. ”Thanks you.”

She took a bite and nearly squealed in delight as the sugary sweetness exploded upon her tongue, the warmth of the bread making it so soft and flaky. ”Shiloh! Yum!” In her excitement, she tried to eat far more than she could fit in her mouth at once. Poor thing had her mouth so full, she could barely chew it. Giggling, she worked at it until she could swallow, giving Shiloh a goofy grin. It quickly faded as she recalled the coins that Shiloh had used to purchase everything. ”Shiloh… Akira so small. How Akira make 'coin'? No can make treats.” As she said the last statement, she held the half eaten sweet roll up to show Shiloh what she meant. It seemed cruel for such a young child to suddenly worry about coins and work, but it was the way of the world for orphans. For this reason alone do most turn to thievery to survive. How Akira managed to stay clean of this was beyond many people.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:41 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

The fox child was innocent, and often the innocent questions were the hardest to answer. "When something 'dies', it is like falling into an endless sleep. But…you don't wake up ever again. Even if you eat, sometimes it can still happen. Like if you are hurt too much…" She didn't want to scare the girl, but wasn't sure how to describe it so she could understand the concept of mortality without fear. Thankfully the girl's spirit was brighter than hers, as the fox child then darted off in the direction of a stall with freshly baked bread. Shiloh knew what Akira was thinking as soon as she saw where she was going. Even though she was a human, the smell of baked treats were strong.

She arrived just in time when Akira was about to eat something without paying first and the stall owner was scolding her. Breathing a sigh of relief as the man wasn't calling the guards yet, she fished out money and handed it to him. "Here. I'll take three. Give me one of the rosemary loaves as well." The man looked at her and Akira, assumed she was the child's guardian and accepted the coin. While he was bagging two other sweet rolls and a loaf, she knelt down to Akira. "Akira, when you want something here you need to give them the right amount of coins first. It's not that they don't want to give it to you, they want to trade it to you for something. It wouldn't be nice if they gave things away they worked hard for without getting anything in return, right?" This wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for a young child, but Shiloh saw it was a good opportunity to help teach Akira. She would likely remember it more clearly now than if she told her at a different time, as she would associate paying for food with this event. 

Gently she patted the fox girl's head before standing up to take the baked goods she purchased. She then said to Akira, "You can eat the roll now. I traded coins with the man for the food, so it's now yours." She had bought the rolls and bread seeing that Akira probably wasn't able to have regular meals due to being all alone. She herself had been in a similar situation a long time ago, and if she hadn't been adopted by Unna then she would be in the same position as Akira now. The world was an unforgiving place for those who had their parents taken from them before they could learn how to care for themselves. It wasn't their fault that life was sometimes unfair.

Author: Akira, Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:05 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

At first, she wasn't quite trying to take in the names, yet each one was carefully mouthed reverently nonetheless. Shiloh explained about the holly berries, and how you shouldn't eat them. Akira tried to put every detail about the plant to memory, with an image of herself being sick associated with it. Hopefully, she would always remember not to consume those should she find any in the wild.

”Pretty is bad?” The child was having difficulties understanding that logic. She understood bad taste, bad consequence upon touch, or sick if eating the wrong things. With great interest, Akira peered at the toadstools, getting as close as she could. At the mention of not smelling them, the fox jumped back with a look of horror etched on her face. ”Toadstool is die? Shiloh, what die?”

Patiently, she listened to the explanation of the concept of death, showing the obvious signs of not understanding it previously. Akira gasped. ”Sleep, no more wake? Like, ever? Akira eat, Akira no die?” The child had once overheard a mother tell her offspring that if they wanted to grow big and strong like their father, then they needed to eat. This was her connection to eating and death. At the mention of eating, however, she remembered her hunger.

Excited once more, Akira darted off suddenly to the nearest food stall, a baker's stall who was putting out fresh sweet rolls. The fox reached up and grabbed one with both hands. It was an inch from her open mouth when she was interrupted. “Hey, you got to pay for that! I'm not running a charity here! Three silver, or put it back. Now.” Akira looked at the man, at the roll and back up at him with the most pitifiul, huge begging eyes she could give him. ”But… But… Akira hungry.” Tears welled up as she began to return the roll ever so slowly.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2017 11:59 AM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

The fox child seemed to be very understanding, or probably didn't. At least she was being nice about it. "What sister name?" She asked Shiloh. Kneeling down to Akira's level, Shiloh did her best to smile. "You can call me Shiloh." Akira was such a sweet kid. She felt bad seeing how the little fox was all by herself, with no family members or friends. Then, the girl's eyes lit up. "Shiloh! Akira want show Shiloh something!" Soon she was off, running before she stopped to see if Shiloh was following. Shiloh figured she had found something that caught her eye and wanted to show her new friend what she had discovered. Following after Akira, she was led to the market stalls back where she had passed through on the way to the money-changer's. Shading her eyes, she spotted the white ears and tail swishing in excitement. 

The stall she was next to had lots of little things; colorful plants and herbs, bottles of mysterious dyes or ichors, and even oddities people used for magical means. "What's that? And that?" It was like the first time you saw a toy shop or a jar of candy. Not being the type to spend much time around the apothecary, Shiloh herself was looking at the unusual things. "Let's see…angelica root, amber, beeswax, some kind of…nut, and holly berries." The thing Akira picked up and showed her was a little cluster of bright red holly berries. They were prettier than the sugar drops sold in glass jars with brown wrapping and the leaves were shiny like silk. "Hm, didn't think they'd sell these here. These are called 'holly berries' Akira. People use them to make garlands or wreaths to decorate their houses. They're pretty, but you can't eat them. They'll make you sick." 

Thankfully she hadn't picked up nightshade or something worse, so now was a good time to teach her. "See all these plants and flowers? Sometimes they make themselves pretty to tell people to stay away. They either taste bad, or can really hurt you if you touch or eat them. Also these things are called toadstools. Don't ever touch those or even smell them. They're poisonous, and if you eat them you'll die." She pointed to the red caps with white spots. Those redcaps in particular were the most obvious ones. There were others which weren't so bright that were just as dangerous too.

Author: Akira, Posted: Mon Oct 9, 2017 9:58 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Several people had problems, and Shiloh was running back and forth to fix them for coin. What Akira didn't understand was that it was for a single coin, not a bag full of coins. Not that she could get it explained better, nor would she have a desire to hear it out. Adult things were typically hard to comprehend anyway. "Mmhmm, Akira follow … What sister name?"

The pat on her head was sweet, and Akira realized she didn't shy away from the reaching hand. "Akira like you." she said sweetly. Then, she lit up with excitement. "Shiloh! Akira want show Shiloh something!" Akira darted ahead several feet, looked back and expectantly watched Shiloh. If she caught up, Akira would do this repeatedly until she led Shiloh to the market stalls, each one with a thousand glittery or yummy wears displayed. At least, that is how children described such a sight.

"Place full of shiny!" The fox child ran up to one stall full of apothecary herbs and poisons. She pointed to each of them, asking "What's that? And that?". One she picked up to show Shiloh. Where it wasn't poisonous to the touch, it was toxic to consume it. Children were often oblivious to any danger.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 9:46 AM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Shiloh stood where she was, watching the kids run back into the streets. They had better run, or else she'd have to do something nasty. For once, giving people the chills was a good thing. Slowly breathing in, she began to calm herself. She had been holding onto her emotions with everything she had, and her knuckles in her empty hand had turned white from clenching so hard. When the kids were far out of hearing range, she muttered to herself regarding Dillan: "I could say the same for you…" The feeling of the little fox child hugging her leg made her tension fade. Turning to look at her, she was thanked for chasing the bullies away. She did her best to give a smile, which looked more like a wry one.

"Why you go back forth?" The child asked her. "Back and forth?" Shiloh repeated, trying to figure out why she was asking. Recalling the 'errand run' she had done earlier today, she hazarded a guess that was what the fox child was asking about. "…Oh, that. You saw me? Well it's a long story. In short, I had to take care of several people's problems in order to exchange a foreign coin. It really is a hassle when things get tangled together like a ball of string… Inconvenience aside, it's an interesting example of how people are interconnected, and like dominoes when something happens to one–they all get affected in the long run."

She then remembered she was talking to a child, so probably half of the things she just said likely went over her head. Trying to make the girl at ease, she patted the fox child's head. 

Author: Akira, Posted: Wed Oct 4, 2017 8:57 AM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

"Dillan…" The one boy really did not like the way Shiloh was approaching them. "And what are you going to do? Tell our mummies?" Dillan sneered. Shiloh pulled out the apple, crushing it in her hand. "Dillan…" Most of them were itching to get away, no longer having the desire to go toe to toe with this woman who meant business. Even the girl, who shrunk into herself as Shiloh's gaze fell on her.

"Dillan!" "Ah, shut your yapping, Walker." Yet, even his voice sounded nervous now. The girl threw her hands up, and took an uncertain step back. "I don't have a tail." Her voice waivered. Dillan looked back at the girl. "Not you too, Sansy!" His troupe was failing, falling apart. How was he supposed to be brave if his group easily tucked their tails between their legs at one person. "Sorry, Dillan." she said as she ran off with the rest of them. The last remaining boy yelled at them, looked at Akira, up to Shiloh. "Ya ain't worth it." He, too, turned tail and ran.

Akira breathed easier, now that they were gone. She hugged Shiloh's leg. "Thanks you. Akira no like tail pull." She looked up at the woman and gave her a somewhat tired smile. "Why you go back forth?" Sadly, her speech was still very broken, having only picked up pieces here and there with no one to give her the time of day.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 10:34 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Shiloh walked forward slowly, with grim deliberation. Glowering over the children, she leaned down just a bit so the shadow would give the right contrast to her eyes as she addressed the rather irritating little brat of a boy. Using her typical poker face to her full advantage, she remarked. "Do you know what else stinks? Your attitude." She said it so quietly, but with the tone of voice of someone who wasn't afraid of making her problems 'disappear'. She then very subtly conjured an apple in her clenched hand, and moved it so the children could see without it being right in front of them. And very slowly, she began to crush the fruit until there was an audible crack as its flesh began to split open and the juice ran down like rain from a tile roof.

"If you think it's fine to yank her ears and tail, then I should be able to yank yours. Isn't that right?" Looking at the other children with the same deadpan seriousness that unnerved adults, she dropped the pulverized remains of the apple onto the ground. "Let's start with you." Her gaze fell on the girl who called the distinguishing features of the fox child's body 'fake'. She could see the hesitation and growing anxiety in the other children's eyes. In her simmering anger, her sensitivity made it almost palpable. Having stored plenty of negative emotions from extracting the shadows of people's hearts, she drew upon them to layer on her intimidation by affecting the atmosphere.

The ones who spoke the loudest were either the most stubborn, or the most cowardly. And if what she had observed about people was correct, when one turned tail the others would soon follow. Unless this boy had enough sway to override man's natural fight-or-flight instinct, it wouldn't take long for the rest of his following to cave. She was walking a fine line between scaring them straight and scaring them, period. And for her it was all too easy to do the latter. If they ended up scarred, she'd have to take additional measures to clean that up and then things would get complicated. The success of 'that' usually depended on the willingness of the subject. She couldn't back down or leave just yet, not until the head of the group was down. They had to believe that they should never try to do this again, or else this would all be wasted effort.

Author: Akira, Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:59 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

At the mention of being the woman's sister shocked Akira into forgetting her tormentors. The child looked up at the woman at near disbelief. However, the way she said it gave her the sense of protection, bullying the bully. She smiled tentatively and returned to huddling against the woman. Most of the kids skidded to a halt, one of them, however, beamed defiantly at Shiloh.

"Your sister needs to stop pretending to be what she's not." He said with a matter-of-fact tone. "That tail is so obviously fake. Why is she even wearing it? It'll just make her stink." That came from the girl, who seemed to be completely absorbed by being the fashion police and obviously drawing strength from their leader's defiance. Akira looked down upon herself and was not embarrassed to note that she did have a dirty kimono. It was white, and easily sullied. She didn't mind, as she was only a child.

"What'd she do, glue it on?" came another sneer. "Anyone having the guts to dress like an animal should be treated like one." Finally, one seemed to see the error of their ways. "Uh, Dillan… Maybe we should… you know, leave her alone? That sister looks like she means business!" "Relax. She isn't going to do anything to us. We're just kids after all." The way Dillan said showed he was over full of confidence, that he was not accustomed to people standing up to him. He got power from this little group of his, and he wasn't about to let anyone knock him down a peg.

Akira looked at the kids, then up at the woman. "Sister make meanies go away, now?" She really didn't want to see them try to yank her tail again.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 12:46 PM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

The errand run she had just finished had made her lower her guard, so when something grabbed her hand Shiloh immediately went on high alert. Her head quickly turned towards her hand to see a child huddling close to her. Her heart rate slowed when she read the girl's features and body language. She wasn't being pick-pocketed, thankfully. The girl clinging to her looked very young, and was likely a beastkin. Unlike most people, Shiloh actually felt more comfortable with non-humans so she tried to soften her likely stern face. 

The sound of taunts and jeers approaching made that cold light return to her eyes again. She didn't have to look up to know what those kids were coming for. But she had to control herself. Shiloh knew what it was like to be bullied, and the very memory was strong. Reminding herself not to project onto the fox-child, she clenched her other hand tightly while maintaining her composure. Looking at the group of kids, she gave a glare sharp as daggers at all of them while assuming a confrontational posture. "What did you do to my sister?" Sure they looked nothing alike, but she knew how to bluff very convincingly. Besides, she had been adopted by non-humans when she was in her third year of grade school. Blood relation was no restriction for who you considered family.

Her height and well-practiced intimidation tactics would shake the mettle of any half-hearted bully who wasn't ready to face serious trouble. Scaring people witless–now that was something she could do without a problem. She made sure to make eye contact with everyone in the group, committing their faces to memory. Most of the time when people were doing something they knew was wrong, they didn't want others to know. Especially someone who could and would spread the word.

They're just kids Shiloh…no you can't tan their hides without their parents' permission. Even if you really want to wipe those smug little smirks off their faces and make them wet themselves. That's unethical, and will likely draw the guards over. She mentally chided herself, doing her best to maintain control over the situation. They might be children, but she wasn't letting them grow up into self-centered, entitled jerks who would later become a blight on society. 

Author: Akira, Posted: Fri Sep 22, 2017 7:15 AM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

Everything here was just her size! From the shops, to the people only a little taller than herself. Akira had lots of fun running from stall to stall, peering at the goods displayed without having to strain herself, or step on anything for added height. So many shiny baubles and knickknacks that caught her eyes, it was a wonder none of them made it into her pockets.

A delicious aroma permeated the air, and Akira wanted to follow it. With her nose up in the air, she tried to pinpoint it. She walked up and down all the streets. All she could find was where the smell was weaker. The only thing to distract her was the fact she saw a woman muttering to herself. Akira had seen her earlier with a parcel. Curious, and the aroma long since forgotten, Akira followed her. Though, she couldn't tell anyone why this woman was so demanding of her attention. Perhaps it was her height, the way she towered over everyone, herself included.

Every time the woman entered a building, Akira, all dressed in white with her snowy hair and tail, would wait across the street and stare at the door intensely. The woman exited, and Akira followed behind once more. What was curious was the fact that the woman seemed to go into all these places and didn't seem to want to. Each new place seemed to add to her frustrations. Why would one woman go through all this trouble if she didn't want to do it?

Without fail, there was always one set of vindictive boys or girls in each town, and Akira always stumbles upon them. "Look what we got here, boys!" One boy sneered. He was only a couple inches taller than she was, but Akira knew that with that voice, he had a mean streak she did not want to play with. Akira stopped in her tracks as she was suddenly surrounded by four boys and a girl, each of them with malicious expressions. "A girl pretending to be a fox!" "Are they even real?" the girl laughed. Two hands reached out and yanked on her ears while another pulled her tail.

Akira let out a wail, managed to scurry out of the group and run. The only thing she could think of was to go to the woman she had been following. When Akira got to her, she grabbed the woman's hand, pressing it to her forehead while she looked at the group of kids following, yelling taunts and laughing. "Helps Akira?" she begged in a whimper.

Author: Shiloh Kyrie, Posted: Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:37 AM, Post Subject: Working the Barter System [P]

"That'll be thirty silver crescents for the delivery fee." A woman clad in a plain tunic and trousers with a knapsack stood over a four-foot tall bespectacled halfling as he counted out the coins. Taking her payment in hand, she handed a tightly-wrapped package over. Before leaving, she did a quick recount of the money and frowned. "Mr. Longfellow…this twenty-nine crescents, not thirty. And what is this thing doing here?" The halfling pushed up his spectacles as Shiloh narrowed her eyes at him, holding up an antimony coin from the pile. "Hm? Oh–oh dear, that's a latun isn't it? I thought when I took them from my pouch that there were only Adelunian currencies in there. Let me fix that." Crossing her arms, she tapped her foot as he rummaged through his coin purse. Reading his body language she already figured out he didn't find another crescent in there, though not on purpose. "…This is quite a pickle, I could've sworn-" "It was in your other coin purse; that's what you were going to say right?"

The halfling man didn't say any more, but his face confirmed it. "I'm really sorry about that. I must've missed one coin when I exchanged my currency from my visit to Iria." Sighing, Shiloh put away the twenty-nine keeping the odd coin out in hand. "It's fine, I know. You've had a clean history with your payments so I'm not going to hold it against you. But next time, try to make sure you have everything in the same coinage. So, where am I supposed to exchange this?" Mr. Longfellow answered quickly. "At any of the big money-changers around, your best bet should be the merchant's guild on Bale Street. It's the big building on the block in brick and mortar. You can't miss it." He gave her a few more directions, and apologized again before she left.

"I should've known I'd run into this sort of problem sooner or later." She grumbled, walking the streets. So far she'd been lucky with her international deliveries, taking jobs from people who paid in crescents in spite of being elsewhere. It wasn't the man's fault that he made the mix-up. But exchanging foreign currency was a hassle. Only people who had access to a wide variety of currency could exchange coin, but not everyone was willing or interested in that business. And most people wouldn't bother to look up the exchange rate for one single coin. She walked down Bale Street, entered the merchant guild, and asked if she could have her currency exchanged. The receptionist told her the senior trader was currently out of town, but his associate Samuel Burroughs was in.

She found Burroughs and told him what she came for, but he apparently wasn't able to help her at the moment seeing that the guild needed an inventory check and he was left with the job. The only way to get him to stop counting boxes was to see where the accounting clerk had gone, which led her to Downing Avenue. There was a roadblock due to an accident, which meant everyone was stuck here until the way was clear. After clearing the road, making sure the accountant clocked in and started doing her job, and solving a dozen other interlinked errands on the way, finally she got her antimony latun exchanged into Adelunian crescents. Leaving Bale Street, she finally ended what nearly became an endless chain of small favors. Checking the sundial, she saw the shadows had grown long. "Four hours just to exchange a measly coin…well it's not like I had anything else planned–like leaving for Canelux." It was a bad start to what was now late afternoon. But for Shiloh, her luck was the usual. Terrible.