Marshport

[MrMopp]

As she left, the little Minotaur took the opertunitys to tell May, "Kilts for boys! Not girls!"


The father rolled his eyes and shook his head.


______________________________________________________


After lunch, May helped do the dishes and clean the dining hall. The Vassik tried to be helpful by bringing the dirty dishes to the kitchen, but he kept dropping them every time something distracted him or someone would stepped on his tail and he would fling whatever he was balancing on his head across the room as turned to hiss. Eventually, Abigail asked him to stop helping.


Around Five O'clock, Lucine was getting ready to prepare dinner when he realized that he was missing a few key ingredients. May was tasked to run a quick trip to market place, and was givin directions, a basket, some money, and the assurance that Greycoat would be going with her.


"Just stick close to him dear. He knows his way around." Abigail told her. Then she gave May some extra money and winked. "And feel free to get yourself a treat at Coulters Candy along the way."

 

[Fangs9090]

May looked at the money before smiling and nodding. "Okay." She looked around for Greycoat to see if he'd heard already. She hadn't been keeping track of him as the tasks she'd been given had kept her busy up to this point.

 

[MrMopp]

Greycoat promptly came out from behind the counter, sat right between Mays feet and began grooming himself. He had actually been napping in a nook below the bar counter since... Well, since an angry, one-eyed witch was currently locked in Mays room.


That was Greycoats doing. And in his defense, the old hag started it. You see, fate had made Grey and Knox something of natural enemies, she being the city appointed watchdog of all things strange and magical and he being... well... his strange, magical self. Not that Grey was a bad guy- because he really wasn't- but he was aloof and could come and go where he pleased without consequence, which scared the socks off the City Council. And while he hadn't done anything harmful or even very illegal, you couldn't put it past Knox. She had spent her entire life since childhood fighting monsters and to her, Grey was no different.


Grey had pulled quite a few hair-raisers in the last decade. (Establishing a roadside shrine in Marshport territory without the Councils consent and leading an entire clan of Vassik pilgrims in out of the blue was just the tip of the ice berg,) so he had done his best to keep away from Marshport and play God at a distance for a few years. He had hoped that would have given Knox time to simmer down before they butted heads again


Apparently, his hope was misplaced. Lying on Mays bed, Grey had heard Knox coming up the stairs and he knew her high-heeled steps well enough tell a ladylike tip-tap of diplomacy from a full on warpath strut. Not being in the mood for her mouth-frothing and/or getting turned into a coat (magically or otherwise) Grey hid in himself in the corner, waited till the witch had crept well past the thresh hold, and slipped out the door, slapping a spell on it with his tail that slammed and sealed it shut.


Grey had to say, the lengthy stream of threats and insults that came shrieking from the door was quite impressive. She clearly had them bottled up for a while. They were quite colorful. He resolved to write some of them down. Anyway, Grey had estimated it'd take an hour for Knox to undo the seal. So far it has been fifty minuets since then so yeeeeaaaah, now was a good time for a walk. (Hence It was Grey who suggested he take May to the market In the first place).


"Alright May." Said Abigail. "See you when you you get back!"

 

[Fangs9090]

May looked down at Greycoat before smiling up at Abigail with another nod. "Okay!" She patted Greycoat's head before turning and heading through the crowds and out of the inn. She stepped outside and looked around before pausing. She had no clue which way to go. She turned back and looked for Greycoat to take the lead.

 

[MrMopp]

Grey shook his head in bemusement and walked ahead of May down the street.


_______________________________________________________


They got to the market, and Grey seemed to to have a mind for which merchants to visit amongst the hundreds of stands.


A guy selling cheese was chatting with another costumer about a "moon rat" problem he thought he was having when he saw May approaching. "Woah! That has to be the best Rugarou mask I've ever seen!" He complemented her.

 

[Fangs9090]

May followed behind Greycoat, looking around half the time she was walking and spending the other half of the time watching him to make sure she didn't get lost. She stopped when the man addressed her and tilted her head at him. "A...A what?"

 

[MrMopp]

The winkles on the other customers forehead disappeared as he saw the masks mouth moving and did the math. "uhhhh, Joel..."


But the cheese merchant remained oblivious. He scratched his chin. "Oh, right. Rugarou don't have horns.... Hmmmmm. Ok, is iiiiiiiiiiiit.... ok I give up"

 

[MrMopp]

The winkles on the other customers forehead disappeared as he saw the masks mouth moving and did the math. "uhhhh, Joel..."

(In other words, he looked tense.)

 

[Fangs9090]

(Okay, for some reason, I'm not getting notifications for this. That, or I just keep missing them...)


May blinked a few times before pointing at her face. "B-but, I'm not wearing a mask...?"

 

[MrMopp]

The cheese man chuckled. "Of course." He said. "Alright, little Ms. Mystery Monster, what can I get for you today?" He was a little new to Marshport so as far as he could tell, this was just an obscure festival tradition. Every other customer who had come here was playing this game where they'd come up to his shop in a some kind of costume, like Minotaur or a Rugarou, and insist that it was real. I mean, he could almost believe some of them, but the idea that you would actually let those monsters inside a city was ridiculous, right? But far be it for him to spoil the charm of this game, so he played along.

 

[Fangs9090]

May blinked. "Oh!" She glanced around before looking into the basket. She reached in and pulled out the list she had made of what she needed to get, looking it over to see what they'd asked for. "Uh..."

 

[MrMopp]

(Go ahead and make up something)

 

[Fangs9090]

(Alright.)


May squinted at the list before reading off the things on it that sounded like some kind of cheese. Of course, not everything she read was actually cheese, and there were some cheeses on the list that she didn't read.

 

[MrMopp]

The cheese man chuckled and picked out the cheeses that were mentioned on the list.


The next shop may went to was the fish mongers tent, and on the shopping list was- and I quote- five "Gargantuan Sharp Legged Archipelagan Salmon."

 

[Fangs9090]

May blinked at the list a few times as she walked over to the next tent. She looked at the fish before looking at the shopkeeper. "Do you have...um...five..." She squinted at the list. "Gar-gan-tu-an sharp legged ar-chi-pe-la-gan...salmon...?" She seemed to have trouble with the big words.

 

[MrMopp]

Now, this particular stand was not like the other fish monger tents in the market. It was smaller and it stood right at the rivers edge near the marina with a ratty-tatty sign labeled RAJI'S FISH. Dangling about as were crab claws, sea shells, shark jawbones, and sitting the shadows, with his feet propped up on the counter with his wares, a figure lazily reclined in a chair. A straw hat was tipped over his eyes, and he was playing some kind of homemade, three stringed lute (?) with a cigarbox for the body, a boat ore for the neck and fishing line for the strings. He was singing (badly) and forign style with a raspy voice like sand in a tin can, and he was absorbed in what he was doing that he hadn't heard May speaking to him.


Getting a good look at his feet, you could tell he was wasn't human. They were black and extremely hairy, and when he stretched his toes now and then, you could see they were webbed and sharp claws would pop out of the tips.

 

[Fangs9090]

May waited for a moment before figuring he wasn't listening. She tilted her head before looking around to find something grab his attention. She glanced around before stepping to the side and spotting a spare fishing rod next to the tent. Really it was a stick with string tied to it and a thin piece of curved metal tied to the string, probably made by a local child who thought fishing looks fun. May walked over and picked up the stick, looking at it for a moment before getting an idea. She took a piece if charcoal out of her pocket and used it to circle what she needed before sticking the list on the piece of metal. She walked back to the front of the stand before holding the stick over the counter, trying to dangle the list in front of the shopkeeper's face.

 

[MrMopp]

Not looking up, the singing shopkeeper absently swatted at watever was flapping in his face and skewered his hand on the hook.

The surprisingly girly yelp that issued forth might have been hilarious, but the peek under the hood that came with it was the stuff of nightmares. When he shouted, May got a good look at a snout- like hers, but proportionately narrower- full of long, crooked teeth that hung out on an overbite and gave him the shopkeeper a saber-toothed look when he closed his mouth. And throwing his hat brim back, she couldn’t have missed the pair of BIG BLOOD, RED, EYES that shot out from its shadow. They were size of manderine oranges with catlike pupils and they stared in bewilderment at the hook in his hand like a dreamer who’d just been a woken up by an ice bucket.

The wide red eyes looked at the note.

Then slowly traced the string up to the stick.

Then traced the stick down to the little fisherman.

The creature behind the booth sat up to get a good look at May, his oversized eyeballs blinking under his hat like he wasn’t sure what to make of this. Finally he found somewhere to start. “.....Weh, dat’s some ambitious fishin, ge’l.” He allowed, speaking in the same raspy voice he sang in. “Ah geev yoo dat, Ah geev yoo dat.” He sounded either impressed or amused, but clearly would have been more of either if he hadn’t been the one getting ‘fished’.

Anyway, the guy pulled the hook out of his skin without making a face (barbed or no, he was clearly used to doing this) and with an achy strain not unlike Greycoats, he obligingly stood up and leaned forward on the counter. “So! Whatchoo be want’n from ol’ Raji’s shop, lil lady?” He said with a friendly smile (which no one must have had the heart to tell him looked utterly predatory). As an afterthought, he took the note & hook and handded it to her, perhaps not noticing that some of his blood was smeared on it. “Here. Ah cannot read.”

 

[MrMopp]

(Need a translation?)

 

[MrMopp]

(Translates as follows

“.....Weh, dat’s some ambitious fishin, ge’l.” He allowed,

(“Well, that’s some ambitious fishing there, girl,”)

“Ah geev yoo dat, Ah geev yoo dat.”

(“I’ll give you that, I’ll give you that.”)

“So! Whatchoo be want’n from ol’ Raji’s shop, lil lady?”

(“So! What you be wanting from old Raji’s shop, little lady?”)

As an afterthought, he took the note & hook and handded it to her, perhaps not noticing that some of his blood was smeared on it. “Here. Ah cannot read.”

(“Here. I cannot read.”)


(If it helps, he has a similar accent and dialect as Tia Dhalma from Pirates of the Caribbean 2, but with a southern drawl. Raji pronounces his “th’s” as “D’s”, and “T’s“ and “ah” will always be the pronoun “I”.)