Aclidia Blues Part 3
Word spreads fast in city even as large as Aclidia. Sibyl learns a very disturbing rumor and meets new friends.
Players :
Sibyl (me) the red lizard
Abel the squirrel
Geromina the bat
Sofia the Ferret
Adrien the very fat stoat
As much as Sibyl likes to keep herself well fed with the finest dishes Aclidia has to offer it is no surprise that the red scaled reptile is here for dinner. As much as sibyl likes to eat it is no surprise that the lizard is starting to bulge a little around the waist line. She sits in her usual booth digging into a hearty supply of pork. She occasionally glances to her left as beasts come, eat, and go. The Hearth really is packed tonight with beasts of all classes and species. The rat waiters can hardly keep up!
Geromina is sitting at a table nearby, in fact, waiting to be served in all this hustle and bustle, tapping her thumbclaws on the table, "I am starving and no one has served me yet."
Abel wanders in from off the street. He's running an errand for Flavius, actually, with *all* proper permission papers, but he decides to slip into the tavern for a bit of a rest. He also hopes to find Sibyl, knowing she frequents this place. He looks around, spotting the lizard, but he doesn't wish unwanted attention, so he slips off to a corner, waiting for his chance to approach.
For beasts that lack the skills, time, desire, or facilities to cook themselves a proper meal, the thermopolium is always a fair alternative. Soifa just happens to lack all of the above, so it's no surprise to find the jill seated in her typical place next to one of the gaping archways, her table weighted down under the usual mountain of food that the shopkeeper puts down every night. She happens to have two books spread open on the table in front of her tonight, one written in some unrecognizable language, the other used to transcribe whatever is written in the first tome into a recognizable script.
The lizard munches and crunches her way through her meal occasionally stoping to breath. She glances about at the room every so often but alas didn't catch the squirrel as he entered and so...continues eating blissfully unaware the danger that her employer put her in this morning.
Geromina looks over and waves quietly to Abel...oh, how she wishes she did not have this city as her major buyer right now, first half an hour with no supper in sight and now Abel.
She shakes her head, he's shown up at a somewhat bad time.
Abel tries to blend in the shadows. He spots Gero and nods a little wordless greeting. Unfortunately, that wicked ferret Sofia is planted squarely between himself and the lizard...the best he can hope for is her book is distraction enough from his appearance. He tries to slip by her table, in the direction of Sibyl, prepared to lie should she say something to him.
But the squirrel is allowed to pass without interruption, for Sofia is rather engrossed in her books and doesn't spare a glance to anyone else in the room. Her routine of reading, writing and eating seems to be rather well versed, the jill going along as quick as her eyes will absorb words and translate them to her hand, only pausing to take the occasional obscenely large bite of food and wipe her fingers before going back to her quill.
The lizard takes a break from her meal. Even the gluttonous little lizard has her limits. Give it a few moments though and she will jump back in. Sibyl spreads out on her rounded booth table, leaning her back against the middle of the booth and her feet along the sides. Her eyes light up as she sees Abel and waves him over, "Hey! Abel! Welcome back!"
Geromina cannot help but notice the lizard is casually greeting Able and grins at her a little. She may be a slave-seller, but that did not mean she couldn't like the odd one, such as Able. She wondered who this lizard was, even more than she wondered when the waiter will see her.
Abel approaches the lizard. "Shh! Keep your voice down, please, she might recognize me." He then turns and waves the bat over. "Sibyl, that ferret there is bad."
Bad? Humph, some villain Sofia must appear, sitting alone at a food laden table with her books and her quill. Other creatures might be discussing her at this very moment, but the jill shows no outward sign of picking up on their conversation, nor indeed any of the dozens of dialogues going on around her.
The lizard would let her ears fall flat against her head...if she had any, "Sorry...my bad." Sibyl uses her tail to move the plate along the table closer to where she is laying and begins to feast again. "So how have you been Abel. I see you are making new friends," she gestures to the bat, who the rat waiter just now came too, "How's your master treating you these days?"
Geromina hails the rat waiter, "I would like a smoked fish please, and a cup of mulled wine. Thank you." She turns to Sybil and says, "I know what you'll say, but yes, I know Able and I think he's a very honest beast.
Abel sits beside the lizard. "Sibyl, this is Geromina." He neglects to mention the bat's occupation. "Master has been fine, and I *do* have his written permission to be out on my own, so I oughta be safe for the time being." He then lowers his voice and glances around, "Sibyl, do *not* ask me how I know this, I am *not* going to tell you..." he sighs. "Your boss, Maffeo...wants you dead."
Indeed bad news, especially if you happen to be wolfing down on pork chops at the moment. The lizard bolts upright after inhaling her fork. She beats at her chest, hacking and coughing until she spits it out and it bounces across the table covered in lizard drool. "HE wan'ts me WHAT?!" the lizard yells across the room.
Geromina is in dismay, staring at the scene before her, her ears slightly tilted back and her wings folded over the table, "Who wants to kill Sibyl?"
She looks to see if the waiter has her food yet...that will at least keep her from looking totally stupid sitting here gaping...
Abel frowns. "I will not say who, but Sibyl, I think you should keep your voice down. You're causing a scene, and I could get arrested, or worse, for causing a public disturbance. So please, calm yourself, for my sake." He glances over at Sofia worriedly.
For all the squirrel's worrying about Sofia jumping out of her chair and gnawing his leg off, the jill actually seems to be rather tame. In fact, several beasts walk right on by unscathed and unassailed by this apparently dastardly creature. Only once does she look up from her work, giving the room a quick once over, and eventually her gaze does settle on Abel, but beyond a slight narrowing of her gaze the ferret does him no immediate ill and goes back to her work.
Casting her head against the table Sibyl clutches at the back of her neck, "Oh man...this is bad. This is bad. Why would he hire a contractor to do me in? I'm not THAT bad of thief...am I? I havn't taken any gold from the treasury..." She looks up, "How are they going to kill me off? Knives? Arrows? POISON?!" The lizards eyes move towards the food she has eaten and she begins to choke, "Gah! my only weakness!"
Geromina disbelieves the situation and says to Sibyl, "Do you want the whole inn to know? We need to discuss this /quietly/." She gives Sybil a stern look. Who knew lizards where so panicy.
There's a few thuds from the entrance doors as they swing open. In step two ferrets, armored heavily, and carrying a spear each. They step in slowly, and glance around before heading towards the back of the bar. There are beasts following behind. The fat stoat, Adrien follows in, a couple of books under one arm, the other occupied with trying to polish his spectacles against his shirt. Behind him though, are two slaves. One otter, carrying a wine-skin, and a mouse, carrying a stack of books. The small rodent, seems to have trouble carrying them, and he seems to have even more trouble seeing where he's going over the top. "Si-sire...I can't see...w-where I'm going." he pipes up. Giving a sigh, Adrien stops quickly, turning to knock half the books into the otter's arms, who stumbles a little trying to make sure he doesn't drop them before he turns and takes up a seat at the back, not noticing anybody else at the moment as he sets up a little workstation.
Abel spots the stoat's entrance, and groans. Just what he does *not* need. He literally hisses at lizard. "Shut your muzzle, or my head is on the chopping block!"
The stoat does make quite a racket with his entry, with all those bumbling slaves and his legionary guards bedecked in the lorica and all the weaponry that their occupation provides. It's enough even to cause Sofia to drag her eyes up, and naturally the first thing they alight on are the literature his slaves are hauling around. Hey eyes narrow in an attempt to focus on the spines of the books she can see, no doubt searching for a title amongst the pile, and so preoccupied that she is with this sudden task that she doesn't truly recognize the stoat for who he is.
Sibyl shoots a whisper back to the squirrel, "Let's see YOU be calm with the Cartel after your hide! Its..." her eyes turn to the fat stoat and his legionaries. "Oh carp." Just what the thief needs...the person in charge of the guard. And an assassin lurking about that her friend knows of but can't tell her about....just...great.
Geromina recognizes Adrien and quickly greets him with an, "Hello there Sir." She then turns to her meal of smoked fish and hopes he realizes she is a visiting merchant.
She is thankfully very practiced in being silent when authority figures walked into the room. You don't go far in an 'vermin' city without knowing how to keep your nose clean.
The mouse and otter slaves set their master's books down on one of the larger tables in the back, stacking them up. Sofia can make out books all sorts of things, like history books, military strategy books, a couple of story books. Adrien sets himself down on one end of the table, leaning back as he starts to go through the various books. With a wave of his hand, a silent order is all he needs, running to the counter to order a meal, one of the more expensive items off the menu. Finally, leaning back with his book in one hand, he glances around the room first. The bat gets an eyebrow raised towards her, but no reply yet. Then Sibyl gets a glance, and then Abel. He stares carefully before tilting his head. He motions one of the ferrets over, whispering quietly.
Abel is try to remain unnoticed. "Sibyl, I'm in a pickle...that ferret Sofia will likely tell Adrien about me just like she told Gaius." He is unfortunately oblivious to Adrien's whispering.
If Sofia is supposed to be ratting anyone out at this moment then she is truly doing a very poor job. The sole focus of her attention in this place is the stack of books dropped onto the Legate's table, and although she's already read the titles of each at least thrice over, the jill can't quite seem to take her eyes off of them.
Geromina finishes her meal and moves over to Sibyl's table with her ale, "If anyone asks, you are trying to get a good price on silk and I'm telling you where to get it."
She gets ready to politely leave if things get too hairy.
The guard that Adrien is whispering to starts to move towards the group. "Good evening." the ferret greets, glancing between each beast in the group. He tends not to notice Sibyl though, and stares directly at Abel. "Papers." he orders quietly before his eyes glance towards Geromina. "And you as well." his demure towards the bat though isn't as 'official' as it was to the slave.
Abel frowns. He truly hates this, but he acts emotionless and hands his papers over wordlessly. This time it seems he *does* have written permission.
Eventually curiosity gets the better of Sofia, and seemingly she can no longer stand only be able to look at the stoat's volumes because in the next moment she has snapped both of her books shut and taken to her feet. In a few strides she has crossed the distance to his table, and without much regard to personal property she takes up one of Adrien's. The cover is lifted aside gingerly, and then the first few pages with the same sort of overabundant caution. "I've never seen /this/ one before..." She mutters to herself.
Sibyl Tries to hide behind the tower of food infront of her. She gets her own papers ready, just in case. Although one must imagine where the lizard was keeping them. She nods to Abel and Geromina, accepting the bat's plan.
Geromina looks out the door and says to Sibyl and Abel, "Excuse me a moment? I need to make sure that my...merchandise is in good shape and ready to go for the big sale tomorrow. I hope to see you both again."
She gently finishes her wine and sneaks out the door, stealthily waving goodbye to the room.
The ferret studies the information on the papers, eyeing them carefully. "Why are you here? Your tasks do not list a reason to be here, squirrel." he says firmly, staring downward at him, menacingly. When Sofia comes over to Adrien's table, he blinks a little bit. The other guard's about ready to stop her, but quickly, he waves away a hand. "Good evening." he greets with a tilt of his head slowly. "May I help you with something?" he asks, letting her go through the books.
Abel quails in fear now. He has no idea what to say that won't result in him losing his other ear. He looks down at the table before him, stammering his reply. "I...I...I..." he's completely lost, and terrified. "I..." he steals a glance at Sibyl, but he has to face the truth...he has another whipping on the horizon.
"No." Sofia answers quite curtly, completely oblivious to the guard and the trio of slave, lizard, and guard across the room. One by one she thumbs through the pages, giving each a quick scan before moving on, and all the while not bothering to give Adrien even a sideways glance. At least eighty pages into the ordeal she pipes up loud enough for the stoat to hear her declare her intention for the volume in hand. "I'm going to borrow this for a day or two and copy it. If you don't mind. I don't have this exact one in my shop." She says all of this very fast, the words practically tumbling forth.
With a chuckle the lizard sits up from the table. Giving the guard a pleasant smile she replies for the squirrel. "Oh please do forgive the beasty, it's my fault honest." Like a well fed, red scaled snake Sibyl slides out of the booth and close to the guard. "Me and Sir Baro have a business deal going. I saw his steward on the side of the of street and I wisked him away in here to discuss some last minute business details. Call me Sibyl, I work for Maffeo the tailor..." The lizard feels like she took a blow to the gut, remembering that the wildcat put an assassin on her tail. "Do you want to see my papers too hon?" The lizard is close to the guardsmen now, almost eye to eye with no personal space.
Adrien's eyebrow raises again, watching Sofia carefully as she goes through his book. "Your shop? Oh, you must be the owner of that bookshop on the street near my home!" he smiles brightly. "Yes, yes of course. Always happy to help a fellow book lover." he responds just as his otter slave brings the meal he ordered. The ferret guard tilts his head towards the lizard before abruptly offering the papers back to Abel, turning his attention to her instead. "Slaves are not permitted to deviate from their ordered tasks, business or not. If you have business with his owner, you deal with the owner unless otherwise stated." he growls a little bit but seems to decline the offer of her papers.
Abel takes his papers quickly and acts as docile and meek as possible. He doesn't *dare* speak, for fear of accusations of insolence.
"Oh, you know of it?" It's almost as if Sofia grows undeniably brighter on the spot, a smile lighting up her features and her shoulders drawing back in pride. "You're more than welcome to come in sometime. It's not very big. I mean, I'm always running out of shelf space, what with texts I import from the rest of the Empire, and ones I bring back from travels. I just returned from a trip to the north, didn't you know? Baroness D'Saavik funded it. You must know her, of course. I recognize you as Legate Odell." The words come almost breathless from Sofia, who seems to have happily jumped on the chance for pleasant conversations, albeit there's hardly room for the stoat to say anything in return.
The lizard is in ignorant bliss of the conversation at the other end of the bar. She replies to the guard, "Oh pish posh. There I go again. Fergettin the rules and such. I'm an ol' air head I guess. It's just like the time I told Sally, she's the other gal I work with, about this time I mixed some blue thread for periwinkle, what was I thinkin? Who does that? And what bloke came up with the name Periwinkle? I say he must have been a warrior of some sort to compensate for his name..." The lizard goes on to relate the events of her day, the people she knows, her hopes, dreams in horrible, pain staking detail.
Abel is taking the chance to make himself completely unnoticed. He totally owes Sibyl.
The guard stares at the lizard and was about to speak, just until she started up again. He stares down at her carefully, and as she starts going, he pipes up and rather rudely interrupts. "Do not bore me. Remember your place, lizard, and get back to your business." he turns quickly towards Abel. "And you, in future, decline to stop until your owner has given permission." he turns quickly, going back to his position by Adrien in a huff. Speaking of said stoat, he listens to Sofia carefully, leaning in a little, nodding. "Ah yess, the Lady Adriana." he responds before offering out a hand. "Please! Call me Adrien." he responds, snapping his fingers at the mouse, motioning that a chair be pulled out so she can sit. "I have wanted to get into that store the last couple of weeks, and take a look around." he explains. "Running out of shelf space? If you need to expand, please, do let me know..."
The hand that is offered to her is given a glance that causes Sofia's eyes to widen momentarily, and her right hand to drum against the surface of the stoat's book in an almost nervous manner. Thankfully, at that same moment the slave pulls a chair out for her, and the jill is given a excuse to busy herself with sitting down and bypass the awkwardness that always follows refusing a handshake. Now firmly seated Sofia listens to his offer, but immediately shakes her head. "Oh! No, no, I'm fine. I mean, thank you for offering, but Lady D'Saavik takes care of a lot of that for me. She's kind of been my patron for a few years, you see?" A slight pause follows this, the ferret taking a moment to collect her breath and re-scatter her thoughts. "A real legate coming to my shop, though? That would be an honor. My father was a legionnaire, you know? Decanus in the first cohort of the twenty-second legion."
The lizard nods her thanks to the guard, "Yes sir. No complaints from me. I'll just hop on over to my shop and...do shop things." The lizard, rather roughly goes to pick up Abel's arm, pulling him along, "You remember that favor I talked about when we first met." she hisses into his good ear, "I'm cashing in on it. I need a place to hide out for a while."
Adrien watches her ignore the offer of the handshake, but doesn't seem to think anything of it. He bows his head though, smiling. "That's fine. I didn't realize Adriana liked books that much." he chuckles a little, leaning back in his seat, the meal forgotten. "I do plan on visiting your shop quite often. I have quite the library at my villa that I am always expanding. I might even be willing to pay extra for rare books." he nods, thinking a moment. "Decanus? Sounds familiar." he looks away a moment, thinking.
Abel is dragged along. "Ma'am, I don't know what you are talking about." He nods imperceptibly toward the door, to get out so they can speak relatively freely.
Sofia nods a little too eagerly, but her voice becomes a little critical at the though that the legate might have known her father. "Really? I don't know. You're legate of the twenty-first, you know? Different legions and all, and him just a decanus." Typical of her to correct someone like Adrien on details pertaining to his own job.
Adrien shrugs his shoulders and laughs a little bit. "True, but I make it my business to know everyone.." he taps the side of his snout. "I'll be quite surprised if there is somebody coming in and out of this city without me knowing everything there is to know." he nods his head slowly, leaning back. "At least I try to, anyway."
The lizard lets go of her squirrelly friend. She whispers back, "I just saved your hide back there. That's twice now you owe me..." She smiles pleasantly to the beasts near the door. She has no doubt that her face is NOT on any wanted posters yet. She is too good for that, but the sight of the law enforcer makes her nervous. Wait...she IS good, isn't she? Why would Maffeo want to kill her? The easiest way to find out would be to ask him...also the easiest way to get herself killed.
Abel whispers his reply. "Yes, I owe you, but you know I have no money, or anything, really. Now, what do you suggest I do? Smuggle you into the estate? Flavius is not a cruel beast, but even he'll have me lashed if he finds out..."
Sofia laughs along with the stoat, although the sound is almost a little uneasy now that she flanked on all sides by either armed guards or slaves. But not matter how nervous she may appear, one will rarely ever find the jill at a complete loss for something to say. "I'll just copy the book and have it brought back to you as soon as I've finished. I don't know how I might have missed this one before..." She traces her finger along the spine, looking at it with an interest that few could have for a text pertaining to the tactics used by long dead enemies of the Empire.
The lizard leads the squirrel outside. The night air is chill for the reptile, but pleasant. And more importantly the streets are deserted for the moment to allow her to spin on her heal and poke the squirrel on the chest, "Listen you. The last beast who crossed the Cartel ended up with his hide hanging from the tallest tower of my home town back on the main land." She pokes him again, "My LIFE is on the line. I don't care if you smuggle me into an estate, out of the country!" her eyes well up with tears and she gives Abel a pleading look. "Just please tell me you can do something! You're the last beast I can trust here!"
Abel throws his paws wide. "Ma'am...I'm just a piece of property. There is nothing I *can* do. I," this time he pokes her chest in time with each word, "have. No. Rights! I'm sorry, the best I can do is inform Master of your plight, without revealing your...ahem, occupation, if you get my drift. Master be very laid back, but there is *no way* he'll knowingly assist a professional thief."
Adrien's slaves don't really do a lot. They stand off to one side, staring downward, not dare speaking. "Please, take as long as you wish with it." he responds, motioning to the book. "If you wish, I could set some time for you to join me in my library at home. Perhaps you can find some books there that you've not seen before." he offers. "I do have quite the collection."
That offer could very well end up backfiring in the legate's face, as Sofia perks up almost entirely too much as the prospect of roving someone else's collection. "Oh, you would allow that? That would be fantastic. I mean, I would be honored if you would allow me to look over your library." Somewhere in that sentence her eyes are drawn to the street, and the time noted by the darkening sky and the relative vacancy of the street and square. A silent 'oh' forms on her lips, and just like that she rises from her seat, his book vanishing into the satchel slung from her shoulder. "I'm afraid it's getting late now. For me at least. I'd never presume to tell you that it was getting late..." She trails off, her gaze dropping to a table leg momentarily before rocketing back up to Adrien's eyes. "But thank you again for the book. We'll speak soon, I'm sure." She makes a rather clumsy attempt at a curtsy, with some hint of a bow thrown in as well before turning out the archway and making her way into the street.
The lizard has no idea of the conversation taking place so close to her. Instead her eyes continue to well up. Her knees feel week, her heart is pounding. It just sort of hits her. Her boss and friend has chosen to kill her off like a liability...like rubish to be discuarded at a moments notice. To her credit the repile composes herself, even though she looks like she is about to collapse in shock. "I...I supose so..." The lizard says in stunned silence. Then it hits her that she is placing her life in the paws of Flavius Baro...the drunken lout of the Baro family. Her eyes widen and she clutches at her stomach. "Im...gonna be sick..."
Adrien laughs a little bit and then nods his head. "Don't worry. I tend to have more books than I can read at once." he explains before tilting his head once again. "Of course. Do have a good evening." he says as she turns and heads into the street. Casually, he turns to one of his guards. "What a strange ferret." he shakes a little before blinking at the meal he had forgotten about, tucking in quite quickly before he lets it get even colder.
Abel grabs her shoulders. "Pull yourself together and listen! Now, here's how this will work. I'll announce you as a friend, alright? You aren't to utter a word, I'll handle everything. You are a friend, fallen on hard times, seeking refuge in the Baro Manor. Seeing as you're my friend, he *might*, might being the operative word, let you stay for awhile as a guest, understand?" He pauses to allow what he said to sink in.
The lizard can only clutch at the her snout. Tears are rolling down her cheeks as she stares off into space. Sibyl barely hears what the squirrel says but nods to it anyway. How could things get so bad so fast? She woke up a thief and active member of the Guild...and in one day she is penniless. All her hiding spots can be easily found by her fellow thieves, along with her deposits of gold and trinkets she kept from jobs. What is going to happen to her now?
Abel shakes the lizard. "STOP CRYING AND LISTEN!"
Sibyl makes a yelp as she is shaken. She looks up at the squirrel, eyes round and watery.
Abel keeps a firm grip on her shoulders. "Now you quit your blubbering. I need you to act perfectly normal when I present you to Master. If he asks, you're a simple seamstress. No more, no less. Now, come on." His voice softens. "You're almost the only friend I have, I don't want ya hurt."
Player descriptions:
Sibyl-The lizard standing before you is both young a perhaps a little short even for a lizard of her species. Her snout is long and filled with small pointed teeth. She has large hazel eyes and almost a perpetual smile on her lips. Small spike like fins make up her 'eyebrows' above her eyes. The fin like spikes converge on the back of her head and run down the length of her back and even her long flowing tail.
Sibyl will frequently add oils to her dark red scales to make them glisten and shine. While the majority of her scales are red Sibyl has streaks of blue around the edges of her eyes and also on the tips of her spikes. Her underbelly is covered in deep yellow scales starting at the back of her neck and running down over her stomach. The yellow scales branch out across her under arms to the palms of her four clawed hands, they also branch out across her inner legs and the underside of her tail.
For the most part Sibyl keeps herself trim and sleek, but the rich diet she has found in Aclidia is starting to show. Her chest and flank have gained a measure of flesh to them and her belly has grown slightly distended.
The lizard wears a brown silk top cover. The silk garment wraps across the lizards front like a vest, leaving her back scales exposed save for the straps criss crossing across the lizards chest and the small of her spine. It covers her down to the bottom of her chest in a downward V shape, leaving much of her waist exposed.
A belt decorated with wood beads and a topaz belt buckle fits around the lizards belly, holding up a sash cloth that hangs down both in front of the lizard and behind to her knees, leaving the sides of her legs exposed along with her bare foot claws.
Abel-Abel is a young squirrel slave, with chestnut fur and brown eyes, and missing half his left ear. He has "FB" branded on his left shoulder, signifying his owner is Flavius Baro.
Geromina-Her fur, where it shows on her abundant clothing, is black as ink, but most of what you see when you look at her is red and yellow wraps of cloth, forming her dress. Her hair is also black, and quite silky, tied up in two braids that join into a bun at the back of her head, making her long leathery black ears clearly visible. Her wings are not covered by the garment at all and are like black boot leather, forming a four-pointed wing and a small, dexterous thumb. The face of this beast is open and friendly, with dark brown eyes rarely losing their shine and a grinning mouth that sometimes flashes needle-like teeth, unaware of the affect this might have on others. Her feet bear light brown cloth and rope sandals that leave plenty of room for her foot claws.
Sofia-By any standard, ferrets are typically long, lanky creatures, and Sofia is certainly no exception. Her fur is almost entirely the color of fertile soil, marking her as a sable ferret, with the only breakage in the earthen tone being a splash of white across the end of her muzzle. The features on this muzzle are slender, attractive and, by any account, harbor a lively youthfulness in its soft angles. Set into this face are a pair of pale umber eyes, which seem to take in every infinitesimal detail of the world around her. In fact, this ferret's eyes never seem to hold still, as they're constantly darting from one object to the next, never holding in one position for more than a few moments.
Her clothing, crafted from the finer fabrics of Aclidia, echo a life spent in the city's warmer climate, away from the winters of Mossflower and beyond. Her top is a simple design, staring just underneath her arms and wrapping maddeningly around her torso until reaching the top of her hips. The long strip of cloth that her garment is made of is carmine in color, and embroidered with a thin pattern of zaffre blue. Thanks to the bareness of her shoulders and neck, a bronze pendant, shaped in the likeness of a goat's head, is easily displayed around her neck. The thin belt at her waist holds up her skirt, which she wears at below knee length, and sewn from a single piece of soft zaffre material, matching the embroidery of her top. On her feet she wears a pair leather sandals.
Rarely is Sofia to be found without a canvas satchel slung aces one shoulder, which seems akin to those carried by Aclidian legionnaires. The contents of this satchel are generally an assortment of quills, sealed ink bottles, charcoal sticks, reams of blank parchment and the occasional crust of moldy bread. She commonly carries a dagger at her left hip, which is a short, leaf shaped instrument suited for piercing thrusts. Those familiar with these types of weapons would recognize this as a pugio, the auxiliary blade of an Aclidian legionnaire. But in contrast, Sofia doesn't appear to be the military type.
Adrien------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's not a lot else to behold of this bright green-eyed fellow, so its time to move on to what he's wearing. This is what catches the eye most of all. Starting at the top, you see him wearing a red cap, a fez you realize. A fez with gold trimming around the top edge, and the bottom rim. There's a tassel, attached to the top center, though dangling off to one side, with a similar gold lining. Lower, a pair of specs sit just in front of his eyes, perfectly seated on his snout, giving him the best vision. The clothes he wears are of typical fashion to any wealthy beast.
A black tunic with a high collar sits under an equally black vest. The edges of the outer garment are again, lined with a light gold trim, done up with tiny wooden buttons. He wears a pair of black trousers, and continues the gold theme with a line of gold going down either side of the pants, just on the outer leg where a pair of ordinary cloth boots sit on his feet.
Lastly, sitting at his collar is a little silver pin. Forged into the shape of a stoat, standing tall, though facing slightly off center with his arms folded, a sword at his hip. The head faces straight out, almost keeping watch.
Despite being a short, fat stoat, he isn't large enough to have trouble getting around. He seems fairly easy going, at least for a stoat, and he's rarely seen without some sort of smile on his face.
