middaeg | [Open] Septeril Catch-All Log

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[Open] Septeril Catch-All Log

Who: Jiang Cheng and You!
When: Through Out Septeril
Where: Around
What: Quests and general
Warnings: Violence, death, spoilers

An Apple A Day
Jiang Cheng was always up for a challenge. Having heard about the issue being faced by the farmers, he had readily agreed to go, packing up his sword, his bow and arrows (even though he hated using them now) and a few things that he hoped would help against creatures who had abilities such that they did. He arrived promptly, having a brief time to look at the apple groves. The moths had not moved back in yet.

He stood to the side, watching the tree line when someone else came into his field of view.

"You are here for the moths as well?"

Wilder Training
He hated being idle and of course any chance to put his skills in fighting and as a sect leader into play, he'd certainly take it. Which was why when he heard about helping to train Wilders, he decided to take that task and set out with his partner in order to train one of the Wilders. It was going to be a long, difficult road, but it would better the Wilders in the end. Add one more capable fighter.

He glanced over at his partner. "What do you think would be most beneficial for them to learn?"

Swimming Time? Swimming Time
Such a problem now that he had. He had noticed that he tended to get dehydrated very quickly on land which restricted him somewhat in what he could and couldn't do. Not that he usually let himself be slowed down by a problem. He just had to figure out how to solve it.

But today? Today, the water was like a siren call and he headed down to the pier, leaving Sandu behind. He had Zidian though. Not that he could use its magic here. It was just a shiny trinket that he didn't want someone to steal!

(Not that he really thought his family would steal Zidian, but he was paranoid about it. Zidian was HIS shiny).

But here he was at the pier, standing and letting the slight breeze push through his hair and his robes, almost bracing himself for jumping in and changing. It was still a weird feeling to him, but there was a part of his mind that also really enjoyed it having done it several times before.

[Have an idea of your own, feel free to check. We can always make another thread!]

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"You had better be about to take a dip. If it's anything worse I might feel the urge to rescue you, in which case we'd both probably drown."

The comment is made in a neutral tone, the voice belonging to a rather small-framed, but long-haired, naga pushing a flat cart by the edge of the docks. It's loaded with a couple boxes and he still has a couple more to pick up before he's finished but he's paused long enough to take in the scene. If he stood like a normal human he'd be just shy of a whole foot shorter than the other man, but the length of his tail at least serves to give him more mass.

He's no hero. Otherwise he might have skipped half of what he said and simply shouted no, don't do it!

"Not intending to off myself," Jiang Cheng remarked. "A shameful thing to do. Besides, if I wanted to do that, this is no longer the way that I could."

He held up one hand, purple-tinted webbing between his fingers.

"If a merrow could drown, they care clearly not trying hard enough to stay alive."

He made not of the other man. The naga traits were very easy to spot, probably one of the most notable. It also didn't help that he was constantly tuned in for watching out for naga since his nephew's other uncle was one as well.

"Ah, I see." Near starts to push the cart again, but after a couple feet the front wheel gets caught on a rock and twists awkwardly. He wiggles the whole thing a couple times but makes no progress, which causes his forked tongue to dart in and out of his mouth rapidly several times in annoyance.

"You must come by the docks often, then. I'm surprised I haven't seen you." He slithers around to the front of the cart, bending over to get a better look at the wheel. This results in his long hair falling in front of his eyes. Brows furrowing in further irritation, he uses both hands to pull his hair away from his face like curtains so he can get a better look.

He really isn't built for manual labor.

The water became an almost irresistible escape the longer she went without the mental anchoring of a bond. Her foot played along the edge of the pier, gravity awaiting permission to drop her into the sea. Alex was no stranger to swimming in the various waters of Aefenglom, but the more she enjoyed it, the more afraid she became of not coming back.

So focused on her will she or will she nots, she almost doesn't notice the presence of another near by. But the sense of another merrow in the vicinity makers her webbed ears perk up, a territorial instinct beginning to take over as she turns to eye him from across the pier. It doesn't seem like he has made a decision either, though his stance showed more resolution.

"Having second thoughts?"

Jiang Cheng watched as the other started to push the cart again only for it to get stuck. He watched for a moment as the other struggled with it before he came over to look at it as well, intending to help get the cart unstuck.

One of the things he counted as a benefit being a merrow: the most hindering of changes to normal movement didn't occur until in water and it was possible to revert. Of course, being in water gave other advantages, but didn't help with move objects on land.

"A few times. It has only been recently that I have begun to transform in full. And we have a fountain in our courtyard."

Yeah, picture that...

He had started picking up another merrow in the area some time ago. He had never really expected, among the many other changes that would happen with this transformation that he would become so aware of others of his kind.

When she spoke up, he did turn his attention towards her, on the pier as well, running her foot along the edge. There was a slight scoff before he spoke.

"No. You?"

She returns the scoff, "All the time."

Her smile is wry and resigned, but its soon covered as she pulls her shirt over her head. Her skirt drops next and she places her glasses atop of her clothes before she finally steps over the edge and dives feet first into the cool waters.

She was somewhat grateful to the other merrow. If he wasn't there to egg on her more feral instincts, she may have changed her mind. But she wasn't about to back down against another merrow. Letting herself continue to sink, her legs fuse as velvet black and gold scales cover her skin. It might be an odd comparisons, but being submerged was like a breath of fresh air. Alex wondered briefly if he really would do it or not, now blackened eyes staring up towards the water's surface.

So this man is still relatively new - well, newer than Near, anyway. It can take a few months to fully transform, and this man already has people to stay with and a rather nice place to live in. (Not that the latter is too hard to come by - Near himself has a house with plenty of space to crawl around.) Though the fountain must be a decent size for him to be fine with at least laying in it.

He sighs when the mer approaches, knowing full well he's not the best at this sort of thing on his own. "Could you give it a tug? Just at the front left there, I'd appreciate it." Luckily he makes the hours for his shop, because it's going to take him most of the day to get these items set up.

"I'll try not to keep you from your swim for too long."

In the end, Nami had thought, well, how bad can some little moths be, I can just blow them away with some wind, and took the job. It was a surprise to see someone else there, but upon recognizing the person, Nami's surprise morphed into a delighted expression as she waved at him.

"Yes! I didn't know you'd be here, too. But this is convenient... we already know we make a good team, right?"

She laughed lightly, walking to his side.

"A sentiment I can agree with." Yes, he often did have second thoughts about a lot of things, just not this.

But it was true, having someone to "encourage" you to do something rarely made you consider otherwise. This time it was him egging her on. Another time, it might have been someone egging him on.

As she began to remove layers for jumping in, he did as well, taking off the outer layer of his robes, boots and pants. The underlayer of his robes was still hiding that last part though. Even as a merrow, he tried to have some level of decency comparable to his world.

But it was indecent enough that when he hit the water, his body transformed without hinderence. His own legs fused into deep purple gold scales. He felt a similar rush when he hit the water, that this was where he needed to be.

It helped that he had family so there were enough of them to use a large space. The fountain just a happy coincidence. It hadn't been planned.

He nodded his head once, taking a hold of the left corner and helping to tug the cart out of the rut that it had found itself in.

"It's fine. I didn't have a time planned for it."

That had pretty much been his thought too. They are just moths, how much trouble can they cause? Part of the reason he had taken the job so quickly. Somehow, he wasn't surprised that the quest had appealed to Nami as well. They did have so many things in common. He couldn't help a smile as she came over to him.

"We do. This will be much easier than with us working together."

He glanced around the orchard. "I haven't seen any yet. Have you?"

"Hmm."

Near makes a thoughtful noise once the wheel is free, but it doesn't appear to be related to the cart at all, as he turns his head to glance back out over the water.

"Bath toys," he finally says out of the blue - to himself, not even to the man helping him. "And swimming toys. I haven't taken many of those into consideration when building my stock." He should have, how that he thinks about it. This world might be behind in terms of technology but it should be advanced enough that most people have some sort of tub.

Her tail pushes her towards the other merrow, circling around him curiously as he transforms. It was her first time seeing another merrow shift up close.

When he finishes, she doesn’t say anything, just darting to the side, as if taunting him playfully, looking back to see what he’d do

Jiang Cheng watched him curiously at that sound. It seemed like he had something else to say so he was waiting... and then the revelation.

"Bath... toys?" He wondered for just a moment how they had gotten to that conclusion then he remembered that they were standing near the water and he had been getting ready to jump in. Maybe in some weird way... that was how they had gotten here.

"What exactly is it that you sell?" Both because he's now curious and also because he wants to know how bath toys fit in with that.

As he finished transforming, Jiang Cheng watched the other merrow circling him for a moment before she suddenly darted to the side.

Now, his normal instinct would have been to ignore something like that, but the transformation into a full merrow did something to him, at least while he was in that form. So when she darted, perhaps taunting playfully, he responded in kind. If she was intending on finding someone to go for a swim with, he was not opposed.

"I'm a toymaker," Near answers casually as if this should have been obvious.

He's a trained detective stuck in a strange world with a snake body making toys for a living - he believes he's allowed his eccentricities.

The naga opens the top of one of the boxes, revealing a simple stuffed rabbit with buttons for eyes. "These are commissions. My usual delivery method was unavailable today." Hence his awkward trip with the cart.

Edited 2020-09-26 03:45 (UTC)

If Jiang Cheng had known all of this, he'd probably have allowed it. Given he was a monster as well, he was well aware that being here did require some adjusting and if he had never done that back, well, it made him happy here and was productive.

Jiang Cheng looked to the box that was opened up, surprised to see the rabbit. "Hmm... I know several who would probably like one like that. What is your usual delivery method?"

"My delivery method?" This is the second person to ask him that, and Near can only shake his head. He returns the rabbit to the box, then pats the top of it. "You come to my shop and you purchase it at the counter."

Now he gestures toward the cart. "If I could hold onto employees long enough to have something like a delivery service I wouldn't be pushing this thing around all on my own."

"Mm! Some stupid moths won't stand a chance." At least she hoped so.

She followed his gaze, looking at the orchard, and shook her head.

"No, none at all. Maybe they heard us and went away...?" But that would be far too lucky, and not like the advertisement said at all. She doubted it would be quite that easy.

"Should we look for them, and hatch a plan for getting rid of them? I was thinking of trying to blow them away with wind."

"I see. So then you would have others make the deliveries for you and you would be doing the work of making the items?"

Made sense. Usually, back home, the craftsman didn't peddle his own wears unless the sales location was in the same place as the workshop and they were able to take the time away from working or they had a very important customer. They had others sell items on the street, like sons not yet learning the craft or unmarried daughters.

"No, they will not."

Jiang Cheng was absolutely certain about that. Of course, she probably knew by now he tended to be a little hot-headed about things that involved fighting. Since yeah... he'd gotten hurt before.

"Unlikely they went away on their own. Especially if they have a free food source. If they did leave, it is only temporary. I think that is a good plan. I did not see how large they are supposed to be. If they are large enough, they could be shot with a bow."

"I can't deliver and run the shop at the same time, and I'm short on employees." Not everyone stays in this place for long, and it seems like he's gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to hiring people. None of them have stuck around long enough.

He frowns, looking back down at the cart. "...I know you were in the middle of something, but if you're willing to help me drag this thing to the next location and back to the shop you can have one of the items as compensation." That would hopefully save him some time in the long run. He's struggling enough with just the couple boxes he has.

Yes, she certainly did know that... a fact that would have likely worried her more, if she didn't think that fighting some moths wouldn't turn out to be that dangerous.

"Hmm, that's true! I guess I could try to round them up with some wind, and you could then shoot them... Now we just have to find them."

She started to walk closer to the orchard, approaching the apple trees quietly. Then, upon thinking she saw something, she pointed at one of the trees.

"There, do you think... could those be them?"

"Yes, that would be difficult."

As he glanced back at the cart, Jiang Cheng did as well even though it wasn't doing anything. "I can assist."

Really, what did he have to do? He had been debating swimming, but with nothing planned for today, there was no rush to do that. He moved to take the place behind the cart so that he could push it. "I will follow you."

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[Open] Septeril Catch-All Log

swimming time

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apples!

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