Cartographers Wanted

Blade-12/13/2016

Terra gazed at the sunset, she was instantly reminded of home. The salty air, the liveliness of the town, and the cliff that looked like it could reach the heavens. She stood near a stream that shined the golden light, endlessly flowing. What would they think of me now?...

December 16, 2016

LadyDeme-12/16/2016

Delphine strolled along the streamside, a small basket balanced on one hip. The young woman's arms were a little scratched, but the basket was full of a few summer peaches, so she could walk by with a grin in the golden glow of sunset. Acquiring them had been something of a long story, but she'd been looking about, idling her time and trying to imagine how Rieze's conversation with her -- their -- mother might be, and from there, she'd found ways to occupy her time. Delicious ways, in the end. However, the ground by the stream was slicker than she expected, and as she walked towards Terra, her foot slipped. For a second, the world teetered uneasily, but Delphine caught herself without falling, only ending up with her legs spread uneasily. Her knees protested as her feet dug into the muddy riverbanks. And the first peaches tumbled out of the basket, scattering across the ground where Terra stood, a lone fuzzy fruit tapping her gently on the ankle. "Alas; they're likely bruised," sighed the blue-haired young woman as she righted her stance.

Blade-12/16/2016

"Huh?..." The strawberry blonde looked quizzically at the woman who got herself back up, she felt something poke her earlier. It turned out to be a peach from what seemed to be from that woman's basket. She remembers the fruits and fish that was prominant back then, especially the strawberries. Terra picked up the fallen peach, tainted with grit and dirt, she cleaned the peach in the stream and dried it with her long sleeve. The axefighter walked over to the woman. "Here, what is your name?"

LadyDeme-12/16/2016

"Thanks." Delphine had been picking the peaches up herself, refilling the spilled basket that she once again propped on her hip. She sized up Terra, her blue-green eyes darting up and down the clothes and bearing that suggested to Delphine something slightly different than an Arcian farmer. Delphine's hand reached out and gently took the peach, the skin softer and smoother from its trip in the river. She smiled. "I'm Delphine. You're not from around here, am I correct?" She wondered if she herself -- who had blood in Arcias, and so looked at least a little more like a native of this country -- was obviously out of place or not. Her features, perhaps not; but her clothes, while practical, had a careful quality to their material. They were clothes made to not be patched or replaced often, which was itself a luxury.(edited)

Blade-12/16/2016

"My name is Terra. A girl who knows the whereabouts in the roundabout! I am a charter traveling the continent." She giggled. Her amber eyes were dazzling with life, a genuine smile was plastered on her face. "You see, I'm no native here despite my clothing, but the fabric I wear is a traditionally made dress etched with patterns." Terra showed off her dress, the colors fitted well with the others.(edited)

LadyDeme-12/16/2016

"Traditional to whom?" Delphine's eyes lit up, the young woman's mind jumping a few leaps ahead, even as she nodded and examined the embrodery on Terra's short dress; with that bit of examination, she realized she likely wasn't looking at someone from an organized kingdom -- she knew their fashions too well, and tribal art had a few recognizable tics. When she glanced back up, a bright grin had overtaken the young lady's face. "A charter, you say? Ah, that's perfect! I'm keeping a few documents about the state of the continent and the progression of the war. If you have any maps you could show or sell me, it'd be put to good use, preserving for an instant a shape of the world which might never exist again, against the erosion of time." She spoke briskly, like she was a tornado of ideas -- it gave her voice an almost songlike quality and an undeniable enthusiasm.'

December 17, 2016

Blade-12/17/2016

"I am from the tribe who worships Nathos in Haspen. I've decided to leave the tribe to explore the world and show everyone it is a wonderful place." Terra spoke ambitiously, passionate about her goals. Gesturing her hand to the environment, Terra showed Delphine the beauty of nature. "But I am afraid these are terrible times. Disharmony runs rampant through the continent and my charts cannot be stolen. The world runs red and blue ever since that country had fallen," Terra spoke solemnly, clasping her red gloves together. After that, she had a smirk that was clearly tongue in cheek. "I will show you my maps, but at a price since I am very experienced in my craft!" 'And I also need food money...'(edited)

LadyDeme-12/17/2016

"Yes, it's without a doubt a bad time to be on the road..." That country, huh? How quickly even a cartographer abandons us... Delphine smirked wryly. "Perhaps that's all the more crucial to remember the joy of, say, these peaches. It doesn't balance; but it remains a rock in the stream, a fixed star in the sky. That's the way I think of it. " It wasn't always possible, and it wasn't always prefferable... But if was something she could hold onto, and it kept in her heart that there was something to go home to. But that was a matter perhaps best saved for later. There was a deal now. "Do you intend to sell or merely to exhibit? I recommend the former, which means I would like to see them before I put coin down."

Blade-12/17/2016

"I sell and exhibit. After all I do have to make money..." 'I seriously need food money...' Terra lifted her rather large bag and revealed a map, it was a map of her home country and the empire next to it. "Here is my home country and the empire. This is the capital of the country." Terra pointed at a specific point on the map, her illustration of the country was accurate with the geography. Her eyes lead to another region of the Ethysian Empire... or what used to be the country of Floribar. "I had created this recently."(edited)

LadyDeme-12/17/2016

For just an instant, the air got trapped in her chest. Delphine made a faint, sad noise in her throat as she looked it over, peering closely down at the page. "Yes, yes... You've clearly been hard at work. It's almost a mirror of the old imperium, isn't it? If you view a series of maps as a country's progression, then in this moment, however briefly, they fight the tides of fortune." Delphine leaned back and looked at it from a distance, her eyes focused very intently on a section in old Floribar, where the fields were basking in a holy glow -- as all of it might have been, so small and so close to the shore. But she knew it, and could map it out in detail in her head. "Fine brushwork...I'll buy it. How much of the contents of this map have you seen yourself?"

December 18, 2016

Blade-12/18/2016

"Well, what I sell is a hefty amount of gold's worth." Terra smiled. "Who are you affiliated with my friend?" A calculated look pierced through Delphine, Terra didn't like to sell to nefarious strangers who suddenly asks for her hard work.

December 19, 2016

LadyDeme-12/19/2016

Delphine tilted her head, considering that boast. "It won't be worth much for long -- your work is good, but the Empire is on the move, and people are moving against it. It's the misfortune of war, and I'm moved with sympathy... But I'm sure we can work out a deal." She said it with a coy smile, aware of the interplay... And that, ultimately, she didn't want to drive the price down too much, even if her point remained about the map: its rendition of the Empire's borders couldn't be accurate for too long. This, however, didn't change its value to her... That question, however, did. She raised up a finger and pointed to the spot on the map that had here so transfixed; what was once the country of Amarana, in Floribian territory. "If I had to put it so bluntly, my affiliation is with that place and its people. And in their interests, and on their behalf, I'm working with Floribar's Prince Finn."(edited)

Blade-12/19/2016

The tribe woman made an O face then a genuine smile that screams eccentric. Terra couldn't believe she was with one of the prince's fighters or healers. She might even have the chance to do it. "Tell me, how about I could come in your army as your main cartographer? I can fight pretty well with an axe too!" Terra held the cleric's hand excitedly.(edited)

LadyDeme-12/19/2016

Delphine wasn't immediately sure if there wasn't some ulterior motive in Terra's heart -- it was a very fast request, and they'd actually been not a total disaster, in terms of repelling small advances, so espionage wouldn't be out of the question... But on the whole, and taking a second to balance the risks, she nodded. The fact of the matter was, if she was an enemy, and had already found them, then it was better to keep an eye on her, and knew what she knew. And if she wasn't, what fool would pass up help? "I believe we can have a talk with Finn, then. Come back with me." She turned that one-sided clasp into a way to lead Terra back towards their camp, where presumably the boring arrangements would await.

Blade-12/19/2016

Terra was honest to god smiling at the opportunity. She was gonna be involved with Finn, and this could help her to be able to do it. Before she could say anymore, her stomach growled. The axefighter flushed into a tomato red. "You are still gonna buy that map no?" === END RP ===