Name: Kiyoko Ono
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Village: Wanderer
Rank: B-Class
Title: Odoriko no Arashi - Storm Dancer, The Diplomat
Clan: N/A
Bloodline: N/A
Element(s): Raiton, Fuuton
Skill(s): Kenjutsu, Iryojutsu
Stats
14 stat raises (5300 exp = 1650 + 2000 for B class + 1000 for skill trade + 1050 for experience advantage.)
Unique Abilities:
Skill Trade: 2 Skill points traded for 1000 EXP and 2 additional stat raises.
Experience Advantage: Kiyoko begins with an extra 1050 exp which is owed towards the next rank and must be paid back before any other exp can be gained.
Seal-less Combat: Iryojutsu Kiyoko may choose to perform techniques of a certain skill without hand seals. However, this is only gesture-less casting. The player must still "charge" their chakra and follow the other "tells" or triggers such technique requires.
Appearance:
Kiyoko is a fairly averagely built female, she stands at five foot and weighs 105 pounds. She is very obviously well muscled and her style in clothing accentuates that fact. She usually is seen wearing what you could call clothing, if you were generous. Extremely short shorts or skirts paired with leather boots that come up to her knees. On a more practical side though she does include wraps underneath the leather straps on her thighs and knees to protect against chafing. Her ‘shirts’ tend to be either linen wraps around her chest with long flowing sleeves suspended from her shoulders by ties or an interesting assortment of leather straps and buckles holding together her outfits. When she is inclined to dress more formally, either for battle or social engagements she will wear more traditional garb though with her own unique plunging necklines or simply hakama with a linen wrapped ‘shirt’. Always though she brings along her jingasa, her pointed straw painted hat, either wearing it or letting it hang by its ties down her back. She has medium length black hair which she has some long bangs chopped into giving her a rougher look framing her delicate facial features. Bright blue eyes are set against pale skin and pink lips. When she is fighting or excited a deep blush colours her cheeks and gives her a more youthful look.
History:
Kiyoko was born to loving and dedicated parents in the Tetsu no Kuni mountains. A harsh place to raise a child to be sure but the Ono family was hardy stock and there were no complaints. Her family lived in a small settlement, surviving off the land through hunting and fishing and maintaining a peaceable relationship with the land they were blessed with. Once she was old enough to speak her father taught her to hunt and her mother taught her fish. Kiyoko enjoyed the new skills she learned, taking her time to perfect them so as to honour her family. She was shown how to pray to her ancestors for guidance and how to treasure the earth by thanking it for what it had given her. Her life was one of simplicity and joy, hard work and patience and she couldn’t have been happier. This of course is the part of the story where her life takes a turn for the worse.
When Kiyoko was just a mere 7 years old her father came home one evening with a look of dread on his face, it was that look that she remembered more clearly than anything. She deeply admired her father, she looked up to him - he was her hero. And to see him so plainly in distress, so haunted, shook her to her core. This was a man who was fearless and strong, for something to frighten him could only be bad. Without a word he scooped her up into his large arms and placed a single kiss on the top of her head before handing her over to her mother. She remembered little else in detail from that night or the days following; she was bundled up in robes and blankets, her mother carried her away from their home and she never saw her father again. For days on end Kiyoko and her mother traversed the mountain ranges, her mother always urging her to go faster, to push through the exhaustion. They barely slept or stopped, they ate nothing but what little food they had brought with them and the few easy bits of food they could scavenge from the forests along the way.
At every turn, just when Kiyoko thought they might be finishing running, there was another hill to climb or forest to cut through. The further they made their way east the tougher the journey became. More cliffsides than mountains, and new dangers to navigate. Wild animals that Kiyoko had not yet seen, plants she was warned in harsh tones not to touch. Everytime she asked her mother what was going on, what they were running from and where they were running to; she was offered an incredibly vague non answer. Kiyoko was frightened and frustrated, she trusted her parents of course but she had never had any type of test of endurance like this before. Her tiny legs felt like jelly by the time they finally reached their destination in the middle of the night. She could barely make out the person standing in front of them, he appeared to be waiting for them specifically as he addressed her mother by name. After a hushed exchange between the two Kiyoko was once again scooped up, but this time her mother held her close, clinging to her as if for dear life. The embrace was both comforting and terrifying for the child, she still didn’t understand what was going on and she cried as her mother kissed her forehead and placed her down next to the mysterious man.
“I will always be with you little one, you must be strong now and go with Kosuke. He is our cousin and so you must treat him with the same respect as you do me or your father. He will take care of you now until we come for you, be a good girl now and go with him.” She couldn’t see very well in the dark so she couldn’t be certain, but from the sound of her mother’s voice she thought she was crying.
Kiyoko was a dutiful daughter, and without hesitation would adhere to her mother’s request. The tall man would hold out his hand for hers and turn to leave and Kiyoko would go with him, only turning her head once to look back at her mother who still stood in the dark watching her only child leave. Kiyoko had no reason to believe that her parents wouldn’t come back for her. And so while she was smuggled into the village of Kumogakure she never thought to question her new life. She had always simply done what she was told and in this case she was told to keep to herself, stay indoors unless specifically given permission, and that if anyone asked she was to tell them that Kosuke was her father. It was a strange arrangement and were she older or perhaps less trusting she might have at least thought about what it could mean.
Every day for 13 years Kiyoko would look out her bedroom window as the sun set beneath the horizon, hoping to see her parents walking up to come take her home. And every night she was disappointed. Her new father was kind and taught her everything he could about the ways of the shinobi; the new life she had found herself in. The shinobi life was very different from what she was used to, there was not the same type of respect for life and the ancestors that she had grown up with. She found that her training was less about the artful skill with which a blade is wielded and more about its efficiency when it came to killing. It was a subtle difference but one that bothered her nonetheless. Kosuke was a good father, as much as one could be having a child foisted upon them late in life, and for many years her existence went mostly unnoticed. Over time however as more and more political struggles were heaped on the already worried minds of the citizens she began to be eyed with more suspicion. As a young child it was easy to mistake them for father and daughter, but as Kiyoko grew it became apparent that they were not. While Kosuke was a towering man, with a strong build and dark features, she was quite the opposite - pale and slight with bright blue eyes to his dark brown. Her eyes were the giveaway more than anything, it was a feature shared between her and her parents, but next to Kosuke it looked altogether unnatural.
One fateful night as she sat in her usual spot looking out the window and waiting for her parents to return she heard a commotion from downstairs. A small group of hushed but angry people had pushed their way into their home and were demanding that she come down and be brought to justice for the spy that she was. She didn’t quite understand the concept, being out of touch as she was with village politics, but she could sense their hostility. With much effort Kosuke made his way upstairs and managed to keep them out of her room. He instructed her to leave out the window saying he would hold them off as long as possible. For the first time in her life she would hesitate at his command and sadly that hesitation cost her second father his life. Some of the mob had weapons, shinobi weaponry by the look of things and after forcing their way through the door viciously lashed out at the old man as he struggled to keep them away from her.
She ran.
She ran and didn’t look back. She never found out why they were angry, why they were willing to kill to be rid of her - if that was even what they wanted. Somewhere in her mind however she connected that horrible event with the shinobi. She cursed them as she ran from the village, vowing never again to involve herself in their ways. She ran until she could not run anymore and collapsed just outside of a farmstead in the Land of Rice, not even caring that she fell to slumber in the middle of a field. Her dreams were fitful, filled with fear and heartache, visions of her mother and father, of Kosuke, rolling through her mind's eye until finally she was jolted to wakefulness by the sound of a man's voice. A handsome man, around her age was gently speaking to her as though trying to wake her. The man had found her in his family’s field and rather than run her out of the area, he was kind and offered to help her. He never asked what she was running from, he welcomed her into his home with open arms. Quite literally. Over several months the two of them found love, Kiyoko and Kome, and slowly her life returned to normal. Or as normal as could be anticipated for a young woman on the run from two events that she did not understand. They spent two wonderful years together, and Kome was truly the love of her life. She was young though and inexperienced and so did not foresee the inevitable betrayal of her trust. For reasons she could not fathom Kome betrayed her to the same group of people that had been so intent on killing her back in the village. Her heart was broken, she had loved and trusted Kome with every secret she had ever held and he told her the price was too high. She had no one left in the world that she could trust in and so with the fury of all those betrayed she lashed out and struck him down.
She ran again. Always running. In truth, more than anything, she was running from herself. She left her home again and wandered the lands, in search of something more. Something she could truly believe in. Her heart was broken but her mind and her sword arm were not, and so she found work where she could and lived off the land where she could not. Always running and searching for the balm to soothe her soul.
Personality:
Kiyoko is a genuinely kind soul. She is slow to anger, and her patience knows nearly no bounds. She is stalwart in her devotion to her homeland of Tetsu no Kuni, praying to her ancestors in earnest. She is somewhat slow to trust, being that she has been betrayed so many times, but does believe in giving the benefit of the doubt. Trust is given until proven it should not be - though always with an escape route. She is proud of her skills, knowing that to master the things taught to her is to respect those that gave the lessons. She is a fierce swordswoman and will not back down from a fight unless ordered to by one she sees as an authority. Her compassion is one of her failings, but not one that she sees much need to correct. Her willingness to help those who request it has had her taken advantage of on more than one occasion and each time her good nature is abused her heart hardens just a tiny bit more. She actively seeks to overcome this, not wishing to be anything like the people who betrayed her and her family. She harbours a lifetime's worth of guilt over the death of her father Kosuke and her lover Kome, her actions showing an internalized need to be punished for her sins.
Roleplay Sample:
Being an entrepreneur has its benefits. This was the thought that started Kara’s day. She’d had yet another terrible sleep and was trying to convince herself that parting ways with her parents was truly for the best. In truth it was the mantra that had kept her sane these last few weeks. It was all she could do to not throw a tantrum every time she had a reminder of what life used to be like. Which was all the time. Even now, wandering the streets of the marketplace she felt absolutely wretched. The stale air, the stench of the lower class, it was almost unbearable.
With considerable mental effort she set her jaw, squared her shoulders and continued on her trek through the various market stalls and shops. She needed to find people of her own calibre, while she had the knowhow for her business ideas, the practical skills as it were, but knew little of actually managing a business. What she did remember of that side of things with her parents was that they’d had a manager of sorts, or an accountant, or something. She was certainly fuzzy on the details, owing to her lack of interest on such matters, but she was sure that there was someone they had gone to for assistance in the logistical financial areas of their endeavours.
Beyond the physical discomfort of meandering through the busy streets, if you could call them streets, asking for help was not something that Kara was used to. She had always been the best and the brightest, with the world firmly established at her feet. If anything, others usually came to her for help. It was painfully embarrassing, though with her usual charm she muddled through. Dressed as carefully as she was today made it somewhat easier, her dark silk gown showed off just the right amount of skin around her decolletage to make most people she approached more than willing to speak with her. Her pale blonde hair was piled loosely on top of her head, pinned with a stunning ruby encrusted hair pin. The pin would have been an incredible sight in the bright sunlight were it allowed to see the sun beneath her bone handled parasol. She considered that she might have to change her preferred style of footwear, being that heeled shoes were quite the challenge in sand, but put the thought out of her mind as she overheard a pair of gossiping merchants mention ‘The Grand Merchant’.
Moving closer she heard that one was asking the other about where to procure some unique materials for weapons or tools, she wasn’t entirely sure of the context. While that was not exactly her field, if this was the person that other merchants went to, then this was likely the person for her. “Pardon the intrusion good sirs, but might I enquire as to whom you speak of?” As expected the intrusion was not unwelcome and their conversation abruptly stopped in favor of stammering and staring at the newest addition to their small circle. “Sorry m’lady, didn’t see you there. We were just, uh, talking about Tomi Okane, he’s uh, pretty famous ‘round these parts.” The second man laughed and awkwardly hit the first man's shoulder “As famous as a merchant gets in the desert y’reckon!”
Ignoring the inappropriate display of playful violence, she pulled a cigarette from the tin in her pocket and upon placing it in its obsidian and gold holder held out her hand for a light while speaking softly. “And where might one find this Grand Merchant? I am in need of some unique items that it sounds as though he may be able to obtain for me.” Both men fussed for a minute to be the first to light the outheld cigarette before answering her. “He has a house here in the market area, you can find him thataway.” They both pointed in a general direction, and while they were not the best directions she was content to leave their company as quickly as possible. With a curt nod and a smile she walked off in the direction they had indicated.
As it happened the directions they gave were not overly difficult to interpret; which made sense in retrospect. If she were looking for someone of her class, she would of course recognize the typical creature comforts associated with it. A well made, if modest, house, what looked like perhaps a servants entrance around the side and a lovely greenhouse. It was the greenhouse that caught her attention, in a place like this having access to the amount of water required to keep one simply reeked of money. Removing the end of the cigarette from its holder and stamping it out on the sandy street she straightened her clothing, removed a misplaced lock of hair from in front of her face and walked confidently up to the front door. Raising one delicate hand, she rapped on the door lightly waiting to see if the man she hoped could help her was home.
This was previously approved here. I also included the relevant previously approved grace period updates found here.
Age: 24
Gender: Female
Village: Wanderer
Rank: B-Class
Title: Odoriko no Arashi - Storm Dancer, The Diplomat
Clan: N/A
Bloodline: N/A
Element(s): Raiton, Fuuton
Skill(s): Kenjutsu, Iryojutsu
Stats
- Strength: C
- Constitution: B
- Stamina: C
- Speed: D
- Coordination: A
- Intelligence: C
- Perception: A
14 stat raises (5300 exp = 1650 + 2000 for B class + 1000 for skill trade + 1050 for experience advantage.)
Unique Abilities:
Skill Trade: 2 Skill points traded for 1000 EXP and 2 additional stat raises.
Experience Advantage: Kiyoko begins with an extra 1050 exp which is owed towards the next rank and must be paid back before any other exp can be gained.
Seal-less Combat: Iryojutsu Kiyoko may choose to perform techniques of a certain skill without hand seals. However, this is only gesture-less casting. The player must still "charge" their chakra and follow the other "tells" or triggers such technique requires.
Appearance:
- Spoiler:
Kiyoko is a fairly averagely built female, she stands at five foot and weighs 105 pounds. She is very obviously well muscled and her style in clothing accentuates that fact. She usually is seen wearing what you could call clothing, if you were generous. Extremely short shorts or skirts paired with leather boots that come up to her knees. On a more practical side though she does include wraps underneath the leather straps on her thighs and knees to protect against chafing. Her ‘shirts’ tend to be either linen wraps around her chest with long flowing sleeves suspended from her shoulders by ties or an interesting assortment of leather straps and buckles holding together her outfits. When she is inclined to dress more formally, either for battle or social engagements she will wear more traditional garb though with her own unique plunging necklines or simply hakama with a linen wrapped ‘shirt’. Always though she brings along her jingasa, her pointed straw painted hat, either wearing it or letting it hang by its ties down her back. She has medium length black hair which she has some long bangs chopped into giving her a rougher look framing her delicate facial features. Bright blue eyes are set against pale skin and pink lips. When she is fighting or excited a deep blush colours her cheeks and gives her a more youthful look.
History:
Kiyoko was born to loving and dedicated parents in the Tetsu no Kuni mountains. A harsh place to raise a child to be sure but the Ono family was hardy stock and there were no complaints. Her family lived in a small settlement, surviving off the land through hunting and fishing and maintaining a peaceable relationship with the land they were blessed with. Once she was old enough to speak her father taught her to hunt and her mother taught her fish. Kiyoko enjoyed the new skills she learned, taking her time to perfect them so as to honour her family. She was shown how to pray to her ancestors for guidance and how to treasure the earth by thanking it for what it had given her. Her life was one of simplicity and joy, hard work and patience and she couldn’t have been happier. This of course is the part of the story where her life takes a turn for the worse.
When Kiyoko was just a mere 7 years old her father came home one evening with a look of dread on his face, it was that look that she remembered more clearly than anything. She deeply admired her father, she looked up to him - he was her hero. And to see him so plainly in distress, so haunted, shook her to her core. This was a man who was fearless and strong, for something to frighten him could only be bad. Without a word he scooped her up into his large arms and placed a single kiss on the top of her head before handing her over to her mother. She remembered little else in detail from that night or the days following; she was bundled up in robes and blankets, her mother carried her away from their home and she never saw her father again. For days on end Kiyoko and her mother traversed the mountain ranges, her mother always urging her to go faster, to push through the exhaustion. They barely slept or stopped, they ate nothing but what little food they had brought with them and the few easy bits of food they could scavenge from the forests along the way.
At every turn, just when Kiyoko thought they might be finishing running, there was another hill to climb or forest to cut through. The further they made their way east the tougher the journey became. More cliffsides than mountains, and new dangers to navigate. Wild animals that Kiyoko had not yet seen, plants she was warned in harsh tones not to touch. Everytime she asked her mother what was going on, what they were running from and where they were running to; she was offered an incredibly vague non answer. Kiyoko was frightened and frustrated, she trusted her parents of course but she had never had any type of test of endurance like this before. Her tiny legs felt like jelly by the time they finally reached their destination in the middle of the night. She could barely make out the person standing in front of them, he appeared to be waiting for them specifically as he addressed her mother by name. After a hushed exchange between the two Kiyoko was once again scooped up, but this time her mother held her close, clinging to her as if for dear life. The embrace was both comforting and terrifying for the child, she still didn’t understand what was going on and she cried as her mother kissed her forehead and placed her down next to the mysterious man.
“I will always be with you little one, you must be strong now and go with Kosuke. He is our cousin and so you must treat him with the same respect as you do me or your father. He will take care of you now until we come for you, be a good girl now and go with him.” She couldn’t see very well in the dark so she couldn’t be certain, but from the sound of her mother’s voice she thought she was crying.
Kiyoko was a dutiful daughter, and without hesitation would adhere to her mother’s request. The tall man would hold out his hand for hers and turn to leave and Kiyoko would go with him, only turning her head once to look back at her mother who still stood in the dark watching her only child leave. Kiyoko had no reason to believe that her parents wouldn’t come back for her. And so while she was smuggled into the village of Kumogakure she never thought to question her new life. She had always simply done what she was told and in this case she was told to keep to herself, stay indoors unless specifically given permission, and that if anyone asked she was to tell them that Kosuke was her father. It was a strange arrangement and were she older or perhaps less trusting she might have at least thought about what it could mean.
Every day for 13 years Kiyoko would look out her bedroom window as the sun set beneath the horizon, hoping to see her parents walking up to come take her home. And every night she was disappointed. Her new father was kind and taught her everything he could about the ways of the shinobi; the new life she had found herself in. The shinobi life was very different from what she was used to, there was not the same type of respect for life and the ancestors that she had grown up with. She found that her training was less about the artful skill with which a blade is wielded and more about its efficiency when it came to killing. It was a subtle difference but one that bothered her nonetheless. Kosuke was a good father, as much as one could be having a child foisted upon them late in life, and for many years her existence went mostly unnoticed. Over time however as more and more political struggles were heaped on the already worried minds of the citizens she began to be eyed with more suspicion. As a young child it was easy to mistake them for father and daughter, but as Kiyoko grew it became apparent that they were not. While Kosuke was a towering man, with a strong build and dark features, she was quite the opposite - pale and slight with bright blue eyes to his dark brown. Her eyes were the giveaway more than anything, it was a feature shared between her and her parents, but next to Kosuke it looked altogether unnatural.
One fateful night as she sat in her usual spot looking out the window and waiting for her parents to return she heard a commotion from downstairs. A small group of hushed but angry people had pushed their way into their home and were demanding that she come down and be brought to justice for the spy that she was. She didn’t quite understand the concept, being out of touch as she was with village politics, but she could sense their hostility. With much effort Kosuke made his way upstairs and managed to keep them out of her room. He instructed her to leave out the window saying he would hold them off as long as possible. For the first time in her life she would hesitate at his command and sadly that hesitation cost her second father his life. Some of the mob had weapons, shinobi weaponry by the look of things and after forcing their way through the door viciously lashed out at the old man as he struggled to keep them away from her.
She ran.
She ran and didn’t look back. She never found out why they were angry, why they were willing to kill to be rid of her - if that was even what they wanted. Somewhere in her mind however she connected that horrible event with the shinobi. She cursed them as she ran from the village, vowing never again to involve herself in their ways. She ran until she could not run anymore and collapsed just outside of a farmstead in the Land of Rice, not even caring that she fell to slumber in the middle of a field. Her dreams were fitful, filled with fear and heartache, visions of her mother and father, of Kosuke, rolling through her mind's eye until finally she was jolted to wakefulness by the sound of a man's voice. A handsome man, around her age was gently speaking to her as though trying to wake her. The man had found her in his family’s field and rather than run her out of the area, he was kind and offered to help her. He never asked what she was running from, he welcomed her into his home with open arms. Quite literally. Over several months the two of them found love, Kiyoko and Kome, and slowly her life returned to normal. Or as normal as could be anticipated for a young woman on the run from two events that she did not understand. They spent two wonderful years together, and Kome was truly the love of her life. She was young though and inexperienced and so did not foresee the inevitable betrayal of her trust. For reasons she could not fathom Kome betrayed her to the same group of people that had been so intent on killing her back in the village. Her heart was broken, she had loved and trusted Kome with every secret she had ever held and he told her the price was too high. She had no one left in the world that she could trust in and so with the fury of all those betrayed she lashed out and struck him down.
She ran again. Always running. In truth, more than anything, she was running from herself. She left her home again and wandered the lands, in search of something more. Something she could truly believe in. Her heart was broken but her mind and her sword arm were not, and so she found work where she could and lived off the land where she could not. Always running and searching for the balm to soothe her soul.
Personality:
Kiyoko is a genuinely kind soul. She is slow to anger, and her patience knows nearly no bounds. She is stalwart in her devotion to her homeland of Tetsu no Kuni, praying to her ancestors in earnest. She is somewhat slow to trust, being that she has been betrayed so many times, but does believe in giving the benefit of the doubt. Trust is given until proven it should not be - though always with an escape route. She is proud of her skills, knowing that to master the things taught to her is to respect those that gave the lessons. She is a fierce swordswoman and will not back down from a fight unless ordered to by one she sees as an authority. Her compassion is one of her failings, but not one that she sees much need to correct. Her willingness to help those who request it has had her taken advantage of on more than one occasion and each time her good nature is abused her heart hardens just a tiny bit more. She actively seeks to overcome this, not wishing to be anything like the people who betrayed her and her family. She harbours a lifetime's worth of guilt over the death of her father Kosuke and her lover Kome, her actions showing an internalized need to be punished for her sins.
Roleplay Sample:
Being an entrepreneur has its benefits. This was the thought that started Kara’s day. She’d had yet another terrible sleep and was trying to convince herself that parting ways with her parents was truly for the best. In truth it was the mantra that had kept her sane these last few weeks. It was all she could do to not throw a tantrum every time she had a reminder of what life used to be like. Which was all the time. Even now, wandering the streets of the marketplace she felt absolutely wretched. The stale air, the stench of the lower class, it was almost unbearable.
With considerable mental effort she set her jaw, squared her shoulders and continued on her trek through the various market stalls and shops. She needed to find people of her own calibre, while she had the knowhow for her business ideas, the practical skills as it were, but knew little of actually managing a business. What she did remember of that side of things with her parents was that they’d had a manager of sorts, or an accountant, or something. She was certainly fuzzy on the details, owing to her lack of interest on such matters, but she was sure that there was someone they had gone to for assistance in the logistical financial areas of their endeavours.
Beyond the physical discomfort of meandering through the busy streets, if you could call them streets, asking for help was not something that Kara was used to. She had always been the best and the brightest, with the world firmly established at her feet. If anything, others usually came to her for help. It was painfully embarrassing, though with her usual charm she muddled through. Dressed as carefully as she was today made it somewhat easier, her dark silk gown showed off just the right amount of skin around her decolletage to make most people she approached more than willing to speak with her. Her pale blonde hair was piled loosely on top of her head, pinned with a stunning ruby encrusted hair pin. The pin would have been an incredible sight in the bright sunlight were it allowed to see the sun beneath her bone handled parasol. She considered that she might have to change her preferred style of footwear, being that heeled shoes were quite the challenge in sand, but put the thought out of her mind as she overheard a pair of gossiping merchants mention ‘The Grand Merchant’.
Moving closer she heard that one was asking the other about where to procure some unique materials for weapons or tools, she wasn’t entirely sure of the context. While that was not exactly her field, if this was the person that other merchants went to, then this was likely the person for her. “Pardon the intrusion good sirs, but might I enquire as to whom you speak of?” As expected the intrusion was not unwelcome and their conversation abruptly stopped in favor of stammering and staring at the newest addition to their small circle. “Sorry m’lady, didn’t see you there. We were just, uh, talking about Tomi Okane, he’s uh, pretty famous ‘round these parts.” The second man laughed and awkwardly hit the first man's shoulder “As famous as a merchant gets in the desert y’reckon!”
Ignoring the inappropriate display of playful violence, she pulled a cigarette from the tin in her pocket and upon placing it in its obsidian and gold holder held out her hand for a light while speaking softly. “And where might one find this Grand Merchant? I am in need of some unique items that it sounds as though he may be able to obtain for me.” Both men fussed for a minute to be the first to light the outheld cigarette before answering her. “He has a house here in the market area, you can find him thataway.” They both pointed in a general direction, and while they were not the best directions she was content to leave their company as quickly as possible. With a curt nod and a smile she walked off in the direction they had indicated.
As it happened the directions they gave were not overly difficult to interpret; which made sense in retrospect. If she were looking for someone of her class, she would of course recognize the typical creature comforts associated with it. A well made, if modest, house, what looked like perhaps a servants entrance around the side and a lovely greenhouse. It was the greenhouse that caught her attention, in a place like this having access to the amount of water required to keep one simply reeked of money. Removing the end of the cigarette from its holder and stamping it out on the sandy street she straightened her clothing, removed a misplaced lock of hair from in front of her face and walked confidently up to the front door. Raising one delicate hand, she rapped on the door lightly waiting to see if the man she hoped could help her was home.
This was previously approved here. I also included the relevant previously approved grace period updates found here.
