Zoltan sits behind the counter, polishing up some large glass beads that arrived at the Shoppe today. He nods and smiles warmly to any customer that enters, although he has a look of expecting someone else rather soon. Occasionally when a stone seems polished enough to meet his approval he'll gently place it in a backet resting on the counter in front of him.

A couple of winged spotted felines browse a display case, ogling some crystal chimes that catch the light just RIGHT … and a Vartan family looks over some assorted bits, celebrating the birthday of their youngest – by getting him his very first tail-shiny!

"I recommend the hollow chitin beads," Zoltan scrawks to the family. "They're durable and easy to replace if the chick loses them by accident." He carefully places another glass bead into the basket, this one the color of seawater.

Another group of winged beings comes in the front door … except that these are Eeee. One of them carries himself with a regal bearing, and a lovely lady bat is on his arm. He has several attendants who look fairly well-muscled for bats – presumably his bodyguard. (Their skedat shoulder pads are VERY shiny.)

The father of the Vartan family squawks his appreciation, and his youngling eagerly looks through the pile. Poor thing! So many wonderful shinies, and he is supposed to pick ONE!

The black hippogryph smiles and nods at the newcomers, and then doubletakes as recognition sets in. He scrambles to clear his lap off and then rises to his feet. "Captain! Hrr… I mean, you highness! Is honor to see you in my shop."

Boghaz grins as he sees Zoltan, and makes his way over to meet the hippogryph, extending a hand to clasp arms in greeting. "Well met again, Baron Cambio! It looks as if business has been good for you!"

Zoltan grins and grasps the Eee's wrist. "For now, yes. How fare life for you? You takings good care of the Sil-… er… the Freedom's Dream?"

The High Prince says, "Of course. That ship shall have a very prominent place in the Babelite fleet for as long as I have a say in the matter! And life fares well. Of course, there are troubling matters, as can be expected, but, overall," he smiles as he looks to Saraizadze, "I can't complain." He looks back to Zoltan. "I happened to be visiting Rephidim on some business. I regret being unable to visit earlier … but I reasoned that it was the least I could do to at least stop by briefly before heading home again."

"I understands. Is suprised that you had time to visits at all… although I been away for many months myself. Just got back from Shabar on little pilgramage," the Vartan scrawks, releasing Boghaz's wrist. "Is nice to spend time doing quiet things again for little bit."

The regal bat raises an eyebrow. "Shabar? Really? I've never been there myself, though I've heard many rumors. The warriors are terribly particular about who they will let come in … and the wyrms pose problem enough."

Zoltan nods. "Was quite a trip… the Champion of Amber is amazing person. I mostly go to find some answers, although I no sure what to do with them now that I gots them." He gently clicks his talons against the countertop. "It was beautiful place to see, although very dangerous. I probably no make it there alive without the Knights help."

The High Prince laughs. "For some reason, I suspect you are being too humble, good Baron!"

A white Vartan enters the shop, carrying something bundled up in a coarse blanket, under one arm. By his stance, it must be heavy, though it doesn't look all that large.

The black Vartan shakes his feathers out. "You should have seen the Wyrms, Captain. Made me glad I no a fox." He glances at the newcomer. "Hrr, pardon me for just a moment." He excuses himself from behind the counter and walks over to the white Vartan and whistles in their common tongue, "Can I help you with that? You can keep it behind the counter if you like. It seems a bit cumbersone."

The white Vartan makes a smile at Zoltan, and just shakes his head, glancing at the bats, then back at the co-proprietor again.

Boghaz, meanwhile, laughs at the "fox" reference, then says, "Ah. Looks like you have customers. Well … I shouldn't keep you. If you should happen to be questing near Ashdod again, please, feel free to drop in! I would be most honored to have you as my guest sometime."

Zoltan looks quizically at the 'customer' and then briefly turns back over at Boghaz. "Of course. Oh, if you ever willing to part with that painting of Shokar in the captain's cabin you lets me know. I glad to buy it… gots lots of memories of waking up and looking at that picture every mornings."

The bat pauses, thoughtfully, then says, "I'll make a deal with you. Next time you come to visit, you are free to take it as my gift to you. I am sure it would mean far more to you, after all."

"Thank you sir!" his feathers fluff up. "I make a point to go visits you as soon as I gets a chance. Maybe next time Rephidim is over Babel, although only Star know when that be."

Boghaz grins. "Farewell, then, and may your purse be filled with many shiny shekels!" With that, he and his entourage make their way toward the exit. The white Vartan shifts his way over to where the High Prince previously stood.

Zoltan moves back to his place behind the counter and folds his arms avross the glass surface. "Is there anything you're looking for, sir? We've just gotten in some crystals from Himaat; they sparkle like gemstones… and some even glow."

The white Vartan scrawks, "Actually, I'm interested in something a bit bigger than that." He unravels the cloth, revealing a glint of something metal … something large and metal and very heavy and very shiny. "You interested in what I have to pay with?" He quickly covers the item back up and glances toward the curtained back room.

The baron narrows his eyes a bit but nods. He whistles to one of his other employees and points at the spot he's presently standing in. He then walks to the back room, holding the curtain open for the white Vartan.

The white Vartan moves in, setting his heavy burden on an examination table. He unwraps the blanket, revealing … a metal gauntlet. It is no ordinary gauntlet – metal aside – but it looks truly unearthly, and appears to have metal mechanisms inside its carbon-scored shell. A few wires stick out, covered by some sort of once-colorful material that is blackened and burned in places. The item has the look of being a part of a larger whole, and not neatly removed at that. If not for the mechanisms inside, the gauntlet might fit the fist of a Titanian. If one padded the interior a bit.

"It's beautiful." Zoltan says, stroking a finger across the glove's surface. "But something like this must be worth several gold. My shop may be sucessful, but not so sucessful that I could afford to buy this."

The white Vartan smiles. "It can be yours. All I need … is to know how to get to Paradys!"

Zoltan exhales sharply through his nostrils and rises wearily to his feet. "Thank you for showing me your beautiful find; I'm sure you'll find a collector who will pay well for it. I have loyalties to my people who wish to be left alone while they recover from their losses at the hands of the Babelites. When they tell me that they are willing to take on visitors I will gladly give the location of the island… but not before."

The white Vartan's jaw drops. He flusters, "B-but … LOOK! It's pure METAL!" He raps his talon-knuckles on it. "It's not even RUSTY!"

"Yes. It's quite beautiful… You should easily find a buyer for it here in Rephidim and be able to live off the earnings for the rest of your life," Zoltan replies, reaching out to grab the edge of the curtain. "Your price is too high for me. Have a nice day."

The white Vartan hurriedly covers up the gauntlet as he heads out from the back room. "You … you should reconsider!" But he heads on out of the shop, not pausing to attempt to make a better sales pitch.

Wordlessly, Zoltan walks back behind the counter and re-seats himself. He takes up the glass beads again and starts polishing them again, albeit a bit harder now.

The jingling of bells heralds the entrance of customers again … but none are to be seen. Unless that is, the "customers" happen to be exceptionally short. The sounds of padding cub feet verify this theory, as they converge upon Zoltan's perch behind the counter.

A smile manages to find its way to the black hippogryph's face. "Hello," he scrawks down to the two cubs. "Had a good day at Temple School?"

Enos squeals loudly in reply, bouncing up and down. Pouncer does much the same, except that her squeal can be translated, "Lookee! Lookee what I got!" She waves around something metallic blue and winged (and formerly solid) stuck to her hand.

Zoltan carefully scoops up Enos and rubs his stomach. He peers down at Pouncer. "And what kind of bug did you get this time, shinyfur?"

Pouncer frowns – out of thought, not displeasure – and inspects the former insect. "A … thoraxicus cobaltis! A bluetail!"

"Very good! Do you have one in your collection already?" the cub's father scrawks.

Pouncer shakes her head. "Nope! This is my FIRST one!" She immediately shoots off for her wooden box she keeps her "collection" in.

Enos purrs and curls up in Zoltan's arms. One paw clutches a sky blue ribbon with a frayed end.

"So, did you help your sister find any bugs today?" He peers at the ribbon. "And what's this?"

Enos proudly shows the ribbon, grinning widely. There are a few scraps of construction paper knotted in with the ribbon. There's just enough of the pieces of paper to suggest that they were probably once part of a larger whole, and inscribed with colored wax markers – no doubt by Enos' own paw.

Another paper-and-ribbon construction lies on the counter, deposited there by Pouncer in her haste. It looks as if a project for art class today was to make up paper masks. Enos' apparently did not survive the trip home. Pouncer's has a big blue stain on the forehead.

Zoltan hugs the little cub. "First place! I'm sure it was beautiful." He reaches out and inspects Pouncer's mask, chuckling at the stain.

Enos beams proudly, and starts chewing on the edge of the blue ribbon.

A Vartan shuffles in, this one with coal-grey feathers … not from natural coloration, apparently, given that there are patches of tan and beige visible. "Master Cambio?" scrawks the burly youth.

"Yes, just a moment." Zoltan hands the little cub his sister's mask and nudges him off in the direction Pouncer dashed off. "Go help you sister label the bug for her collection, you know how she likes it when you lick the back of the labels for her."

Enos squeals and dashes off after Pouncer, leaving Zoltan alone with the coal-not-tan Vartan. The latter seems to be particularly eager, looking about the shop at all sorts of expensive shinies, though he shows no signs of being able to afford any of them.

Zoltan rests his hand against his chin. "Now then," he scrawks. "How can I help you?"

The young Vartan eagerly walks up to Zoltan. "I know things about the Himar! I've BEEN there!"

Nodding, the black hippogryph swirls a taloned finger around in a basket of glass beads. "You don't seem as well off as most of the people that have been there… but I'm not interested in wealth. Tell me your story."

The tan Vartan frowns. "Well … I spent everything I got from there just getting back HERE. I'll tell you one thing … the legends are TRUE! It's not as big as they claim, though … not all of the Himar got blasted off of Sinai. Just most of the important places, like Elamoore and where all those Jupies were running around. But now there's this big rusty desert, and a few other strange places, too! And there are lots of pieces of metal lying around, if you look for it!"

Zoltan holds a bead in his fingers and rubs at it. "I'm looking for somethine else. A Vartan named Cambio Herbir, he looks like me… although he's much older. I was told he's lost somewhere in Himar."

The tan hippogryph nods. "Well, what I know is that there are people alive in the Himar! And I'm not talking just Vartans who can fly in – I mean, there are people THERE." He waves his talons around in an attempt to punctuate his words with gestures. "You know? Survivors!"

"Do you know where? Could you give me a map perhaps?" Zoltan scrawks, dropping the bead back in the basket. "Himar is still a big place, and I can't abandon my family to comb through the dust." He looks down at the countertop. "What kind of condition were the survivors in?"

"Good enough to fight each other over scraps," the Vartan replies. "They've got some mages, too. Not Vartans, of course." He frowns at his feathers. "It got a bit toasty." He rummages through his satchel, producing a well-worn map cut into a section of cured leather.

Zoltan raises an eyeridge. "Who else is there? The Jupani?"

"A bunch of people. Jupani, too, I guess. Some Khattas. Vartans and other fliers. They're all HERE, near as I can tell," the young Vartan replies. "Oh, by the way, my name's Tan." He frowns a bit. "No clan, though."

"A lot of us don't have clans anymore." Zoltan scrawks, examining the map. "Have you heard any talk of a black Vartan in that area, Tan? And how dangerous did it seem?"

"No talk," Tan scrawks. "It's pretty dangerous. I think all the survivors are pretty shook up. Some of them were messing around with all that metal junk that's laying about. I think they were afraid I'd steal it." His ears blushed. "For good reason. I found a chunk of iron as big as my FIST!" He frowns. "Got cheated out of it when I was running low on grub."

Tan reconsiders, "Well, the AREA doesn't seem dangerous. Just some of the locals."

Zoltan nods. "I'm willing to buy your map… and you're welcome to a copper's worth of shinies from the shop as a reward. Any other information you could tell me would be greatly welcome as well."

The young Vartan's eyes light up. "Really? Ah … " He strains his mind for ideas. "Well … be really careful about anyone who grabbed some metal armor. It's like a bunch of people trying to pretend at being Knights Templar, and pounding each other senseless, plus anyone who gets in their way. At least none of them can FLY. At least, not that I saw."

"So it seems like they're just piling up nests of metal and fighting over them?" the proprietor asks.

The tan Vartan ponders this and says, "That's my guess. But to be honest, sir, I don't really know. It would make more sense to just take the metal and LEAVE."

Zoltan nods, frowning a little. "Yes… but maybe not to someone that isn't all right in the head. Unfortunately that's what I've heard has happened to the one I'm looking for." He taps his finger against the countertop again. "Do you have any suggestions for dealing with them? Could I bribe information out of some of the people there with food?"

Tan considers this. "It's pretty much desert there, or about as good as desert. I'd figure they can't have much food or water, or their supplies can't last for long."

"Thank you for your help, Tan." The black Vartan picks up a slip of paper and scribbles something down on it. "Give this to one of the employees here; they'll know to let you have your pick of what you want in the Shoppe." He pauses to dig in his pockets and pulls out a ten shekel piece and a fiver. "And this is for the map." He leans on the couontertop. "If you're looking for work in Rephidim, I could also see if I couldn't put in a good word for you someplace as well."

Tan smiles and bows twice to Zoltan. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I hope you find what you're looking for!"

Zoltan folds the map up and carefully pockets it. He bows back to Tan and heads to the back room where the kittens are playing. ( I hope I find him too… and I hope I'm not too late. And I hope he forgives me… )