Vielanika the brown bat bard strolls along, accompanied by a big brown-shelled Vykarin and a winged unicorn-like alien, looking at this booth and that as she goes.

Envoy glances at the booths Vielanika pauses at, but makes sure not to lag behind.

The bat "oooos" at a booth with many fine fabrics. "Positively luxurious," the bat says in concert with the vendor skunk, who gives her a suspicious look. The bat giggles and waves, and skips on to the next booth.

Out of earshot of that booth, the bat sighs. "Same old, same old. But sometimes that's comforting."

Envoy marks in her memory the booths that have fabrics in the colors she'll need to make a fake Acolyte's robe…

The 'Aeolun' also watches Rawrii to see what a Vykarin finds interesting.

"Well, what do you think?" the bat asks the unusually quiet Envoy. "We can't afford to have a dress made for you to fit. We'll just have to shop for the fabrics ourselves. Does anything catch your eye?"

Envoy thinks, "I like blue. Why can't I just wear the outfit I had from the circus?"

The Vykarin just trods along, not particularly interested in all these fabrics and trinkets.

Vielanika frowns. "Well, you see, that's because there's … er … not really much to it at all. I mean, 'if you've got it, flaunt it', but we're not the sorts who can get away with that safely, you know?"

Envoy blinks, "Safely? You mean because we don't carry weapons?"

The bat sighs, "Well, that's one way to drive them off… " She looks at another booth. "Oh! What do you think about those fabrics?"

Brown-shelled Rawrii click-sighs, and plods along after the bat and "Aeolun".

Envoy feels the fabric Vielanika points out. "It's nice. Is how it feels important, or just how it looks?"

The bat says, "Considering that you'll be wearing it, I'd say try to get something that won't prove to be terribly uncomfortable. And while you can afford to have one purely nice-looking dress for special occasions, you will for the most part want to find something durable, too. And, no, don't take that as an invitation to try ripping fabrics to test them."

Envoy considers all the variables. "So, I should get another pair of trousers and a tunic, and a dress for… special occasions?"

Envoy thinks of the dress Daydream had conjured for her…

Envoy says, "For tea parties?"

Vielanika nods. "That should about do it. That blue dress you already have might well do for special occasions, provided you have something to go under it. Ah … tea parties … well, that could happen."

Envoy smiles, "Can I get gold cloth too?"

Vielanika hmms. "Yellow? Yes. 'Gold', no. We can't afford anything terribly fancy even if we pooled our resources."

Envoy blinks, "How much do I still owe the Guild? And don't you get a finders fee? How much do I need to get a gold dress?"

Vielanika sighs, "I don't know, I thought so, and I'm not sure. But thanks to a few connections, I think we might be able to get into a fairly nice party coming up soon … and bump elbows – that's just a figure of speech – with the high-society sorts."

Envoy curls one of her wings around, fanning out the tip in front of her. "Maybe I can trade some of my gold feathers?"

Vielanika shakes her head, "Nononono, please no!"

Envoy blinks again, "Oh, I guess they're not worth very much then." She refolds her wing.

The bat gasps. "Please, keep those golden feathers. They're as much a part of your 'costume' as the dress you put on. Please, don't start plucking yourself on account of a dress!"

Envoy says, "But I can regrow feathers. I can't grow a dress. Or maybe I could just drape my wings around myself?"

Vielanika giggles at the notion. "Ahhh… Well, that would be highly impractical. In any case, I can't say as I would know of a proper market for such feathers. You'd need them in quite some quantity to be of any use to someone, I'm sure."

"In any case," the bat says, "in order to afford a golden dress that would do justice to your wings, we'd need to be doing far better than the one- and ten-shekel bits we've been pulling in. More like coppers and irons."

Envoy nods, "I guess I'll just have to get money some other way. What do those women do to earn money?" She points to some rather flamboyantly dressed female minks loitering under a streetlamp. "I've seen men give them money and go someplace with them, then they come back after a little while."

The bat covers her face. "That, I assure you, is a profession that we are diligently avoiding. You're a long way from having to resort to /that/ to make a living."

Envoy blinks, then grins. "I'm already alive!" She giggles at what she thinks is a joke.

Envoy says, "What is the best way to make more money performing? Rawrii and I did okay in that Inn we tried… "

Vielanika glances askance to Envoy. "Thank goodness. Ahem. Anyway, I think when we get back to the Guild, I'm going to have to have a bit of a … talk with you about that. I don't look forward to it, but I suppose if I spare you the unpleasantries – " She cringes at mention of the Three Thieves.

"Now, try a stunt like that again, and you're certain to have cretins who think you're a … a … OOOOO!" She grits her teeth.

Envoy blinks three times. "People already think I'm strange."

Rawrii barks, "Rawrii rike Rnroy!" His tongue lolls happily.

Envoy smiles and hugs the big armadillo-wolf around the neck.

Envoy says, "Do people pay more if they are dancing?"

Vielanika sighs. "Yes, and I like Envoy, too. Being strange isn't necessarily bad. You just have to be careful about what sort of strange. And … if they're dancing? Hmm. You mean if they like the music so much they dance to it?"

Envoy nods.

Envoy says, "Does it help if they drink a lot too?"

Vielanika smirks. "As a matter of experience, yes, sometimes it does. More than once – though not more than twice – someone gave me a copper when I suspected he was reaching for a half-shekel."

Envoy smiles, "Where can we perform where people are drinking and restless then?"

Vielanika laughs. "Well, we could try the Three Thieves again. This time, though, no changing clothes in front of the patrons. Disrobing in public, while it may be a surefire attention-getter, is not a good practice."

Envoy nods, "I will remember that."

Vielanika taps Envoy's shoulder. "You'd better! Ooo! Look! Now THERE is some fine gold fabric. If only we could afford that." She sighs.

A lady feline – with calico markings – leans forward. "Yes, the finest to be found! Such a beautiful dress I could make for you – and one for your friend, too," the cat purrs.

Envoy smiles and goes up to the merchant, "How much does your gold fabric cost?"

The cat purrs. "Why, you can have this bolt for but one silver. A bargain, don't you think? Feel the fabric for yourself!"

Envoy says, "It's very nice! How many shekels are there in one silver?"

The bat sighs. "A bargain indeed, but a bit high for our tastes. I don't think we need quite that much." She leans over toward Envoy. "That would be one THOUSAND shekels. That is a lot."

Envoy blinks. "I made over 500 at the Three Thieves Inn, though."

The bat blinks at Envoy. "Are you sure?"

Rawrii pants, "Ryron rekel!" He nods his head vigorously.

Envoy says, "Isn't that what an iron coin is worth?"

The bat blinks some more. "My. I think those two coppers of mine pale in comparison."

The Vykarin produces an iron shekel and stuffs it into Vielanika's hand as proof. "Ryron rekel!" he repeats, looking happy.

Envoy says, "Maybe we just need to find a place with one thousand people who will give us one shekel each?"

Vielanika smirks. "Don't I wish! But it would be hard to carry that many… " She turns toward the vendor. "Did you say something about being able to /make/ a dress? How much would it be to make a dress for my friend here, out of some of that gold fabric? More than that, we wouldn't need."

The cat hmms, looking Envoy up and down. "She's a rather strange one. I don't think I've seen her kind before. Dresses and wings are tough to put together … I don't know," she muses. She glances back at Vielanika. "Perhaps an iron and three coppers? It isn't just the fabric, you know. And just look at my other dresses." She gestures to a rack. "You can see that I'm no amateur."

Another lady cat in the booth shows off a couple of the dresses. She's a calico as well – almost a twin, probably a younger sister.

Envoy takes the feline's advice and looks at the other dresses…

While the dresses are not quite as fine as what might be seen on some of the wealthier nobility, it certainly wouldn't look out of place in a ballroom. It almost looks as elaborate as Daydream's creations.

Envoy turns to Vielanika, and asks, "When is this party you mentioned?"

Vielanika quietly ponders, then answers, "One iron. It isn't that difficult. I should know. I'm winged myself, after all."

The cat hmphs, looking offended.

The bat turns to Envoy. "Just a bit. I'll get back to you. It's a while yet. We'd have plenty of time to get you a dress made."

The bat pauses, then asks again, "Did you like what you see? I don't want to try bargaining for something you don't want."

Envoy nods. "Half of that iron piece belongs to Rawrii though. We were performing together."

Envoy says, "I do like the fabric though, and these dress designs."

Rawrii barks, "Rnroy! Ress ror Rnroy!" He nodnods his head.

Vielanika sighs. "Rawrii doesn't care much about shekels. Vykarin are pretty easy to please when it comes to possessions. Just keep their tummies full."

Rawrii looks thoughtful. "Rawrii runry." He licks his lips.

Envoy rubs her own tummy.

"One iron," the bat repeats. "And I know you would've gone down further if I pushed… "

Envoy says, "If people ask where I got the dress, I can tell them your name… "

The calico gasps. "My word, bat – Let me see your fangs to make sure that you're not a bloodsucker after all!"

The bat glowers, and holds up the iron coin.

The lady cat hmphs again, and snatches the coin. To Envoy, she nods. "Come on around. Let's get your measurements."

Envoy leans closer to examine Vielanika's muzzle.

Envoy blinks, then follows the cat…

Vielanika waves her hands, batting Envoy away. "GAH! She was just INSULTING me, Envoy. I am not a bloodsucker." She groans.

Envoy nods back to the bat, "I know, Vielanika. I've only ever seen you drink from glasses and cups."

"Rawrii," Vielanika says, "Keep an eye on Envoy. I'll get both of you some food before your stomachs start rumbling."

The brown-shelled Vykarin nodnodnods his head rapidly, his lolling tongue dancing in his mouth. He stands guard to make sure Envoy doesn't get into (too much) trouble while Vielanika heads off.

Envoy thinks about the musical potential of gastrointestinal harmonics…