Aaron sits on his stool behind the counter, manning the shop alone today. Jasmine took extra time off to celebrate Harvest Day with her large family.

Aaron gets up to stretch his legs, and considers washing out the teapot now that evening approaches.

Outside, the lampposts are being lit, one by one, as the last bit of blue slowly fades from the sky.

"Okay, I'll swoop you later, Reico!" a voice squeaks muffledly outside. A few moments later the door opens, and the sound of rudely-awakened chimes tumbles through the store. A colorfully-attired bat follows, furling her wings as she looks around. "Hello?"

A chill wind blows through the door whilst it is open, bringing with it a brief, low howl.

Aaron almost jumps, having had his back to the door. He spins around… and sighs in relief to see that it isn't a psychotic fire mage. On the other hand, it IS an Eeee… who might also want to kill him. "Uh! Hello!"

Brishen smiles, patting her satchel absently as she pads a little further in, her eyes passing over the bulletin board curiously. "Hi! Are you Aaron Lightfoot, by any chance?"

Just outside the shop, a dark green Zelak can be seen, doggedly marching along. It stops briefly, its feelers wiggling, and brushes one of the windows with them … then turns and continues on down the street.

Aaron considers his answer as he looks over the Eeee. She doesn't look like an assassin. And she's cute… "Yes, that's me! =:)"

Aaron stands up a little straighter, and brushes his black ear out of his face.

Brishen brushes a lock of curly hair from her eyes, and whews, puffing her cheeks out a little as she starts unbuckling her satchel. "Wonderful! I've got a package here for you." Her wings spread a little as she fusses with the ornery pack.

Aaron comes closer, "A package? Is it my book?" He tries to peek into the satchel.

Amongst the other items slated for delivery, the colorblind bat pulls out a squarish bundle wrapped in coarse cloth, and bound in cord. By the size and shape, it could either be a small chest … or a reasonably large tome. By the weight, it would seem the rest of the bat's route will be considerably less burdensome now.

Brishen grins, wings flexing slightly as she hands the bundle to Aaron. "I don't usually deliver rocks."

Aaron bounces on his toes, "Yes! That must be it!" He begins to tear the wrapping off before coming to his senses. Best not to chance letting the Eeee see the cover. "Oh, how much do I owe you? Would you like some sweatbread?" The Lapi gestures to the nearly empty plate near the teapot.

The wind blows more strongly outside, making glass panes rattle in their fittings.

Brishen tilts her head a little, mumbling. "Well, there was that one time in Darkside, but that was really just weir – " She blinks, looking over to the teapot. "That'd be wonderful! Do you have any bugs?"

Aaron looks around suspiciously, then realizes she meant the crawling type of bugs… "Oh! Not that I… wait, I'll check Jasmine's desk… " He sets the heavy book down on the counter, and disappears in the back of the shop.

There's a *THUMP* as something strikes one of the windows. Then another. And another. It seems that several bat-like chibix, disoriented for some reason, have collided with the window. Curious. There aren't too many of the shelled bat-things in these parts, and it's early in the night for them to be out like this.

Brishen grins as she spots a stool, and hops up on it. She pulls her legs up, sitting crosslegged – and almost takes a bite of sweetbread before she's distracted. "Pretty early for that."

Aaron returns with a small box in his hand. "I found some candied grasshoppers, if you… " He breaks off as he notices the odd weather.

Brishen claps, beaming. "Turbulent! Oh, it'll be ten shekels for the delivery."

No more of the night creatures have impacted the glass. The howling abates for a little while, as a startled Dromodon bellows, and a wagon rushes down the street, the rider trying to regain control of the ornery beast.

*ping* … *ping ping* … *ping* … *ping ping ping ping* … *rattle*

Aaron's black ear droops back down across his face as we watches the eerie wind, then he snaps back to attention at the mention of shekels. "Oh! Yes, that sounds fair… " He leaves the box of grasshoppers near Brishen and goes behind the counter. "Interesting ah… weather tonight."

Outside, small white things can be seen falling. White, icy things, and now in greater number. It would seem that the weather has taken a turn for the worse, and that it is now hailing.

Aaron blinks at the weather while taking a 10-shekel coin from the till. Hail? "Hmm." He offers Brishen the coin and says, "You might want to wait out the hail. Would you like some tea?"

Brishen sighs, slumping a bit. "I'm going to be late for my next delivery." She tucks the shekel away, and smiles. "Might as well."

Aaron goes to the pot and pours two cups of tea… which has brewing for who knows how many hours now. Jasmine usually takes care of that… "Sugar?"

Brishen nods, tapping the time out on a knee. "A lot." She glances back at the window, pouting slightly, and whispers, "I'm gonna be laaaaate… "

Aaron spoons in 'a lot' of sugar, and hands the cup to the courier. "Here you go… er… I'm afraid I don't know your name?"

Aaron nearly drops his own cup as he gets a sudden chill. One strong enough to make his teeth clatter… "BRRrrrrr!" But there's no draft in the shop!!

Although the cup is not dropped, the shake is sufficient to send tea sloshing out … and onto the cloth-bound package brought by the Eeee.

Brishen turns, taking the teacup carefully. "I'm Brishen Kara, of Kara Delivery." She smiles a bit, "Thanks for the tea, and the bugs – " Her eyes get wide as the package is splashed, "Eep!"

Aaron chatters, "Oh no… the last time the weather was acting weird, those Babelite mages were up to something! Ack, the BOOK!" He sets the tea aside and tears at the wrapping before the tea can soak through to the cover.

The cords snap free, and the wrapping tears as well, revealing an odd binding on the heavy tome underneath … It is some sort of hide with a sparse layer of fuzz, which has been worn down in several places with time. But there's even more odd about this tome … the corners and spine are reinforced with … metal? It has corroded and turned quite green. How could Aaron have possibly obtained a book like this at such a low price?

The cover of the book looks as if it has been branded with a rune. It looks like a vertical line with two crosspieces, the higher wider than the lower, and the top of the vertical bar is crested with an oval loop.

Aaron blinks in surprise at the bindings, and has to brush his ear out of the way again. Cautiously, he opens the tome to the first page.

Brishen whistles quietly as she peeks around Aaron at the book. "Metal? Wow – " Her wings rustle a little.

Aaron mutters, "Oh my… could this be the original?"

The clasp flops on a hinge … It must have popped open during transit. Just as well, because there's no sign of the key that would have been required to unlock it … though it doesn't look as if it would be terribly hard to pick the lock regardless, given proper tools and time.

The ink on the pages has faded in several spots, as if the ink was laid so heavily on the pages that it has simply crumbled away in some places, leaving only a shadow of the lines and curves below.

The title is written in an odd font, but the book is most certainly written in Rephidim Standard. The title, according to the frontispiece, is "The Sylvanian Heresy". A repeat of the symbol on the cover is printed below the title, and no author is credited. Rather, there is a warning below the symbol. "Let the reader beware." Nothing more, save for a decorative border that suggests intertwined vines and thorns.

Aaron looks up slowly from the page, to see Brishen looking over his shoulder. He quickly closes the book. "Ahh… um. Yes. A very rare book, mustn't let it… air out too much, you know."

The glass panes rattle violently in their fittings … and several of the light sources in the shop choose just this moment to fizzle out and die.

Brishen squeaks a few times to get her bearings, though it's not really needed, and starts buckling her satchel. Can't risk anything falling out. "Does this happen at your store a lot?"

Aaron stifles a squeak of alarm, and stares out at the front windows.

Aaron says, "Umm. No, no. At least, I don't think so… "

It's especially dark outside, since clouds have obscured the light of the Procession … and most of the street lamps have gone out. What with the hail, the lamp-lighter is probably taking refuge, rather than trying to set light to them again. After all, even brigands and thieves wouldn't be crazy enough to try stalking prey in weather like this.

The rabbit's eyes seem fixed on the circular bit of stained glass on the door itself, portraying the Spheres of Magic. Although he already knew it, it doesn't help to actually see that that odd ankh symbol does not appear on any of the spheres.

Brishen hmms. Maybe an angry air mage actually owned the book, and has sent an army of wind-creatures to find it. She read about that in a serial once – It'd be kind of neat! She glances at the book again, then shrugs. Not her business to ask about packages.

Aaron says, "Umm, did they ever find those mages responsible for the explosion at the military docks the other night?"

*tinkle* *pink* … *pink* … *ping* … The sounds of the hail outside relent, though the howling remains. Perhaps the storm has already exhausted its brief fury.

Aaron's feet unfreeze finally, and he reaches behind the counter for a candle and matches.

Brishen brightens a bit as she flutters to the door and peeks outside. "Oh, I don't think they have!" she shouts, so the Lapi can hear her over the wind, then turns back to Aaron, "You locked the book."

Brishen shuts the door behind her. "It's still a bit too windy to fly, and I'm NOT going to walk."

Aaron blinks in the darkness, then lights a candle and confirms that the book is indead latched and locked.

The storm wasn't following the book. It didn't start to die down because the clasp locked. I'm sure it didn't. Just to be safe, the Lapi wraps the tome in a heavy zolk cloth with various protective runes embroidered into it, and stuffs it away under the counter.

Brishen squeaks, her wings fluttering a little as a gust of wind makes it through before she can shut the door. "Oof. Much too windy to fly, still." She sighs, flopping down on her stool. "Do a lot of mages look at your bulletin board?"

Aaron relights the lamps, and nods. "Yes, mostly the new graduates from the College."

Aaron realizes what the Eeee didn't ask. "Do you have a business card? I'd be happy to tack it up on the board for you… "

Brishen beams, crossing her arms. "I'm flattered, but I'm not a mage. Never even went to school!"

Aaron says, "Oh, well, even Mages need packages delivered though. Why, I send out orders to them every day."

Aaron smiles to the Eeee, now that the wind is just wind again, and the lights are burning bright.

Brishen smiles brightly, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes. "That'd be great!" Why didn't you think of that before, girl? A few cards in the right places, and… Wow! She spreads her wings slightly, almost floating as she darts over to the bulletin board.

It's so cute how her hair falls over like that… Ack! Aaron pinches his left paw. Business is business. "What sort of rates do you charge for small packages?"

Brishen rummages around in her satchel 'til she finds a small stack of cards, then sticks one up on the board. "It has my mailbox at the Guild listed, in case anyone wants to make appointments." She turns, smiling at Aaron. "That depends, really. The heavier the package and the greater the distance, the more it usually costs."

Aaron brushes his ear out of his face again. "Would you be interested in making regular deliveries for me? It's usually tedious putting up the flag and then having to deal with a half dozen competing couriers or worse, none at all if they're busy."

Dark eyes glitter merrily as Bree settles down on her stool again. "Sure! Regular routes are a lot nicer." And not always quite as lucrative, but they keep a roof over my head. She scrunches her eyes closed, thinking, then grins. "Regular courier's rates inside the city, double that on the edge of Darkside, and negotiable farther in. I know that part of town as well as any other, so I can get packages delivered there."

Aaron smiles, "Great! Can you check by here just after noon? That's when I usually have the outgoing packages ready."

Brishen brushes a wrinkle from her pants, making a bit show of thinking it over and working it into a busy schedule, then smiles. "Sure! It's a deal." She sticks her hand out at Aaron, grinning.

Aaron shakes the Eeee's hand, "Gehnoh then! Oh, it looks like the wind has died down… "

Brishen glances at the window, then bounces into the air. "Wonderful!" She beams, shouldering her satchel, then darts for the door. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

Aaron says, "Goodnight, Brishen! Take care. =:)"

Aaron leans back against the counter, and wonders who he knows that can pick a lock…

The brightly-clad Eeee smiles at Aaron, brushing a lock of hair from her eyes, then bounds out the door in a flutter of leathery wings. "Bye!" The door slams behind her with a clatter of wind-caught chimes.