(Free-IC area RP)
… your capacity
Is of that nature that to your hugestore
Wise things seem foolish and rich things but poor.
-W. Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost.

Chiaroscuro roots through the bookshelf, flipping through titles for something to catch his eye.

Having had her fill of the Bazaar, Wyn drags Zephyr to an unimpressive warehouse filled floor to ceiling with trash. "You _got_ to see this," she says as she opens the heavy door. "They have everything. I could shop here fur hours."

Zephyr's ears flick as he sniffs the air, entering behind Wyn. "Everything? What, like a secondpaw store?" He looks around, and his eyes go wide. "Good prices?"

Wyn obviously means what she says about shopping. The inside of the shop is a narrow hallway leading into a smallish room stuffed to bursting with 'treasures'. She waves to the greasy man behind the counter.

The storekeeper says, "Of course. The most excellent prices."

Zephyr catches the movements of the mongoose over by the bookshelves, intending to have a look at the volumes himself in a second. He's distracted by an object on a nearby shelf, though, waving absently to the proprietor behind the counter.

Chiaroscuro hmmms at a title… "Sabaoths of Ashdod, volume 3… "

The storekeeper grins smarmily and rubs his hands together. "Hehheh. The most excellent prices. I'll help you find whatever you need. Anything! It's all up here, in my head."

The storekeeper taps his temple with his index finger.

Zephyr picks up the small object, which to him looks like a broken, yellowed plastic lightbulb socket. He turns it over in his paws. It's a broken, yellowed plastic lightbulb socket. His ears flick, and he suspects Wyn has no idea why he's fascinated by it. o O {They had tech here at one time.}

Chiaroscuro adds the volume to a short stack of books by his feet… most of them with broken bindings or torn covers.

Zephyr sets down the socket and turns to the storekeeper. "Er… Thank you." He smiles, and looks at Wyn. "You can read script now, right?" He nods towards the books.

The storekeeper comes around from behind the counter. "That's a whatzit from Eremdor. Imported, is the story," he says, indicating the socket. "It's in excellent shape."

Wyn says, "I can read some of it."

Zephyr pauses. "A… whatzit? I… see. Imported, hm." His eyes sparkle subtly. "And… what was it used for?"

Wyn says, "Chipper is more of a reader than I am. Hi, Chipper."

Wyn swishes her tail.

Zephyr blinks and turns, looking between Wyn and the mongoose while he waits for the storekeeper to answer. "You know him?"

Chiaroscuro flips through more books… .oO(I wish more of these were witten in Rephidim speech… there is much I have to learn about he- ) He turns. "Oh, hello!"

The storekeeper says, "If you don't know, I'm certain you'll find it's price expensive at only 50 shekels. But that is no matter. Look around, look around."

The storekeeper picks up a folded fan from the shelf. "I bet you could use one of these, eh? A little more practical, that's what this is. Made of wood, not of paper or cloth. It'll last."

Chiaroscuro thinks, .o O (It's that wolf friend of Envoy's… wish i could remember her name. Best go say hello… ) He jumps over a short counter, landing in front of Wyn and Zephyr. "A surprise to meet you here."

Wyn smiles. "Zephyr, this is Chipper. He has another name, but I forget. I am still 'Wyn', if you forget too, Chipper."

The storekeeper waves the fan at Wyn.

Zephyr smiles, nodding to the storekeeper. "Thank you… I will. Er… um… Fan? Oh, no thank you… Quite cool recently, I'll just… look around." He gives Wyn a questioning look, then smiles and holds out a paw to the mongoose. "Pleased to meet you. Zephyr Blackpaw."

Wyn thinks . o O { I'm being blown on. }

Zephyr grins. "You've got a fan, Wyn."

Chiaroscuro smiles. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir Zephyr. I am Chiaroscuro Themyst, though 'chiipper' is my familiar and stage name." He turns to Wyn. "And yes, I am afraid I did forget< lady Wyn. I am better at the memory of a lovely face than a lovely name."

The storekeeper waggles his brows at Wyn. See? Classy fan. You want? "Like sticking your head out of a porthole on an airship," he croons.

Wyn notices the storekeeper's nametag. "I don't know, Iago. Maybe. Perhaps you could follow me around with that while I'm shopping, so I can make up my mind?"

Zephyr raises an eye-whisker at Chia, then smiles again. "How… er… did you meet Wyn? And… stage name? You're a performer, then?"

Zephyr can't help stifling a giggle at Wyn. o O {Good one. Storekeeper seems a little light in the head.}

Iago smiles and sets the fan down slowly. "I'd love to do that, but best not to wear it out. How about I show you some of the adornments we've recently acquired? They're wonderful. Imported, too."

Chiaroscuro lets go of Zephyr's paw, and nimbly performs a double-flip-jump in the air, landing on his feet… without tocuhing a thing in the tightly crowded store.

Chiaroscuro says, "Well, I had been, at the least. Currently teaching the art more than doing it."

Iago starts, crouching with his hands held out to catch what would have been an avalanche of junk to bury everyone present. He stands still to catch his wits.

Iago turns, mumbling something about furries under his breath.

Zephyr jumps slightly at the mongoose's movement, then smiles widely. "Impressive! Gymnastics. Where're you teaching it?" He glances at the storekeeper, chuckling softly and grinning at Wyn as he turns away.

Wyn kneels before an open chest of costume jewelry.

Zephyr, as he's speaking, idly picks up items from a nearby shelf and examines them. One is a small rubber mouse. o O {Hey, I had one like this when I was a kit… } He squeaks it, then sets it back down, ears blushing slightly.

Chiaroscuro explains, "A friend of Envoy- do you know Envoy?- needs a bit of help overcoming some clumsiness, so I'm tutoring him privately." He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "He has natural talent, too… just cannot seem to control it long before he stumbes."

Wyn looks at strings of shell-necklaces and beads. An leather thong about a foot long catches her interest. She looks at Iago.

Iago says, "Two hundred shekels," as if he were giving the time of day to a friend.

Wyn says, "Not the necklaces. This one."

Wyn holds up the thong. She demonstrates how to make a knot so she can attach it to her ear. "See? To put things on."

Zephyr glances at the mouse again. {Not FirstPounce brand, though… mine was.} He looks up the mongoose. "Envoy? Yes, I know Envoy… but… I thought she was a she? And yes, I know. She… all I can say is that she'll learn everything, given time. {Will she ever… }

Iago nods. "Right. Two hundred shekels, and it walks out the door with you, m'lady."

Zephyr pauses and looks over at Wyn. His expression softens as he sees what she's doing, and his ears droop a little. {All she needs is a feather… She does remember, some.}

Wyn skritches her ear confuzziedly. "There's something special about it, then?" She snifs the thong curiously.

Chiaroscuro says, "No, no. I am speaking of Envoy's friend, Feli who I am teaching."

Iago smiles. "Of course."

Zephyr, having been distracted, blinks. "Oh! Alright… I've never met Feli. I'm curious, where'd you meet Envoy?"

Zephyr holds up a paw for a second as he hears Wyn's conversation. "Sir, two hundred for a strip of hide? She doesn't mean the necklaces, just… that little bit of bootlace."

Iago nods. "Of course, Sir."

Zephyr rolls his eyes at Wyn and turns back to the mongoose. {I'll buy her one at a leathercrafter's stall later. Guy's nuts… }

Chiaroscuro says, "We met in the bazzaar, when we… Hey!" He turns to a female Rath'ani who has entered and is looking at the books. "Please, madam, watch those books on the floor. I set them aside for a purpose."

Zephyr, at the mention of books, perks his ears and moves to the bookcase as he waits for Chia to finish defending his pile. "Anything good on the culture of this place?"

The Rath'ani hmmmphs! "I should figure *your* only purpose with a book is burning it to start a fire… " She looks sidelong down her muzzle at the 'Kavi'.

On the shelf next to Chia and Zephyr: a reddish coin with a forge stamped in it, a green rock the size of a fist, an inlaid ivory and cherrywood box, a small paper box with sandpaper on the side, and a murky blue bottle (stoppered and sealed) with something moving inside it.

Zephyr finds something else that gets his interest… a couple of romance novels. The first, just at a glance, turns out to be a bit _too_ racy, and he puts it back, his ears blushing. The second looks more promising…

Chiaroscuro sighs and simply gathers the books… and snags one off the shelf he'd been considering… very worn, lock closed with a clasp and no title showing.

Wyn looks at a long teeshirt with a goofy-looking vermite wearing red shorts on the front. It's so long it would come to her knees when worn.

Chiaroscuro wanders over to the shopkeeper… "How much for these ones, Sir?"

The novel, its cover battered but readable… turns out to be written in such flowery, overblown prose that it also quickly joins the first. Zephyr sighs, thinking he'll have to look elsewhere for what he wants… and turns back to giggle at Wyn's discovery. "Who would put rodents on clothing and expect them to sell?"

Iago abandons Wyn and walks over to Zephyr and Chiaroscuro. "Books in any form are quite rare, as you know. They also take up a _great_ deal of space, and do not move quickly. Let's see. Cost to Acquire, plus Inventory, plus Filing, comes to, 10 s each. The one with the clasp is 100 s just for the metal in the clasp. The book you can have for free, since it will probably kill you when you open it. Outside. After you've closed the door."

Wyn holds up the shirt. "You don't like it?"

Wyn erfs. She folds the shirt and puts it on the shelf.

Wyn thinks . o O { I'll come back later and look at it then. }

Zephyr blinks at the shopkeeper's warning, and then shakes his head, shrugging it off and padding over to join Wyn. "I don't know… you usually like having silly-looking food on your clothes?"

Wyn hides the shirt behind an empty wooden box.

Zephyr finds something that startles him. A strangely-cut outfit, consisting of a glaring yellow tunic of some sort of synthetic material, covered by an unusual powder-blue coat with absurdly large lapels. On the front of the tunic hangs an oversized, cheap-looking medallion of plastic made to look like metal. "Somewhere, they actually wore things like this?"

Chiaroscuro smirks. "There is no filing system to your shelves, sir. And me making space on your shelves ought to be a great favor to you. Five shekels apiece for the lesser books… thirty for the clasped one. That's is some of the poorest brass I have ever seen.

Iago pats Chiaroscuro on the shoulder. "I bet you'd really like to know what's so special about the book, eh? I would too. But I don't have a key, and I have it on good authority that that clasp is 'protected', if you understand me. All right. Five for the lesser books, if you'll pay 100 for the brass. If you've the skill to survive opening it, the brass will fetch you a profit as soon as you hit the Bazaar on your way home. Gehnoh?"

Zephyr finds a small tag that says 'leisure suit'. "Leisure for what?" He chuckles, and looks at Wyn, having noticed her hiding something. He tilts his head. "I didn't say I didn't _like_ the shirt, just thought it was silly… You want it?"

Wyn says, "Yes, but we can't afford it. I don't _need_ it."

Iago pulls a gold statuette of a nymph out of a pocket. "How about this, then? Rubies for eyes. She's cute, eh?"

Zephyr keeps one ear swiveled at the other conversation as he messes with some silly hats. He tucks a crushed admiral's hat between his ears, gives Wyn a salute, and grins. "Well, how much is it?"

Chiaroscuro ponders… mentally checking his finances. Feli has been generous in his payment trainign… but not that generous. "Seventy shekels for all. If you're going to sell me a book you're afraid to open, my good man… why should I consider that a selling point?"

Iago smiles. "If you don't want it, you should not buy it. All items at Another Man's Treasure are 100% guaranteed to be sold as-is without warranty. We pick things up from all over, and we price them as seems fitting. You may find a rare enchantment in that book, and retire. You could go up in flames like a torch, too. We don't know which. You're a brave sort just to consider it, I'll say that."

Iago holds up the figurine. "Don't you like the curves? A nice tail, too. Great conversation piece."

Zephyr puts down the hat and pushes aside a box of strange, waxy-plastic hollow animal figures, some dolphins, lions, and other creatures, all with some alien writing on their bases and two small holes in their bottoms… as if they were press-molded quickly. They look cheaply made. He turns to look at the small blue bottle with something moving in it, moving closer as he looks back at Wyn. "Ask him how much the shirt is? I'll buy it… "

Wyn nods. She takes the shirt over to the storekeeper and tugs on his shirtsleeve.

Iago says, "Two shekels," without looking over his shoulder or taking his eyes off of Chiaroscuro.

Wyn's ears perk forward.

Chiaroscuro hmmms… "Brave, yes. Rich, no." He sets the book back on the shelf. "I'll take these others, though at the five shekels apiece you would have given me on the mass deal… plus an extra five."

Zephyr blinks… and smiles, then quickly slips out two shekels and hands them to the shopkeeper before he can change his mind. "Sold."

Iago shakes his head. "Packrat will harangue me for hours if I let them go for that. You know they go for up to twenty times that new. They're a bargain at ten."

Iago looks at the coins in his hand, surprised. He puts them into a pocket and nods at Zephyr. "Keep looking. There's so much to see, and this is only the 'everyday' wares. You want to see the really nice things, I can get them for you from the back. You'll want to bring coin, and plan on spending some time here, but I can find you most anything you could want."

Zephyr nods. "Of course. I think I will be back." He looks back at Wyn, smiling warmly. "Okay, you've got a silly shirt."

Chiaroscuro says, "They will fall apart in a week, and that is if I am lucky. And you cannot tell me that this children's book on the temple was worth two hundred new. Thirty shekels for all four."

Zephyr's ears perk. o O {Children's book on the temple? Sounds interesting.}

Wyn picks up a green bottle with a crack running from top to bottom. She looks at the price tag: 150 s.

Wyn puts the bottle back on the shelf very carefully.

Iago nods. "Done."

Chiaroscuro reaches into a pocket, and hands three ten-shekel pieces, ceramic with a thin copper rim, to Iago.

Iago says, "A good bargain. Tell people about us, alright?"

Zephyr glances at Chia. o O {Wonder if he'll let me read those?} He pads back over to Wyn as the deal concludes, poking into boxes on the shelf again. "Anything else good?"

Chiaroscuro says, "The better the bragains, the more I will tell, shopkeeper. Good day… " He starts heading towards the exit, stopping by to point out to Jarik the histories he asked about, which are clustered vaguely on the second and third shelves from the floor.

Wyn waves to Chiaroscuro.

Wyn says, "Don't get me started. I'll buy the store."

Chiaroscuro waves to Wyn, and heads out of the store with his books.

Iago picks up the clasped book and sets it on the shelf, near to and apart from the normal books.

Zephyr waves to the mongoose. "Nice to meet you!" He turns back to Wyn, grinning, and pats her softly on the shoulder. "Don't know where you're going to _wear_ that shirt, but it's yours. Should we get going, then, find some dinner?"

Wyn says, "Please."