A Realm Reborn

[levelthreehooligan]

Far From Home

A rickety carriage ride, a pair of snow white siblings and a Moogle. Without knowing it, you all started the same way. This is the beginning of your story, all of you,during your first trip to the City State that would change your lives.

Whether it be under the lush canopies of the Shroud, through the busy thoroughfares of  Ul'Dah or amongst the whispering sea winds of Limsa Lominsa, each one welcomes you, feels like home.

With only the weapon you scampered away with, the clothes on your backs, and an inexplicable feeling of purpose - You have arrived. 

 

Comments

Re: Ul'dah

[levelthreehooligan]

"Woah, hey! Take a breath, Ras! Is it okay if I call you Ras?' She has a big smile on her face, watching the cute lady get excited.

"My name is Piñara Conada of Conada Enterprises, and more recently, a Gridanian envoy." She holds out her hand to shake. When Ras takes it, she pull her in close and stage whispers to her.

"Coco back there is one of the best Thaumaturgists in the city," she pulls back, "but don't let him know I said that, okay? If you'd like, once you've introduced yourself to them, I can show you around the city proper?" It's only kind, and she really doesn't want to see this woman get heckled by the merchant strip.

Re: Ul'dah

[darkmagiciangirl]

At the inquiry of her name, Raspberry nodded. Ras was fine. She smiled at the introduction, pretending she knew what Conada Enterprises was, and doing her best to look like she knew of what Piñara was talking about. While she knew of places outside of Othard, she only really knew them vaguely by name. Geography wasn't something that was necessarily focused upon among the Xaela tribes.

"I won't breathe a word to him!" She paused for a moment. "I actually arrived here a few days ago..."

Just go with it. She's really pretty, and you did keep getting turned around on your way to the gladiator's guild.

She smiled sheepishly. "But, honestly, a proper tour would be wonderful! The city is so big and I keep getting turned around. I'm ready to go, but I'm sure you came here for some reason other than to heckle the brothers and show me around?" She did not want to get in the way of Piñara's mission for arrival and was more than happy to wait, examining the entry shrine, while Piñara took care of her own business. When they were ready to leave, Raspberry opened the door for Piñara, kindly gesturing that she would follow her out.

Re: Ul'dah

[levelthreehooligan]

"Ahh, actually, my business in the city here is finished! I actually came just to cool off. The Ossuary is one of the airiest buildings in Ul'Dah, and the brothers here are just as good at casting ice spells as they are fire." She grins cheekily. She could totally get one of them to slushie up her tea.

"You get yourself started with the stooges over there though, and I'll be waiting by the door." She winks as Ras goes off to get her basic tuition, and is pleased to see that her new friend is courteous as well.

The first place she takes Ras is a nook-in-the-wall café simply called 'Happy'. Theres a bar, and maybe ten small two-seater tables set up in the space. There's a gaggle of teenagers that have claimed three of the tables and smushed them up together, sporting a wide assortment of sweet dishes, an old couple sharing a slice of lemon cake and lastly a mother and her baby taking a rest in the shade.

There's a wonderful scent of baked goods, coffee and bread wafting about. It's nigh intoxicating for Pina.

"Hoi, Piña!" a voice calls from further inside the building. A rosy-cheeked highlander woman waves from behind the bar. "You've brought a friend, I see?"

"Aye! Ras, this is Mona, the gal who owns the best Café in the city." She beams, gesturing for her to get up onto one of the bar stools. They're not made for Lalafell, but they at least have a rung so that it's not difficult to climb up onto one.

i wish i was ras rn bc i'm freezing my ass off

[darkmagiciangirl]

To be completely honest, Ras hadn't noticed the cafe at all, and the idea of a cafe was foreign to her. She looked around the cafe, eating up as many details as she quickly could, her eyes lingering on the sweets the teenagers had. The smell off coffee and the almost heavy smell of sugar and baking hung heavy in the air. It was wonderful.

Her attention turned to Mona as she called out, giving Mona a small wave hello as Piña told her who Mona was. She climbed up onto one of the bar stools and got comfortable, looking over the posted menu behind the counter. "You'd think, this being Ul'dah, things would be more Lalafell size." The comment was a lighthearted joke, but Ras was sure to wait until Mona was tending to someone before commenting on it in fear that she would take it offensively.

"I'm not sure what to get - it smells wonderful in here and I haven't been part of a proper civilization for a while, so I'm a little overwhelmed." That's not true. Her civilization was proper, just different. Very different. Try to sound rural. From the middle of nowhere. She looked to Piña. "What would you suggest? I'm sure everything here is good, but certainly you must have a favorite."

me too, but mostly becuase this fantasy cafe has cinnamon banana bread

[levelthreehooligan]

Pinya chuckles.

"Most of us are Lalafell, but we also know that it would be worse to not be able to cater to all races, instead of making furniture accessible for just one. That's just business sense." She settles into her chair and smiles wryly. "Far easier to add an extra rung or two than to have to make another piece entirely." She doesn't even to look through the menu. She can sniff out what's being cooked.

"Well, then, two Cinnamon Buns and two Horchata?" She orders, having the same thing means that they can talk about the taste of the same items at once. Usually, she'd order two things and they could share the food, but this isn't a date (she thinks) and doesn't want to assume.

"Been out in the boons for a while then? Where was it you used to be?" She asks, suddenly curious where this other Lalafell had been.

ironically my friend who hosted us today made cinnamon banana bread muffins for us to snack on

[darkmagiciangirl]

It made sense that building Hyur sized objects and creating accommodations for Lalafells made sense - she didn't even consider that. She had a slightly thoughtful look on her face - what did the Conadas do? She wouldn't ask. She should already know, she felt like.

Ras agreed to the suggestion. She couldn't wait for the cinnamon buns - Ras has had that before - but she had never once heard of horchata. She hoped she liked it. "I grew up with my family in Eastern Thanalan." She hoped she pronounced it right. "It was always a little rough to get by. Never had the money nor the time to really make it out to the city. It was a shock when I told my parents I was leaving." If Pinya paid attention, she may pick up that Ras's style of speech wasn't quite right. It could easily be confused for a somewhat uneducated (by high society standards) upbringing.

A small look of panic crossed Ras's face as Mona delivered the cinnamon buns and horchatas. It just occurred to her that she had very little gil. "I-it just occurred to me that I don't have much gil." She was uncertain if she had the gil for this. "If I can't afford this right now, I can pay you back later." Her concern was genuine. After discussion of the check, Ras tried the horchata. A look of genuine joy betrayed her features. It was clear that Ras had never had horchata before and it was clear that she loved it.

I'm so jelly of baked goodness. - Also she's a lie detector remember?

[levelthreehooligan]

Piñara hums, listening to Ras tell her story. She... She's lying, Pina can feel it. but it's not the same lies that her clients tell her, not the malicious feeling of a threat that spews from the mouths of her competition.

She's hiding something, but she's not going to call her out on it. she's obviously not from Thanalan, her skin is too fair and the accent isn't regional, though it's a good estimation of it. Sorry Ras, Pinya is a very hands-on business owner and knows her land back to front.

"Well, I hope that the city is as good as you want it to be!" She smiles widely anyway, it's not her business that this woman is hiding something from her. Who knows, mayhaps if they get closer she'll be given the truth, but it's not something she's going to squeeze out of a new acquaintance.

At the mention of Gil, Mona and Pinya both laugh.

"Don't ye worry lass, this here little lady pays for half of my business! This is on the house!" Mona waves Ras off, not unkindly.

"Mona really loves to bake, you see, and I really love to eat whatever she bakes. 'Twas only natural for me to help fund her!" Pinara smiles, taking a long sip of the chilled Horchata and sighing in contentment.

Piñara watches as Ras takes a sip of her drink, and that seals it. No Thanalan local is ever THAT surprised about Horchata, even if Mona's is ridiculously good. It's clear that this is her first taste of the drink.

"I think we might have to get you a couple of glasses for the road, huh?" Pina grins widely.

i totally know that she is, i'm just not going to write for u, also i keep forgetting 2 swap icons

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras was relieved at the waving off of gil. She had spent almost everything she had to get over to Eorzea and starting to make money is always rough in the beginning, but she knew this was a temporary situation.

"No, no, no, that's alright." She smiled cheerily. "Don't want too much of a good thing." She started to leisurely eat at the cinnamon bun - it was the first real food she'd had since home. She was very pleased, better than what she's had from wayward travelers in the past by far. Ras let herself relax into the cafe and the company of Piñara.

"This is the first time I've really gotten a chance to sit down a relax a little since getting here. Being in the city is really different from struggling to get by. It's so..." She paused, trying to find the right word. She made a small face, unable to find a word to express what she was feeling. "There's a lot of money here. More than I've ever seen, at least. I'm definitely glad I came. I was a little disappointed, though. Are the owners of the gladiator's guild always so... Set in their ways?" That was a polite way to put it.

[levelthreehooligan]

"Ha, well I suppose that makes sense." She giggles.

"And, yes. This city is always moving but never changing, you get to learn it eventually." The face that Ras makes when she thinks is adorable and Pinya finds herself a little bit smitten, even more so when she's trying to find a way to say 'Filthy Rich'.

"Yes, yes we do have quite a lot of money here. We worked our way up and out after the Calamity, and were lucky enough to have the least rebuilding to do. Also, we are relentless business people. We can make a good deal with anything." She laughs.

"As for the gladiators... Mylla has been through a significant amount of changes that she wasn't prepared for. She's running it the only way she knows how to, meaning that it hasn't changed nor updated itself to fit itself to current needs." She worries about Mylla a little bit. She had hoped to help the gladiator out but she refused any and all help from the Conadas.

oh god they're going to get all gay if they don't look around n shit

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras laughed lightly to the comment about being business people. She did vaguely remember hearing that Ul'dah was a big trading capital from travelers when she was at home, but she would admit she didn't necessarily pay the most attention. She always focused on new food or news on the Garlean Empire.

"Mm. That makes me feel a little bad leaving." She didn't really want to ask about what was going on. It wasn't her business and, honestly, Ras was more interested in Pinya than in the gladiator's guild. She just wasn't sure how to get her to talk about herself without basically saying that she was from literally anywhere but Eorzea.

"So what does being an envoy have you doing? That must be something interesting. I'm sure you get to talk to a lot of important folk." Ras didn't realize she was almost out of her horchata. She'd spent too much time looking at Pinya, but, who wouldn't? Can't just get a crush on the first person to talk to me in Eorzea for more than 10 minutes. She hid her smile in finishing off her mug while listening to Pinya.

Re: oh god they're going to get all gay if they don't look around n shit

[levelthreehooligan]

“Ahh, don’t feel too bad. Ul’Dah is full of people wanting to learn the way of the Blade. What matters most is that you find something that you want to do.” She smiles, and realises that it’s because this woman isn’t from Eorzea that she can be so relaxed. You’d be hard pressed to find someone in this city who didn’t have an opinion about the Conadas, wrong or otherwise. It’s a relief to talk to someone that has no idea just how influential her Syndicate is.

“Well, It mostly started out because I was in the right place in the right time. Wrong place wrong time, perhaps, if fighting with the Ixal gives us any indication. I was simply helping out with some requests in Gridania when one of them sent me to the Lifemend Stump. There’s been a lot of corrupted Aether in the Shroud as of late, and I’m investigating that and liaising with the other envoys.” It’s a bit of a shock that it was happening in other places too.

She sent a missive to all of her managers to keep an eye out for anything similar in their lands and to report back to her as soon as they could if they saw anything. So far, three of them in La Noscea and two in Thanalan have reported. It’s not great.

“As it turns out, Gridania isn’t the only place that it’s happening -“ And she launches into an explaination of the observations that the other city states have made.

She’s actually gone into lecture mode, an almost hyper focus in her problem, gesturing and really explaining everything with a great amount of comprehension. She might be talking just a little bit fast though.

I GOT SOME ICONS LAST NIGHT R U PROUD

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras listened to Pinya's entire explanation, keeping pace just fine, even if some of the things mentioned were just words that she recognized and not necessarily places she knew the locations of. Ras at least knew of the beast tribes and what they were, so there was that. She was very attentive and gave small nods as well as small sounds of acknowledgement so that Pinya knew she was listening, even though Pinya was so far buried in this problem it didn't matter.

"I see, that makes sense. I've heard some talk about the Amalj'aa here gathering in numbers greater than usual. I was hoping to get the handle on magic so that I wouldn't be defenseless leaving the city and then join up to help investigate what's been going on. There is something unsettling about the fact that this is happening elsewhere as well - I'm sure they're all connected somehow, though the how is the more interesting question." Ras passively realized she was probably going to write down the details of what Pinya had said. She had a great memory, but her mind often filled with too much thought and it would help her stay organized. She hadn't quite gotten the hang of compartmentalizing her emotions and thoughts yet.

Im so proud im also late OTL

[levelthreehooligan]

"Mhmm, We're having to pull double time in Gridania just to keep them away from all the Smallfolk." They've been topped up on their Horchata a couple of times from Mona now, and Pinya at least is pleasantly full.

"Walk and Talk?" She asks, putting a few gil on the table for Mona later (Far too much, but she's not taking no for an answer.

She hops down from the barstool, offering Ras a hand down.

it ok, i lowkey forgot that ras is still a lala so i mean we all win some and lose some

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras smiled at the thought of walking off some of the Horchata and bun - she had started to get a little sleepy from sitting. "Certainly!" She took the hand and hopped off the stool, but not after taking note of the amount of gil she left Mona. She didn't comment on it.

They started walking towards the market, continuing the city tour, though Ras's mind was now racing with the issues that Pinya had brought up. "It's troubling that such things are currently up in such a stir." She thought of how sometimes the elementals from the Azim Steppe got stirred up due to imbalances in aether and how troublesome that was on the occasions it rarely happened. She shook her head a little, moving on in the conversation just because she felt like maybe Pinya wouldn't want to talk about work on this little tour. She wouldn't mind if the conversation directed back to it despite her attempt to change it, however. She hoped to get up to speed and join in on the case.

"The market almost moves too fast for me - how does anyone manage to keep up? And are there any secrets to convincing shopkeeps to lower prices a little? Some of their wares are valued a little high for someone just getting started." She genuinely was not asking for a hand out nor did it come off this way, but she hoped regardless that Pinya didn't give her any money. She was doing okay, but getting repairs or food had her living from job to job right at this moment.

[levelthreehooligan]

The markets are Pinya's home turf.

It shows in the easy way she manoeuvres through the crowd and the offhand greetings she gets from all the stall owners; the occasional scowls and scoffs that come with them too.

She commands the Golden Exchange without trying or even realising, and it's probably a little bit intimidating.

"Barter. Barter like you know what you're on about." She smirks at Raz. "Only foreigners pay the advertised price, mostly because they're too honourable to barter like we do in Ul'Dah. Gridania is where you want to be if you want Fair, Limsa's where you get Rare, but Ul'dah is where you get Good."

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras watched Pinya maneuver the markets, definitely in a sort of awe on how at ease she was. Ras always felt too rushed in the markets and always was embarrassed with herself because she felt she was just in the way and inconveniencing someone. At home the markets were more of a treat so you would go more slowly and take your time, bartering could be a long affair and wasn't necessarily over gil - more likely over goods to trade.

"I guess I'm just not very used to how I feel like I'm always in the way in the market. I suppose everyone is in the way here, though, and I need to just get over that." She gave a small laugh. "I guess I should have gone off to Gridania to start, but trial by fire is often the best way to learn, right?" She was in a good mood. She hadn't expected this excursion but was glad she decided to go along with it. She would ask for critique on her form for bartering, but she did not have enough gil for her to be confident of actually landing anything, and there was nothing she particularly needed.

sorry i'm late!

[levelthreehooligan]

"The secret of The Market is you have to pretend that you own The Market." She confides, sending a wink and a sly smile in Ras' direction.

It might not be fair for her to say that, because she like... you know... owns The Market.

"And pssh. Gridania's good, if you want to be a hippie forever more. Ul'Dah's got you covered for pretty much everything!"

no IM sorry IM late :c also i can't remember if it's ave or lane i'm sorry pretend it's right

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras couldn't help but laugh at the hippie comment. "I'll have to keep that trick in mind, then!" She couldn't help the grin on her face. She was admittedly having quite a bit of fun. She pointed down Pearl Avenue after a little more chat about the markets. "So, what's down there? I remember having to go through there to go to the gladiator's guild before I left them. I never really paid much attention to it..." Her voice trailed off. She honestly felt uncomfortable in that specific section of the city, but was unwilling to say it.

Re: no IM sorry IM late :c also i can't remember if it's ave or lane i'm sorry pretend it's right

[levelthreehooligan]

Pinya stops as Ras points out Pearl Avenue, exhaling in what sounds like defeat.

"The Avenue is... Was filled with small stalls, much like Mona's, but now it's just. Empty." She looks incredibly displeased about it..

"At the moment, the empty stalls are being used by Ala Mhigan refugees, squatters. My Syndicate wants to revive the lanes and employ them but we're meeting a lot of resistance in the meeting Chambers. Lolorito doesn't think they're worth it, and half the chamber won't fight him. I'm having to find other ways to employ them out side of the city." This evidently weighs on her a lot.

"There's so many of them though, and I can only house on-site workers right now."

[darkmagiciangirl]

Ras listened to the explanation, confusion on her face as she continued to gaze towards Pearl Avenue.

"Why wouldn't it be worth it?" She looked to Pinya. "Keeping the bottom held up is what keeps a-" the word tribe almost slipped out of mouth "-n economy together." In her home they helped those who otherwise would be 'worthless' to the tribe with a deep belief that all people were useful in some way - and they were. Those who were unable to hunt often did things such as repair clothes, repair tools, etc. "I'm sure that the refugees have skill-sets that they could use to properly bring life back into the Avenue? Lolorito sounds like a blind man if he doesn't see the value in it." While she didn't comment on it, Pinya's reference to herself employing them was not missed by Ras. She didn't realize she was dealing with someone so... powerful in Ul'dah. She called no attention to it. She was enjoying things how they were and didn't want to change the dynamic.

"I'm just curious... What happens if you just... Do it anyway? Back at home sometimes it was better to just do things and ask for forgiveness after. Sometimes it's not worth it to ask permission beforehand." That's how her parents ended up together and Monx herself was half Kha, half Gesi, though she bore the Kha name. She knew the fact that she was foreign was most likely showing with this question, but she couldn't help but ask.