Chapter 3

The Vulpine Comes Ashore

From a break in the tree line, the woman could see the walls of a rather large town, with a castle seated in what looked like the center of it. She had been traveling for days, lost within the woods. The ship that carried her and her caravan beached well off of the southern coast, it wasn't long before she salvaged what she could from the ship and packed up the horses she managed to save. Thinking on the subject the woman remembered diving for a specific case, it held something special inside it. She shook her head and cleared it of the reminiscent fog from her memories, she then marched on. The woman, was a woman by shape and form, but she held some more... wild features. Long auburn hair flowed down her back to a fox like tail. She was a vulpine. A humanoid like fox being. Along with her fox like tail, she possessed two large and sensitive ears. That stood upwards from her head. Patches of fur on her legs and waist as well. She actually held another form within her. One that clad her in thick furs that makes her more akin to her bestial parts. The vessel that had carrled the woman and most of her wares, also carried her coin. With it now resting at the bottom of the sea, so to was her way of paying for anything to eat or a place to sleep. Luckily however, the woman had saved a tent, and knew her way in the wilds well enough to survive. It had taken her around two weeks of trekking through the forests, to finally reach the edge of civilization.

Leading her horses, the woman walked onwards through one of the large gates that led into the city. It was now she saw how truly massive the menagerie of people really was. People of all types gathered here, The Marketplace. Vendors from all over, and of every race. Demon, Tiefling, Succubi, Incubi, Human, Vulpine, Lupine, Feline, all sorts of people in the Daeva category of races happily going about their business and shopping. The whole Market gave off a feeling of warmth and happiness. Being a merchant by trade, the woman knew she couldn't just set up a shop, she left her caravan just inside the gate by some of the guards posted at it. Then began heading towards the castle. Maybe the leader of the realm could give her a pass or permit to sell what she had. She walked and walked, making her way up towards the castle. It wasn't hard, most roads actually led to it if you looked at them. The woman crossed the distance with little effort before she reached the large, obsidian colored building. It was massive, well over one hundred feet in height. Undeterred by the staggering height of the main door, the woman saw various townsfolk coming and going. Was it an open castle? Was the Leader of the realm this polite, and nice that they saw every one of their folks personaly? She shook her head and continued down the causeway, She would find out in a few moments if her questions would be answered. Within a few minutes, the woman reached the throne room, a room so massive it made the seventy-five foot tal causeway she just walked up look like a cottage. She stood just inside the threshold of the massive doors of the throne room and took a few breaths. She knew what to say, but it all depended on the Leader.

Having stood to the right of the large doors of the throne room, The Vulpine woman watched as guests came and went, all smiling and happy. She decided it was time to go speak with the leader, who by what she heard from standing there, was a woman. She walked down the center carpet, which lead to the throne. In the distance, she could see the Leader, a regal and divine looking woman with horns. From what she saw in the marketplace the Vulpine knew the Leader, who she assumed was a Queen, was in fact a demon. Approaching the throne, the woman dropped to a knee and spoke, her voice was calm and soft, yet it still echoed to her in this size of room. "Dear Queen, I wish to ask you for help. If I may explain my story then, ask what I need I would be grateful for you to hear me.“

The Queen sat with a book in her lap, between talking to people and her usual morning routine, she enjoyed a fair bit of reading her current book, was something about stars from what the vulpine woman could see on the face of the book. Her face let off a soft smile, before she spoke, her words were soft and almost comforting, "What is it you require my dear?" The Queen shifted a bit in her seat, before she stood upwards, placing the book into the chair like a place holder then descended the small stair case in front of her throne Piecg the woman, Placing one of her lithe hands onto her shoulder, The Queen lifted her to a standing position and awaited an answer. The woman hadn't had time to react yet, least not fully, she was used to hearing a tirade about anything she had to deal with being "her Problem" and "not worth the time of a noble, or royal" The Queens actions were a bit startling. Looking to the Queen as she stood, knowing exactly what the Queen's action meant, the woman began to speak, her mouth moving a bit faster than her brain, the full effect of her incident and two weeks alcone in the forest beginning to show.

"My Queen, My name is Joy, l am a merchant who was.." She paused remembering the cause of the vessels demise. An alchemical accident, someone stacking sacks of powders and barrels of liquids wrong ended in an explosion that blew a hole in the hull, and cracked the deck of the ship, it sank within minutes. Joy continued, her words holding a twinge of unstableness at the end of them "Wos... on my way towards your city, our ship sank... and all of my crew I had hired, my friends who traveled with me..didn't make it..." Hearing Joy's words begin to fiy from her mouth as if she was scrambling to tell the whole story in one breath the Queen put her finger up, placing it against Joys lips and spoke, seeing the woman fall silent. "It is very nice to meet you Joy, andl am sorry for your loss, Death weighs heavy on the mind. I need you to tell me what I can do to help you?" Her tone was comforting, and sounded concerned. She was genuinely concerned, as long as Joy stood inside the walls of her City, she was one of the Queens people. After she was done speaking the Queen moved her finger, and allowed Joy to speak. With her mind back on track, Joy took a large and deep breath before she spoke once more. "I would like to try and set up shop or someplace to sell what I managed to save, It would be enough to get me buy till l could find a way to support myself." Hearing her words, The Queen smiled, and took Joys arm, beginning to walk with her as she made a simple retort. "lets see what you have to offer.."

With their arms linked, Joy and her new companion walked from the throne room, out into the city once again. The entire scenario was off-putting to Joy. She was so accustomed to rude and belligerent Royals that the Queen, was bizarre. Joy noticed that the pair walked rather slowly, as if the Queen held no sense of urgency, then again. When you are the Queen, do you really need to be urgent about anything? Shaking off the thought, and almost doing the action physically, she noticed the smiles of the people growing wider, more apparent. The City folk where happy to see the Queen, to joy this usually meant one of two things, ruler by fear, or she was someone the people loved whole heartedly. Both thoughts concerned Joy. Her eyes were drawn to her current company as she heard the Queen speak softly. "You said you were something of a merchant? Tell me, what wares did you posses?" Joy thought about the Question, Was there no type of merchant guild, or class of people who bought and sold goods? "I sold, a large variety of items. Clothes, books, potions, medicines. A good way to say it would be a general store, nothing specific, or anything meant to challenge the business of the specialty stores in the area, but enough the working man or woman could come in place a few coin down and walk out with what they needadChe lo across her vulpine face, her lips curling into the expression. She remembered almost every one of her customers, there was never a shortage of them but some sto out more than others.

Joy didn't have a a silver tongue or gift of gab that caused folks to spend more money than they needed to, oh no, through her years of buying and selling products, shipping and storing materials she learned how to read a persons wants, and needs as soon as they walked into her shop. She was doing it even now, albeit subconsciously as they walked towards the meager remains of her once luscious stocks. She darted her eyes to her side, seeing a man, reading him like a book. A leather worker, with soft hands, no doubt someone who worked with needles and thread. From the short glimpse she caught, she saw his finger tips swollen. He no doubt didn't use a thimble, or use a rather large needle. The woman a few steps behind him, was a miner, her arms were burly, much like a mans. Her frame was stout, and her face was surprisingly fair, Joy knew by looking to her, she used alchemy and potions to keep herself protected from the stains that came from mining. She continued to analyze the Queens people, seeing how diverse and new the land, she had landed into truly was.

The Queen heard the answer and thought on it, they hand many places specialized in the things she sold. After all, next to her garden, her marketplace was one of her favorite places to stroll through. She did have preferred vendors she went to but she enjoyed all the shops all the same. As the pair walked, they actually passed a few places. Wrough Tiron Works, A smithery owned by a boisterous Dwarf, and staffed by his adopted daughter/assistant Morgan. She was a strange one, worked in the forge covered in cleric robes from head to toe. Rumor has it, Wrough is the only one to see her without it, then again Rumor has a lot of things. Just down the way and opposite side of the street from the forge, rested Tye Lar's boutique. A master craftsmen in anything fabric, Tye never disappointed. Five buildings down from Tye's shop rested the Sardonyx emporium, A jewelry shop ran by Citrine Gleamglass, a girl with an eye for shiny things and pretty rocks. Only passing a few of her favorite places, in the market place, the Queen finally arrived at Joys She had e had a meager amount or e stood e money surprisingly small caravan of, three horses, one looked to be used as a riding horse while the others where pack and travel horses. There were many small bags and cases attached to the pack animals but one case stuck out to the Queen, she didn't know why, maybe it was the fact it was poorly hidden? Or the metal the case was made from shown brightly in the morning sun, whatever the case may be, it had her attention. Joy quickly covered the case with a blanket, she had finished untying the animals from their hitch post and looked to the Queen. "This is all I have M'lady.... Least all I have left."

Stolen story; please report.

Her words where a mix of pride in her remaining stock, and sadness from the constant reminder of the loss of her friends, crew, And other stores. of goods. Some cases of health potions, a red s. healed most wounds by causing rapid cell regeneration. It was a sight to see someone with a large wound stitch themseh a red liquid that ned. nselves back together in real time by their body alone. She carried various other thingslike rope, and climbing gear. It was enough to pay for a week or two at the inn if she sold for base price, and since she didn't have a gauge on what the people needed... She would have to cut her prices to that base line, maybe even lower. Joy watched the Queen waiting to see her thoughts about the remains of her stock. As Joy moved around the Queen made a mental note of what she had. Potions, adventurers gear and items. But one thing still held her attention fully, that strange metal case. After Joy stood ready for a verdict the Queen smiled. "It may not be much, but I do know that you grabbed what you could, and you also took great pride in what you sold to people. For thatI have a surprise for you. Follow me" As her sentence finished, The Queen turned and lead Joy as well as her pack animals into the market place again. They walked through the crowds of people easily even though there was an almost literal sea of people walking around buying and selling. After a short walk leading Joy into the heart of the market, the Queen motioned to a burnt building.

"As much as I hate to say this, this building was once a beautiful alchemy shop. Sadly, a mistake made by the owner caused an explosion that took his life and the life of his assistant. As a show of good faith, and to help you adjust, I am giving you this building to create a shop. Without that general store, my people have had to do more gathering, making it so more guards needed to be posed outside the walls of the city. Id rather not have my people go out of their way to get things that can be sold for them. Do you accept the position?" Joy was in shock again, not only was the Queen talking about a violent alchemical explosion like it was common place, but she was offering an almost perfect stranger a business, and chance to get back to where she was. She broke out into silent happy tears. She forced herself to stop before she hugged the Queen. "Thank you M'lady, you have no idea how much this means to me." The Queen didn't speak yet, but instead lifted her hands pointing her palms to the burnt remains of the building, a thin red line formed over the woman as the wreckage in front of her began to shift and move, charred boards spun and became new, the broken roof tiles re assembled themselves as a new building was formed, a simple two story building, the bottom floor to act as her shop, while the upper floor acted as her home, a place to stay. After the display the Queen turned to Joy and smiled sweetly, tilting her head a bit. "Here we are Ms. Joy. Your new shop."

It had only been a few moments since Joy had received her new shop. She had housed the horses in the alley stable around the back of the shop to keep them out of the way of the patrons. The shop was an exact layout of the previous one, the queen had made it from memory. She often came into the previous version of the shop to purchase dried flowers to scent her bathwaters with. Joy was busy packing in her items placing them near the entrance of the back room of the shop. The rear room of the shop was a sort of large store room with a smaller walled off section inside it for light sensitive items. The Queen didn't yet know it, but Joy had placed the metal case inside that room on the shelf and closed the door not thinking about it Yet. She was more worried on getting the rest of her wares inside and set up. With this large of a shop, it made the remnants of her previous stocks feel... smaller... Having finished carrying everything inside, Joy stood and adjusted her shirt she wore, per the requirements of the vessel she traveled on, no dresses. so the vulpine woman stood in a set of dark brown pants, that hugged her legs at the bottom and a rather loose top, it fit her but it sid from time to time showing her collar bone a bit. After fixing her shirt, she looked over to the Queen who sat, on a stool near the counter where Joy would make the transactions. she was sipping a cup of tea which Joy had made from her stocks, it was a kind gesture and show of gratitude for giving her the store.

Dusting her hands against her thighs Joy smiled and looked to the empty shop, It was very large and it would take her a decent amount of time to stock it fully. She was used to this amount of work, it even filled her with a sense of pride. She spoke not directly to the Queen but to the room, verbally stating her plan for the rest of her day. "Well, | might as well stock the shelves with that | have, It wont be much but it is enough to get started." Having said that, Joy begins to move around the store, The first thing she opens is a small crate containing small glass vials, each vial contained a viscous red liquid that sloshed around its glass prison. Joy moved to one of the slanted shelves, and places the crate on the ground beginning to pull the glass vials from the crate and place them on the shelf, the angle of t tilting them and allowing the red liquid to be struck by light, causing i to shine. Joy spoke again out to herself, maybe Just to help her thought process, or maybe to explain in case the Queen didn't know what she possessed in stack. “Health potions in place, next are mana tonics." with the final vial of the crimson solution on the shelf, it showed how few of them she had, the crate held sixteen in total however the shelf held about four times as many spaces as she had vials. Joy tried her best not to let it effect her mood but it sill hurt a bit, the loss of her lively hood and her friends, but she spent two weeks in the woods mourning for them, she was past it. With the empty crate in hand Joy replaced it for another crate that held a cerulean liquid within a glass vial, without wasting much time she. moved to the shelf and began placing the mana tonics on it as well. After unpacking them she noticed the same thing, more space than product. After the mana tonics Joy didn't really speak again, she went about trying to fil the shelves as best she could. Once she was finished she saw she had about twenty-five percent of the store filled, even then, it did not look like twenty-five percent. With her products in place the Vulpine woman moved behind the counter in front of the Queen who had watched her unload her wares into the store. With a final sip from her cup of tea the Queen looked to Joy and spoke "My dear, is this all you have left?" Joy responded with a hesitant nod before her face slowly shifted into one of bittersweet happiness. The Queen then stood up and walked a few feet from the counter to the middle of the store.

Joy didn't get to finish her sentence as the Queen pulled from her pocket a single gold coin, One side holding a moon, while the other holds a star. he smiled and looked to Joy "This should be more than enough to get you by and with my currency, this will keep you taken care of for a long while" The Vulpine woman looked to the coin then to the Queen, from her previous dealings with royals and merchants she knew that gold was the highest valued coin, and considering that she was talking to the Queen, she didn't say no. She agreed to the offer, however her stomach brought up an issue. Joys stomach let out a monstrous growl that startled her. The Queen however giggled and covered her mouth for a moment before she spoke. If you are hungry, I can go and get us something from one of my favorite shops nearby. In fact, we can go do that now” The queen says with a smile. The Queen left Joy for a short time heading just across the street to where the best baker and meatery in the city was. A lovely Orcish man by the name of Callus Rockjaw. The Queen loved Callus' shop for many reasons, but the main reason was his divine Red Velvet Cake. As the Queen entered she purchased from some various thinly sliced meats, some cheeses and of course some bread. She then headed back into Joy's shop only stopping to make note of the time. It was around noon. She didn't know when they arrived but the Queen knew that she had spent a fair bit of time in the new store.

While the Queen was out making an abrupt shopping trip, Joy cleaned herself up. There wasn't much to clean but it was still a mess. She had just finished as she heard the front bell ring, signaling either the Queen was back, or a customer had just walked in. She walked out to see the Queen with a large cloth bag of items to make a sandwich’s with. Joy smiled and walked to the counter where her and the Queen spent the next two hours chatting and enjoying a meal as friends, something the Queen didn't get to do often. After finishing up about half of the food that she had bought, the Queen smiled and stood upwards, leaving the shop with a simple “Take Care" as she exited. It was the few moments of silence that followed leaving the shop that the Queen got to look at her people, and let a small, almost motherly smile creep across her face. This fleeting moment of happiness was interrupted as a voice rings out over the sound of the bustling crowd "My Queen, Might I accompany you for a while?" Her small smile shifted into a wide grin as she turned to the source of the voice "Why yes Sir Grym, you may."