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[indent][indent][indent][color=gray][sub][right][color=92278f][b]Location:[/b][/color] City Streets -- The City of Thorinn, Aetheria[/right][/sub][/color]
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With the sudden influx of wayfarers seeking refuge in Thorinn, it came as no surprise that the downtown market was utterly flooded with people. Denizens and players alike crowded the vendors, filling the air with a nearly-overwhelming cacophony of haggling, arguments, and occasionally a threat of violence. People were scared. They were hoarding. Food flew from the stands, alchemists were selling potions faster than they could brew them. The poor smiths, bless their hearts, would likely be working day and night for weeks to fill the orders they’d gotten in one afternoon alone. 
[color=#2E2C2C]…[/color]
It was disconcerting to Seele, if she was being honest. Thorinn was about to find itself with an abundance of wayfarers who were not only afraid for their lives, but who were also armed to the teeth. She hoped that in a few days’ time they’d all settle down, and the bubbling tension wouldn’t boil over into anything drastic. Well, really she hoped that in a few days’ time this whole problem would be fixed, but it seemed a bit silly to imagine a timeframe for a problem so…grand in scale.  

Navigating the bustle wasn’t easy, but they managed. Seele made note of a few bakeries along the way, pointing them out to Kazuki only to feel a bit weird about it afterwards. 

[color=92278f]“Ah, sorry, I don’t know why I’m acting like a tour guide. You’re the one with a house here, you probably know the city better than I do. Thorinn is nice and all, but if I’m being honest, I think I’ve always sorta preferred the Theremian vale, or the Toraenis midlands.”[/color] It felt a bit guilting to say out loud. She giggled. [color=92278f]“Don’t tell my pathos, though. What’s yours, by the way? You don’t strike me as the Drox type. Did you travel here from your starting kingdom?”[/color]
[color=#2E2C2C]…[/color]
They came upon a clothier’s shop that was relatively uncrowded, which she supposed made sense. There were probably better, cheaper places to buy materials, and she doubted fancy clothes were high on anyone’s must-have list as it was. Nor was it on hers, either, and though she hadn’t come for clothes, she did always feel a little bit guilty whenever she spent money on herself.

But she really did not want another hat. 

[color=92278f]“Oh, sorry, hold that thought just a moment. I’ll be [i]right[/i] back!”[/color]

Seele vanished inside, leaving Kazuki alone—or as alone as anyone could be in a busy market—for what was, to her credit, as close to “a moment” as someone could reasonably expect. When she came back out there was nothing noticeably different about her apparel, but she seemed delighted nonetheless. Her hand rested on a handle jutting from the hip of the manifold layers of her robe, and she smirked with the closest approximation to “devilishness” that she was capable of. With a bit of flourish, she drew from its thin sheath something that might have at first glance been a kind of oddly-shaped rapier, but then with a click of some internal mechanism, revealed itself in a flapping of cloth to in fact be a simple, black parasol. 

She twirled it happily and let it come to rest against her shoulder, casting herself in its shade.
[color=#2E2C2C]…[/color]                                                                                             [color=#2E2C2C]…sy…[/color]
[color=92278f]“Ah, [i]there[/i] we go, much better. Thanks for indulging me, this’ll make the sun much more bearable. And unlike that old hat, I can actually keep this in check if things get…exciting, let’s say. But anyway, we were walking.”[/color][/indent][/indent][/indent]