RP:Commissions Galore

Part of the On Stranger Tides Arc

Part of the Dissonance Theory Arc

This is a Devout's Guild RP.

This is a Warrior's Guild RP.

Summary: Khitti goes to see Iintahquohae about the hilt to her new sword and the two talk over another idea Khitti's been mulling over lately.

Shop Beneath the Dunes, Cenril

Khitti || Leaving Venturil had taken longer than Khitti’d thought. But, when she finally made it back and gotten things settled at home, she made the time to head to Iintahquohae’s shop. She almost missed the place entirely, as her tikifhlee bounded across the dunes, the sabrecat’s big paws propelling them along quicker than Khitti could have walked there. “Ah! Stop!” Khitti saw the weathered doors out of the corner of her eye and the cat skidded to a stop. The problem? Khitti wasn’t holding on when the cat stopped… and she went right over the front of it and on into the next dune. Like some sort of cartoon character, she dug her way out enough to poke her head out and spew way too much sand out of her mouth. “Ugh. Go on, you. Go find food while I’m busy,” she said, shooing away her mount. Khitti shook off as much sand as she could, but sadly, it was a lot like glitter and it still decided to stay attached to her clothing as she headed through the shop’s doors and down the stairs. “Iintahquohae? I’ve come to talk about the chrysoberyl and pearls.” After announcing her presence, she looked around a bit, coming to a stop in front of the masks.

Iintahquohae || With what the seamstress liked to call “Ball and Costume Season” right around the corner, Iintahquohae is decidedly busier than any other time of the year she can think of. It is clearly her favorite time of year, as the normally expressionless, borderline stoic in appearance-looking woman is entirely within her element and all smiles, shifting between humming or singing fairly off key snippets of sailor's songs and whatever bard she overheard in her evening visits to the Whaler's Bar. The mannequins that usually subtly move when shoppers are for the most part, perfectly still, clothed in gowns and costumes that are at varying stages of completion. The shop's owner can be seen examining one of these gowns in progress pinned to a dress form, with a pin cushion attached to a wrist band set on her left wrist while she's in the process of draping a bodice. The fabric she works with is dyed a mixture of blues and greens, and with the way the skirt has been shaped so far, it's likely a mermaid costume. Her pinning and draping of the bodice comes to a halt when she hears Khitti arrive, and her head turns, grin appearing on her face. “Ah! Khitti, so good to see you! Come on in, come in,” she greets, folding the length of fabric in her arms and draping it over the dress form's shoulder. She removes the pin cushion bracelet and sets it on the shoulder as well, using one of the pins to keep it from falling off. With the shop full of more gowns and frills than usual, she carefully weaves her way around the mannequins to one of the cupboards along the wall. Inside she has stored a box of chrysoberyl and pearls collected for Khitti, from what felt to her like a dragon's hoard of gems. She cranes her neck over a mannequin dressed in white and gold, spying her guest near the masks and waves to her desk at the back end of the shop. A warm tea pot sits upon the desk, along with empty cups and a stack of loose leaf tea boxes. Mama Oohjmaeyik always left a tray of cookies upstairs when the seamstress was working, and she tried to go all out this time with the variety she made when Iintahquohae announced that the owner of Ginger Snapped herself would be visiting. She and her mother are huge fans. “I have a lot of different pieces for you to look at, if you would like to have a seat,” she says upon reaching the desk. The box is set down upon it in an empty space, and the lid is lifted open. Pearls in every color rest within, fresh and saltwater, along with varying sizes of chrysoberyl, some already cut and faceted and others rough. “Please help yourself to anything.”

Khitti || Once Iintahquohae had called attention to herself, Khitti offered the woman a smile and a nod. She went to speak, but her train of thought derailed for the moment as she spied the mermaid costume. “Oh, wow. That’s so nice!” She sighed a little. Khitti wished sometimes she could have the real thing. Or at least the option of having a mermaid tail when she wanted it. She forced the thought from her mind and refocused on what she’d come for as she withdrew her gladius, Embershard, from its sheath and set it on the desk, to compare the size of its obsidian to the size of the chrysoberyl that the seamstress had picked out for her. But first? The tea and cookies. A cookie is chosen at random and stuffed into Khitti’s mouth, her hands then reaching for the teapot, a cup, and the box of loose leaf peppermint tea. It’s clear she enjoyed all of it because once the first cookie was gone, another random one was also shoved into her mouth. Because Khitti can attempt to be polite around people she’s acquaintances with, she doesn’t speak until she’s done chewing and had a sip of tea. “Who made those? They should come work at my bakery,” she said, eyeing the rest. For the moment, she resisted the rest and went back to the task at hand. “Hmm.” Khitti picked up a piece of chrysoberyl and looked it over, putting it up against the obsidian hilt of her sword to check the length. “I’m hoping these work for me like they do the witches. A friend of mine explained to me how they use crystals in their spellwork, but I’m still not quite sure how it works. Basically, the obsidian, dark steel, and alexandrite that were used to make this sword all come from the Shadow Plane and they help enhance my dark magic, thanks to the latent dark magic that’s in the entire plane itself. I wanted something similar for my new sword, to help enhance my light magic. Obviously that works in theory, but… I don’t truly know how the witches go about that stuff. I did some digging and these two stones fit the best, but… do crystals have that same kind of power in this plane?” It wasn’t something Khitti’d ever really thought about before until now.

Iintahquohae || “You like it? I could always make you something like it if you want! It's the least I could do after your help getting those dragon scales and mammoth pelts – Thank you for that again, by the way.” Her stockpile of scales tended to deplete quickly around this time of year, so having two dragons-worth of scales to work with took a lot of stress away. As Khitti voiced her praise of Mother's cookies, she can't help imagining the reaction her mother would have when she tells her. “That would be Mother, and she'll be over the moons once she hears this!” the seamstress replies. “We're big fans. Mother bakes whenever she has the time to but with all of this,” a hand waves to the shop's space, “there isn't as much time as she'd like. Thankfully with me taking over she'll go back to baking away soon!” As Khitti examines the stones she provided, Iintahquohae recalls the very brief moment years ago when she attempted to dabble in witchcraft. “I remember skimming a book in Cenril's library about how to make crystals work, but if I'm honest, it's over my head...” She shrugs. “I remember trying to use amethyst to help me sleep by just tucking it under my pillow at night, but that only left me with neck cramps when I moved around and it pressed up against my neck.” Snickering, she reaches for one of the stones in the box and examines it, turning the stone over in her fingers. “I wonder if they meditate with it in their hands, or stick it in the middle of some sigils and runes that explain what they want the crystals to be used for, and somehow that feeds itself into it?” Puzzled, she finds herself shrugging again. “It's something I think it'd be worth researching, I think. I'm terrible with magic if it involves flinging a ball of fire or anything, but I can put magic into things – fabric, particularly. Perhaps...” Focusing on the piece of chrysoberyl in her palm, she tries to feel out its potential purpose. She cannot fully grasp it, but the crystal briefly flickers with a flash of light. It isn't much. Iintahquohae's lips press into a thin line and her eyes narrow at the crystal, before she looks to Khitti again. “Well, that could easily have just been the light in here bouncing off of the surface. I remember you mentioning holy magic in your letter. I can't say I'm familiar with holy magic or what powers can exist on other planes to be honest. That might have been nothing at all. Did that bit of light feel holy to you, or was it just a bit of light?”

Khitti || “Actually, I have had something else in mind of late, clothing-wise. There’s this type of armor called a ‘coat-of-plates’. It’s basically like chainmail sandwiched between two pieces of cloth? Except the chainmail is actually tiny plates overlapping each other, like scalemail. I’ve seen artwork of some and they still seem like they might be too heavy for me… But, now that I’ve learned more about true steel, I’m starting to think that maybe that might be the right metal to make the plates from. It’s mostly used by avians, I guess, because it’s as light as fabric, but as hard as steel. When I’m fighting, I need to be able to move around a lot. It’s why I tend to wear a lot of knee-length, sleeveless dresses.” Khitti motioned to her current outfit, which just so happened to be in that style, though it had a pair of leggings and a cardigan to accompany it. “It just flows better and I’m able to be more flexible whether I’m using my bow or my swords or whatever. I also wear a black catsuit that’s made of soft leather, but that only goes so far, protection-wise. I don’t mind my legs and arms getting all cut up somewhat, but I’d like to keep the vital organs intact, you know,” Khitti said with a smirk. “The idea I had is more of a ‘dress-of-plates’. Silk seemed like maybe the best for the cloth on the outside? But, obviously you know waaaaaay more about this than I do, heh.” Taking a sip of tea, she grinned at the seamstress, “Well tell your mother I’ll certainly do baking trades if she’d like. She could make some cookies… I could make a carrot cake…” She hoped the explanation was clear enough. Speaking of clear, Khitti fixed her line of sight on the chrysoberyl as Iintahquohae attempted to conjure up some sort of light magic with the crystal, “I… am not sure. I’m going to be honest, I’m still kind of… unskilled in the holy magic world. I tend to lean on the shadows more. It’s more familiar. Has been for a long time. But! It’s entirely possible that it -was-. I think you’re right though and I may have to attune myself to the crystals with meditation or runes or something. This sounds vaguely familiar.” Khitti let out a ‘hm’ and fixed her attention on the pieces the seamstress had picked out for her, “Oh! This one looks good. And these pearls here too!” Both types of crystal were retrieved from the box, the chrysoberyl a rather large piece and the pearls all of varying shades of gold.

Iintahquohae || “Coat of Plates?” Iintahquohae asked. “I've never made something like that, but...” She trails off, envisioning how a garment as Khitti described could be made, and it seemed simple enough. Knowing that any garment that seemed “simple enough” meant the exact opposite, she grins. New challenges were a favorite of hers, especially once the gears started to turn and she fussed about with mock-ups and fixing errors until a piece was perfect. “I've never used true steel before,” the seamstress eventually replies. “However, I think taking a trip to Schezerade is in order so I can get my hands on a bit of it and see what I can do for you. This absolutely can be done, but it'll take a bit of trial and error on my part to make it perfect.” What Khitti described for a dress-of-plates is imagined next, though the image she has is foggy due to having not used true steel before. “I'd love to make this for you- and you're right, silk is the best by far. It's much more durable than cotton and if you're concerned with fluidity,” a pause follows, in which the seamtress rummages through one of the drawers on her side of the desk. A swatch of undyed fabric is produced and presented to the other woman. “This is sea silk, made from the beards of various shellfish between here and Rynvale. Father used to tell me stories that Selene and Zaytor themselves wear clothes out of this when I was a child. It's sturdy, much lighter than silk made from worms, and it moves like the water I harvest it from, as you can see. Nobody on this side of the sea as far as I know makes the stuff any more due to how time consuming it is to make, but I harvest and work on making it almost daily. Honestly, it's probably the bulk of my job when things aren't as chaotic as they are now,” she laughs, gesturing to the gowns behind them. The seamstress can imagine her mother's reaction at the notion of trading baked goods with the likes of Khitti. She'll be starstruck! “I'll pass the suggestion off to her, but I can tell you now – she'll definitely say yes. ..And I'm uncertain about holy magic as well. Magic as a whole, honestly. I can enchant things – fabric, primarily, but most anything else is lost on me.” Gesturing to the piece of chrysoberyl she attempted to rouse something out of, she shrugs. “I wonder if it's for me sometimes, but hopefully I can dig back into studying and actually get a better grasp on things soon.” As Khitti chose chrysoberyl and pearls that she wanted for her hilt, she removed another, smaller box from the desk drawer so she could keep track of which ones were for the project and which could go back to her hoard of jewels. Small talk isn't her strong suit, so she wonders if asking about Lionel is too out of place in a setting like this. She chews on her bottom lip for a moment, before voicing her question.“Do you think he'll be okay? Found in one piece, at least? Lionel, I mean. ...I know it isn't my fault that he disappeared in front of me, but I wonder if my meeting him that day when I wanted to ask for his help caused more trouble for the Warrior's Guild.”

Khitti thought things over for a moment as Iintahquohae also mused on the subject. “Oh, duh,” she said, reaching into her satchel to pull out a sketchpad and a bit of charcoal. “Been keeping this on me more often lately thanks to all these ideas I’ve had for different things.” She flipped through the pages, tearing one out that had the likeness of Embershard’s hilt and the measurements for it, so that the seamstress could mimic it for the new sword. “I suppose the dress could be in two pieces instead, if it made more sense that way.” The parchment with the hilt on it was given to Inks, before Khitti went searching through her other drawings. There were many different pieces of art in there, some charcoal, many watercolor, and even a few pencil drawings of anything ranging from Brand’s lovely grumpy face, to her tikifhlee, to even what seemed to be a mindflayer…

Eventually, she found it with an ‘aha!’ and folded the pages back so that she could hand it over. There were a few different sketches on the same page. She couldn’t quite decide whether or not a Queen Anne or high neck neckline would be better nor could she decide between whether or not to have a knife-pleated, paneled, or circle type skirt. “There’s a few variations for the style itself. I want to be able to wear this not just in combat, but for other sorts of things, like some sort of infiltration mission or hell, with the way things go around here, it’d work for balls too. The main thing I can’t figure out is whether it should be form-fitting entirely or what sort of waistline it should have. Trying to get the right mix of function and fashion is difficult for something like this, it seems.” Khitti was not keen on being the type to wear “boob plate”, ie: the type of armor that makes it far more likely to allow a sword to run straight through you. Though, this wasn’t actual plate armor they’d be working with, so there’d likely be more give in movement and where there’d be problems in protection. “Maybe a princess style dress? Just at or above the knee?” Once Inks brought out the sea silk, Khitti eyed it with wonder, “I’m definitely okay with sea silk being used. I’ve got a bit of a thing for the sea--though you probably could tell when I saw what you were working on, heh. Are you and your family followers of Selene and Zaytor then?” Lionel was brought up and Khitti frowned a little, “I honestly don’t know. Him and I have been through a lot, both together and apart. We’ve both come back from the dead. It’s… a lot to really name off, to be honest. But, this place… I did not think a place like the Demon Archipelago would be a thing in this plane of existence. The Shadow Plane? Absolutely. But here…? I had thought that the people we live amongst would have sufficed enough in terms of monsters or demons.” She sighed heavily, “Praying is not something I do often, even with being the leader of the Devout’s Guild. I’m just… I have not always believed in the gods; it's hard for me to do. But, I have been praying to Cyris and Vakmatharas for this. Cyris for his freedom… and Vakmatharas so that if he is dead, that he’s taken straight to the void so no one else can hurt him. I’ve even asked Arkhen to keep watch over him, to help keep hope alive in Lionel. But, I don’t know if they’re listening. I don’t know if -anyone- is listening. If I’ve been shown signs, I don’t know what they are or what they mean. I just know that I have a bad feeling about that Cave of Regrets…”

Iintahquohae || Once she has Khitti's sketch of the hilt in her hands, Iintahquohae looks over it. A grin gradually appears. “I can't say the last time someone gave me -exactly- what they wanted. This makes things infinitely easier.” She laughs, glancing away from the page to catch glimpses of the other drawings and paintings Khitti has made in her sketchpad. “You're talented,” she remarks. “I draw and paint a bit as well, but it's all just prerequisites for whatever I'm making. It isn't remotely as detailed as what you have there.” She nods to the redhead's sketchpad. “- Exactly like these, actually!” Iintahquohae adds, upon seeing Khitti's sketches of the dress she wanted. “Personally, I really love this neckline,” her finger hovers over one of the variations with the Queen Anne neckline, in effort to avoid smudging any charcoal. “And with the skirt, well...hmm.” When presented with multiple skirt or bodice options, her indecision usually just resulted in making one of each. “I like them all, but I think the only way to know what would work best for you is to just..make all of them.” The seamstress flashes a grin, and laughs. “Besides, who doesn't want a bunch of dresses? That and I still owe you a bit for the dragon scales and mammoth pelts.” She still intended to pay in cash, but why not throw some dresses on top of it? It gives her ample excuse to play around with true steel for the first time as well. “I'll make each variation you have here, and we'll see what works best for you, if you'd like.”

When the conversation shifts toward sea silk, Iintahquohae nods. “We are, yes. We're primarily devotees of Selene and Zaytor. Cylea also.” She supposes Olric in a way too, but doesn't voice it. Anything associated with that particular Ascendi was a sore spot for her, but if anything, he taught her the importance of honesty. “And we have a bit of a thing with the sea as well, being merchants and all,” she adds, practically beaming. “Harvesting the byssus and making the silk itself is practically a ritual and prayer for Selene and Zaytor here for us. The Shadow Plane?” Iintahquohae asks, raising a brow. She envisions in a literal sense what the name likely means. A plane of just shadows and darkness. The thought is shelved as Khitti continues, nodding slowly in agreement. “I'm not much for praying either – apart from whenever Father or myself set sail for smooth waters. Nothing at all from Cylea. She just has a place here. Father keeps a little shrine for her downstairs. I have a bad feeling about the cave as well.” Not so much about Lionel, but for what she might discover about Sacred. It isn't fear that rules her, but the uncertainty that it might not be a good idea to step into the cave. Especially with a name like Cave of Regrets - Will she regret communicating with Sacred, or will she discover something within her that she actually does regret, despite holding the belief that she regrets nothing? Like any way of uncertainty she had before setting sail, she cannot help thinking it's just anxiety before a long trip to somewhere new. “He'll be okay,” she replies to Khitti, hoping that she'll reassure the woman and herself. “We'll get him home safe and sound.”

Khitti || A smile was offered to the seamstress as she acknowledged Khitti’s artwork, “Thanks. I really enjoy the watercolors the most. So much so that I had my sister, Meri, mimicked my art for me. She did all of this work, but it was quite a while ago,” Khitti said, showing off the fiery nautical star on the inside of her right wrist with a fireball shooting up her arm a bit, and the watery mirror of the fiery star on her left wrist. This one, however, had waves that lead up into a portrait of a preening mermaid on a rock, the waves forming the art’s frame, the entire thing forming a half-sleeve. “I really should ask her to work on the right arm… The mermaid needs a companion. But, it’s been a long while since she’s done any tattooing, so I haven’t really wanted to ask.” She shrugged and listened to Iintahquohae’s thoughts over the dress drawings and just blinked at her, “Really? You’d do all of that?” There’s a bit more blinking before she actually considers it, “Alright, if you’re really up to it.”

“Well, if you all find yourselves in Kelay, the Devout’s Guild has shrines setup to all of the main pantheon in the guild’s headquarters, the Sanctum of the Divine. Still working on getting the Ascendi set up though. Some of that stuff is still rather new to me. I didn’t realize there were still people that followed them, until Kasyr and someone else came along. Kasyr didn’t, uh, actually tell me though. He’s got about as much in the history books as Lionel does.” Which translated to: I have read way too much about Lithrydel’s history in the past few years. “Oh uh… The Shadow Plane is just another plane of existence. All of the natural elements have their own. You know, Plane of Fire, of Water…” She made a motion to say ‘and so on and so forth’. “The Shadow Plane isn’t quite like that. It’s more of a dark mirror of our plane of existence. Incredibly dangerous and all that. But, I was chosen as their harbinger, so… I go there often. I don’t know if I was ever truly afraid of that place, but… I am afraid of the Archipelago. I don’t know why. Places and things don’t scare me… People do.” After a few moments of thought, Khitti would eventually nod in agreement, “Yes. Lionel will come home.” She tried to make it sound like she said the words with conviction, but it was hard to. Maybe it’d just pass for exhaustion instead of a lack of hope. “I should let you get back to work. You’ve got plenty to do, I’m sure, besides my own things, that you don’t need me talking your ear off,” Khitti said with a smirk.

Iintahquohae || “I honestly don't know much about the gods or Ascendi, if I'm honest. Just Selene, Zaytor, Cylea...Olric, to a degree. I know Daedria's shrine is nearby as well. I suppose the Ascendi to most, well at least to my family, are representations of walks of life one can take now. I think keeping a space for Cylea here says a bit too much about what we do here, but,” the seamstress shrugs. She kept her family's smuggling business fairly transparent. “Some people gotta do what they gotta do.” Khitti's explanation of the Shadow Plane is met with a look of surprise. This woman has stepped foot into other planes? “That's incredible,” she murmurs. The word dangerous makes her want to visit sometime, but hopping planes doesn't seem like something she's equipped for. One day, maybe. The thought is forgotten once Khitti brings up the Cave of Regrets again. “He will,” Iintahquohae says, hoping that her voice sounds reassuring again. “There's a whole team of us searching for him. There's no way we can't find him, I'd think.” Iintahquohae stands, to lead Khitti out when she decides to leave pausing briefly to look at the spread of sweets Mother laid out for them. “I'll get started with your hilt and dress...well, dresses now, as soon as possible. Want to take some of this along too?”

Khitti || There’s an enthusiastic nod when the seamstress asked if Khitti wanted to take some of the sweets home, “Absolutely!” She’d wait for Iintahquohae to gather as much up as she wanted to give to the redhead and offered the woman a nod, “Let me know when you’re done and I’ll head here as quickly as possible. Oh and I left the blacksmith’s address on that paper with the measurements!” With her business there done, she’d wave to the seamstress and head off back outside. To her surprise, her cat would be huddled up against the door, trying its best to stay out of the sun. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I got distracted!” The tikifhlee gave a disgruntled mrrrowr to Khitti as she climbed atop it and the great beast took off again towards Cenril.