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RESPITE FALLS - NORTH GATE - LATE MORNING
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Trixie Locksmith walked along side the caravan and into Respite Falls, her fall from paradise. Just great. Not. Life had been grand, perfect even until now. She had gone from having a prosperous business, a nice little roof over her head, and a staple of food; to being on the run for a crime she hadn't committed because she had no way of proving her innocence. Now what was there but poverty, clumps of grass, and ugh she totally wanted a bath. As a coon, she really detested the grime, and not able to spare the drinking water, her hands. Oh her hands. She sighed and looked around what she supposed was main street as they came upon it, shifting the sack over her shoulder, looking about to see what could be made of well, not-yet-home.
Rhask happens to be walking by the north gate, where the caravans from Bairnell tend to arrive, and she squeaks in surprise as she looks through the gate at an oncoming wagon, then hastily jumps back. She gives the wagon's driver a sheepish smile. "Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to get in the way!"
Trixie Locksmith looked to the caravan she arrived with and then to the lizard who seemed to slip about with her words giving off a nervous energy. Well, those sort didn't generally have a spine to cause any trouble, and it's not like she needed to be apart of the nomad train any longer so time to make a new friend. As she headed over to the lizard her clothes showed her to be a complete foreigner. A leather corset atop a poets shirt, leather breeches, leather boots, and a bandana over her head. She looked almost pirate like. "Hello there missy, I'm Trix, uhm, got a bar...pub...watering hole? Whatever you call it around here? Obviously I'm new." She wanted to add that she stank too, but that probably went without saying.
Rhask watches the caravan's lead wagon pass by, only to hum curiously upon being addressed by one of the riders. She turns, then grins and dips her head happily. "Oh, hello there! There is, actually, and it came highly recommended when I arrived." She gestures down the main lane, "If you just follow the wagons that way, there's a good inn you can get some good food and drinks at called the Thirsty Minnow. It's one of the more popular places in town, I think." She looks back at Trixie again, "And it's good to meet you, miss Trix. I'm Rhask. If you want, I could show you to the Minnow."
Trixie Locksmith looked the lizard up and down. Here they were in he middle of a damn desert practically this little reptile was dressed for Policaster winter. It took her a moment but she eventually blinked and with a shift of her jaw released the thought, "Sure, lead the way, I'm tired of following the crap wagon." She stated, and she really was sick of that caravan. "So uh-- Rhask, yeah Rhask, this place got many mechanics? You know people who work with cogs and wheels and springs?" Part of her hoped the answer was no, because that would put her in business, then again would she be able to even get the parts for her creation, was there even a demand? Well, if there wasn't she'd make one.
Rhask chuckles and nods down the road to lead the way, though she waits for Trixie to pull up beside her so she can continue the conversation. "Folks that work with machinery? Well... the only person I know of that does anything of the sort is the town's magitech engineer. I've not met her personally, but I don't think she's a mechanic in that respect." She shakes her head a bit after a moment of consideration, "So... no, I don't think I know anyone who does that, here."
Trixie Locksmith felt her ears perk at the mention of a magitech engineer. She was used to crafting various gizmos and gadgets for magitechs at least the ones from back home. "Really, you gots a name for this magitech engineer? I uh used to craft prototypes for some of them back home, you know give them something to work with, and a few times even help with the real thing. Makes for good side business." Her dark eyes drank in the area around them as they walks and she adjusted the sack over her shoulder, "So uh Rhask, what you do around here? Gotta job?"
Rhask shakes her head with an apologetic smile as the two continue to make their way down the street towards the square. "I'm afraid not. I've not met her personally, but I know she's a stoat, and you can usually find her working at the large building in the center of town. That's the town's generator." She chuckles at the last question, "I do. I'm one of the merchants that work in the marketplace, and I'm... sssssomething of a clothier, I guess? I share a stall with some folks that make charms and such."
Trixie Locksmith began putting it all together in her head. The merchants supplied the ore, the blacksmith made the various cogs, gadgets, screws, and metal plating she would need to make various items, and she in turn brought it back to the merchants, who would buy it from her and upsale it. Beautiful! Trix loved a thriving market and on the side, like her last name suggested, she also picked locks as a side hustle. "Great wonderful, so you provide textiles? I'm not the tailoring sort, who would provide ore, precious stones, metal?" The coon could talk about the economy all the live long day.
Rhask takes a moment to think, scratching her head idly. "I do provide clothing, yeah... as for all the others... we usually don't see ore, or at least not that I've ever heard. We do get a regular in-flow of smelted metals, though, and you can probably talk to... oh, what were their names... mister Ragnarr and mister Cavro, since they're the two local smiths. Gems and such... I can ask around, but I'm not fully certain."
Trixie Locksmith took mental notes of the names Cavro and Ragnarr. "Right got it. Are there any vacant stalls in the market? What's the pricing?" She wanted to set up shop as soon as possible, life without work was no life at all after all, or that's what she believed. "Is there anything to do in this place?" Back home there was always something going on. Rallies and protests. Shows and carnivals. Gambling, drinking, street fights, technology fairs, the sky was truly the limit, and the great cities of Sarn seemed truly capable of surpassing the clouds with their massive buildings! Her gaze looked around the dusty, dirty, brown blob of Respite falls. Absolutely nothing like this place.
Rhask shrugs. "The pricing is... honestly, not that bad. Respite is a frontier town, but other than a hiccup in supplies recently, prices have usually been decently low. There are some stalls available, last I saw, but you'll still probably want to check with the town's leader to make sure." She takes a moment to consider the last question, "There are a few things. There's a bathhouse if you need a relaxing soak after a long day, The Minnow has a lot going on during most evenings... and once the town is fully secure again, you can explore out in the wilderness a little ways if that's what you like. Performances are a bit lacking at the moment, but that could change since miss Aelia and mister Enver are both in that profession."
Trixie Locksmith found herself doing that blinking thing again. That was it? That was all there was to do? If there wasn't enough work to do around here she would surely die of boredom. How was she ever going to adjust to small town life? But still, she couldn't go back. If she did it would be a death sentence. Damn politics. Speaking of which, "Leader? Right, who is that? Where can I find them?"
Rhask shrugs and shakes her head apologetically. "I'm afraid I don't know, myself. I made an arrangement with the folks that run the stall I share space with, so I didn't have to do any real leg work for a stall myself. If you stop by the marketplace, one of the other merchants could tell you quite easily."
Trixie Locksmith blinked again, if she kept this up people were going to start thinking she had a nervous twitch, "Great..." She wondered if they were almost at the, what was it again, the Minnow? Atleast there would be a room that didn't move and a bath with hot water. Wait the water was hot right? "The baths, they're hot right? With the smell good stuff? And the stiff bristled brushes?"
Rhask nods readily. "Oh yeah! The baths are great! Hot water, good plumbing, great scrubbers, all the stuff you'd expect." She blinks and looks around, noting they're right in front of the Minnow proper, "Oh! In fact, here we are! The Thirsty Minnow, miss Trix."
Trixie Locksmith sighed in relief. She was itching for one of those baths, sponges just didn't get down into the fur like a good soak. "So we are, so we are, well thanks, uh Rhask right?" She nodded believing she was right, "Yeah, Rhask, thanks for all your help." With that she parted ways with bundled lizard and immediately went to pay for a room, and some time alotted in the bath house. Then, once she got some rest, it would be time to figure out how to get herself back on her feet. A stall with a work shop, and maybe even a living quarter up top. Yeah, that would be ideal.