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Post by enchilada on Feb 23, 2019 10:30:34 GMT
Enchee was bored, to be honest - not just with setting up displays and making sure that these kids knew what they were supposed to do, but with life in general. Partially she wanted to revert to her previous ways. She was by no means integrated into society, she was still a scared, homeless little girl who stole to survive, stole to feel like she owned just one thing in the whole world, and was always starving. She just had the shell of a helpful, clean girl who lived in a building with a bed and a furnace and ate her greens. Enchee did not eat her greens. They were horrible. She also never went to any temple, she never offered to help anyone and she spent all her time dreaming up ways she could die if she went outside the city walls so no one could ever make her do so.
”You just knocked over the- ugh.” Enchee started stacking displays again. She wasn’t a goblin scout, she didn’t have a parent or guardian to take her, but when they went out, she broke her usual ways and offered to help. The only reason why was that she actually earned the cookies instead of stealing them, and that felt really good. It was nice to actually earn things. Even though she was annoyed and completely done with these incompetent children, she had a slight smile on her face.
Next she had to set up some other, smaller kids with things to take and sell away from the table set up earlier by herself and the adults overseeing the sweet sale. But it was late in the day, and there was a fair amount of stock left, so Enchee decided to follow the scouts she’d just piled up with boxes. She wondered briefly if people just preferred the other scouts because they were stereotypically more trustworthy, or if there were other reasons. Humans probably made some rather standard cookies, elves were either all fancy or they were made out of forest stuff. Dwarves? Hardy, plain but sweet. Maybe cinnamon or something like that. But goblin cookies were the best - goblins might be small, green and particularly good at running away, but they were also particularly good at making cookies. Whatever they put in these things, she didn’t care.
She found herself a busy spot, where she could be seen but also heard by many people passing by, and started to shout -
“Hey! Come get some sweets! Best cookies in the whole of Waterdeep!”
Enchee wasn’t exactly experienced with food, the last couple years spent eating waste food and random growths in the paving stones. But she knew what she liked. Chunky red meat stews boiled down for days, with huge hunks of dark, squidgy bread, and these cookies. Her palate hadn’t developed beyond that, and she didn’t help it, exactly, given that she could be picky now. It’s pretty much all she ever ate, any attempts to make her enjoy vegetables were absolutely futile, much like any encouragement to eat, say, chicken. But her focus was all on the earning of cookies right now. Stew would come later.
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 23, 2019 17:59:37 GMT
Thea still liked Waterdeep. It was strange to call it and Urmlaspyr both cities, or even to call Urmlaspyr a small city and Waterdeep a large one. It implied that they were similar, or at least that Waterdeep was something like a blown up version of Urmlaspyr. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Waterdeep was, honestly, unlike any other place Thea had ever seen. The hustle and bustle of it – the business of it – there was always something new around every corner, half of the time something Thea had never seen before.
Today she’d left Thond’s workshop for a client meeting, an elegant elf who lived halfway across the city and wanted a large blown glass piece for their foyer. It was an excellent commission, and a client high-profile enough that Thea had been willing to travel for the meeting. Besides – it had been helpful for her to see the foyer; there were details of a space that it wasn’t easy to explain with words, even for someone elegant with a tasteful eye (which she wasn’t sure if the client was, not yet). The quality of light, the angles of it, the spacing of the room – it was much better to see it and design the piece accordingly.
So Thea had toured the space, they’d discussed the pedestal he’d need, the sort of shape and theme the client had in mind, and she’d left with a few sketches tucked in her cloak pocket and good idea of how to begin working on the piece. She’d been thinking mostly of that, following lines of foot traffic through winding Waterdeep streets more on instinct than anything, when she heard a voice just-familiar-enough that it distracted her from her planning.
Thea stepped to the side, out of the flow of traffic, and spotted a familiar looking little green goblin with riotous red hair. Thea hadn't forgotten Enchee - there were very few that had tried to steal from her, and fewer who'd called her an anti-goblin racist when caught before returning the pilfered wand.
Thea crossed the street to the goblin girl, her decision made in an instant. After all, she didn't need to get back to the workshop right away; she could start the piece any time. “Good afternoon Enchee,” Thea said with a smile, tucking back the hood of her cloak. There was no breeze, but her white hair was waving cheerfully nonetheless. “Can I buy some cookies?”
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Post by enchilada on Feb 23, 2019 22:00:05 GMT
The day surely wouldn’t go on much longer. Her little legs were beginning to hurt, and her voice giving out before she was done instructing and selling was on the cards. She thought back to never even talking for days on end - but she would run around all the time then, keeping to the shadows and behind objects, never seen. When she did speak, it was to tell fortune and read cards. She was close to actually getting enough money from the little work she knew, but the people who need to see the future often need it because they’re doing something risky, something illegal, so threatening a little gifted streetrat wasn’t beyond them in the slightest. She swallowed away the lump in her throat. Time to throw on another smile.
When she saw Thea, she froze up a little. Had she lost something? She couldn’t really blame her for turning to a proven thief if she had, but the waterworks clearly didn’t help with this lady. And despite the crowd, she was alone. She just wanted to dissolve into the shadows of the people walking around in the general bustle. Enchee knew the city completely. So she knew she’d have to run a fair ways to have any chance of losing the blue lady. Blue, big, scary lady.
In honesty, as Thea reached speaking distance, Enchee’s tired little legs that she’d mentally lamented about were ready to run, but also shaking. The cookies in their boxes rattled in her hands, and she offered a forced, stretched out smile to Thea. “Of- of course! Um! They’re really good so good choice!” Her voice fell weak in her throat. What guard wouldn’t believe that a goblin who was known for stealing and was previously homeless stole something that was lost. Enchee’s mind was clouded with conclusions she’d jumped to. Oh only if she’d read the cards- the damn cards this morning.
“How- how many?”
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 23, 2019 22:25:46 GMT
Thea realized her mistake almost immediately. Enchee started shaking at the sight of her, eyes darting back and forth. Thea thought maybe the little goblin was looking for an escape route.
On one hand, Thea was a little glad their last encounter had left something of an impression. On the other hand, Thea hadn’t meant to scare Enchee, and she wondered if maybe she could find a way to make it right.
“Excellent,” Thea grinned at Enchee. She wanted to draw Enchee out a little more, but she didn’t want to scare her off. “Well, how many are in a box? I’ve never had goblin scout cookies before.”
Thea paused, then tried a little further. “I’ll need to get enough to share, of course... what would you suggest, if I’m going to share them with a room full of hungry boys?” Thond’s apprentices would eat anything; Thea was pretty confident the cookies would be inhaled moments after they were set down, whether they were actually good or not.
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Post by enchilada on Feb 26, 2019 11:17:00 GMT
Enchee relaxed when Thea continued on with purchasing a few cookies - but she was still ready to run if anything changed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then threw her mess of red waves, ringlets and frizz fully behind her. She wasn’t hiding behind that curtain if she wanted to feel confident. And she could feel confident, at least she was confident enough to blatantly lie when she’d been caught out, and all she was asking for was a fair purchase.
“Oh! Right..” She gave it some thought, then eventually settled on a number. She assumed Thea meant that there were a fair few boys, not that there were boys crammed in the room to the brim. That didn’t seem logical, also, she didn’t have enough cookies on her for that many, unless it was a small room, and - right. Room. Hungry boys. Boxes. “Maybe three boxes? Should be enough? And they’re three copper a box! All the proceeds are going to new camping equipment for the Goblin Scouts.”
Enchee was by no means a scout, but she said it proudly- and it was because she was doing something genuinely beneficial for someone else. Someones elses, there were multiple people this would benefit. If Crucible knew he’d probably be proud of her, but she kept it internally for the moment. Probably for a while longer. But if he asked then she’d bring it up.
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 27, 2019 2:03:42 GMT
Thea smiled at Enchee’s little head toss, the masses of red hair floating out behind the goblin before settling into place. Her own hair tossed about her head a little more, as if in sympathy, the little breeze that seemed to animate it near-constantly briefing picking up speed, sending it swirling, before settling back down. Almost without realizing it, Thea reached up a hand to smooth her hair, finger-combing a few strands to settle it back down against her head.
“Three boxes, at three coppers a box,” Thea repeated back. “Deal.” She had considered haggling, but – honestly, if Enchee was ripping her off, planning to pocket a copper or three… Thea didn’t really mind. Cheating an ignorant customer on prices was a time-honored merchant practice, totally legal to the mind of this Sembite, and Thea was happy to let Enchee have the better of her this time.
“Just one question… what are goblin scouts?” Thea grinned at Enchee. She had a small money pouch tucked at her waist, inside her tunic, but she didn’t go for it yet, forcing just a little more conversation before they deal could conclude.
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Post by enchilada on Feb 28, 2019 15:41:22 GMT
Enchee couldn’t help but grin up at Thea’s smile. It was something she really needed at that moment. To keep her head up. Thea’s hair fascinated Enchee. She noted the question she had to ask after they were all done paying. She didn’t know what a genasi was, other than Thea was one? Or was Prosssserpiina one? No, no, tiefling. Right. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she kept staring up at the hair. No eye contact, it was lost now.
“Ok! Cool!” She pushed three boxes, most of her pile, forward from the other two cradled in her arms. Her little scouts issued coin purse would be pretty full, she was sure. Other than the float she had for change. Three copper usually had to be changed. But other than that - lots of jangly money. It was a really sweet sound, she thought. Success. That’s what it sounded like.
“Oh! The scouts! Don’t you know?” She laughed a little to herself. It seemed like common knowledge to her. “Same as all the other kinds, silly. I’m only helping out, but they do stuff like camping and good citizenship and other cool lessons. But they make better cookies than the silly elf scouts.”
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 28, 2019 16:29:17 GMT
As Enchee watched, the breeze drifting through Thea’s hair would seem to pick up a little, making the heavy white locks dance about – almost like it was aware of Enchee’s curiosity, and had decided to show off.
Enchee pushed three boxes forward, juggling them about in her arms to sort of stick them out towards Thea.
Thea giggled at the absolute unhelpfulness of Enchee’s answer. “No – wait – there are other kinds of scouts?” Thea’s eyes widened a little. “Like – elf scouts, and goblin scouts, and… are there dwarf scouts or halfling scouts? and… they go camping?” In all honesty, to Thea, the concept sounded a little ridiculous – but she could only imagine how much she would have enjoyed it as a young girl. Well, if she’d been allowed in. Unless… “Are there genasi scouts? Maybe I should buy their cookies instead,” she grinned at Enchee, teasingly.
“Do you have a copper change?” Thea asked, extending a silver piece with one hand. With the other, she reached out to take one of the boxes, tucking it beneath her arm and coming back for the second, trying to figure out how she’d juggle three boxes on the walk home. Then again, if Enchee could carry five, the much-larger Thea could surely manage three.
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Post by enchilada on Feb 28, 2019 16:56:49 GMT
She struggled a little, but she had the boxes in one hand. They were awkward, not particularly heavy. If the size was condensed she’d definitely manage much better. Maybe the boxes should be smaller, she knew there was a little room for settling in them. Especially since goblins were small. And goblin children were smaller. Although, Enchee did take a few boxes too many. But she just wanted to impress!
“I think so? Like there’s lots of lessons about the outdoors and stuff, but they also do some cooking and baking, and they do other important stuff like sewing up broken clothes. I haven’t heard of a genasi scouts, but there’s probably one where there’s lots of genasi? Like, not traveling but raised. There’s lots of scruffy goblins like me in cities! But there’s just scouts too. I’ve heard it’s harder to compete in some aspects, but goblins are the best at hide and seek and other stuff like that!” Enchee had played hide and seek with her babysitter a few times. She wasn’t really good at it
“Yeah- yeah hold on!” She dipped her hand in the bag on her left, then presented a coin, opting to put it on top of the boxes she was carrying. That way she didn’t have to check around the pile or slip or- yeah.
“So uh. Why’s your hair like that?” She wasn’t old or experienced enough to fully understand how to ask gentle questions.
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 28, 2019 17:12:54 GMT
Thea giggled again when Enchee called herself a scruffy goblin. “Just scouts? Like for everyone?” Thea asked, curiously. She was almost sure that there wouldn’t be any such thing as genasi scouts, in that case; they tended to be a little more… dispersed. Although, if there could be any place with a bunch of little genasi running around, Thea thought it would be Waterdeep. “That does sound fun. Have you thought about joining in full, not just helping with cookie sales?” “Thank you!” Thea had managed to sort of hold the three boxes, two tucked between her arm and her body, and the other in her free hand. She wriggled slightly, switching the box to her other hand, and reached out to take the coin, plucking the copper piece off of Enchee’s box and tucking it in her coinpurse, which was still safely stashed at her waist. Only then could Thea actually use both hands to hold the boxes; she stacked them one on top of the other, and held them against her middle, much less dwarfed by them than Enchee had been. The question was a surprise but – this was not anywhere near the first time it had been asked. Thea especially remembered being asked it as a child. Sometimes it was asked in a curious, awed way, as if the onlooker thought Thea's hair was the coolest thing they'd seen. Sometimes it was asked in a rude, dismissive way, as if Thea was a freak for being something other than human. Mostly, it was asked in a neutral way, by other children who hadn't quite made up their minds about her.
Whatever way it was asked, over the years, Thea had become comfortable with it. She grinned at Enchee. “Why’s your hair red?” Thea asked, quite cheerfully. |
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Post by enchilada on Feb 28, 2019 17:28:00 GMT
“Yeah! They’re all kind of run by the same big people, but underneath there’s separate kinds of scouts, like I said.” She seemed quite proud of that knowledge. Enchee really didn’t know much about anything that wasn’t integral to her survival up until this point. “I never could, y’know? My mom and dad um. Well, they were killed by horrid adventurers! They don’t even care if you’re a good goblin or a bad goblin, they don’t even care!”
She breathed deeply for a few seconds, then swallowed down the bile in the back of her throat. “You’re um. You’re welcome.” She drummed her fingers nervously against the boxes, looking down. Her ears were pretty much pointed to the floor, her whole body shrunken down. She was sad and angry but she wasn’t entirely sure how to get rid of how she felt other than bottling it up, so she focused on that. Just pushing it all away.
“Well, it’s simple really! My dad had red hair, he got it from his mom. He had it because he was magic, and I’m magic too! Yeah- yeah. He told me it’s because we have magic from shadows, so um, yeah, we would blend in too much otherwise.” She’d perked up again just slightly.
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 28, 2019 17:40:33 GMT
Enchee’s sudden reveal of the horrible death of her parents was – unexpected. She could see the entire goblin’s body close up at the mention of it. Somewhat to her horror, Thea – Thea really didn’t know what to say.
“That was wrong of them,” Thea managed, finally, looking down at Enchee. “I’m sorry.”
They finished the transaction, and Enchee perked back up discussing her hair. Thea grinned. “Actually, it’s the same for me!” She told Enchee. “I got my hair, and the breeze that likes it so much, from him. He was a djinni – well, at least, I think he was.” Thea paused. She rarely shared so much about her past, but something about Enchee made her want to keep talking.
“You see, I never actually met him,” Thea crouched down a bit to try and stay level with the little goblin, still smiling. She shifted the boxes a bit, before awkwardly resting them against her leg, keeping them in place with one hand. “My mother didn’t talk about him very much either. She passed away when I was a little older than you. She was human, and well, sometimes, when a human and a djinni have a baby, it comes out like me – what people call a genasi. Not all genasi have breezes in their hair – I’m just lucky.” Thea grinned again.
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Post by enchilada on Feb 28, 2019 22:08:31 GMT
“What’s a dzzzhur- a dizh a uh, - what was your dad?” Enchee stared up with her big, yellow eyes, always welled with curiosity, or determination. This time it was curiosity. All these new words she couldn’t even say excited her so much. She knew she could ask Crucible later, but she might not be able to say it, so he wouldn’t know what to say. Even though he definitely knew what she was talking about. Crucible knew everything.
“Do they get other things? Like swords? Or um. Insects following them around?” She wasn’t sure what equated to cool hair moving like that all the time. Enchee didn’t need her hair to move all the time. Because Enchee already had bright red hair that went to yellow like fire and her dad always told her that she was just like him because she had magic and red hair and she never ever made a noise or moved in her sleep. Not even the chest rising and falling for breathing. But she still was breathing. Sometimes she’d wake up with her mother’s hand feeling for breath leaving her nostrils. Sometimes children didn’t breathe and then they died because they suffocated but Enchee never suffocated or died.
Or maybe she did and this is the life she gets for never finding an interest in the temple. Enchee was taught to believe in herself. Also the goblin gods are hard to really worship and her mother was very goblin-y. Her dad wasn’t, but ... he was different.
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Post by moralhazard on Feb 28, 2019 23:00:08 GMT
Thea giggled again. “A djinni,” She pronounced the word slowly and carefully, smiling at Enchee. “I’ve never seen one. From what I’ve been told, they’re like - like if the wind was a person.” She thought the simile might be stretching Enchee’s abilities ever so slightly.
“Apparently they can be very tall and handsome,” Thea gave Enchee a little wink. “And even more blue than I am, if they want to be! But I don’t think they’re very good fathers.” Thea grinned again, although there was a little more truth in that statement than she might have intended.
“I don’t know about any genasi who are followed around by insects,” Thea tried not to giggle. It wasn’t such a crazy question, just a fairly unpleasant thought.
“Would you like to hear a story about a djinni?” Thea asked. “Not my father, but another djinni, probably the most famous one in the entire world."
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Post by enchilada on Mar 3, 2019 12:55:22 GMT
Enchee’s little face lit up - “Tell me, tell me, tell me, tell meeee.” She bounced her knees as she spoke, punctuating the desperation that childish curiosity had lent her. Any more than a few seconds of waiting would be agonising. Thea had to tell her right nooow.
As far as a bad father, Enchee wasn’t entirely sure what qualified as a bad dad - her own had been... fine? He usually read her stories, and he’d fall asleep on the couch, and he’d carry her around if she got too tired to keep walking. He was very kind, but he was also very mean if he had to be. There were lots of things he said she was too young to understand, but she thought if he just let her try then it wouldn’t be that way at all! She was a clever little goblin, and she knew what they were doing really. They went out and they stole things, she was pretty sure about that, and that’s what their friends did with them and why they had to leave their son alone with her and he wasn’t very good at stories.
In fact he was only good at being mean and he was way more mean than her dad, and he wasn’t mean all of the time, but sometimes when he was losing at a game or he was just in a bad mood he’d tell her all about how horrible goblins were and everyone told her he was being silly but he was still mean and she hated that. But in her experience of the streets, goblins really were all those things and there was no life for her other than that at all.
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