Jeffrey
Before Kuouo could deposit the gold atop the counter, something — no, *Someone,* Caught his arm. A gloved hand clasped Kuouo's arm, stopping him from depositing the gold on the counter. *Someone had snuck up behind him without giving off even the faintest hint of a sound, presence, or aura.*

*```fix
"𝙽𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛'𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 '𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝙺𝚞𝚎𝚔𝚊𝚝."```*

A peering, yellow light came from beyond the mysterious man's mask, its faint glow beaming with a sharp, piercing gaze. A characteristic of his namesake, and perhaps the reason the merchant appeared so alarmed:

__**`The golden glare of Yellow-Eyed Vaazva.`**__

```fix
"𝙴𝚑, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜? 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍, 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝?"
"𝙸 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚢𝚊, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚌𝚔-𝚘' 𝚏𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚑 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎."```
_ _

The strange man, Vaazva, released Kuouo's arm. Were he to turn to view his figure, he would be met with the sight of a man donning a strange, black, robe-like garb, decorated with what appeared to be trinkets of *Pure gold,* As well as what appeared to be an almost wooden... Ivory? Rings of a dark-grained wood, as well as silver and gold, were wrapped about his right and left digits, some with up to even three rings about them in total, and similarly valued bracelets of standoutish nature hung from each of his wrists.

 The man's very presence was commanding, yet nonaggressive, his posture slunk in a slightly-backwards lean that exuded an essence of gloating confidence. Unlike many of the others within the Vektet up until now, however, he was not as ridiculously towering as the individuals Kuouo had encountered before. Rather, he stood at a similar and slightly shorter height to Kuouo, himself, at what could roughly be estimated to be ~181 cm. Nonetheless, from the *Chilling, yellow glow* From beyond his mask to the borderline-terrified response he had garnered from Kuekat, it was clear that the masked man was a sort of big-shot, at least within the Exile's Watch.
Ryan
`"A-Ah! Oh my, if it isn't Vaazva... Do you have some sort of... Business, at my stall...?"`

The merchant questioned sheepishly — almost apologetically, tightly clasping his hands together as he attempted to make his demeanor friendlier and more welcoming; almost submissive. He extended his arm outwards to greet Vaazva—
Jeffrey
He backhands the arm extending towards him.

```fix
"𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍𝚜, 𝚗𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛'𝚜 𝚊 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚎 '𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝙺𝚞𝚎𝚔𝚊𝚝. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚙𝚒𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚘' 𝚐𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚊𝚔𝚎-𝚝𝚢 𝚐𝚊𝚛𝚋 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚕? 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜 '𝚝𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚗' 𝚛𝚊𝚝'𝚜 𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝. 𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-'𝚊 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗' 𝚖𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."

"𝙵𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚊𝚕 '𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏-𝚊-𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝-'𝚏 𝚝𝚊𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚒? 𝙸'𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗."```

The man spoke, reaching into his robelike garb to withdraw a strange, red pellet, with a pungent citrus-y scent that could be smelled from the moment he withdrew it. Resting it atop his left hand's palm, he clicks his right hand's fingers, and the pellet is spontaneously split in two. Context-clues would clearly suggest that the small, pill-sized red pellet was the so-called 'taarei' Kuouo had heard of several times up until now, and the purported form of currency within the Exile's Watch.
Ryan
Kuekat grimaced as he was interrupted, shakily withdrawing his hand and nodding in agreement with Kuekat. Up until he brought up the matter of currency, that was.

`"H-Half a pellet? The cloak itself is worth atleast two—"`
Jeffrey
```fix
"𝚀𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗. 𝙺𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚢𝚊'𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."```

He clicked his fingers again, and the pellet was split into fourths. He placed a single quarter of the pellet atop the counter, pocketing the rest of the 3/4ths, before he the folded his arms. 

```fix
"𝙾𝚑, 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑... 𝙿𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸'𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚕' 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝚀𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛-𝚊-𝚙𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚞𝚑?"```

He spoke, his manner of speech not dissimilar to that of Aatkei. Considering his appearance, his demeanor, his way of speech, and his prevalence and authority within the Exile's Watch, it seemed quite possible that this man, Vaazva, could be the man Aatkei titled *'wenchdriver'.*
Ryan
The merchant looked clearly disgruntled. He put on a false smile, yet his eyes and brow were demonstrating of a clear mix of combined frustration and fear. Despite the absolutely outrageous demands that the masked man made, Kuekat silently complied, slowly reaching for the rest of the set that he had offered Kuouo — gloves and a hood — and laying each of them atop the counter. Then, leaning over, he lifted the (fake) golden dagger, placing it alongside the other two atop the counter.
Jeffrey
```fix
"𝙶𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗! 𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-'𝚊 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 '𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."```

*The yellow, peering glare from within Vaazva's mask subsides, and the merchant gives what appears to be a breath of relief.*

Having secured a fine deal for Kuouo — which he wouldn't even have to pay for, considering Vaazva gave the taarei from out of his own pockets — Vaazva turned around, swaggering several paces away from the bandit without a further word. However, once he distanced himself some from Kuouo, he turned over his shoulder, and spoke:

```fix
"𝙴𝚢, 𝙸 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗' 𝚊𝚠𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝'𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗' '𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚐𝚊𝚝𝚎-𝚐𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚜. 𝚂𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗' 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚞𝚑? 𝙽𝚘𝚠, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗' 𝚋𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚍𝚍𝚕𝚎-𝚘' 𝚝𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝."```

Vaazva tilted his masked head, gazing carefully at Kuouo. Even from beyond his mask and without their characteristic, frightening golden glow, his eyes were chilling once they had settled upon his form.

```fix
"𝙶𝚘𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚘' 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸'𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 '𝚝𝚊 𝚙𝚒𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 '𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚛. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚒𝚗'𝚝 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗' 𝚊 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚅𝚊𝚊𝚣𝚟𝚊, 𝚞𝚑? 𝙷𝚘𝚠'𝚜 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚗-𝚍𝚎𝚣-𝚟𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚛?"```

...He spoke, almost demandingly, yet still without hostility. A yellow glow emanates from within his mask, as his eyes subtly flash alight. Turning around, without further glancing back to see if Kuouo followed after, the man paces away and across the plaza — towards one of the many buildings that encircled it.