She laughed as she was beset upon by a gaggle of children, several cajoling her to tell them a story from her own distant lands.<b>"Maybe,"</b>she acquiesced, gently shooing the brood away,<b>"when I've got a story worth telling." </b>She wasn't much at the moment, but if all went according to plan, she'd have plenty of tales to regale others with. She watched them dash away, then turned back to her quest in the marketplace.<br/><br/>It was more than a little overwhelming, and it took her a while to pick out each shopkeep's voice and hear what they were hawking. Food, she'd definitely need that. Bread, meat, cheeses, dried fruits. All things that would keep well. Weapons--she had her bow, a recurved affair made from pale birchwood, although she wasn't the best shot and while she didn't foresee much danger into the maze, it was better to be safe than sorry. She'd find a sturdy-looking dagger or other simple weapon, just in case. A good knife had uses other than just fighting, anyway.<br/><br/>She reached for her satchel and flipped the top open, counting her coin. She had brought all she could spare, and she guessed it would be enough for the basics, but Alessi was not a rich elf. She'd have to pick her purchases carefully. The close quarters of the market crowd made her a bit antsy, and she tucked the satchel close to her chest, protective of what few possessions she had.<br/><br/>After finding a dried goods stall and stocking up with provisions, she wandered down a street, looking for a likely place to buy a weapon. Other voices caught her attention, however, and she glanced towards one merchant's stall, bedecked with all manner of...socks? Intrigued, she walked over to examine his wares, picking out a pair and running her thumb across the knitted fabric. It was soft and light--goat's wool, she realized. She had seen several of the creatures browsing across the hills, with their plush coats and long curled horns. They had been wary of the stranger elf at first, but an offer of leaves and a good scritching on their woolly necks had been sufficient to earn their trust, and they had kept her company while she rested under an olive tree. She had always done better with animals than people, it seemed.<br/><br/>The merchant looked a bit goatish himself, although satyrs typically did, and her gave her a grin as she browsed. "You won't find better-quality wool in all Crete," he declared proudly, offering a long pair with blue trim for her inspection. "Can be yours for a mere twenty copper." They<i>did</i>look comfortable, and she liked the idea of not freezing her toes off each night, but she pretended to mull it over anyway.<b>"I'm not sure they're worth <i>that...</i>"<br/>
</b><br/>The satyr let out an offended bleat, hand over his heart theatrically. "You<i>insult</i>me, missus Elf. My herd is the<i>finest</i>on any island, they produce only the<i>finest</i>wool...fifteen copper?"<br/><b>"Deal."</b>Neither of them were strangers to the song and dance of bartering.<br/><br/>The socks--stockings, really--were a bit longer than they had seemed on the rack, and she guessed that they would reach all the way up to her thighs when she put them on. Oh well, they'd still be warm and comfortable. And they were pretty, with the delicate deep-blue threading about the tops, stitched the resemble rolling waves. She'd be sure to don them before entering the maze, those tunnels were probably chilly.<br/><br/>The other shopkeep she had heard calling out appeared to be hawking potions of some kind, promising transformative qualities. The woman running the stand was proudly displaying a faintly-glowing bottle, and when she noticed Alessi watching, she grinned invitingly at the elf, who blushed and glanced away. The standards of beauty were a bit different here than they were at home, it seemed. Elves preferred their women tall and willowy, with hair and eyes dark as night or pale as snow, brushed straight and long. Alessi was not any of those things. Her auburn locks had a stubborn habit of always curling slightly no matter how much she brushed, and so she tended to keep her hair<a class="link link--external" data-proxy-href="/proxy.php?link=https%3A%2F%2Fi.pinimg.com%2F736x%2F29%2Fe5%2F99%2F29e599d9c20a9f9a052c93e21ac9f426--pillars-of-eternity-high-elf.jpg&amp;hash=f0daf7a05cd216040b2a1a7e6e07f26b" href="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/29/e5/99/29e599d9c20a9f9a052c93e21ac9f426--pillars-of-eternity-high-elf.jpg" rel="nofollow ugc noopener" target="_blank">braided back but for a few flyaway ringlets about her face</a>. She wasn't fat by any means, but she<i>was</i>a bit fuller around the hips and breasts then most of her kind, and her shorter stature only seemed to accent that. Humans would have called it "curvy", perhaps even complimented it, but she had always been a bit self-conscious about her looks. She wasn't sure she wanted to accent those features at the moment.<br/><br/>She'd turn away from the potions stand, looking for what else she needed. She had some of the basics already--ropes, spare torches ready to be lit, a roll of bandages and a small packet of medicinal herbs in the event she was injured. Some lockpicks might be useful, though--she did<i>not</i>fancy getting stuck down there somehow. She'd also take a moment to buy several sticks of white charcoal, stashing them away wrapped up in a cloth for later. She had been thinking on how to beat the maze, and she believed she had a solution in the works.<br/><br/>That just left the matter of securing a weapon. The thunderous clangs of hammer on metal helped guide her to a blacksmith's shed, although getting to it took some work. She tried not to jostle anyone as she stepped through the crowd (or be jostled herself, as the smaller tended to be) but it was difficult to wade through the sea of people without stepping on at least one person's toes.<br/><br/>Finally, however, she made her way to the smithy. He was standing with his back to her, the corded muscles of his shoulders gleaming with a faint sheen of sweat and oil as he worked the bellows of his forge. She allowed herself one guilty moment of appreciative oggling, then cleared her throat gently to get his attention.<b>"Would you happen to have any daggers or hatchets in stock?" </b>she asked him, cocking her head slightly.<b>"Not looking for anything fancy, just something small and sturdy."</b>