An Apothecary Visit

Thane loved to travel and he had travelled a lot in past couple of weeks. His road even brought him back to Joya, place that he had not anticipated he would return to while he was exploring Fiore. But he was back in Fiore and back on track. He had to do a lot of cleaning and washing along the way, to restore a bit of dignity to his person. Thane forgot just how messy hunts could get.

His road brought him to capital Crocus of Fiore, which wasn't the destination he was aiming for right after exploring Magnolia. However, after he got back from Joya, he realised that his supply of curatives was running dangerously thin. He only had two bottles of a healing potion of minor wounds and an ointment that he used to take care of scaly parts of his skin. That was his whole supply, but he reckoned that if he were to look somewhere, he could as well pay a visit to the capital. They had to have some quality healing items, right?

The Au Ra towered over the crowd of people, the sun was high, but slowly laying itself to rest for the evening. Thane was looking over the names of countless stores and stalls that lined the streets. There were numerous clothing shops, flower shops, tailors and other things that Thane wasn't after. Where were the medicinal shops? Or at least a magic shop? The man sighed, slightly frustrated at his own ineptitude.

Eventually he came across a little shop. It seemed to be called Nelson's Apothecary. Exactly what he was looking for. Thane smiled as he pushed his way out of the crowd. Unfortunately for him, the door wasn't entirely accommodating, so he had to duck a little to fit into the frame, as well as with the lance on his back. As he opened the door, a quiet bell chime could be heard, signalling his arrival. The shop had a certain rustic or antique feel to it. There were wooden shelves and cupboards were lined with countless jars and vials. They were filled with various liquids and ingredients, making Thane wonder about their purposes. In the centre of the store there were more shelving units and those were also filled with various substances. The Au Ra would gently close the door behind him, as he eyed the apothecary's selection.

It had only been a short while since Wren had gotten off work at the Rune Knights and was instantly back at the Apothecary. She was sitting on her little broom and was refilling the display herbal jars from a bigger jar. The little redhead was wearing a green tank top and a brown skirt, but she kept her back to the door so no one would see up her skirt unless they were under or in front of her, but even then, she had no doubt people would still think she was a guy wearing a dress… She looked over her shoulder as she heard the little bell to the door jingle as it opened, and lowered herself accordingly, sitting right on the broom. “Hello~!” She says in a cheery voice. She was at least trying to sound girly, even her voice betrayed her true gender and made it hard to tell what she was.

Her broom gracefully moved over towards the counter and she slipped the big jar onto the counter before she delicately slipped off her broom, showing that she was just a small thing that could barely look over the counter. “Welcome to Nelson’s Apothecary! I’m Wren. Nelson is currently out right now.” She muses to herself as she holds her hands behind her back. “Is there anything I can help you with? Get you some salves? Potions? Herbal remedies?” She reached for a witches diadem and places it upon her head. It didn’t entirely match her outfit, but she didn’t care. She wasn’t a fashionista. Her only hope was that her wearing a hat would give the rather tall guy an indication that she was well knowledged in herbs and what one needs.

A black and purple cat was padding around the ground and casually looks up to the tall guy before making her way over to the floating broom, sitting up on it delicately while next to her master. The cat gave a rather bored glare to him, currently not in the mood to play shopkeeper, but had to stay near her master in case something was to happen. “If you don’t need any of those, we just got some fresh herbs in and I can help you look for some that way~!” The short redhead quickly skipped behind the counter and used a small step stool to get up to a shelf higher than her and pulled one down. “We also have a variety of lavenders!” She was seeming rather excited about the herbs and bit her lip as she forced herself to stop talking about them for just a moment to give the customer a chance to speak. She seemed to have sparkly eyes a bit though.

Thane didn't get a lot of time to poke around on his own. Shortly after he entered the apothecary a cheery voice welcomed him. A mage sitting on a broom was looking backwards at him, before floating to the counter. They set a jar aside on the counter, before standing behind it, like a proper shopkeeper. Thane smiled a little at the height. Though he wondered if that wasn't bothersome. As the Au Ra was properly welcomed to the apothecary, he made his way to the counter. If he had to be honest, he had a tough time deciding whether the shopkeeper was more masculine or feminine, so a wild guess it was. The voice sounded young, but both genders sounded like that at certain age and he couldn't exactly place the name either. In the end, Thane decided to just go with the 'girl' option. Oh dear. He was really hoping the shopkeeper was a girl, so as not to embarrass himself or... her.

Wren offered her help with the wares, as she put on what seemed to be a rather fancy-looking witch hat. It seemed that Thane's decisions would be in good hands. A black and purple cat then suddenly appeared on the broom, giving Thane a look filled with boredom. He was probably disturbing a nap time for the cat, but sadly, the man had errands to run. The shopkeeper also offered their stock of fresh herbs, which Thane didn't think he could make use of. Nor the lavender the girl mentioned afterwards. She seemed really excited about having a customer, or perhaps just helping somebody out.

The Au Ra would then speak up, having the opportunity to do so. "Hello. I would like to restock on some healing supplies." He would say, as he dug into his leather bag attached to his side and pulled out his measly two little bottles of minor healing potions and a tin of the special ointment for his scales. Thane would place those on the counter, in case Wren wanted to see examine them closer. "I am currently left with two healing potions and ointment I use to maintain my scales." As he explained, he motioned towards the potions and then to the scales that ran across his nose. "I was looking for some basic healing potions, but perhaps having more specialised potions wouldn't hurt, either." He placed his request, as he rubbed his chin in thought. "Though maybe getting a bit more of the ointment for a rainy day wouldn't hurt..." Thane mused, thinking about the amount of items he would be hauling with him. Then again, the tin wasn't heavy, so it really wouldn't hurt to have some extra. If there was something he had drilled into his head, it was how to care for the patches of scales, littered around his body.