Village Market

The Capitol is the heart of the Aether Kingdom. The place wherein the current king/queen is resided with his/her councilmen, under the roof of the King's Castle. Other establishments of the land are Markets, Taverns, Treasury, Tourney Arena, etc.

Located on the north east of the city, the Village Market offers trade of merchandise of any kind found within the Kingdom of Aether.

Wolfie wandered about the market stalls, stopping to glance occasionally at the various items on sale. Bits and bobs, knickknacks and trophies from all over the lands. Nothing much took his interest so he didn't approach any of the shopkeepers about prices and trades, not that he had anything to trade anyways. His thoughts wandered, daydreaming about his time as an apprentice and his journeys since then, leading to him appearing dazed as he pottered about the stalls. So much in a daydream he barely noticed any of the people around him.

Ashleigh Atherton

Stood atop one particular market stall was a small girl, looking no different to an ordinary, yet moneyed merchant, who was shouting heartily about everything her stall had to offer. "Come on, get some top-class paintings here! Anything you want! Top art for low prices, all done by an expert painter!" Of course, they were done by her, but to Ashleigh they were synonyms

Wolfie blinked, coming out of his daydream and shaking his head a little to wake up. He looked around to find the source of the shouting, seeing the merchant girl atop her table. Wolfie gazed at the paintings, admiring their details even from affair. Slowly he approached, trying not to look too eager, resisting the temptation to merely shout "art!" as loud as he could in excitement. He loved paintings, the ex apprentice of a court painter himself, so the chance to look at someone elses works was refreshing and exciting. These paintings were much nicer than the stuffy portraits his old master had had him doing. Going over to the stall he smiles, running his hand along one of them to feel the texture of the paints, smelling the faint traces of oil and alcohol from the pigments, smiling.

Ashleigh Atherton

"See something you like, kid?" The girl asked, watching over him carefully "I'm willing to listen to offers, you know. No need to be shy. Or sneaky!" she joked with a wide grin

Wolfie looked up at her, somewhat dazedly, speaking excitedly.

"its art!" he exclaimed loudly, grinning at her. looking over the portraits, thinking to himself he could maybe get a few coins for some food while distracting this girl.

"how do you do all of this miss? its all so pretty!"

Ashleigh Atherton

"It's easy for an artistic talent like I am! Just practice a lot, find a medium you like and your imagination will take you the rest of the way!" she declared proudly, grinning "Although, don't expect to match up to me in an instant. I could even do you something now, if you wanted?"

Wolfie giggled, edging over to the paintings closer to where the moneybox was and peering at them closely. "I like your style miss, I used to paint lots too so I know art when I see it!" he exclaimed. Placing one hand on the table next to the box he pointed to the portrait, grinning "this one looks like the king!" he observed, excited.

Ashleigh Atherton

"That's the plan!" Ashleigh grinned "Quite a majestic figure, made to appear even greater by my work!" Turning to face him, she smiled brightly "Oh? You paint too? I haven't see you try to sell any around here before. Maybe that'll make you a lot of money!"

Wolfie nodded in agreement "i love the details" he mused, slipping a new coins up his sleeve slowly as he talked. He continued to admire the paintings. "i paint myself, art is my passion! and I was the apprentice of a court painter you see!"

Ashleigh Atherton

"Really?" Ash asked curiously "Why did you stop, then? Did you just stop having fun?"

He sighed, "i didn't like having to paint copy after copy of the same stuffy portrait... it was so boring."
Wolfie slipped a couple more coins up his sleeve.

Ashleigh Atherton

"But now you can make your own paintings and sell them yourself, right?" Ashleigh asked "And make your own money too!"

Wolfie stepped back, his eyes shifting to not make contact with hers, distracted. "Y-yeah" he murmured

Ashleigh Atherton

"Is something the matter? You seem twitchy all of a sudden..." Ash commented, noticing his shifty eyes and sudden need to back away

Wolfie shook his head, taking a step back. "N-Nothing is wrong, I just need to go and buy dinner!" he replied. Hurriedly turning to go, Wolfie realised only too late that a couple of the coins he had taken had fallen out of his sleeve. They bounced on the cobbles and rolled back towards Ashleigh's stall. "Oh no..." Wolfie thought to himself, now he was in trouble...

"Hey!" Ashleigh barked at him, dashing after him furiously "Give me back my money! I wasted time talking to you and that's how you thank me?"

Wolfie panicked, causing him to hesitate as he tried to flee the girl. This meant he was much slower than he normally would be. "Sorry!" he called back nervously "I just needed some money for food!"

Ashleigh Atherton

"Like hell you were! Get back here!" Ash yelled, giving chase with a sudden rush of energy, anger and determination

Wolfie whimpered, frightened at the anger of Ashleigh. He turned and tried to run, considerably slower as he kept looking over his shoulder at her. "Im sorry!" he called "i really am just wanting food!"

Ashleigh Atherton

The boy's cries were ignored by Ashleigh, who continued her dogged pursuit, soon tugging on the back of Wolfie's cloak "Hand over the money and I'll let you off easy. And maybe I'll make you an offer."

Wolfie struggled a little, trying to wriggle free from her grip. But seeing that she was determined he soon gave up his escape attempt. Coming to a halt he sighed, letting the rest of the coins fall from his sleeve onto the cobbled path. "I'm sorry..." he murmured.

Ashleigh Atherton

Sighing loudly, while picking up all of her money, Ashleigh stood, looking back to the boy "If you want money, why not do what I do and sell paintings? You sound confident in your art ability. You'd be rich in no time!"

Wolfie looked at the paintings, thinking it over long and hard. Sure, he could do that... but what was to stop this bossy girl from declaring him her apprentice and having him paint stuffy copies once more? No, that was not art and it was not what Wolfie wanted. "I don't want to make copies!" he blurted mid thought "my art is very different!"

Ashleigh Atherton

"Copies of what? Who said anything about copies? Just paint what you like!" Ash replied, waving her arms around in an animated fashion "If you're good enough, then hopefully you can be inspired enough! It must be easier than always having to sneak in and running away, at least, right?"