Prospect Hill - Haven (Odyssey)

The small settlement of Prospect Hill.


(OOC: I'll break this up into different areas if needed).

The firefight drew the curious stares of the community. One person would stand and shield his eyes in the street, causing another to do the same. Storekeepers would catch wind of it from running children breathlessly trying to find the best vantage point, come out to their front porches, and find themselves with a comet-tail of customers just as baffled. The tiny rustic settlement knew ships and technology, but Haven wasn't a world that had access to much of it. The sight of black plumes of smoke in the distance, as well as the lancing lights of a ship firing upon another, seemed nearly out of place amongst the dusty frontier town.

"What'ya make of it?" a young man asked the proprietor of the general store. "Reavers?"

"Nah," drawled the shopkeep. "They'd be after us, not a ship. Pro'ly pirates havin' at it."

A modestly dressed woman complete with her bonnet paused to share their shade. "Pirates?" she asked dubiously, scandalized at the thought. "What do they want with us?"

The shopkeep snorted softly. "Nothing, by the looks of things." He motioned toward the distant battle. "Looks like either they're caught, or doing the catching."

The young man, in his middle teens, looked over at the older man. "Think they'll head this way?" he asked with barely hidden excitement. "I can run get the Constable-"

"It's an Alliance ship that's being hounded and chased," a woman's voice offered blandly. They all three turned to look as a woman, more modern and Core-world in her fashion sense, stepped up onto the porch along with them. "They're trying to run. You won't have to worry about them."

The bonneted woman took out a fan, snapped it open, and proceeded to wave it at her face with a look of disdain. "Then we'll have to suffer pirates," she sniffed. "Best lock ourselves up tight now so they'll move off to some other settlement."

The tall, dark-clad woman turned to glance back at the distant ships as one finally began to descend in such a way that the black trail of smoke behind it couldn't mean anything good. "They gave as well as they got, I'm sure," she replied with a nonchalant shrug. "Expect the wounded to be brought in. They'll have some. Also expect them to be harried and looking to mend up and head out, or hide a while."

She moved past them to turn and enter the store. "How do you know that?" the 'keep asked curiously as he, too, turned to go back to his duties. Some of the wind blew dust into a whirlpool that danced down the road.

"I'm an antiquarian," Shadai calmly informed him. "I make my living off of being perceptive and knowledgeable about the 'Verse." She paused to look back at him. "Are you open for business?" she asked casually. "I need to restock some supplies for my shuttle before the horrible pirates arrive and steal you blind." She smiled, tone full of sarcastic amusement.

OOC: Excellent first post! Major kudos!

OOC: Very nice indeed!



-Mischa tpo August

I agree nice post, brought pictures to my mind

James tpo Ronon

The bonneted woman disregarded the stranger, and hurried off to board her house up. The 'keep would rather be boarding up his door as well - trouble like what they had seen was too close to take chances. But the prospect of selling his goods to this strange woman was too good to pass up.

"Yep, I'm open. What'll ya have?"

Not more than a minute later, a mule full of strangers - some of them covered head to toe in the quick mud that was notorious outside of town - drove along the main street and stopped in front of the clinic.

When the shop owner looked toward the window and the mule, so did Shadai. She then looked back at him with a pleasant smile, as if it mattered little to her. "I need to restock my shuttle before the next hop I make," she told him conversationally. "I'll need mostly food and water refills, maybe some fuel if you have it. And a look around to see if anyone has anything particularly old they want me to look over for them." She lifted her hands a bit. "I don't charge much for looking. If it turns out to be valuable, I'll offer to buy it for usually three and four times what I ask for a seeing-fee, at the least."

She set both hands flat on the counter. "You think you can help me with any of that?" she asked curiously.

He grunted. "Don't 'spect many will have anything old, 'cept mebbe their bones. Most folk don't have stuff that ain't useful, and won't part with useful stuffs." The shopkeeper paused a moment before adding, "Ya could try the bathhouse, I s'pose. Old Xui Li has it all beautied up. She may have somethin' of interest to ya."

He clapped his hands together.

"Now then, I gots food, water, and fuel. How much ya need of which?"

"Let's see what you have first," Shadai replied smoothly. "And the price per unit. I don't want to ask for more than I'll be able to afford, after all."

She glanced toward the window. "You realize, of course, by being open that you've made yourself available to the... company?"

Yeah, ya creepy woman. And the faster ya get out the faster I can close up shop, he thought to himself. In reply, he just grunted.

He showed her what he had - rudimentary foodstuffs, for the most part. Most of it was protein bars delivered in various creative ways, but he also had some dried strips of meat and some fresh vegetables of various sorts, all from local farmers. The water was in casks, obviously also gathered locally. Most of the cost for these was in the cask itself, since water could easily be gathered by anyone local with a rain barrel or a well.

He was a bit light of fuel - only a few barrels that looked like they had seen better days. What he sold was for machinery or mules. If she wanted fuel for her ship, she'd have to get it from the dockmaster at the dock.

The prices for each item were clearly labeled. The shopkeeper was meticulous when it came to pricing his items.

OOC: Not going to mention pricing, as it was never really established in the show. It's up to you how much she can afford, but assume the prices are reasonable for a smaller town with a rudimentary dock. Items would be cheaper in a large city, but more expensive in a rural town without a dock.

Shadai ordered the bars, the fresh food, and the water in enough amount that the decent price got a little expensive. Not too bad, of course. She paid for it honestly too, and had enough without bartering down the cost. Perhaps she was in more of a hurry than he thought, but she made no outward sign.

"I can load it up if you have a dolly and a mule to borrow," she remarked. "Or know someone you trust to come with me and help at least."

The shopkeeper eagerly took her money. He was beaming like a child on Christmas morning.

"I've got a cart out back I use to transport goods from the docks. Give me a few minutes and I'll have the horses hitched up to it."

He whistled, and a young adolescent boy ran in from a back room, followed by a younger, preadolescent girl. They looked very similar, and were obviously siblings. However, they didn't look related to the shopkeeper. "Yes sir?" the boy said.

"Get the horses hitched up to the cart, and load these goods" he indicated the purchased items "into it. Then take them to this woman's ship and load them into it for her."

The boy nodded and added, "Yes sir!" again. He immediately began picking up packages to take out back to the cart. His sister followed his lead. This obviously was something they had done before.

"Now then," he said to Shadai, moving to open the front door for her, "if you like I can have them delivered to the docks and you can go about any other business you have. They'll wait at your ship until you arrive."

~GM~

Shadai smiled pleasantly. "Sure thing. That would work out splendidly. Thank you for the offer." She nodded at the shopkeeper and then at the young man and woman who were scurrying around to do as their father, or employer, told them.

She then simply moved to leave the shop, hoping that he would close up behind her. Once out on the front walk and beneath its shade, she glanced around at the street. Well boarded up and quiet, but for the mule down the way where the folks had come in with their wounded.

She was the only one standing in the desolate street with its wind. Gaze fixed on the mule and those moving into and out of the doctor's little abode, she began to cruise down the street toward them on the opposite side. She had time to kill.

Her lips twitched at the thought. She was very good at killing things. Time included.

OOC: Niiiiice.

Shadai did here the distinct sound of a bolt being thrown as the shopkeeper locked up after she left. He had at least waited until she had started walking, but not much after that.

She caught a glance of a dread-locked man racing out to the mule, rummaging around for a moment, then swiftly moving back into the clinic with what appeared to be bolt cutters.

OOC: Feel free to continue this in the clinic thread.

OOC: That was Ronon, all 6' 4" of his muscular body moving about, and he is shirtless due to his encounter with quicksand earlier

James tpo Ronon

OOC: I gotcha. She'll get to know names later.