Welcome to Gaia! ::

Dust coated every surface of the small shop and sand had begun to creep under the doorstep in places. The windows were boarded up, a few of said boards having been pulled off the door to allow the lone figure who sat waiting within entrance to her old home. There in a rickety old chair sat Vaeri half slumped and watching with glowing golden eyes the dust motes float through the light filtering in in slivers through the windows. In fact other then her breath and the constant shift of her gaze the only sign that the young Tiefling was even alive was the soft swish and twitch of her tail swaying back and forth to music only she could hear.

This place held so many many memories for her of the short time Davhorn and her had lived here. She could practically smell the incenses of so long ago hanging in the air and under her careful gaze the wear and tear of years of disuse were stripped away to reveal a better time. An older time.

Calimport had not seen hide nor tail of a Helltalon in years, not since Davhorn picked up shop and went wandering and now with her fathers passing Vaeri had finally returned after all these years. A letter, being the prompting need, had arrived in her hands at Ten Towns. Her cousin, the son of her father's sister had begged she return so that what was left of the family might meet her and impart on her her meager inheritance.

At first Vaeri had considered ignoring it and leaving Davhorn's matters to lie with him in his grave, but she had always been a very distinctly curious individual and she wished to see and meet the relatives of the man she had known as her 'father.' Which is what lead to her sitting here now in the near twilight on the old shop waiting.

The building brought forth in her so many feelings and for once the usually chipper tiefling was quiet merely soaking in the days of old. She could practically hear her fathers low humming and the creak of floorboards as he moved about the shop~

Only it wasn't old memories that cause that one tricky floorboard to groan just then as Vaeri leaped to her feet and spun khopesh drawn.

Vaeri Helltalon

Vaeri frowned and let out a sigh arching a questioning brow at the men who stood in the shadows. "You're a bit early. It's not to go on sale for another sevenday." She explained her tone a rich light soprano as she snatched the chair where it had fallen to the ground with her tail lifting it slightly to steady it with her hands and set it back upright in it's proper place.

Taking a moment she studied the man. . .no Drow. She'd heard of Drow, but certainly never seen one. Her father having often warned her that races such as he could mean trouble. What in the name of the ancestors though was a dweller of the Underdark doing in a place like this?

Letting out a small cough she pushed back a stray strand of hair from her face. "If you wish to come back later you may take a look around when the place is in a bit better shape Mister. . .?"

Vaeri Helltalon

It was a good ploy. Really it was and the flourish and the bow had been enough to draw back Vaeri's usually bright troublemaking smile. "I supposed I'd learn of it soon enough if you were actually interested in buying. After all dirty or no this shop is in an excellent location and has many prospective buyers." She purred with a low chuckle sheathing her khopesh and stretching slightly, the movement showing off her sleek catlike form and the warm lush red of her skin even as it had it's intended effect of popping a few stray vertebra back into their intended place.

"Besides your business can't be so urgent if you're taking time out of your day to sneak through the backdoors of 'abandoned' buildings." Vaeri added, she was far too curious to just let this new interest waltz right out the back door. Warning be damned.

Waiting to see if he bothered to pause and if he did she'd treat him to a smile. "Seeing as it's my shop now to do with as I wish. . .and I certainly don't wish to waste time cleaning the whole place. What price are you offering?"

Vaeri Helltalon

There were few things that could piss the usually good natured woman off faster then an insult. Vaeri worked hard to uphold her own and was one of the most talented young bards of her age. The fact she was a bard didn't mean in anyway that she had neglected her physical training in favor of social practices only.

A fact that was promptly revealed as the woman moved with deadly grace after her Drow insulter slipping between him and the door and smashing her hand over the latch preventing him from touching it. "Davhorn is no longer with us." She explained her tone sharp as she narrowed her gaze scowling at the insulate man. How dare he! She'd heard that female Drow were rather well known for having their head shoved so far up their own rears so as to not see the sun shine, but she had to question how true such rumors were. To her it seemed the men were just as bad.

"Any business you had with my father you may take up with me." Vaeri snapped trailing her eyes up and down Jarlaxel sizing him up. "Though I certainly hope your business manners are not nearly so poor as your current ones Drow." She added with a snort removing her hand from the latch and making to move to push past him and back into the center of the shop her tail twitching with annoyance.

Vaeri Helltalon

A cold chill went through Vaeri as he mentioned her not being her father's 'natural child.' She played it off well though and simply took a seat regarding the Drow with the same frown as before, but her face softened subtly at the compliment. She did like to think after all that she'd done her father proud. "Not many are willing to take in an orphaned child, even less a Tiefling." She sublty bluffed her face giving nothing in her lie away and her voice steady. After all by all regards she considered herself very much the Tiefling indeed.

"Now~" Vaeri began as she put on her most pleasant bardic smile tilting her head slightly to eye the man. "Tell me what dealing with my father do you speak of? And I shall see if I can be of assistance to you." She replied her tails irritated twitching stopping as she considered the man before her. "After all it must be something quite special to draw a denizen of the Underdark out into a sunbleached city like Calimport."

Vaeri Helltalon

Vaeri narrowed her eyes, the man had her attention in full now even as she fought the urge to finger the flasks of acid tucked in their sockets. "Who is to know the fate of the parents of an orphaned child." She answered somewhat cryptically a question in itself posing as an answer.

"I was after all only babe when he found me and took me as his own. From what I was told there was not much more to tell then that." Vaeri continued watching the man carefully, but now her curiosity had been oh so piqued. Of course while most believed she had simply been an orphaned Tiefling taken in by an older Tiefling merchant to raise as his own she knew very well that she had come from an egg and that the 'daughter' of Davhorn had run around on all fours on silvery sheen paws rather then two legs when she was little.

That fact though was not one for others to know and a fact her father had struggled very hard to conceal ever since his chipper little chatty daughter had broken shell. "But do tell~" She asked with a grin. "Who is my mother?"

Vaeri Helltalon

Vaeri caught the dragonskin pouch despite the very feel of it in her hands making her feel a touch sick to her stomach. She did her best though to keep the same smile even as she opened the bag and began flipping through the book within with a low chuckle.

Suddenly though there was no Tiefling, no bard, only the barest blink of quicksilver movement and if Jarlaxel didn't react fast enough he would find himself pinned by the throat against the wall by a mirror bright paw. Looming over him would be a sleek young adult Mercury dragonesses who snarled down at him showing off her daggerlike fangs. "And what did you want with the likes of me!?" She hissed her once friendly soprano tone turning sharp and wicked with her anger, but the fact Jarlaxel proved to be interesting shielded the Drow from her full wrath for the moment.

It was rather a blessing that Mercury dragons did not tend to have the same lofty size as their larger cousins. A double blessing in the form of the Drow having drawn one as young and on the small side as Vaeri out of hiding. Still even then she stood ten feet at the shoulder and had to stoop her head lest she smash it against the cealing and in the front room she had to half curl to avoid breaking anything and keep her wings folded tight. Not that one could guess with her living most of her life in hiding that the young dragoness had actually flown much in her life. Over all she was a sleek whip like thing with a sheen to her scales to rival even older dragonesses and under less dangerous circumstances might have been considered quite the beautiful and breath taking sight.

Vaeri Helltalon

Vaeri half turned, curling and on all fours like a cat ready to pounce as she eyed the Drow a low rumbling growl rising from her throat. For a moment she simply considered just utilizing her breath weapon. It would be easy enough and in room this size the Drow would have no hope of escaping it's effect, but she held her temper a moment more too curious about what purpose this being of the Underdark had had for her.

Or more like what fate Dovhorn had tried to secret the young dragoness away from. "What is Bregan D'aerthe? And how did you know my mother or are you a liar as well as an egg thief?" She hissed low claws clicking on the floor as she shifted with irritation or more like in an attempt to stay awake. Few dragons could resist music and she was a great lover of it herself. The lullaby was one used to lull hatchlings to sleep, not that Vaeri would know such.

Shaking her head she narrowed her eyes at Jarlaxel. It was somewhat doubtful to her that her mother would willingly offer an egg to such a man or perhaps her mother had been an enemy of his and he wished revenge by acquiring one of her children. It was likely though neither drow nor dragon had known the egg to hold a dragoness. After all it tended to be pure godsent luck for one in 20 eggs to produce a female, another reason perhaps her father had chosen not to give her up to the possible life of being nothing more then a glorified guard dog.