Merchants of Elm (IC)

[Lonna]

Lonna

Her breakfast finished, Lonna sipped thoughtfully at the last of her tea, allowing her straight, shoulder-length black hair to fall in a curtain around her face while she pondered her next course of action. That she would be going into Shanty Town was a given. She had done exceptionally well during the festivities of the night before, so she could afford to grease some palms in exchange for information about her family.

"Or I could just go see them..."

She said the thought aloud, as if tasting the idea. Taking a last mouthful of tea, Lonna grimaced, though whether it was the bitter dregs or bitter memories that prompted the expression, even she was unsure. She had had this internal debate every year when she came down for the festival, and every year she had shunned all contact with her family. Sighing softly, Lonna wondered if she would ever face a situation pressing enough to make her resume contact with her family. Certainly her father's death had not been enough...

Dismissing such thoughts with a slight shake of the head, Lonna pulled back her hair and, with the ease of long practice, tied it in place with a leather thong. Standing up, she barely noticed the weight of the finely crafted bronze rapier hanging on her left hip. Out of habit, she stroked first the ivory-handled bronze dagger in its sheath on her right, then the belt pouch that hung just below her naval. Reassured that the possessions most crucial to her livelihood were secure, she headed for the back door, nodding politely but distantly when the man she had previously noted taking purple spice turned to stare at her almost feline stride.

Outside, Lonna gazed around at the beginning of the sprawling slum known as Shanty Town. It was time to see what had changed in the last year... Time to look up the rumor-mongers.