early in the morning | travelling merchants

[Reed]

  It was a swamp. Out of all the places, the cold mountains and the desert that made him want to die, it had to be a swamp. A mucky, sticky, gross swamp. It stuck to his fur, the carts wheels, Goatus. It clung to him even more each time that he tried to get it off. A swamp. Oh, the gods hated him. He could deal with the snow, it made him damp but whatever, he managed the dehydration and mild sun stroke from the desert, but he could not deal with this. Goatus had a harder time pulling the cart and walking, Reed had a harder time keeping the cart from sticking in the muck. It wasn't worth it, it wasn't worth it, oh my gods it was not worth it.

  Everyone deserved goods, everyone deserved services, everyone deserved goods, everyone deserved services. Reed didn't deserve to get mucky. What even was this stuff, it wasn't like most swamps that he'd been forced to go through or walk around. It gave him bad vibes, really threw off his good energy. Whatever, he could deal with it for now. Probably. They kept going, and going, and going. They reached the border, oh thank gods. Thank everything that was merciful and pleasing to the body, spirit, and being. Not even Goatus liked this, and Goatus never complained.

  With an apology to his beloved companion, Reed would climb up and onto her back, using it as a launch pad to vault onto the cart. He'd unstrap the cover, but he had to actually walk the side of the cart and hook it. They'd broken the cover rig and rope in the Pitt and now he had to actually tie it himself. Gross. The frustrated red panda wouldn't uncover the items in the cart for fear of getting them dirty but the cover off revealed that there was indeed items to barter and trade in there. He'd run into a lot of suspicion before he figured out that he should probably undo the cover if standing at an unknown border, as an unknown. Was anybody here? Was someone going to hurry up and relieve him and Goatus of the muck and grossness? Probably not.

  True to his thought, it took a while for someone to arrive but they finally did and he could do his spiel. "Hello, hello." He wasn't as enthused as usual but he still made an effort. "I'm Reed and this is my amazing companion, Goatus. We are travelling merchant's and here to see if anyone is interested in bartering for some items or exchange of services?" Lets hope they were received well here. "We offer not just goods, but the chance to deliver messages, packages, and be contracted to find items, creatures or whatever you want!" hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.

(done on mobile. no need to match length. the cart has no solid inventory, legit anything atm)

[Abattoir]

  She crept through the undergrowth so elegantly, closing in on the cart, spidering limbs easing her past the many snares, pits, & other traps set for intruders. She, now settled in the shadows of an ancient willow, recounts how many frogs she had startled on her way to this newcomer-- a newcomer who, unwittingly, broken through the finest strand of her webbing of the massive net woven through this portion of the land. Three frogs? Four? Such small things.. Will she startle this furry stranger too?

  Legs glinting in the light of the sun setting over the horizon, she steps down into the defined clearing marking the border of Tanglewood. Her sprawling legs sink uncomfortably into the mud beneath her considerable weight. Itsy lifts one leg & begins to clean it between her mandibles as she listens to the merchant's greeting. The leg is considered for a moment before settling back onto the ground so she may reply.

"Reed & Goatus?" Her voice is cool & clear, with a slight lilt to it. "I am Itsy; welcome to the festering swamps of Tanglewood. Good evening to you. I have my silk to trade. Golden & rich as the sunlight glinting on morning dew, able to be woven into fanciful items or works of art for your pleasure."

  The spider edges closer, abdomen twitching, hind legs reaching between her spinnerets to produce a thick length of her dryest silk. It does, indeed, match her description, resembling a rope of gold. She deftly rolls this into a ball & offers the smooth, soft orb to Reed as the foremost set of her many eyes scan the cart for items of interest. "I observe you wear clothing, Reed & Goatus, are these made by humans?"

[Reed]

It was rude to stare, so he didn't. Not very much anyways. This was absolutely sick, like, the coolest person he'd seen since he saw that loner with an extra leg or that really blue fish. Spider, big big spider. Sweeeeeet.

  Reed would listen to the spider introduce themselves, nodding enthusiastically as she confirmed their names and offered up her silk? sick. "Pleasure to meet you, Itsy! We will gladly take that silk off your tarsus-es in exchange for whatever you would enjoy." This was.. incredible. Did they have somewhere to put it that it wouldn't get damaged? It wasn't even sticky.. wild. Reed would gently accept the ball of silk from Itsy, holding it clutched to his chest by one paw as he sorted through the various boxes and containers until he found the perfect one, an old and sturdy jewelry box that was lined with silk, though not of the spider variety. Softly setting the silk down, he'd add a few fabric scraps in there for extra protection before sealing it and tucking it in the corner.

  "My unending appreciation for the silk, I am unsure if we have had anything as nice as that in quite a while." He'd tell her, dipping his head in a polite and grateful nod. "We do certainly wear and carry human-made clothing! We have an assortment of items, from fabric tubes that fit on my paw to large pieces that cover Goatus. What are you interested in today?"

[Abattoir]

  Itsy finds Reed & his companion to be charmingly sweet & polite. Useful to her, even, if they have what she is looking for. Even if he did stare a smidge, it was not in disgust. This would delight her, perhaps even flatter, if she were so easily moved by such simple actions. The carefulness he treats her silk with, however.. that does slightly fluster her. She remains silent for a small stretch of time to calm herself before replying.

"A simple look at a dress.." She trails off, attention shifting to the wooly creature standing hitched to the cart. She moves closer to it. One slender leg-- a violet so dark it's almost black, vibrant yellow bands at each joint --touch gently touch the wool of the creature. "& fabric. I fancy myself a designer of sorts, mister Reed, & am sorely in want of supplies for my art."

[Reed]

Goatus turned her head to look at the creature that went to touch her wool, blank eyes examining the tall arachnid. Spider. Very large. She gave Reed silk. Good. Tolerable. Goatus no longer cared and turned back to what she was previously doing, chewing on her food. What it was? who knew.

Reed was oblivious to the judgement of their customer and would simply smile, listening as she stated what she was looking for. "well certainly! we have acquired a fair amount of clothes and fabrics that we'd be happy for you to look through. I'm afraid they must stay in the cart for possibility of getting them muddy but you are definitely more than tall enough to look at them, If do say so." The lady was tall, that was an obvious. "We may even have more supplies related to designing. You are more than welcome to barter for them if you would like!"

[Abattoir]

  Now, Itsy is not necessarily a romantic, but she is certainly a ditzy girl. One moved by passionate words & willful acts in such a way as to become embarrassed, timid, or even flustered as she is now. It is all the arachnid can do not the skitter away from the two of them to return to the heart of her web, sealing herself away for a few days, & gushing about the "purity of a merchant's heart" in her journals. You could not tell any of this by simply looking at the creature. What with her flat, cold voice & alien face.
  She revels in the texture of the hybrid's wool beneath her tarsus. It seems to gently give beneath her hypersensitive hairs, as opposed to fluidly moving past as silk does. As she assumed Reed to be male, she too assumes the animal to be non-sentient as it chews at its.. cud? Perhaps it would be willing to part with a bit of wool?

  Itsy turns her attention to the cart, taking a step closer to examine the wares-

"Mister Reed." She says softly.

  Cleaning a foreleg, as to not dirty what she has spotted, Itsy touches a leg to the bust of a scuffed human mannequin. Faceless. Once white, but now yellowing with the plastic cracked. It's perfect. It draws her in.. allures her, tempts her. Such beautiful clothing she could affix to this human doll.. Indeed it must be human, as she had once as a hatchling seen the skull of such-- speaking of skulls, there seem to be a few in the cart.. She continues to gently prod through the items, gently, carefully, shuddering as the setting sun overwhelms her sensitive eyesight for a few dazzling moments before it sets beneath the treeline.

  She finds a moth-eaten dress, a rusted needle, & a linen bag stuffed to the brim with scraps of cloth.

"I see you have bottles, mister Reed, have you ever found yourself in want of a spider's venom?" She taps a tarsus against the carefully selected items. "I am only painful, not lethal.. in small doses."