Jealous Encounter

People were filling out the herb reports while he spoke, it was much easier. Sometimes he would pull out his notes to add something he had noticed previously, each time he would get special thanks. It was becoming a regular spectacle, the other appraisers in the City were losing face and business by the hour. Kinky Appraisal wasn't charging its customers, they were just doing a service and all of its patrons were earning big because of it. There was a sign on the wall, 'REWARD: Unknown materials to look at. 100CP Anytime we're open.'

People were coming by and by the cartload, bringing everything they had in their rings at times. he made a rule, three item limits per visit. Anyone was allowed to go back through the line, but in order to allow anyone to come up there had to be a limit. Some people would abuse such help and it was also something that just kept happening.

A woman, dripping in sexuality cut through the lines. She charmed each person, male, female, beastkin.. beast. They stood aside as she strode through unabridged, touching everyone. Once she had made her way to the door she tried the same thing on Vae. Vae started explaining why it was important to follow the rules, but Qez simply ignored her every word and looked around. Then, she started her way through the door unannounced.

Errit was busy giving out a description, he spoke quickly and didn't leave much room for the failure has the others wrote the details down. She walked up and started pushing one of the customers out of the way. One touch from her and he turned away, leaving the building, walking down the street and disappearing. He had left the herb, the paper and the shop entirely.

"Now that you're done, you can close shop and leave town too." She stretched her hand out.

Errit saw the substance's accumulating on her skin, its aura was a noxious purple and black. "Big Mistake" Errit backed up and the chains started to bind the woman to the chair.

He squeezed them tightly, she started to yell about sexual acts being done on her and people tried to run inside. "You dare?" He used the chains to tear her clothing and slash at her skin. People were coming into the shop, Vae could only hold back so many without violence.

"Kinky Appraisal will close its doors forever tonight..!" She started to laugh, it was premature.

A Chain whipped at her face and tore a piece from her smile. Her face, the only thing she ever felt sure of, had been forever changed. She screamed in pain while she was strapped to the chair. A Chainwall separated them and the crowd. Errit had a wall of chains surrounding them both, no one was able to see what was going on inside. They all remembered the woman coming in, but... her voice was not heard any longer.

A moment passed, it was eerily quiet in the shop except for the rattle of the chains. Errit used the time to clean himself up and make himself presentable. There were a few things that needed to be explained but he unraveled the chains.

He was alone.

"Next?" Errit didn't give them anything, not a smile, not an evil look, nothing. He stood there innocent and walked forward.

Everyone that stood in the shop was confused. They had come forward after hearing the woman's pleas, but Errit had never left. She was no where to be seen, her intoxicating aroma lingered in the chair.

"Next??" Errit was starting to lose his patience with the crowd, keeping a straight face was difficult enough but with so many people he was having trouble keeping kneejerk reactions down.

"Me, I'm next."

"No, Me." People started to fight over the pole positions, Vae recovered herself, rushed to the counter and pushed the people back. When there was resistance she snapped her fingers and everyone lost their footings. They were hovering like a sack of potatoes, she sent them out of the building with a wave and sighed.

"Sorry, Boss. I'm not sure what came over me. I'll have this under control in a minute." She didn't ask questions, just went back to work.

Errit was thankful that he had given her a job, the money she asked for and even herbs to heal her friend that was passing through. He never expected to be paid back, and so fully. 'I've gotta get her a gift or give her a raise.'

When they finished leaving and started to reorganize outside, he started looking through the ring that contained her remains. He wasn't sure he could escape given the situation, her temptation sweat was a product of breeding and the constant application of an oil that was similar to an aphrodisiac, in that people who were touched by it would be overcome with complicity and follow orders. Being that she was the one that had the effect of pheromones and magic oils, it was her words that brought the strongest reactions.

It was a good thing that he had stored her corpse away so quickly, it likely saved his situation. when he pulled the chains all the way back into his forearms, there was still some of of the oil on the chains. The Oil accumulated on his arm like a small glob. Errit scraped it away, stored it and did his best to clean up the countertop. He left the seat, the Next Customer was already sitting there confused with his rocks out and paper ready.

"Dulandoni Ore, Look. Notice how soft it is. Its mostly unusable in alchemy or production methods, but it can be made to any shape. It doesn't hold water and doesn't leak unless you make holes in it. Most people use it for stuffing in their walls. It makes a great insulator for carriages too. You have about 8 kilograms of it, that's not very much." Errit waited for the sheet to be filled out, then stamped it with his marker.

It was his 480th appraisal, he had been working on it for a week solid. At the rate he was going, he was about to officially have earned his position as the level 4 appraiser. To advance to Level 5 would take another thousand writs and in less than two weeks he could make Level 5. The Key was his volume of customers, people were no longer visiting the other appraisers.

The free appraisal service was impossible to beat. He was currently the most popular appraiser in the city and he didn't work for the depository.