A Healing Tent: Pearl Lane [Open]

[Esther Iteya]

The people of Ul’dah know an unspoken rule about misery. That is, if you wish to be miserable, you should spend your time trying to look for the good in world. It is the fastest and most reliable path to unhappiness, betrayal and stomach ulcers. Unfortunately this story is not about the wise people of Ul’dah. It is about a girl destined for disappointment.

 

Esther Iteya had just crawled out of the tranquil valleys of Othard, from a village whose only crime on record was an ‘accidental radish borrowing.' She didn’t believe in lies, nor that would anyone have reason to tell one. She didn’t know breaking a promise was possible, or that loyalty was optional. She did believe that people were inherently good and kind and that the world was fair, just, and helpful. Needless to say Esther was unprepared for Pearl Lane much in the same way that an egg rolling off a cliff is unprepared for the laws of physics. Most citizens would be skeptical of her surviving long enough to even reach the end of this sentence.

 

But Esther had managed to survive. She managed a whole week within the walls of Ul’dah. In that time she met six people, all of which were exactly as she assumed them to be: kind, generous, and dangerously feeding her idealism. One in particular, an Elezen by the name of Syranelle Ironleaf had gone so far as to fund her and encourage her. That is how Esther gained the enthusiasm to begin her work, to create a place for those who lacked what Ul’dah valued most. Coin. Within the first week of arrival to this new continent she had everything she needed to start a healing tent for the needy, and what better place to put it than Pearl Lane? After all, it had such a nice name.

 

That is where our story begins. Under a sheet tied up alongside Pearl Lane’s alleyway with two signs hanging over the side. The first read:

 

[align=center][FREE HEALING AND HEALING ELIXERS][/align]

[align=center](Please only one per person)[/align]

 

And the second, in smaller handwriting:

 

[align=center][Guard Wanted. Inquire within][/align]

 

 

The “within” being the immediate two feet behind the sign currently being occupied by Esther in a green robe. She had blue eyes, brown hair, white scales, and a coin purse loosely tied on her person for all to see. She stood under her self-made tent, shuffling her feet and waiting anxiously for customers. She had expected to be handing out healing elixirs for most of the afternoon. Syranelle had graciously introduced her to an alchemist named Zhan’a Rakhin who gave her a healthy crate of potions. However, his supplies only lasted the first half hour. She hadn’t expected so many large families in such a small alleyway. One man in particular, claimed he had ten terminally ill children, three sick dogs, four sick cats, and a goldfish with an ear infection. Esther couldn't deny such a large order to someone who had already suffered so much heartache. She only hopped she gave him the right dose for a fish, as it was her first encounter with aquatic medicine. Another man had six nearly dead children, and another eight! These large distributions had quickly dwindled her stock down to one emergency potion that she kept on her person and little else to hand out for the rest of the day. So instead she just waited and waved as people walked on by, trying to make the best of first impressions.

[Kallera]

In the distance, there was a commotion as a hyur in rags fled from a duskwight elezen woman. "Get back here you lush!" Kallera yelled, running as fast as she could manage.

Her sprinting had become desperate to close some distance. Soon enough, the elezen had lost her target admist the alleys of pearl lane. "Damn it..." Kallera slowed in front of the healing station and touched her ears to speak into a linkpearl. "I saw them, they were last seen in Pearl Lane." After the unheard conversation, Kallera took a moment to catch her breath near the tent, her pale skin being unused to the Thanalan sun. Kallera was lightly dressed (an arachne shirt and quartertights)and had wrappings around her arms and hands.

[Syranelle Ironleaf]

Ul'dah.  A city that Syranelle barely trusted, but a place she promised Esther Iteya she would be.  Mustering her courage and doing her best to allay her skepticism about this place, the tall, statuesque Elezen stepped off the airship and made her way downward to Pearl Lane.  Dressed in a long, but lightweight robe of Nophica Green, she passed through the arid streets and turned the corner onto the Lane proper. Rounding the corner, though, she nearly ran headlong into Kallera Etoile before coming to a stop with a start.

 

[align=center][/align]

 

[align=left]"Oh!" Syranelle said, blinking in surprise.  "Pardon me.  I wasn't expecting it to be quite this busy here."  The Elezen used one hand to smooth out the lines of her robe, looking between Kallera and her destination: Iteya's nearby Healing Tent.  "You seem in a hurry, please, don't let me get in your way."  Kindly, she side-stepped out of the woman's way, seeming intent to continue on toward Iteya's tent.

 

She gave a friendly wave to the Raen, though her eyes assessed the emptiness of the crates they'd delivered just a day or two prior.  Empty.  Oh, dear.  Zhan'a was definitely going to have his work cut out for him.  "You certainly seem like you've been busy, Iteya," she said, good-naturedly.[/align]

[SapphireSkylines]

Liara - a brunette plainsfolk lalafell with pale skin and green eyes wandered the alley of Pearl Lane doing... well, the exact same thing Esther was doing, minus the tent. Liara appeared to be a conjurer of sorts, wearing armor pieces that looked like a member of the guild would wear along with a staff that looked like a branch off of a tree in the Shroud. 

 

She would stop to tend to a little girl, who was with her mother, giving the girl a quick injection with a needle that was in her medical kit after applying an alcohol cloth to the injection site. Liara would smile and wrap a bandage around the girl's arm before nodding to the mother. "Your daughter should be all set!" The hyurian mother would try to hand Liara what little gil she had but Liara would give her a big shake of her head. "That's not needed. Stay safe!" 

 

She continued to walk down the alley way and noticed Esther's healing tent, as well as the two Elezen women. One who appeared to be resting, and the other who appeared to be a friend or acquaintance to the girl operating the tent. Liara would approach the tent, curiously looking at it. 

 

"Ooo! Are you another healer? We really need the help around here. Welcome to Ul'dah."

[Kallera]

She was startled out of her fatigue by the alchemist, giving slight nod and a smile to her. Told to stay put in case the thief made their way back, Kallera looked around her surroundings while minding the chatter on her linkpearl. This seemed to be a tent someone set up to provide succor for the needy. Were the locals having trouble with the heat too? It was proving oppressive for her. "Hah, hah, maybe it isn't just me..." she wiped her mouth, she wasn't poor herself, but there doesn't seem to be too many people here..."perhaps a moment under the tent wouldn't hurt...."

[Esther Iteya]

There was a rush of dust and the scattering of feet asKallera’s perpetrators sped past and formed a cloud of dust that settled over the make-shift tent. Esther coughed and waved the dust away from her eyes. Kallera stood before her tent, talking into a linkpearl. At first, Esther didn’t see her speaking into it, and nearly interrupted her with a wave and a short burst of noise meant to be a greeting. Her vocal chords slammed on the breaks once she realized she was talking, and she instead brushed the dirt off her things to make the tent look more presentable. She waited for the woman to not be occupied. Then right as she opened her mouth to try and speak again, Syranelle stepped in.

 

“Hello Miss Syranelle.” Esther said, and she dropped into with a polite bow. Shedidn’t have a chance to offer water before Kallera caught on. Esther swept over to a chair and pulled it out. Motioning to them both. “Come sit in the shade. I'll fetch some water.” She said as her hands dove into her pack, rummaging around. She had the foresight to bring a few bowls, and in a pinch they’d work for a thirsty traveler. As she looked, she moved away from the tent’s shade. It was a modest space, only fitting two at a time. She made room, and shuffled around with her things, making no means to hide her possessions.

 

As she did this, she heard another voice. A smaller one, alower one. She paused to look down at Liara. Her blue eyes blinked as the words clicked into place, then she broke into a wide and warm smile.

 

 

“Thank you very much. Do you work here too?” She spoke as she continued to search. Where had her water-skin gone?

[Kallera]

The shade of the tent gave her some respite from the heat. Syranelle apparently knew the person working here. when she heard that Iteya was bringing water, Kallera eked out a "thank you." between breaths. They both were dressed in robes and seemed to be faring rather well, compared to herself sweating with bare legs and midriff. It couldn't just be the tent...Kallera decided to ask the two. "Is it usually this hot around here? I feel like I'm missing some trick whenever I travel to this place."

[Amnesic]

Dressed in awkwardly tailored clothing, carrying a barely laden sack over her shoulder, unkempt sand-colored hair, height somewhere just under five feet, and much too skinny to look healthy, Fe’lanah looked quite like a young street urchin that had grown up on Pearl Lane. This was not actually the case, for she had simply been passing through in an attempt to avoid the street merchants when her curiosity was sparked by the sight of the makeshift tent. Having nothing else to do, she found herself a spot in whatever little shade could be located nearby and continued to watch with interest from a significant distance away.

 

Having watched mostly everything from a distance away, she was very intrigued by the appearance of the Elezen upon the scene, but she had been too far out of earshot to actually hear anything that had been said. Her latent curiosity eventually overtook her and she approached closer to the tent and conspicuously stood where she could hear everything being said just a little after Esther had begun to talk to Liara. She took the sack from her shoulder and began to rummage around inside it, taking a time to noticeably scan everyone on the scene. She kept a glance on Esther for a much longer time than the rest, but she eventually went to actually trying to look inside of her bag.

 

Her ear perked slightly at hearing one of the Elezen remark about dealing with the heat, but she said nothing and eventually drew a crudely crafted water-skin from her makeshift rucksack as she glanced in their direction for a moment. She was trying to be somewhat stealthy about it by not moving her head too much, but she ended up just staring out of the corners of her eyes as she pretended to look around in the bag some more. Her curiosity was definitely winning over this time.

[SapphireSkylines]

Liara giggled. "I used to live here, it's always hot, even in the winter." she would say to Kallera before looking to Esther. "Yeah I volunteer my time here every now and then when I'm not busy with my private practice. And we have very few healers out here working, probably because there's more risk involved than reward unfortunately so I'm glad you joined the cause. Liara attempted to look toward the back of the tent as if she was inspecting Esther's supplies. 

 

"How are you doing on equipment and supplies?"

[Kallera]

Kallera looked at the Lalafell. Being born in the Black Shroud, there was always some amount of shade or rain even in sweltering days like this.

"Ugh...I couldn't take this year round." She stared away at the ground, annoyed with herself. As a full-time adventurer she was fairly active, and finding her stamina dwindling in the heat was becoming a bother. What with the street urchins and unsavory lots around the Quicksand, passing out would be very dangerous.

 

She found herself eyeing a waterskin someone was carrying. "I keep seeing that." she said. Her curiosity raised, she was staring at the bag. Her throat felt dry, and she swished her mouth around as the feeling of moisture gave her a slight guess as to what was inside. "Water...?"

[Amnesic]

Fe’lanah had been getting close to putting the smaller pouch to her lips until she felt the Elezen staring at her. She began to progressively lower the container as she turned to make a response with a light smile.

 

“... Some people call it a water-skin, I think,” she replied bluntly. It took her a moment to understand the situation, but once she did, she perked her ears up and gave the tall woman a pitying glance. “Oh! Do you want some? I mean, it may have some of my spit in it, but it should be okay.”

 

It was a serious offer, she had plenty of water and she was currently showing no signs of overheating herself, it would not hurt to be generous.

[Kallera]

Kallera's eyes widened at the offer,taking a moment to observe the waterskin, she found the opening and raised to her lips. the cool splash never tasted better! She couldn't contain herself as she felt invigorated. The gulp was such an experience she took a smaller second gulp before releasing and closing the waterskin.

"Hah! Ahh...Thank you!" Kallera said to the miqote, feeling refreshed. Looking at the miqo'te's shabby clothing, she assumed this was someone poor. Having known poverty a few years back, albeit not in Ul'dah, Kallera felt moved by the miqo'te's kindness as she reached for her gilpurse. "What's your name?"

[Esther Iteya]

Esther nearly turned her pack upside down and onto the ground trying to find her water-skin. It didn't seem to be anywhere. Thankfully the curious miqo'te had come to the rescue. Esther couldn't help but smile as her tent was now in full use. It was shabby, and barely even enough shade for two elezen, let alone a third miqo'te, but it was perfect in her eyes. Esther had been told time and time again about the world being a dangerous place. Liara could probably account first hand the dangerous in this very alleyway, but Esther was blinded by the simple gestures of life. Like a goodly miqo'te giving water to a thirsty stranger. This unfortunately made her miss some crucial details about her life, such as the thief who made off with her water-skin before she even set up this morning.

 

Her attention drew back to Laira. "I should have asked if there was a senior healer here. I apologize for not finding you sooner." Esther motioned to the tent in all of it's glory. One of the signs fell off and landed in the dirt. "Please feel free to use it as you will, it's made for that intent after all. I'm out of supplies...but I have a cot folded up over there for the sick." She motioned. "I also had healing potions I was giving out, but they went faster than I thought. Miss Syranelle--The one right there, she has a friend. Mr. Zhan'a? He is an alchemist and gave me a crate."

[Amnesic]

Fe'lanah was a tad surprised at how fast the response was, but she could not resist giggling a bit at the Elezen’s display in regards to the water, and she continued to keep a grin on her face afterwards. She did not take the water-skin back just yet, but stood resting her hands on her hips with the rucksack still in hand.

 

“I just go by Fee or Fay, whichever is easier for you to say,” she simply replied, but then noticed Kallera reaching for the purse. Her face quickly turned to a pout and she shook her head. “Oh, please don’t do that- I don’t take money from people…” She unintentionally stepped back a small amount, making some more room under the tent, but not very much considering how little she was. She took a brief sidelong glance at Esther but turned her head back quickly towards the two Elezen yet again.

[Kallera]

"Fay..." Kallera held onto the waterskin as she motioned to herself, her own hand tapping her breast "I'm Kallera. I'm not from around here so, thanks for opening my eyes." The markets outside likely were selling some of them, so she had a good place where to look. Meanwhile, the chatter on her linkpearl soon gave word on the chase's. She turned her heard to show she was listening, then sighed as it continued, the cut, if she was going to get any, would be small. But at least she had a remedy for her problem, some water and a moment out of the sun made her feel ready again.

 

Fay seemed to be looking at Iteya as well. Kallera took the hint, or at keast she thought she did. "Oh." She whispered to Fay "Did you need a seat too? I'm starting to feel ok now..."

[Amnesic]

Fe'lanah shook her head again and gave a warm smile and spoke out loud. “No, you can keep your spot, I was just curious about what this tent was here for…” She was genuinely curious of whatever the Kallera kept turning her head for, but she decided to leave the topic alone and remained silent for a moment. She began to somewhat stare at the Elezen unintentionally, but she noticed herself doing it after a while and stopped, lowering her ears a little bit.

 

She started to scan the tent again and she shivered almost imperceptibly when her eyes crossed over Esther. Something about her seemed creepy to Fe’lanah, maybe it was the scales? She had no idea what it was, so she went back to rummaging around in her rucksack to avoid staring at her or anyone else in the tent. The searching was mostly to avert her gaze, but part of it was because she was hungry and she was trying to find what she felt like she wanted to eat.

[Kallera]

As the chase ended in Kallera's linkpearl. It looks like she had some free time to stick around with the others, the angle of the suns started to provide some shade nearby anyway, she stepped out, then noticed the sign in front.

 

There was a sign at the tent looking for a guard. She looked to her hands. Kallera wasn't sure if Iteya needed an imposing figure, but the gauntlets she had, perhaps she could provide until the healer found someone who did. She decided to ask. "Excuse me, were you needing someone to help mind the place?" What with Iteya's tent as it was, what was the worst that could happen?

[Amnesic]

Eventually, Fe’lanah sat down and retrieved a meal from her rucksack; this ended up being a few dirty carrots and another water-skin, as roughly made as the last. She began to loudly munch on a carrot as she continued to watch the people pass by. She was going to have to head back out into the desert for her other possessions before the sun fell, but for the moment she was content enough with just eating her meal and waiting to see if Kallera was going to give the other water-skin back.

 

As she had her repast, she looked to the sign that had fallen onto the dusty road that was Pearl Lane. She recognized one of the symbols on it as familiar, but she had entirely lost her ability to read when her memory vanished only a few days ago. It gave a slight forlorn feeling to have this fact brought back to her mind, but then again, she was sure the sign did not say anything very important. She quickly finished off her first carrot and quickly started on the next one after taking a heavy draught of her water.

[Kallera]

Iteya seemed busy at the moment, so Kallera took the moment to go to the market to putchase her own waterskin before possibly asking again. Before she left, she put Fay's waterskin on top of her rucksack. With a smile and a nod, she left for the market stalls outside Pearl Lane.

[Esther Iteya]

After inviting Laira to use the healing tent as she saw fit, she politely bowed her head and stepped towards it. She squared her shoulders at the two others inside. The third had made her way to the market.

 

"Thank you for the water. I don't know what happened to mine...I guess I forgot it at home. I'll have to remember to bring more." Esther then clasped her hands together and respectfully dipped at the waist to the miqo'te. "My name is Iteya, and I am here to serve Pearl Lane."  She spoke with a quiet respect, a tone of someone who has had one too many lectures about being polite to strangers.

[Amnesic]

Fe’lanah tried her hardest to try and look at Esther normally, but it was quite the struggle to fight back the internal response that made her want to avert her gaze. She ended up not being capable of looking up at her, but she managed to force a smile and maintain at least viewing out of the corner of her eyes. The unease she was feeling was causing her to shiver a little bit and she still could not figure out what it was about Au Ra that caused the nervousness she was feeling. It spiked when Esther bowed to her, causing her to grimace slightly and damage her speaking ability.

 

“Mine’s…uh, Fay or Fee, just whichever you find is easier to say…The water was nothing, really. I just felt like being generous,” she tried to reply as normally as she could. She tried to study what details she could of Esther from the edge of her sight, but she was not able to continue it for too long until she did have to swap her gaze back to the fallen sign. It was uncouth, but Fe’lanah was not one for courtesies and it at least let her talk correctly. “…It’s nice to hear someone is trying to make a change, but you need to watch yourself with these people. Money is corruptive, and it seems to show itself more in the people without it.”

 

She put her other water-skin back in her makeshift rucksack and took another drink out of the one she had been holding. The carrots were quite dried out from the heat and parched her mouth in turn, but at least they tasted good while giving her an excuse to not look at Esther. She knew she was a bad person for this, but she could not find something inside of herself to change her reaction.

[SapphireSkylines]

Liara nodded and carefully stepped to the back of the tent where Esther's supplies were. Liara didn't have much on her but she did manage to have a few potions, antidotes, and eye drops that she donated to the supply box before coming out from the tent and standing next to it. She'd scan the alley before letting out a yawn and looking over at the people in the tent. She'd look over at Kallera curiously. 

 

"Did the criminal you tried to chase after get caught?"

[Esther Iteya]

Esther could feel something was wrong, but she couldn't put her thumb on what. She leaned over slightly, following Fey's shifting and fidgeting. Her tail acting as a ballast as her body tilted at the waist. Then she followed Fey's gaze to double check if she was missing something and moved into the shade of the tent, just in case the sun was hurting the girl's eyes.  It took a few minutes for it to click that she was what was wrong. Esther blinked at the air, and she became stuck. What had she done wrong? Did she say something? Esther reeled. Her first interaction with the locals and she'd already botched it! Esther strove to salvage her first impression.

 

First she fixed her stance, so it was straighter, more proper. She fixed her posture so it was square, her hands delicately folded in front of her, feet together, her chin lifted level so an invisible book could balance on either side of her horns. She softened her voice, and lowered the volume. Despite all of this, Esther wasn't helping much. She had an innate inability to lie, and her heart was always on her sleeve. She looked less like a poised and well-mannered woman, and more of what she really was; a girl terrified to make a wrong impression.

 

"Everyone who I have met here has been kind and generous. I am honored to be in the Pearl Lane." She said with a genuine naivety. Her eyes were locked onto Fey, looking desperately for any hint of progress.

[Amnesic]

Attempting to look at Esther was very difficult and much more discomforting than Fe’lanah imagined it would be. When they were distanced far away from each other, the sight of her was slightly uncomfortable, but now that she was standing almost right beside her it had started to become more intense and she almost had to close her eyes in some odd instinct. It was an irrational combination of nervousness and what she thought might have been a smidge of fear mixed in. She never had this response to any other race, why only this one? It made no sense to her.

 

She had to steal another glance at Esther to perhaps figure out what it was that caused the reaction. To her slight advantage, her unkempt hair allowed her to take a small glance from the edge of her sight at the young woman beside her while at least having the internal reassurance that she might not be able to return the gaze. What Fe’lanah saw surprised her and added a layer of guilt to the emotions she was currently feeling.

 

The body language was easy to read, and she could tell that Esther was affected by her unintentional reservation. She struggled against herself and tried to turn her head at least slightly towards Esther while forcing a small smile, the best she could manage. “…You’re doing a good thing here; don’t worry about me, doc, I’ll be fine. I think that little Roegadyn might need some help over there or something…” she said somewhat normally while pointing at Liara. Looking at the situation the Au Ra was in, Fe’lanah thought it would be best if she tried to cause as little pain as she could to her. She had a feeling this effort to assist Pearl Lane was not going to end well, simply knowing from experience how the people in this city acted.

[Kallera]

"One of those please" Kallera didn't even bother haggling on the price, she hadn't the time for it anyway.

 

it seemed a little pricey, but the necessity likely made it that way in a place like this, that they were already filled made it an even better deal. Kallera bought the waterskin and started to make her way back to the tent. There was still a good number of people about, and esther seemed nervous about Fay. Kallera decided to ask what the problem was. "Did something happen with you two? You seem like you're staring at the sun or something."