Closed Pirates of the Hard Nox [archive]

[Hard Nox 2]

FANG

Leo stood for a while, staring at the sky and letting the rocking motion of the ship set his body at ease. Tension released from his shoulders, and for that time he seemed weary, older than his years. It felt like he had always needed to be on alert, always been es tensed and coiled, ready to pounce at someone’s behest or the will of the flames.

On the deck he was truly free, trapped as he might have been by the surrounding water. He had not even dreamt of freedom before, the idea ludicrous to the slave boy who spent the rest of his life bound and released in a cycle of use. In the span of a single night he had not only gained freedom, but a semblance of control. Speaking often, laughing with genuine mirth, none of these things he had experienced since being taken to the Truth Teller were a part of the world he had known. A world contained within stones and bars.

Leo shook his head vigorously and tore his gaze away from the sky, stomach growling in neglect as his gaze trailed from crow’s nest to deck slowly. Hunger was no stranger, though, and easily turned away. On the deck he was free, below he would be bound by the chains of his own ignorance. Emryk would not say the burden Leo caused him, but Leo knew it was straining for the Baron to keep him in line, to keep him from speaking the wrong way or taking the wrong actions.

Leo thought to his first correction, that heaving slam that brought the fight between Soren and himself to an end. It had not been what it appeared, though Leo’s plan had been as intelligently thought up as anything that passed through his mind. He knew too little, had too few experiences beyond killing and confinement to truly be of use to anyone. Leo’s feet carried him away from where he had stood, driven by the pace of his thoughts and misgivings in some random direction. Leo’s eyes were turned inward, blind to his steps and numb to his movement.

When he finally turned his attention outward once more he found himself at another door, this one with soft light pouring from the cracks between plank and frame. A faint, stringent smell wafted from the room beyond, and Leo thought of his other skill, the one driven into him as a child. He recognized the smell of soap and clean. Whatever the source, it would be quite helpful to finish removing the filth from that room in the women’s quarters.

Leo opened the door cautiously, peeking around it before stepping through. The room seemed empty, a table on the far wall and cabinets to the right, a blanket gently billowing in and out with the breeze and nailed on all sides. A beaded curtain separated the main room, thick enough it hid what lay beyond from Leo’s sight. Leo nodded to himself, making his way to the cabinets. He wasn’t sure what this place was, but if there were cleaning agents to be found they would be there. He began searching, clumsily shoving glass bottles and wooden boxes against one another in his search. A good thing this room was empty, else its owner might take offense to such racket.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

HIGHVOLTAGE

A rap came upon the door, opening as he let out a noise of acknowledgement. Ah, the fledgeling. Lucien heard her words die in her throat, and he turned to look back at her, acknowledging her presence. He saw her gaze, he knew where it went. Any self-respecting vampire would want to drink the blood of another, it was something even he could not fault her for. He went to his trunk, flipping it open before pulling out a black shirt, sliding it on and buttoning it up, ignoring the immediate sticking to his shoulder.

He went, not to his map table, but instead to his cabinet, taking out a small, unopened bottle, setting it down in front of Nessa as his gaze turned to the map.

“For you. For a job well done.” He studied the map she had presented him, comparing it to the map he already had out. Rings, concentric. Maybe to show elevation? That would mean mountains. There were only two major sets of mountains on the current map. The ones on King’s map were a cluster, so that ruled out the range between Widdick Forest and the WIld Lands. That left only one option. Lucien tapped the map thoughtfully, muttering to himself.

“The Ice Lands. Great. Love the cold.” He looked back up at Nessa. “It appears what King seeks is within a cluster of mountains in the Ice Lands, along the south-eastern shore.”

 

[Hard Nox 2]

PAPERWORK

Hester hadn't exactly been asleep when the banging started, but now she had an excuse to admit that her attempts at rest weren't working. Her eyes eyes creaked open. She glared through the beads, to the silhouette she could barely make out on the other side.

"You winning that fight, or are those bottles too much for you?" she groused, her voice still half-croak. "Or are you playing it up for the bards? There aren't any 'round here, I assure you."

 

[Hard Nox 2]

FANG

Leo had no idea what anything was, most of the vials and bottles opaque and the boxes locked. A few herbs were bundled loosely, and as Leo sniffed at the dried leaves his heart leapt from his chest, and his body leapt onto a chair.

After a few seconds he relaxed a bit, startled as he was by the sudden voice.Tentatively he replied,”Fighting bottles would be boring. I could kill them easily.” He looked to the beaded curtain with one raised eyebrow. “And I don’t know what a bard is.” Curiously he edged closer to the partition, his quest for soap all but forgotten.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

GOLDEN

A strange sense of relief overtook Alys; it felt as though a cascade of gentle and invisible waves came rushing in, easing her body and mind. Sharing something from her past - sharing the truth - seemingly had that effect. She exhaled deeply, feeling a small, but significant weight lift from her shoulders.

"He was...-" she began quietly, though her voice trailed off due to some lingering apprehension. Did Juniper really want to hear about this? Especially after losing their own friend just a few hours ago? Surely they wouldn't have asked, right?

So she continued. "We could make anything into a game or an adventure. And we could talk about the littlest things for hours on end - gods, we were annoying. He was quieter than me, more relaxed, but he didn't let me walk all over him. He called me out when I was wrong, challenged me... and I used to hate that so fucking much. But now-," she paused, smiling to herself. "I think I would've liked that now."

Once she had finished speaking, Alys pulled her gaze away from Cygnus, and down to Juniper. She noticed the tracks of wetness staining their cheeks; a sign that Alys' story had resonated, or at least impacted their friend.

Friend?

One vulnerable conversation and she was already thinking that way. But after this moment, she felt closer to them than anyone else on this blasted ship.

She cleared her throat and glanced down at her hands, at the bandage that covered her wrist. "I know it's still fresh, but when you're ready, if you ever wanted to talk about... Poppy, I can listen." And it might take 15 years, as it did for Alys, but at least they would know that someone was there - at least for now - to listen.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

ILLIRICA

Introductions seemed to have been taken care of for the newest acquisitions to the Hard Nox. Sinéad was not without a certain amount of misgivings - she didn't like rescuing prisoners. Too many of them pretended to have ethics.

It was possible that some of them might even have ethics, but Sinéad wasn't about to hold her breath for that. She had found that most people regarded ethics as a matter of convenience - amusing to parrot about to others in order to feel superior, and then abandoned when it was time to cut someone in half.

She would miss Soren, after all.

Still, on a ship like this, ethics were a boulder in the pathway - something that needed to be shoved aside for the sake of getting where they needed to be. Her newest members would merely have to adapt like everyone else did, or get dropped off at the nearest convenient port.

And, of course, if they proved enough of an issue, they'd get dropped off whether or not there was a port. Sinéad had tried having ethics ones. It hadn't worked out.

She had no real desire to go discuss the state of the ship with Mal at the moment, especially since she could essentially have that conversation in her head by rote at this point. Better to move things along and return to her own quarters and change into something that hadn't been tainted by proximity to necromancy or royal teacups.

Nessa was in Lucien's cabin - she could hear their voices, and made changing a quicker affair than it otherwise could have been before appearing in the doorframe to Lucien's room with a glass of wine in one hand. She'd not brought the bottle, as neither of them would care for it and if she was going to drink the entire thing, she was going to do that in her own damn room.

The map was unfolded, and her eyes glanced towards it with a hunger the other two might understand.

"Well. What did we get, for all that?"

 

[Hard Nox 2]

SHODDYPRODUCT

Juniper removed their glasses just long enough to wipe their face clean, one of many times they had done this in the last few days. Despite the tears, there was a small smile on their face. This talk with Alys, it had been nice, if a bit emotional. The changeling hadn't had a talk like this ever, not aboard the Hard Nox, and it was freeing, in a way, being honest with someone. Perhaps, somewhere down in their mind, they had now begun to think more highly of Alys, their roommate and acquaintance.

No, acquaintance wasn't the right word anymore. The feeling they had now, it was familiar, a nice feeling, a want to be closer and speak openly. It was warm, and comforting, and all the same dreadfully similar. Whether Juniper wanted it or not, they considered Alys a friend now, much as they had Poppy, and this time, they were determined to have things go differently.

A weak smile graced their face as they replaced their glasses, nodding their head as eyes went from the stars, to her face, then back to the sky. "I... Would like that. Not tonight, but... Later. Thank you, Alys. I... Think I needed this," they said quietly, hardly above a whisper. Another moment or two of silence passed between the two of them, before the sorceress let out a sigh, and stepped away from the railing of the ship.

"I should probably get back to drying the ship, before the captain comes up here and sees us slacking off," they said with a chuckle. "I'll... Uh, don't know if you still want to hang around. I'm gonna get back to it, and, uh... Talk later?"

 

[Hard Nox 2]

PAPERWORK

Great. A bottle-warrior who'd never seen the inside of an inn before. That boded well.

She could hear him shuffling towards the curtain, now, which made her regret speaking up. She could barely walk, and the only construct she had on her person was the one designed for climbing ropes; if this fool had any vendetta against Solomon King's crew, or in murdering people for sport, she'd be hard-pressed to fend him off. The centipede construct was still off in the sack of treasure the walking corpse had retrieved from the ship, she was pretty sure, but there was no way it'd make it here in time to do more than avenge her death, if it came to that.

"Wouldn't be so sure, if I were you. You wouldn't be the first person to make that mistake. What're you doing here?"

 

[Hard Nox 2]

GOLDEN

As Juniper began to speak, Alys glanced back at their face, watching as they shifted between looking at her and the sky beyond, clearly taking in everything that had transpired between them. "Okay," she said, pairing her response with a single nod of her head.

She too pushed off the railing, and scoffed at Juniper's concern, though she knew it was warranted. After everything they'd gone through, there was no opportunity for rest, not yet anyway. "I'll see you later then." She paused, taking a couple steps towards the staircase that led bellow deck. "Good night."

As she left Juniper behind, it didn't take long for the thoughts and worries that had plagued her mind earlier to resurface, causing that wall to rise once more. But she remembered that feeling of relief, that swell in her chest. Maybe she'd make a habit of lowering it every once in a while.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

FANG

Leo glanced over to the bottles with a look of concern, then back to the beaded curtain. Surely they were joking? He stepped back over to the open cabinet, gingerly picking one of the nearest bottles from the shelf and shaking it experimentally. He turned over him his hand, eyes darting from curtain to glass and back again. If the dead could walk again, and again, then who was to say this voice couldn’t command bottles?

”Bah,” Leo said venomously, gripping the bottle in his palm and slamming it to the floor between the curtain and himself. The calm of the room shattered with broken glass, a sweet scent of ice and winter cold quickly filling the room with enough strength to burn a bit in Leo’s nose. ”Bottles are weak. Find better warriors.” Leo cast a worried glance over his shoulder to the shattered glass as he grabbed another bottle and pulled the cork, sniffing cautiously.

Through the wintery scent of the fallen glass knight a cloying heaviness flew into Leo’s nose, pulling his eyelids down with titanic force and causing the room to spin gently at first. Leo replaced the cork hurriedly, or as quickly as the thickening air would allow him. Time slowed and Leo’s vision distorted, the bottle in his hand twisting its fluted head away from his fingers as he struggled to contain its breath. As Leo’s knees began to weaken he finally managed to replace the stopper, softly sliding the bottle back onto the shelf as his body became gelatin and he slid to a pile on the floor. As the darkness began to overtake his vision Leo whispered softly, ”Just a little nap,” before his soft snore filled the air.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

PAPERWORK

The idiot was smashing bottles, now. Something ice-cold and sharp, from the smell of it--she was pretty sure she'd eaten something that tasted like that at some point, on King's ship, but she couldn't remember what. There wasn't much she could do to stop him, beyond shouting at him, and it would probably better for everyone if he stayed on his side of the curtain. All she had to do was wait, until... Yes, there it was. He'd opened something significantly stronger than oil, caught a good whiff of it, and crumpled to the floor.

"I did warn you," she murmured, staring up at the ceiling.

Oh. He was snoring, too. Lovely. There went any remaining chance of sleep.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

HIGHVOLTAGE

Lucien glanced up at the new arrival, wondering how his cabin had become such a desirable place to visit. The question was answered when he saw the only other person on the ship who would knock on his door without a flintlock to their skull. He bowed his head briefly to acknowledge the Captain’s presence, noticing the glass in her hand, bottle absent, somewhat mirroring the empty bottle on his table.

She had a gleam in her eye, one that Lucien had seen before, in brief glimpses on reflective surfaces while he was reveling in his bloodlust. It was hunger, searching for a sort of prey. Whereas his was for the living, however, the Captain’s was harder to pin down. Sometimes it was at the prospect of treasure, sometimes when she received an interesting piece of information.

“A map, leading to something within the Ice Lands.” Lucien beckoned her in, knowing that she would enter regardless of his invitation. He shifted the maps so she could get a better perspective. “King’s map shows a cluster of mountains, similar to this one. That, and the curve of the coastline makes me believe his target is in the north.” His hands floated over the maps, drawing attention to the points as he mentioned them.

“I would even wager that whatever he is seeking is within this particular mountain” Lucien gestured towards a mountain on the map that stood above the rest, hooked slightly towards the sky. “Knowing King, however, it could be anything, from piles of gold to an interesting skeleton.”

 

[Hard Nox 2]

ILLIRICA

Sinéad stepped into the vampire's den, taking a sip of wine and walking around the table to stand beside Lucien, looking over the maps with a practiced eye. The Ice Lands, indeed... that was interesting. She'd not been there in a while, and wouldn't mind returning. The chill was soothing, she'd found, even if much of the rest of the crew spent half their time bitching about it.

"The Ice Lands it is, then - but we'll need to take some time for recovery at our next port. I want everyone healed up properly and not halfway." Time had been of the essence when they'd gone after the Truth Teller, but if it weren't necessary she preferred that her own people not be bleeding when they started out.

It made things more challenging for Lucien, after all. He was far easier to direct when the target was obvious. Something of a frown turned over, briefly present before it left again. "I suppose I'll have to talk to Caleb about getting proper cold weather gear for people before we make for the Ice Lands. It'll give him another opportunity to shoot me."

Sinéad took another drink and glanced over at him, all trace of the frown gone and a disastrous smile lurking in her eyes. "You know, you're going to have to kill me soon if you don't want Caleb to get there first."

 

[Hard Nox 2]

DELFI

Upon finishing his stew, Caleb quietly stood up and got back to his cabin, with his half empty whiskey bottle. He saved the rest of it inside the chest he kept under his bed (with liquor and other personal things) and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The following days had been quite uneventful. Most of the crew was busy with something - fixing the ship, cooking, tending the wounded - and as for Caleb, he was not only on baby sitter duty for their new crewmate Leo, he also had a bunch of gold to split between the crew.

The officers would come in first and take what suited them, later Caleb would split the items amongst the crew according to its estimated value, under Sineád’s supervision. Of course she didn’t trust him with the gold, but surprisingly, Caleb didn’t care much for it. With his earnings aboard the Hard Nox he could afford most of the things he desired: Weapons, fine clothing, liquor and women. He had a comfortable living so to speak, and there wasn’t a lot to spend on while he was on the ship, so he had quite a bit saved up to even buy a piece of land if he wanted to. Maybe he would someday, if piracy didn’t get him killed before retirement.

Caleb stood shirtless in front of the mirror, pinching the skin of his chest, around the soon-to-be scar. Three days had passed since the freefall, his wound was almost healed, and he should ask Emer or Mal to remove the stitches soon. He nearly lost his balance as the ship stopped abruptly, compelling him to put his shirt back on and see what was happening on the main deck.

The hard rock coastline south of Allegria was a good place to hide the Nox. The tide was high that late in the morning, and later in the afternoon, when the hull would land on the sand, Mal and their helpers would be able to take a definite look at what was left of the ship’s left wing, and fix it so it would be able to fly again. Caleb wasn’t one to get sea sick, but he did miss the air. He returned to his room only to get the bag he had prepared for the occasion and, with the help of some of the crew, began chaining the ship to the rocks, so the wingless could make their way down the ship.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

FANG

Three days passed and Leo had cleaned the ship from top deck to brig under Caleb’s watchful eyes. Despite his mistrust of the one eyed fairy Leo had decided that he was a likable enough fellow. As the Hard Nox shuddered to a halt in the hidden, rocky cove Leo stepped onto the deck with a sense of pride, glancing down at the new shirt and pants Caleb had so graciously told him he was free to take. The black shirt had been ripped through as if punctured in the shoulder, but the needlework along the the hem was nicely detailed. The pants were also dark, and perhaps a bit tight in certain places, but they were in far better condition than the trousers he had escaped with. Those had become rags once he washed the blood from his current outfit.

With new clothing and a relative solitude while scrubbing the various levels of the ship Leo barely recognized himself, some half bred amalgamation of the boy treated as garbage and a free man. Sometimes Caleb would prattle at Leo as he checked in on his progress, and occasionally Leo would even respond, though typically those responses gained sneers from the dull one. Was it Leo’s fault the fairy spoke of such silly things?

He had learned quickly that calling Caleb’s words stupid gained him no favor, and as Captain Sinead had been the one to personally assign Caleb as his “caretaker,” Leo was obliged to the sometimes mean-spirited man’s command. When told to scrub the latrines Leo did so till they shone as brightly as polished brass, when ordered to wash the piles of laundry Leo returned the articles neatly folded and pressed. Caleb handled the distribution, and Leo kept himself mostly out of sight, if only to avoid Sinead’s confusing presence or Emer’s scolding admonitions.

That was one he would not forget, despite the pounding in his head when he woke on one of the clinic mats. Despite her size the healer intimidated Leo, striking some primal chord in him with her every word and action. He told Caleb after being released to his care, “that woman is a monster behind her skin,” which his guardian found quite hilarious.

Leo turned to the officer’s cabins, waiting for Caleb to emerge as he had been instructed the night before. They were to go into a nearby town and procure supplies, Leo strong armed into the trip for the sake of oversight. No one quite trusted him aboard the ship alone, it seemed, and the one they called Mal was none too keen on repairing the damage with so many inept hands around. It was a point she made quite clear in the single instance Leo had run across her path.

And so Caleb would find Leo, once the quartermaster’s own duties were taken care of, leaning on the rail and tapping his bare foot against the boards in staccato time. Despite Caleb’s constant harping Leo would often steal away to nap in the very spot he stood now. Leo enjoyed nothing more than basking in the open air and warm sun, and saw no harm in his actions no matter what One-Eye thought of it. The ship was certainly much cleaner than it was three days ago.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

UMBRASIGHT

Nessa picked up the bottle, feeling the heavy swish of the liquid within. She turned the bottle over in her hands, looking it over, what a reward indeed, something from Lucien’s stash, though she had half expected it to have been labeled with the name of whatever poor soul he had drained it from. She slid a hand around the neck of the bottle, fingers testing the glass as if she were looking for the point that would make it spray.

”Thanks.[/i]” Nessa said, resting the bottle into the crook of her arm. For as sweet as it would taste to drink it now as a treat for getting one over Solomon King, she couldn’t help but feel it would taste even better after they followed the map to its destination. Might be good to have that temptation always close at hand as well, if only to keep herself from it.

“The Ice Lands? Up north?” She’d only really ever heard of the place in stories, so perhaps that made it a fitting place to house a necromancer’s treasure. Nessa leaned over the map, hoping it’d offer up some answers to her, but another knock sounded at the door as Sinéad entered, a glass of wine in hand and a consuming gleam in her eyes. Nessa stepped to the side, letting the two officers have their talk as she looked at the map. The explanation Lucien gave seemed sound, not that she had much knowledge of maps beyond thieves’ cant. She raised an eyebrow however when the conversation suddenly made a turn.

“If I’m honest, that all sounds dreadfully stressful and I’d thank you to keep me out of it.” She said. “That aside, I’ve got what I pulled from the Truth Teller, one’s a book for your collection. Grabbed up a pair of earrings as I went, was going to pick through to find them before I added the rest to be divvied up, I’m sure you don’t mind.” She slid a book from her bag as she spoke.

“Tell if it’s something worth reading and I’ll pick it back up from you later.”

—~~—~~—~~—~~—

What was with people and insisting on doing everything while that blasted sun was still up, Nessa would never understand. Still, there wasn’t much she could do about it, so despite the pleasant weather that drifted through the porthole, Nessa draped herself in a heavy cloak more suited for the chill of the sky above than a pleasant spring day. Her attire beneath the cloak was far more proper for a trip into town, a simple blue dress that fell light on her shoulders, a pair of leather boots, a traveling satchel for whatever she might procure, and on her ears she sported a new and well polished pair of silver earrings inlaid with clear sapphire stones.

She hung by the door to the women’s bunk, arms crossed as she waited for the others to finish up their own preparations. A day of shopping would be nice enough, and her coin purse was fat enough it could do to be a little lighter, or heavier, depending on how the day went.

 

[Hard Nox 2]

ANNASIEL

"Twenty ounces of dried chamomile. Fifteen of milkthistle. Another fifteen of wartrag."

Emer was on her hands and knees, head hidden deep inside one of her cabinets, a small pile of jars sitting beside her - some small, like the ones she kept on the shelves above, but most larger than the wisewoman's head.

"We will need more wintermint extract, if they have it. If not, peppermint will do. Leaves as a last resort - I would rather not prepare the extract myself, it leaves my hands rather sensitive."

She'd taken on Emryk to help her. Not that she exactly needed the help - she'd handled inventory herself before. He was much neater with a pen, however, and quite swell at spelling words with a degree of efficiency that she sorely lacked. As good as her memory was, she greatly feared forgetting some medicine, only for it to come needed in the midst of open air.

"More cloth guaze. Thirty yards at minimum, hopefully more."

She'd listed off these a dozen times in the past couple days, but a final check was warranted just to make sure everything was in order. Brushing a stray lock of hair out of her face - a renegade from her haphazard bun - she backed out of the cabinet, looking over her shoulder at the Baron.

"Does that match the records, Baron Emryk? Check a line once, the fish gets away, check it again, you eat for that day."

 

[Hard Nox 2]

QUIRBLES

Though the pen was more a pin betwixt the meaty claws of the Baron, his strokes were deft and his writing suggested a good few years of operating with such a handicap.

Bergamot Extract - 10 fl. oz.
Cinchona Bark - 15 oz.
Chamomile, dried - 20 oz.
Cloth Gauze - 10 yds.
Milkthistle - 15 oz.
Opium Latex - 10 fl. oz.
Peppermint Oil - 20 fl. oz.
Quicksilver - 5 fl. oz.
Wartrag - 15 oz.
Wintermint Extract - 10 fl. oz. 5 fl. oz.

And these were but a few of the items that lined Emer's shelves. Modern medicine was a wondrous thing! Emryk responded to the doctor's inquiry with a silent nod before looking up from the page, his eyes no longer squinting. If only he had his spectacles...

"I do believe that is everything. Perhaps you're due for a bit more quicksilver, but I daresay I'm not the expert, here." Another glance down to the page confirmed his assessment. An expert, he was not. "Should we journey into town, then, to procure the supplies? Or do you have other means of acquisition that I'm not privy to?"

 

[Hard Nox 2]

DELFI

The ship had been secured to the rocks by the time Caleb noticed Leo waiting for him by the rail. Wearing proper clothes did make him look like a different person, though he could still use a haircut. Sliocht could help with that after his recovery. The quartermaster smiled to himself, taking a better look at the fit of Lucien’s clothes on Leo. Caleb would never bring up the fact that he and Lucien had something in common, but the vampire did have good taste when it came to fashion, being a former aristocrat and all. Too much black for the fairy’s taste, but it was good and certainly expensive fabric. If Lucien was lucky, Leo wouldn't get it stained.

“You could’ve helped you know?” He let out a sigh, pulling the bag off his shoulder and offering it to Leo. It wasn’t too heavy, there was nothing in it but clothes to last him a couple days without having to get back to the ship. His door was perfectly locked and all the coin he’d need was kept on a satchel tied to his belt. Caleb had gotten used to Leo’s presence, but the wild man was too unpredictable for him to trust him with anything of value, though he didn’t seem to understand the importance of money yet. “Carry this for me. And don’t leave my side when we get to town - only if I tell you to.”

 

[Hard Nox 2]

ANNASIEL

Emer frowned.

"If we can find one for a reasonable price, perhaps. I don't use it in high enough amounts to warrant keeping much stock, and it's often quite expensive."

Pulling herself to her feet with the edge of the cabinet and dusting off the front of her dress, she stepped around the mountain of bottles and peeked at the list in Emryk's hands. After a moment, she nodded firmly, and touched a hand to the Baron's shoulder.

"Thank you again for offering help. My stores have had some - unexpected losses, recently, and I doubt I'd be able to carry it all back myself." She smiled, adjusting her shawl. "As for procurement, I have no special methods. We simply buy what we need, if they happen to have it."