Marion, Mercy, Bellgrove and Connor:

The four of you are heading off to do some shopping. The style of clothing that you see on people as you head for the center of town appears to be that of India. The women are wearing saris and another similar type garment. Many are wearing jewels on the forehead.

The men wear a long jacket over trousers and a loose-fitting shirt. There are a few turbans in evidence, as well as some light muslin caps.

All around you see bright colors and embroidery. Some of it is very elaborate.


Grimsby and Dash:

So the two of you are escorting the Professor to the government building. He has no problem climbing down the rope ladder, but his dog will have to get lowered by sling.


Remi and Matthew:

Remi, of course, will stay to guard the ship as well as see about getting it restocked. Once the others come back to work on the engines, he'll slip out and do his own shopping.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 1):

Grimsby supervises the lowering of the professor's dog and then looks around for someone who seems official enough to know where they should escort the professor.

Having helped Grimbsby, Dash, and crew get the Professor and dog onto the soil of Lugaash Belgrove takes a look around and marvels at the sight. He has never been to Arabia and at first glance it seems as marvelous as the tales he has heard from others better traveled than he.

Nevertheless, he understands that he has a duty here and moves into a defensive position near the Professor while the more experienced Grimsby acts as navigator. "Welcome home, Professor!", he says with a wry grin as he scans the surrounds.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:04, Sat 13 June 2015.

Connor allowed a small smile to cross his muzzle as he went with the ladies and Bellgrove off into Lugaash proper, his hand-hewn walking stick making a steady tap-tap-tap as he went along, his ears pricked up and his violet eyes scanning the sights as well as the throngs of people, interested and curious, but also remaining on his guard.

"I hear tell the coffee here is considered among the best there is," he said conversationally to his companions for the sake of a little small talk since he'd been mostly silent for the whole of the trip from Bourbony after rescuing the Professor, "More of a tea man...well tea cat in this case, but I did try a drop of the coffee last time I was in these parts a year or so back for a contract for my firm, but it was quite good, you might consider having a drop yourselves whole you're here."

ooc: I adore Indian and other cultural clothing so I hope you don't mind if I get a little nuts here. I spent twenty minutes just picking out clothes that aren't even real...Yes I have a problem.
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http://linzhouweb.com/wp-conte...ar-kameez-ad-111.jpg

Marian is wildly excited by all the new sights and she is constantly whipping her head around to try to look at everything, it is almost making her dizzy. She adores the fashion here and will plunk down money for a couple of outfits including a satin embroidered green and brown sari and a wine colored salwar kameez, the wonderful dress with trousers underneath which makes her ecstatic to be able to move so freely. She would love to buy more but considering packing light is important she decides to control herself. It is extremely difficult though and she literally has to clench her hands over her money purse to stop herself at times.

At Connor's mention of coffee she gives a delighted smile. That sounds wonderful! I tend to lean towards tea myself but I simply must try everything I can! You should consider picking up some new clothes too gentlemen she addresses both men. I imagine you'd look quite dashing in them. Of course I understand if your excitement does not mirror my own in that regard she laughs.

Grimsby says to Connor, "I am more of a tea man myself, but if the coffee is as good as you say, I am willing to try it. We are close to the land of its origins here. The legend is that an Arab herdsman saw his goats dancing after they nibbled a certain plant, so he decided to try it himself."
He also replies to Marian, "I have worn a fair amount of Indian garb in the line of duty, but it usually was not as nice as the new pieces here in the market, as I was usually trying to avoid notice. A pretended humble  beggar in a fine new robe would give himself away."

As it turns out, everyone is pretty much heading into town in the same direction anyway. At the outskirts of the city, you get shops and vendors that tend to be specialized. You pass a cart that offers nothing but shawls run by a woman in semi-peasant garb. It's hard to tell here because color is everywhere.

As you move further into the city toward the center, you start seeing more diversity, more variety. Some of the best work is at the edge, but it doesn't tend to match the commericial quality towards the center of town.

The center of town is dominated by the largest building in Lugarno is clearly the Shah's palace. It's roughly four-stories tall, though it appears to have been built as only three stories with each being taller than normal. The building has a central dome, and there are small spires at the corners. It is made of a pinkish-red brick with much white marble as cornices, lintels and such.

There is a wide avenue completely around it, so no shops or vendors are near it. But those are along the outer edge of the avenue. Once again, there is a distinction of shops. Those along the avenue are fairly simple shops. No vendor carts are in evidence. It's only on the outer side of the city blocks that line the avenue that you get the large shops. There are a few 'general store' types, along the lines of a department store, but most seem to be oriented to one type of product, such as a clothing shop, a leather shop, a pottery shop, a blade seller, and a jewelry shop.

There are cart-based vendors scattered all along the streets, only dwindling as you approach the living areas to the outer edge. There are water sellers, toy sellers, food sellers, trinket sellers, food sellers... There are jugglers, musicians, snake charmers, prayer chanters, fortune tellers, etc.

Marian listens to Grimsby's story with interest and will chat pleasantly about his experiences as they walk. Upon seeing the complexity of this place she is ecstatic with all of these new surroundings. Had she the space and money she would buy a lot more than she does and it is almost killing her to limit herself as she is. She is keenly interested in trying the different food too. Since Grimsby has more experience in travel she will direct any questions to him of which she has many, mostly why things are as she's seeing them, questions on the history, food, religion, etc, providing he has answers and she doesn't annoy him of course. She is particularly taken by the snake charmers and watches with fascination and horror. I wonder if I could ever learn how to do that...

Moving through the small crowds of people, you quickly realize that most of them are heading out to see the airship. The people from the airship might be interesting, too, but they've seen people before, even foreigners. They've never seen an airship, except maybe in an illustration.

The hustle and bustle of the crowd is a bit noisy, but it's mostly voices. There are other sounds, too... musical instruments, children playing, clink of coins, and some clacking sounds whose immediate source can't be determined.

But then Connor, followed quickly by Mercy, hears, over top of the din, the unmistakable clanking of metal parts against other metal parts. Mercy quickly diverts the shopping half of the group in that direction, which puts them in front of a tinker's shop. The small shop is full of an incredible assortment of gears and gadgets and widgets and whatnot. Large items are stacked against the back wall while wooden bins out on the floor seem to have some sort of semblance to them. That is, parts of a similar nature appear to have been sorted into the same bin.

It may look willy-nilly to the unlearned, but to Mercy it's like shopping at Harrod's!

In reply to Marian Holroy (msg # 8):

Griimsby eyes the street people with an equal, but less naïve, interest, keeping an eye out for anything from Vril agents to simple pickpockets. He knows that obvious tourists are likely targets for the latter.
When Marion comments on the snake charmers, he says "You might be able to do it, with practice, I believe they usually see the snakes have had their fangs out, so they're not so deadly as they look, and I fancy the creatures may be drugged with something into the bargain. At least, that's what I've heard in India. I've not seen it done in Lugaash before."