Tabula Rasa: Adventures In A New World

“Y-yeah, i-it is just d-down the next r-r-road...! Ma’am...!”

Krvavy turns to look in the direction that jittery man just gestured. “Thanks.” She gently shakes her head and pointedly ignores the shaky sigh of relief that accompanies her stepping away.

She really should have expected this, but... It is a lot more frustrating to ask for directions than she thought it would be.

Pretty much every single person that Krvavy has bothered approaching has done their absolute best to avoid answering her. Most quickened their pace to physically put distance between themselves and the big scary Drakling who was simply asking for directions, while others instead tried their hardest to completely and utterly ignore her.

As for the few people that Krvavy could actually get to talk to her... well, they haven’t been all too helpful. It has been pretty clear that none of them wanted to speak with her, only doing so because they were scared of what she would do if they didn’t answer her simple question. And it turns out that half-remembered directions hastily given by someone stricken with fear aren’t exactly the best. Who would have thought...

Speaking of... “Tsk.” Krvavy clicks her tongue and comes to a stop, having reached an intersection. A five way intersection. That last guy didn’t tell her which road the ‘next’ one was...

To make matters worse, she can see a few buildings with bright green signs hanging in front of them. And none are close enough to where Krvavy stands for her to see any more details than that. She can’t tell how they’re decorated, and she definitely can’t tell what kind of trimming any of those signs may have. Which means that she has no other choice than to do this one at a time. Great.

There aren’t too many people out and about in this part of town, and the few that are around are quick to cross the road as the, admittedly rather annoyed, Drakling approaches.

At least this part of Raseyne is much nicer than the sprawling mess beyond the old walls. The buildings here aren’t uniform, but they all have very similar styles. Most are two or three stories tall, not including the often peaked roofs, with a foundation of thick plastered stone while the floors above appear to mostly be made of smaller bricks braced with wood.

As nice as the place is, it also feels a little... suffocating at times. Not so much on this relatively wide cobbled street, but many of the other roads were quite narrow. Nearly as much as that maze of alleyways. The fact that a lot of these buildings grow wider at the second, and sometimes even third, floor really doesn’t help. She just isn’t used to walking up and down winding roads while the buildings quite literally lean towards her...

The barbarian breathes a sigh of relief as she gets close enough to see some knotted silver lines around the edges of this first green sign. It looks just like Shadow said. Krvavy quickens her pace, hurrying towards what she can only hope is the right place. It is definitely a clothing shop, at the very least. The well-dressed wooden mannequins visible through the hazy glass of some rather large bay windows makes that much quite obvious.

T-ting...!

A soft bell chimes as Krvavy pushes the door open and enters the store.

“We’re not open today, can’t you rea... Hmm.” An older woman steps into view, her hair a dull grey and her face filled with the signs of age. The crows feet beneath her silver eyes warp as she quite critically looks Krvavy up and down. “You wouldn’t happen to be the one who was recommended this store earlier today, would you be?”

“By Shadow?” Krvavy clarifies, her brow knitting together just a bit.

“That’d be the one.” The older woman gruffly replies, giving her head a soft shake. “Would it have killed that damned kid to be less cryptic for once...?” An annoyed sigh passes through her lips as she turns her attention back towards the barbarian. “Now come with me. Just because you’ve got the whole place to yourself doesn’t mean that you need keep standing in my door.”

With that, the grey-haired woman turns around and heads deeper into the building. Her really rather plain ankle-length black dress swishes a bit with each step she takes. For someone who works in, and maybe even owns, a tailor shop she isn’t dressed in anything particularly fancy. That outfit of hers honestly looks more like something someone would wear to a funeral...

Realizing that she is just standing there, Krvavy hurries after the older woman, hardly giving the many mannequins and various racks of clothing a glance as she quickly passes them by. There don’t appear to be any windows beyond the ones at the front of this store, yet it is still quite well-lit in here... Numerous semi-spheres of polished crystal rest near and around the various displays, shining a soft but clear light around them.

“Eep!” A small, black-haired girl squeaks out in shock as she bumps into the older woman, almost dropping the stack of folded fabric held in her arms. Her eyes immediately drop down to look at ground near her feet, keeping her from noticing the Drakling’s presence.

“Karolina,” that young girl jumps upon hearing her own name, “watch where you are walking. We don’t need another mannequin knocked over.” The small girl shakily nods her head, keeping her eyes pointed down towards the ground as a bit of colour enters her cheeks. “Now give us some privacy. I do not want to be disturbed while I’m with this customer.”

With that the older woman gently shoves the black haired girl, sending her on her way.

“My granddaughter.” The older woman gruffly explains, continuing on as if nothing had happened. “She lacks confidence and can be quite clumsy, but her skill with a needle is exceptional. I hope that in time she will be fit to inherit this place. Better her than her mother...”

Without breaking her stride, the grey-haired woman swings open a door and flicks on a switch, illuminating a much more private room.

“Our mutual acquaintance didn’t mention how big you are, so your options will be limited. There is only so much work we can do on such short notice.” This tailor doesn’t even bother to hide the annoyance that filled those words, pulling a pad of paper from a pocket of her dress as she closes the door behind the Drakling. “Now... I am Katerina Thilanea. Just call me Thilanea.”

“I’m Krvavy.” The barbarian replies with a polite nod, sliding the backpack off her shoulders and placing it on the ground beside her.

“What kind of outfit are you looking for?” Thilanea asks, getting straight to business. “Any particular styles or colours you prefer.”

“Uh... Well, not really.” Krvavy replies with a shrug. “Though I would prefer if it doesn’t cover too much of me. I’m... not exactly used to wearing a lot.”

“That can be done.” The older woman almost absentmindedly returns, scratching some sort of pen across her notepad. “It is unlikely that we have anything in stock that would match your preferences, fit your figure, and be appropriate for a party at the Countess’ estate. You are lucky that our mutual acquaintance is paying for this, as we will likely need to make you an outfit from scratch. And in just a few hours time.”

“It doesn’t need to be anything complex.” Krvavy comments. As much as she’d like to waste Shadow’s money, she isn’t going to shoot herself in the foot just out of spite. She’ll be the one actually wearing this outfit, after all. “Maybe it can be a bit more... practical?”

Thilanea quirks her brow and skeptically looks up at the Drakling. “A practical outfit that shows a lot of skin? Or scales? Mmm...” A thoughtful look flits across her face. “You are some sort of adventurer, are you not?”

“I guess? I travel around a fair bit and spend most of my time out in the wild, if that’s what you mean.”

“Mmm.” Thilanea seems to consider something for a moment, before abruptly turning and picking up a measuring tape. “Undress. I need to take your measurements.”

“Oh, uh...” Krvavy hesitates, drawing an impatient glare out of the grey-haired tailor.

The faint sound of a shoe impatiently tapping into the carpeted floor can just barely be heard. “I’m an old woman. I’ve done this job my whole life. I’ve taken measurements from men and woman of all ages. You have nothing I haven’t seen before. So no need to be shy.” That tapping sound grows just a little louder. “We haven’t got all day.”

While that reassurance doesn’t exactly feel sincere, there isn’t exactly any point in delaying the inevitable. So... With one smooth motion, Krvavy unties her loincloth and pulls it aside.

“I see.” Thilanea is mostly unperturbed by the sight of Krvavy’s rather sizable package. If anything, she is just annoyed by its presence. “That complicates things a bit. Not much, mind you, but it would make my job easier if you simply had what other woman have down there...”

The Drakling awkwardly shrugs her shoulders and takes off her pelt top, resting it and her loincloth atop her backpack.

“Arms up.” Thilanea orders, stepping behind Krvavy and wrapping her measuring tape around the barbarian’s bust. “I take it you’d like to keep your arms bare? To show off your muscles?”

“Yeah.” Krvavy slowly nods her head, thinking about just how much skin she’d like to leave bare. The less she covers up the more True Defence she’ll get from her Naturists Blessing, though it’ll almost certainly still be a lot less than she usually gets from just wearing her loincloth... Still, each percent counts. “And maybe my abs too?”

“Leaving your arms exposed will be easy. Less work for me.” The measuring tape slides down a bit and is pulled taut around the Drakling’s waist. “But it will take a bit of thought to find a way to leave your midsection bare while still making you look presentable.”

“I take it that you don’t usually make anything this... revealing?” The barbarian idly tries some small-talk as the measuring tape moves down to her hips.

“Not for anything meant to be used outside of the bedroom.” Thilanea gruffly replies, a tinge of annoyance entering her voice as the base of Krvavy’s thick tail gets in the way of her measurements.

The barbarian just slowly nods her head, not sure what else to say.

The tailor’s pen scratches across her notepad, recording measurement after measurement.

Krvavy twitches slightly as the tape is pulled tight around her toned thigh, the older woman’s hand so close to her softened dick... She closes her eyes and focuses on keeping herself calm. Which isn’t too hard. This has been quite the busy day for Krvavy, and thinking back on what happened earlier is... it is more than enough to distract her from any inappropriate thoughts.

“There.” Thilanea dully states, pulling the measuring tape free from Krvavy’s ankle while rising to her feet. “If you have any other preferences for what you want, say them now.”

“Uh...” The Drakling thinks for a moment, but she is probably already pushing what is acceptable to wear to one of these parties, so... “Not really. I’ll just leave it to you.”

“Right. You don’t have any problem with wearing pants, do you?” The tailor asks in a professionally disinterested tone, tapping her pen against the notepad as she looks over what she wrote. “That might help make up for the amount of skin you’d be showing from the waist up.”

“I... I’m fine with pants.” Krvavy shrugs her shoulders. It sounds like Thilanea already has an idea of what her outfit will be, and the professional tailor definitely knows better than she does. “As long as they aren’t uncomfortable in the, uh, groin.”

“Mm.” The older woman scratches something down onto her paper before looking up at the barbarian. “That’s all. We should be able to get your outfit done by... half past six. There are numerous clock towers throughout that you can use to tell the time.”

The barbarian just nods her head as she begins to get dressed, quickly putting on her two pieces of crude, pelt clothing.

“I would also suggest that you go and get yourself cleaned up in the meantime. I can tell that you have spent the last few days on the road.” An awkward silence hangs in the air for hardly more than a second. “You aren’t the worst customer I’ve had when it comes to that, sadly not even the worst this week, but it is best to be at your best while visiting the Countess’ estate.”

Krvavy’s face heats up at that comment. She bathed as much as she could while travelling, washing off in rivers and streams, but that can only do so much...

“There is a bathhouse just a few streets over from here. It is a little on the pricier side for what it is, but their private rooms have a lovely assortment of soaps and lotions that make up for that.” Thilanea steps towards the door and grabs its handle, glancing back over her shoulder before she opens it. “If you are interested, simply head left as you exit my store, then turn right at the next intersection. You should be able to see the bathhouse as you walk down that road: it is a large building with white pillars out front.”

“Thanks.” Krvavy earnestly replies, picking up her backpack and heading on her way.

“How may we help you?” A gentle voice calls out as Krvavy step onto the smooth white stone floor of a spacious lobby.

The barbarian’s eyes quickly trail across the room, taking in the sight of the beautifully tiled walls before her gaze lands on a large desk with a couple of attractive women sitting behind it. One blonde, the other a brunette. “This is a bathhouse, right? I’d like to rent a private room.”

The two women briefly glance at each other before one shrugs and looks down at something on the desk. “Yes, we have a few rooms available... It’ll be two hawks if you’d like to use one.”

“Alright.” Krvavy nods her head and takes the coin purse off her hip, digging through it for two of the few silver coins inside as she steps towards the desk. While this does feel like a lot to pay for a bath, it isn’t actually as much as Krvavy expected after Thilanea told her that it was pricey. Especially considering that this place feels more like a spa than anything else.

The Drakling hands her payment over to the blonde on the left, who briefly glances at the two coins before placing them into a drawer.

“Hh...” The brunette makes a soft noise, as if she had just been kicked beneath that table. “I’ll show you to your room.” She quickly states, rising to her feet and gently brushing down her alluring white dress. A dress that clings to her body in the most enticing of ways, not quite sheer yet still doing nothing to hide her subtle hourglass figure... “Right this way.”

Krvavy can’t help but stare, emerald eyes watching as each step this woman takes causes her hips to sashay side to side, her sculpted ass bouncing beneath a thin layer of flowing fabric...

“Here we are.” Those words snap Krvavy out of her thoughts. “If you need anything, just ring this bell.” The attendant states in a cheerful customer service tone, briefly gesturing at a bell hanging just through an open doorway before she turns and hastily heads back to the lobby.

The barbarian gently shakes her head and turns her attention towards the private room, stepping inside. The first thing she notices are the tiles covering the walls and ceiling, which depict a soft blue sky with clouds drifting by. It looks quite nice, especially with the warm white light emitted from a large crystal ball embedded in the ceiling.

Beside the doorway is a thick curtain, clearly meant to be drawn across the entrance to give those in the room some privacy. Krvavy does exactly that as she slides her backpack off of her shoulders, before removing her pelt outfit and undressing completely.

In the center of the room, set into the smooth white stone that makes up the floor, is a rather big tub. It looks like it could comfortably fit three or four people inside. But there is a problem with it: the thing is completely empty.

Krvavy sighs and steps around the empty bath, grabbing an obvious handle right next to a faucet and turning it. A deluge of water immediately begins to pour out into the tub, surprising her with how much is coming out. But even with the amount of water flowing from the faucet, it’ll still take a while to fill up the tub.

Glancing around the room while she waits, the barbarian looks over the assortment of bottles and towels resting on a nearby shelf. Annoyingly, she can’t see any sort of label on any of those bottles. They just appear to be sorted by colour, either of the glass itself or the liquid visible inside the few transparent ones.

With nothing to go on, Krvavy just reaches forwards and grabs a bottle at random. A pink one. She brings it towards her nose and gives it a good sniff... only to immediately recoil as an overly sweet floral scent assaults her senses, making her cough a few times as she carefully places that unopened bottle back on the shelf. Just how strong would that soap smell if she actually opened it up and used it...?

The very thought makes her shudder...

Much more cautiously, the barbarian slowly moves along the shelf, testing each bottle of soap to see which one she likes the most. Or at least to find one she can tolerate. And, sadly, there don’t seem to be any that are scentless. At least not as far as she can tell.

After a bit of thought, Krvavy finally settles on a soap that smells a little like a comforting campfire in the middle of a pine woodland. It was the least offensive to her nose, and was one of the least strongly scented ones. Or maybe her sense of smell has just been fried a little...

The Drakling finds herself sighing in disappointment as she turns back towards the tub. It is hardly even half-filled after all of that...

Well, that isn’t really a bad thing, as she hasn’t checked the temperature yet. It’d be really annoying if the whole thing got filled with cold water.

Stepping forwards, the Drakling cautiously pokes her clawed foot down into the gradually filling bathtub. The water inside actually feels quite nice. It isn’t as hot as the hot springs back home, but it is still really quite warm. Some misty steam is even starting to fill the room.

Guess it doesn’t hurt to get into the bath before it is fully filled...

A bit of tension leaves the barbarian’s body as she sits down into the deepest part of the tub, pouring just a little bit of the pine-scented soap into the water. She doesn’t want to use too much of that stuff, and can always add more if that isn’t enough.

Fluffy bubbles immediately begin to form around the barbarian, floating atop the hot bathwater in a thin layer that dissipates into nothing an arms reach away. She will definitely need to add more soap, but that can wait until the tub fills up some more.

Still, this is... kind of nice. She has never had a bubble bath before, at least as far as she can remember, and this is oddly cozy.

It is kind of making her jealous, as she can’t help but compare what she has at home to this place. Which is weird. Her hot springs are better than this, no doubt. Is it just the fact that she doesn’t have any of these bubbly soaps at home? Or is it just that this place looks nice, with its white marble floors and colourful tiles?

If only Krvavy had something like this to work with at home...

Wait.

She is an idiot.

The Drakling reaches out her hand and pushes some mana into the smooth marble floor, using Sculpt Stone to grow a little nubby block out of it. Her fingers carefully grab onto the small sample of stone before pulling it free without leaving a single mark as evidence of what she just did.

Her lips twist into a smug smile as she holds the small cube of beautiful white marble in her hand, thinking of all the possibilities that this little piece of stone opens up. Her home is going to look great once she merges this and the black basalt from the switchback path into the grey stone that currently makes up the floors and walls.

But why stop there?

There are bound to be plenty of other building materials she can take samples of in this city. Especially in somewhere real fancy. Like, say, a Countess’ estate...

And who says she needs to limit these samples to stone? Well, her magic says so. But what exactly does Sculpt Stone consider to be stone? Could she do this to something made out of clay? Clay probably wouldn’t work on its own, as it is pretty much just dirt and that doesn’t work, but there are plenty of rocks that are made out of clay. At least in part. And the same can be said about sand. And glass is made out of sand, so can she...

The barbarian abruptly snaps herself out of her thoughts as she realizes that the tub is getting pretty full. Quickly reaching over, she turns the faucet off and stops the flow of steamy water.

As much as she’d love to keep wondering about the kind of samples she can bring home, that is kind of a waste of time. The only way to know if she can or cannot take certain things would to be actually try. And that is something she can do later.

Right now, she needs to get cleaned up and enjoy this nice bath...