Walking Around in a Port [Open]

[Isolde]

Port Gavia was one of those towns that she simply loved to visit and many people had known her since she had been here as a small child while her parents were doing diplomatic matters. The young princess was quite curious about the ships that docked at the port as well as numerous shopkeepers asking other people to buy their wares. Perhaps people were a bit nice to her due to the young teenage girl being royalty and all. One can never be disrespectful towards the princess after all since her parents were a bit protective over her. She was just content with watching the ships sail by and most of the people that lived there waved hello to her. There was a tavern that wasn't really the place for a princess to go inside, but curiosity would probably get the best of her at this rate. After a while, she would sit at a bench and watch the people passing by without a care and it was merely boring without anyone to talk to save for the townspeople.

She should have made friends with someone of a common background back in her earlier childhood anyway.

[roper]

"Come on Cole, we've been in this city far too long as it is", complained the irritated Roper to his cousin when he received news that their ship had been delayed yet again. Usually they were in town for no more than a couple of days, but this time the had remained stuck in Gavia for more than a week.

"I know, I know", replied Cole, his scrawny and beady eyed cousin who smiled awkwardly as he waved away Ropers concerns, "It just that recent attacks have increased and they are having trouble finding some extra reliable hands to keep things smooth on our voyage, yah know? Listen, I've got to go meet with captain Horvitch right now ayway so I'll see if I can get us to ship out a little sooner but no promises. In the meantime why doing you go get yourself a drink for once. Just be sure meet me at the usual spot" At this the man laughed as he tossed Roper a small coin bag before walking away. Roper silently eyed the drooping sack warily before he sighed; the bag couldn't have more than a few worthless coins in it. It was more or less his cousin teasing him, knowing that Roper disliked the tavern he designated as "the usual spot".

The tavern keeper was far more fond of his cousins that he was of Roper himself. That was probably because he only brought trouble and never seemed to purchase anything. But what was a man to do? It is not like he enjoyed alcohol nor was he particularly fond of the kind of people that frequented the building. In the end though he had to wait here for his cousin to finish preparations so it was a necessary evil. So he simply did the only thing that he could do: he walked over to some wall, lay back against it, and then covered his face with his hat as he took a nap away from the sun.

No one had decided to wake or bother him until the sound of some careless stranger seating themselves on the bench beside him had stirred him from his rest. He slid the had down ever so slightly to see something he had not expected to see a rather beautiful girl seated above him. Anyone with some common sense and the eyes to see it could tell that she wasn't some simple villagers wife. After all, she was clean with delicate features and had remarkably smooth skin. She was pretty much the complete opposite of rough and dirty Roper. Little did Roper know that he was probably one of the few people nearby who didn't know who the girl was. After all he didn't much care to remember the people that had no direct effect on his life, high-up society types especially so. Still, her presence had him intrigued.

"Seems like an odd place for a beautiful young miss like yourself to be", he finally called up to the girl whom seemed to not have noticed him, or at the very least did not pay the man much mind. He pulled himself up from his lazy slouch into a proper, crosslegged sitting position. He looked the girl over again with more detail, once again taken aback by her appearance. He never really allowed himself to think much about women during his travels so it always surprised him how beautiful they could be given proper care, but that was enough creepy ogling from him for now so he leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he asked, "So what's your story? You here on business or just sight seeing? I can't imagine you'd live here."

[Isolde]

And oh my, a man seemed to talk to her in a rather casual tone. "I've been visiting with my future subjects as per my parents's request. And what are you doing here in this tavern?" She figured that perhaps the man had been on mercenary work or something else. Many of the people in this tavern might have some shady business and some of those men in there looked incredibly tough almost like they actually worked out in a training regimen during the day. She hadn't been keeping tabs on them due to her royal duties, but it was apparent that those men were probably up to something suspicious. Even then, she wouldn't get into their business like that anyway. Upon closer inspection, the man seemed to be in a rather uncomfortable position to stare at her or at least he stared at her briefly.

[roper]

'Visiting with my future subjects'. Now that was a peculiar thing for the girl to say. She must be the daughter of someone big then. The city mayor perhaps? Or maybe some local lord. Still, Roper hardly seemed perturbed by her implied social status as he continued to remain lying against the wall with his eyes closed. "I'm waiting on my cousin to finish business in town", he said lightheartedly in reply to her question, "We are a trade family. Me and my cousins travel between Sidus and Solis to trade our families extra goods together. Right now we're working on making our way to Sidus, but like always problems have come up and I'm not so good with the business side of things like Cole. So I get to keep out of it and enjoy the company of the locals while I let him do the talking."

He stopped for a moment to listen to the other voices in the tavern, opening a single eye to glance around and take note of anything or anyone of interest. He recognized a few faces, mostly harmless ones and a few rowdy trouble makers like Veran who'd caused Roper some trouble in the past but they were being civil enough, in fact a little more so than usual. Actually, now that he looked he could see that a number of people would occasionally glance in their direction only to turn away or smile whenever the girl he sat next to turned toward them. One man in particular on the far end of the tavern was watching the girl rather vigilantly and had a bearing that far from matched the casual clothes he tried to hide in.

"So... Have you ever been to Sidus? It can be rather beautiful around this time of year"

[Isolde]

"I haven't visited the Sidus islands yet, but it does sound lovely the way you worded it. My parents are the ones who go there for diplomatic matters since they're the rulers of Solis after all." Ah, so he was on business here in the port after all though his own cousin was the one who was talking business here. And every person at the tavern kind of stared at her as if her peculiar way of talking was strange to them. Perhaps they didn't really know that she was the daughter of a King and Queen or they were merely curious of her in general. Of course, uncomfortable staring from other men always made her uneasy for a bit, but it wasn't really that bad. Besides, maybe they're friendly as well and they wouldn't possibly her hurt her, would they? Of course, the brown-haired man next to her was waiting for his cousin to finish up, so she would converse with him for a little.

That meant that she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers either, but well...that rule was broken anyway. This man better not be like one of those creepers that everyone in the royal castle told her about otherwise she would have made a big mistake coming inside this tavern.

[roper]

"Haha, you really should go. It is always a thrill to see all the...", he responded with light enthusiasm but suddenly stopped himself. It was just then that the weight of the girls words struck him. She wasn't just some random big fish's daughter. She was the daughter of THE big fish. By her words she indirectly claimed to be a princess. Now Roper was never one to believe a man's words at face value, but even so he now had a look of genuine surprise as he stared up at the girl. Even with his doubts, if she was the princess she certainly looked the part.

He stared at her for a silent moment as he struggled with what to do, though in the end he decided to simply keep with the rhythm they had already. After all, she didn't seem to mind his usual lax manners and mellow attitude so far. So he then shrugged with a smile as he broke the silence between them with a jesting remark, "Well isn't that something. A princess, huh? Hope I'm not breaking some law by not bowing or something."

At this he finally stood up from his position on the floor, flipping his hat behind him to hang from the string around his neck before dusting himself off a bit. He then moved over to the free space on the bench and sat himself down beside her. "Well... I suppose the least I can do is get up off my rear and introduce myself. The names Roper, Roper Bancroft", he said with warm smile as he held out his hand to shake hers. "I'm surprised you'd never been to Sidus. I can't exactly take a princess with me but I can tell you all about. Go ahead, ask me anything." During the entire exchange Roper kept a eye on the 'vigilant man' whom was practically at the edge of his seat at this point. No doubt someone sent to watch over the princess.

[Isolde]

"No, it's okay. There's no rule saying that you need to bow down to royalty after all, it's optional." And another man seemed to be watching her converse with the brown-haired man almost as if this man was actually sent to protect her in case anything bad happened. She was sure that he was sent by her own mother and father which was kind of a protective measure of theirs. Perhaps her bodyguard should probably lay off a little, seriously she was not in any real danger yet. And so the brown-haired man introduced himself as Roper, an odd name for an individual like himself. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Roper. I'm Isolde." She didn't really need for anyone to bow down to her as a sign of respect, but only if they wanted to anyway.

The princess would have some questions about the islands themselves and she was rather curious as to what it was like living there. "Roper, what's the Sidus islands like? I know it's such a lovely place, but I do want to know the living conditions." Maybe he could tell her more about how the people lived there or what kind of things did they do there for a living. At that point though, she would glance over at the man who was rather staring at them intently. The girl didn't really want the man to actually result in violence should anyone actually intend to harm her somewhat, but it was his job.

[roper]

The question had not been quite what he expected. It was vague, yet oddly specific in her curiosity about their living conditions. Roper gazed at Isolde a moment, searching her expressions in an attempt to find what kind of answer she might be seeking.

"Well... I guess the islands are best thought about as have the best and worst of both Solis and Lunae. They let all kinds of people through their borders you see so as you wander about the islands you get to see all kinds of different cultures and ideas mixed together. Of course people still tend to stick to their own so things kinda get unofficially split into invisible parts. Just look at Port Alietum. They got one of Sidus' biggest forts there. On one side of the fort you got a lot of us Solees living and selling our goods there. On the other you got the Loonies doing the same. You know why that is?", he asked the princess though the question was rhetorical. Anyone with a little common sense could tell you why the two people were separated.

"Its caush those damn Loonies can't keep their dirty claws to themselves!", suddenly shouted Veran now that Roper's casual attitude toward the princess and a copious amount of alcohol had finally made him feel comfortable enough to speak toward Isolde as well. "Nothin' but a bunch thieves and whores! All preachin' some hogwash about 'equality' while they take our land and kill our families" For a moment the bulky man gained a distant and mournful look upon his face. This was because old Veran was a war veteran who had remained stubbornly fit and youthful despite his accumulating years. The unfortunate loss of his family made join the war effort and turned him into him a bitter and brusk man, one whom in recent peaceful year had taken up mercenary work with the occasional thuggery on the side. "If Sidus was shmart they'd kick out all them Loony bastards and their half-breed dogs with 'em!"

"As the smelly old man has pointed out, we don't get along very well so problems turn up between us even in Sidus", Roper said lowly with a smirk as he continued with his point  "As for for the Sidus people live, they..."

"Keep quiet you dog-licker! We know you how much you like yer beastfolk hussies just like those cowards!", suddenly piped up the burly drunk, his face a little reddened with anger. He had not heard Roper's remark but the two knew eachother well enough that Roper's facial expression was enough to betray him. But Veran did not address the brown-haired merchant further and instead turned his gaze toward Isolde. "You lissun hear girl. Don't get soft on them like he does. Both those beasts and the Loonies'll stab you in the back as soon as you let 'em. Best you treat 'em like the dogs they are!"

At this Roper gripped his 'walking stick' tighter and may have said something had he not noticed that the 'vigilant man' from before was already approaching the princess rapidly. Apparently he had not taken a liking to the vulgar direction of the conversation nor that Isolde was so willing to break her promise in such company. He'd no doubt have a few stern and inflaming words to say to Veran as well. Out of curiosity Roper set himself to remain a silent observer, interested to know how their potential future leader would react.

[Isolde]

And at once, the man who kept vigil over her had approached her rapidly, not really liking where the conversation had taken a vulgar turn. The drunk man told her that there were loonies that stabbed people and that they shouldn't be trusted at all. "So the beasts and the Loonies should be treated like dogs and not like equal people... While I do sort of oppose it, it's best to not go soft on them either." Maybe it was kind of a bad idea to go soft on them like Roper had done, but it was the right thing to do like this old man said. "I know this conversation is getting a bit vulgar, but it's nothing bad really." She would address the vigilante man and he nodded, but he still kept watch over her.

"Now that we got this rather interesting conversation out of the way, I do have some more questions. Is there any place in the Sidus Islands that might be of interest?" Perhaps there was a few places in the islands that might be interesting. Of course, Isolde would have to visit the islands sometime to actually see some of those places, namely a palace that her parents had told about. And it was apparent that many people from Sidus seemed to come from aristocratic families or they were well-to-do merchants that came to this port.