73 Ash 121
Work was done as with his side project but Dakkur himself remained as busy as he tried to complete as much of his preparations for his departure home. The biggest issue for his trip back, other than the fact he was supposed to be hiding out in Zaichaer from the dangers in Zeraphesh, was being without the convenience of a caravan which could take care of everything he would need for his travels; his transport, the route, the food, his tents and all those other troublesome things. That gosh darn obelisk. Could it not have exposed itself at a better time? However as a goal of a Zeraphesh archeologist, this was not an opportunity he could afford to miss. Curses- before he made a rash decision and spent a whole lot of aven on unnecessary stuff he might not even use if he ended up not returning, he rushed for home for some counsel which ended up with nothing useful, as he expected. Other than the reminder of his predicament which he had already considered, it was also like a form of indirect encouragement by receiving a list of things he had to do for a successful trip back.A disguise to conceal himself the moment he returned to the vicinity of Zaichaer? That actually made a lot of sense to him but at the same time, something he could leave out right until the end. Clothes and stuff would always be available and at the worst case, he would just have to rush the stores the moment they opened tomorrow. Food. A lot of the preserved food he would need added with half of and then double the initial quantity which was estimated. An odd value he thought, but made sense once it was explained further to him. For the trip there and then for the trip back, the latter crucial if he could not enter the city for more food; the half was for if he really could not enter the city for whatever reason and had to live outside. As they both already knew, Dakkur was not the most independent of people nor was he capable of hunting whatever he needed. He was not looking forward to living off the preserved food and was already beginning to wish he could just follow the caravans and expedition camps where there was always someone assigned to cook the food which, was sometimes really tasty if they were lucky.
Also other than a good tent and a map with established routes based on patrols of the nearby authorities, Dakkur was going to have to travel light if timing was as important as he believed. This left a good horse to make good timing being tantamount and then, its food to support it. Dakkur thought on that a little but gave up. He knew nothing about horses although being on the road could be a good time to learn and, no better timing for getting his ride. As he was not a local, he did not have to care for or value the traditions of Zaichaer so he had no reason to sit on for a few days until it reached the Final Slaughter where most Zaichaeri planned their purchases to help the less fortunate and if Dakkur was lucky, he could even get a good deal out of it. As a good piece of advice as well, as they were going to sell off their beasts, they were not going to need to keep a stockpile of the food for the next season so if Dakkur was canny enough he might even be able to get his mount's food out of the way.
That was the sort of good advice Dakkur appreciated although his hostess' lack of care for his decision and wellbeing despite having lived in her home for a few seasons already was a shame; maybe he needed this trip away from Zaichaer after all. In order of importance he figured getting a mount squared away would be the most important thing so he decided to ask his 'aunt' because she knew a lot about the city, "dear aunt, do have any good leads on a horse I could get? You know what I need. Strong and fast. Maybe pretty. I could use pretty to make some people jealous next time. But really just strong and fast. This nephew of yours would really appreciate it." and of course do whatever she wanted him to do next time, it goes without saying. While there was no sure lead for him, there was this one place in the east of the city or if Dakkur did not want to make the trip there, a few other spots on their side of the city, the west side, but their mounts were normally pricey and for show. Well off people really needed to have their priorities in order if they were going to put looks over functionality Dakkur thought because he at least knew what was his priority.
Was it a lead? A test? Nonetheless he followed her first suggestion and promptly headed to the east of Zaichaer. He visited a few places on the way to get a feel of the prices and while there were some good horses but he stayed the course to reach his end destination where he found this one big, red horse which looked really good. It was promising that its owner said he wanted to wait until the final slaughter but as far as Dakkur knew. "the auction. Right? But why take the chance when you can make the sale now? And then you can figure out something else to sell!" He was not the best negotiator, the spirits he summoned were so tied to their nature it was a lot easier to get them to agree to do what he wanted them to or just have them leave in frustration before moving on to the next. If only other people were so easy.
And after trying to continue with his attempts, which he also failed at, Dakkur turned to acting like a man in distress. Speaking about how urgently he needed to return home, for an emergency which needed his immediate attention the moment he got word- which was true in a sense and, expressed it so well that the horse's owner actually felt for him. Maybe. It could be empathy at work since Dakkur also deliberately brought up the topic of the upcoming final slaughter of the city a few times. And so it came to the point he could actually get the horse at... the estimated auction price- which Dakkur spoke against. Who could really know the end auction price? Maybe it truly was there but it could also actually end up being lower. A few more minutes with various points from each and eventually they were back at the market price which seemed good. Dakkur was not sure if he could get it any lower without the owner telling him to git so he thought it better to not even risk it.
So instead he asked for something else which needed but without the hassle. "Does it come with those saddle and other riding gear things?" to make it a lot more easier for him since he would not have to figure out what else he had to get and, pushing further "the feed as well? You know after I buy this horse its not going to be using them anymore and unless you have another hor-" Yup at that price. "Horse, gear and food. All that for this much aven right?" he confirmed again holding out the fingers. Then they shook on it and the aven traded hands, actually more aven traded hands as Dakkur's better nature took hold on him. It was not that much more, but... accursed empathy. Spirits were so alien that he would not even end up thinking about them that way.
And with the most important thing he needed squared away, Dakkur's trip back passed through various stores for other things he might need on his trip- minus his horse since prudence being on his side had him realize it was going to be hard to house the horse so suddenly so he left it with its owner for another night making it as if it was a favor since it was a chance for them to say goodbye to each other too; a really nice guy, right? A nice guy with his hands full with more stuff which helped curb his more impulsive buys and limit himself to necessities; clothes, a disguise and so on. He found some desert garb which would be perfect as it would hide his features and keep him cool. That was an instant buy. Unfortunately the same thing could not be said for his food. Variety both in taste and in nutrition was important and he visited a lot of food stores before he finally reached home just in time to get enough rest to wake up bright and early tomorrow.
