Shop 'Til You Drop

As she entered the understreets a few steps behind Tzesira, Kallista whistled appreciatively at the brilliant construction and dark beauty of the bustling underground highway. Shops lined the street, selling everything from strange alchemical wares and equipment to simple utilitarian commodities.

Kallista couldn't help but think that she had never seen so many undead gathered together in one place in her life, and was surprised to find that the smell wasn't as bad as she imagined it would be. More of a dusty, old smell than a rotten one.

As they walked she absently brought one hand up to brush her hair back and remembered for the umpteenth time that she no longer had any. A momentary pout crossed her pink face, but she sighed and continued walking. Maybe she could find a hat. A cute one.

"Soooo what sort of clothes are we looking for?", she asked Tzesira by way of starting a conversation, "I'm not exactly big on the whole fashion scene."

"Yeah, well, apparently I like to prance around inappropriately in my underwear, so
what the fuck do I know." In truth, she didn't know too much.... and she also didn't really care. "But as much as we're supposed to look spiff, we're going because we're muscle, so don't get attached to anything you can't fight in."

She paused, looking around the street now that they seemed to b in a district that catered more to fashion for the living. The dead didn't have to worry if their corsets were so tight they couldn't breathe, or if they needed to be sewn in into them... literally.

"Here," she said, heading decisively into a shop where Shadar Kai couple were just emerging, carrying a few parcels. "Lets try this one."

Kallista grinned and glanced up and down Tzesira's figure.

"I don't know, I think you look great prancing around in your underwear."

She followed her into the shop, brushing past the exiting Shadar Kai who returned her smile with a stern look.

"Ooooooooooh..." she said, looking around at the various outfits that lined the walls and racks of the store, "Wow, a lot of these are really skimpy. You guys seem to go with a less-is-more kinda philosophy on clothes, don't you?"

"Well, not everyone." Tzesira gestured to the back of the store where there were some racks with skintight bodysuits, some with...interesting...cut-outs, and a few dresses and longer robes. "But its practical. And we don't get cold that easy, so why the fuck not? Also, it shows off more."

She looked around, trying to pick out someone who looked like some kind of clerk. It had been a while since she'd been shopping, it was true, but that didn't mean she was an idiot. She could figure it out, surely.

"Hey! What've you got that passes for fancy in this shithole?" She blinked at the insulted stare the clerk gave her. "I mean, in this city?"

The clerk sighed and removed his glasses, wiping them with a handkerchief before perching them back on his nose. His glare could have turned a basilisk to stone.

He was about to respond when Kallista chimed in.

"Heh, sorry about that, my friend is... we don't let her out much. We were just wondering if you have anything suitable for a party. Not like, an adventuring party. A real one. With like, fancy food and fancy people."

"But also one where there might be some asses needed kicking," Tzesira amended. "Gotta be able to move. And if she has somewhere to hide some shuriken, that'd be fuckin' sweet."

The clerk maintained his icy stare for a moment at the other Shadar Kai, then sighed, somewhat resigned and addressed the pair. "Welcome to Thanatopolis. Yes, I'm sure we have plenty of suitable attire. Did you have anything particular in mind, stylewise?"

Kallista froze. Stylewise?

"Ummm... black?" she said, her head cocked slightly.

The clerk stared at her and sighed.

"I weep for the future" he said eventually.

"Alright, come this way. I'm sure we can find something."

Tzesira looked around as the clerk took charge of Kallista, showing her various skirts and dresses, most in black but some with hints of bold coulour, displayed with a hopeful look.

There wasn't a whole lot of difference between some of the stuff she saw on the shop, or that she'd seen other wearing on the streets of Thanatopolis and some of the clothes from back home. Colours here felt a little brighter, but being out of the Shadowfell had that effect one things. She drifted away from the racks of darker garments, considering something a little brighter, but hovered when a scrap of fabric caught her eye - it was *almost* black with with a slight blue-green iridescence showing off a subtle pattern of feathers. Something about it made her feel a little homesick, and she extricated it carefully from the rack.

She looked over at where he clerk was holding up yet another dress for Kallista's opinion, this one black and tight as opposed to black and poofy, with red slashes in a pattern that looked like claw marks along the thighs and back. Her companion was eyeing it consideringly, but it was corseted.

"You're not gonna be able to breathe in that thing if you have to run," She called over. "And hey, how do you even wear this?" She held up the... well fabric, anyway, to the clerk. If it was a dress, she wasn't quite sure exactly how you would wear it. Or maybe it was just a scarf?

Kallista frowned.

"Awww... but it's got these cool claw mark thingies. Like I got mauled by an owlbear. It's all intimidatingy. Is that a word?"

She looked blankly at the clerk, who sighed for the umpteenth time since they had entered the store and shook his head.

She poked at the leather corset and scrunched up her nose. Tzesira was right.

"Ok, fine. But I'm coming back for you later." she said firmly to the dress.

She scanned a few more dresses and finally found one that seemed a little more practical. Black and white with lots of poofy tulle.

"Ooooh, can I try this on?" she asked the clerk.

"Certainly, ma'am. There's a private room in the back past the..." he began, but by then Kallista had already begun pulling her shirt over her head.

"...or you could just change right here in the middle of the store. Why not? Just... just tell me when you're ready to buy something."

With a final exasperated sigh the clerk slumped his shoulders and headed over to where Tzesira was fussing with the skimpy outfit.

"Allow me, ma'am." he said to her, taking the thin straps of fabric from her and arranging them so they resembled an outfit of sorts.

"This sash goes across the waist, and these like so. Will you be requiring the changing room or would you prefer to join your nudist friend?"

"Nah, it should be fine." Once she knew how it hung it was a lot easier to visualize, and she held it up in front of a mirror. "Not like I need to worry about it being too fuckin' small, anyway. It'll show off my new ink great too."

Speaking of. "Kallista are you getting that one? We gotta get going soon or nI'm gonna be late."

Kallista finished straightening out the ruffles on her dress and twirled a couple of times in front of a nearby mirror, her long, thin tail trailing behind her like a streamer.

"Hehe! Yeah, I think it's cute! What do you think, T?"

"You can still move and you can probably stick a few shuriken in there somewhere, so yeah, that works. Oh hey - its got black, right? What about this thing? Fancy enough?" She held the dress up in front of her again, smoothing out what little skirt it had to where it would hang just a little lower than the shorts she currently sported.

Kallista walked over and examined the dress that Tzesira was holding up.

"Nice! That'll turn a few heads." she said with a grin.

She turned on the beleaguered clerk once more.

"We'll take 'em."

"Fuckin' A."Tzesira grinned and flexed, showing off her athletic form. She hadn't even considered that possibility, though she'd seen some pretty interestingly looking people in the city. she didn't know a whole lot about the Shadar Kai who lived on the remnants of the prime plane, but she was curious. Hopefully there were some around with a little more spark than the retail clerk... What a job to settle for - no wonder he seemed so dulled.

The clerk sighed again, as if reading her mind, and smiled thinly. "Ahh, excellent. ladies of taste and class, I see. Just let me ring that up for you."

He took their coins, and artfully packaged their gear into quaint looking bags with what seemed an excess of tissue while Tzesira poked around impatiently. When they finally had their goods in hand, she turned to Kallista again with that slightly manaicle grin, he black eyes glinting. "Great. You ready to go the stuck with needles?"

"Yes!" Kallista exclaimed happily as she grabbed her bag and headed out the door with Tzesira.

"So how does this work exactly? I mean I've never gotten a tattoo before."

She'd made the appointment the day before, knowing it was going to take a few hours and wanting to make sure she'd found someone competent. Fortunately the workshop wasn't too far from the shopping district they were in, if she was oriented properly.

"Well... its pretty much what I said. They draw what you want, then they take a needle, and some ink, and fuckin' stab you in tiny little pricks so the ink gets into the skin. They can heal it up for you or you can let it go naturally... I'd rather do that but we don't got fuckin' time, with the adventuring and all. Also, I'm gonna get scars done on the blackwork later, probably, so I want it to be solid to start. You know what you wanna get done?"

"I was thinking about it..." Kallista said as they headed off towards the shop, "Something dragony. I saw a really hot elf with a kind of stylized tattoo a few months back and I always wanted to get one like it."

She paused for a second as though something had just occurred to her.

"Wait, is this gonna hurt?"

Tzesira had to laugh at the dawning realization on her friend's face. It was not really a comforting sound.

"Fucking' yeah it will! It's a good hurt though. You'll like it. And then you'll want more. Where you gonna get it? Some places hurt more'n others."

"Not sure." she said, looking less than thrilled with her friend's response, "Lower back, maybe? Someplace sexy. Whattaya think?"

"'S a good spot. Look nice. You just gotta dress to show it off - don't think you'll have too much fuckin' trouble with that, heh. Anyway, most tattoos are sexy. Most." She took pity on the Tiefling, seeing her concern. "Back's not too bad anyway, for pain. I hear."

Truth be told, Tzesira only had the one tattoo, so far, the one on the side of her neck marking her as belonging to the Temple of H'rih'keth, her monastery in the Murkmire, one of the few stable bastions of the Shadowfell remaining... in so small part due to the existence of the temple itself.

She'd always wanted more tattoos, and scars, but hadn't felt she'd done much to earn them.... After the dragons, though, her skin was itching to be fed more ink.

Kallista smiled. She was still a bit concerned about the procedure, but she figured it couldn't possibly hurt as much as her branding had, and she's managed to go through that without screaming... much.

As they approached the lower district Kallista began seeing tattoo and piercing shops appear at intervals.

"So where did you get your other tattoo done?" she asked, "And what does it mean?"

"That's from home," she said, staring blatantly after a couple she was guessing must be form a rival guild whose faces were covered in elaborate matching scars, with clearly fresh work carved into their cheeks. They gave her a curious and cursory glance in exchange, the taller woman smiling dismissively, though the shorter one did a double take as the monk idly traced the familiar lines of her markings. "It's to show where I'm from. Kinda like our own dragonmarks, I guess. Anyway, its based on the symbol of H'ri'keth, who is one of the Queen's Consorts and founded the monastery like, fucking forever ago."

"Cool" Kallista said, eying her friend's markings.

"Is that the place?" she asked, pointing to one across the street. The sign over the door proclaimed it to be 'Jab N' Stab Tattoo and Piercing Shoppe'.

"Yah, that's the one. You'd think they'd do scars too, eh? But whatever - their artists are good and they've got a good rep far as I can tell. "Cause I know you, you're getting done by the young pretty one, though."

She stepped inside the shop, where another patron was flipping though a book of designs while one of the artists - presumably the 'young hot one', if his lithe form and long while hair were any indication... And if one's tastes ran to guys covered in ink, with various facial (at least) piercings, dressed in tight leather. He looked up and smiled as the pair entered. "You our 1:00?"

Kallista grinned. He was pretty indeed. If she was going to get stabbed, at least she'd have a nice view.

"That's us!" she said, perhaps a bit too quickly.

The artist grinned and eyed Kallista up and down for a moment.

"Allright then", he said, "Which of you is Tzesira?"

Kallista pointed at her friend.

"Ok, Yanoch is gonna handle your ink, since it's a bit more complex and you said you wanted the best."

He turned and yelled towards the back room of the shop.

"HEY YANOCH! Customer!"

A moment later a grizzled skull poked out from behind the curtain, followed quickly by the skeletal body of a lich.

"Exsssssellent. Right on time..." it hissed in a raspy voice.