So A Dragon Walks Into An Occult Shoppe

[Johann Sebastian Eligius]

August 1, 2019

10:02 AM

 

The door swung open effortlessly, a wash of cool air pushing back against the warmth of the city. If there was a slight chime of bells, meant to announce one's presence, it was drowned out by the dragonian's whistling. He'd been watching Singing in the Rain the night prior and had the "Good Morning, Good Mo-orning" bit stuck in his head.

 

Johann had come by with two purposes in mind--First, to find out more about an old myth from China, and second, to possibly catch up with the proprietor, who'd bought some blades from him a year or two back. She didn't seem to be around at a first glance.

 

It was relatively easy to tell the few customers perusing books in the back of the shop were displeased with the piercing sound of his whistle, so he stopped. The few times he'd been to the shop before, Johann had mostly found his time there unstructured and unsupervised. Today, he hoped, would be much the same. Long strides carried him back towards the enclave of books, and he began to sort through them quickly and efficiently, looking for any which would help him understand the cryptic engraving an enthusiastic youth had requested on a metal puffer-fish charm, of all things.

 

"Spirits and Demons quickly leave" was the translation. His first stop had been the internet for a translation. It had returned no cases of any actual evidence this combination of charm and phrasing worked... though it had been linked to a children's television program from before the resonance. 

 

[johann] Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao [/johann] The dragon chanted the phrase under his breath quietly, so as not to disturb the other patrons. 

 

[johann] Perfect! [/johann] The exclamation startled some of those around him, but they quickly realized it was just a man pulling a book from the shelf. 

 

Chinese Demons, and How to Expel Them read the cover. It would hopefully contain the information he needed, and Johann sat down in one of the comfortable chairs to peruse his book.

 

This process was repeated several times as no book he searched made any mention of such a chant. Eventually, the dragonian resolved himself to simply find an employee who might know more about the books, including those which may not have been on display, and he stood in search of such an individual.

[Aeylenthi Tarania]

After being taken in by Rorye at Kells the usual customers had grown accustomed to the little pixie flitting about their heads as she collected random things to make tonics for ailments.  Some were fascinated by the speed at which she worked and the potency of her alchemy.  Herbs were her specialty, though she delved in others.  Today was no different.  A lady had asked for a rub that could ease muscle and joint pain.  An easy fix for one of Lenthi's abilities.  Only problem was, the lady watched every move the little flying creature made.  Hawk like eyes trained on her as she gathered ground up, liquidized, and whole plants.  All of which was dropped into a mortar and pestle.

 

*npc "What is that?"

 

"If I told you that Miss Marshal you wouldn't come back and I wouldn't be able to enjoy your lovely presence."

 

Lenthi played coy as she lifted the heavy grinder and took to breaking down the ingredients.  Singing a fae song as she did so.  The woman was entranced by the little thing standing on the edge of the cup.  A few other patrons looked over to the singing Pixie and smiled.  Lenthi enjoyed what she did and it showed in how well she did it.  Soon the mixture was a paste like rub and she slid it into an ointment vile of crystal like glass.

 

"Remember to rub it on whenever the pain flares, and when you run out I always have more to make."

 

She shooed the woman out the door and looked over to a man that came in whistling.  He seemed lost in a way and she grumbled something about humans, though something was off about him.  Nevertheless she cleaned out her grinding station and wiped her hands off on a nearby cloth.  After all was done she took to the sky and fluttered over to the man.  She didn't know much after not being at the store for very long, but she knew enough but enough.

 

"Hello there." She landed on the table next to him and looked up.  "Can I help you with anything in particular?"

[Johann Sebastian Eligius]

That was odd. He was certain there were no voices in his head... they'd have come out to play by now, surely.

 

No. He had no voices speaking to him from beyond. Dragons did not suffer schizophrenic breaks. That much was certain, and yet here he was, a little voice saying "hello there."

 

First glance was to his left shoulder. Second was to his right. Double-take as his gaze swapped back to the left shoulder.

 

The voice spoke again, and he realized it was from a short pixie on the table in front of him.

 

[johann] Greetings, little one. [/johann] Johann beamed, delighted to meet a new friend. [johann] I'm looking for some information about an old Chinese legend, but seem to be... what's the word... striking out? with the books back there, if you'd happen to know anything about that. [/johann]  

 

He paused for a moment. There was some step of normal human conversation he'd missed. Was it the acknowledgment? No, he'd gotten that much. 

 

Johann was hopeful the pixie might know about some extra reserve of rare-er books, stashed away someplace in the shop. [johann] Something about a charm to ward off evil.[/johann] There was the subject of his inquiry, but it was still bothering him... What had the offworlder missed?  It was going to continue to bother him...

 

[johann] Any chance there's a backlog of books that aren't on display? [/johann]

 

What the hell was he missing?

 

Oh, right. His name... But the time had passed for that.

[Aeylenthi Tarania]

Lenthi's smile faltered the slightest bit.  Though she held it, it almost looked pained.     -I'll show you small- slid into her brain but she forced the thought away and listened intently to the mans complaint about not being able to find something or other of a Chinese something or other.  She'd figure out the details after she tried to remember where the key to the 'special' cabinet was.

"Right, well.  You came to the right shop love."  The pixie smirked and flew into the sky to get eye level with the man, smile still plastered on even with her slightly wounded pride.  "I will say I'm bloody surprised you haven't found it already though, the books we have are top notch, nevertheless..."

Lenthi trailed off in thought, her mind wandering to where the boss lady said it'd be.  Somewhere hidden but not hard to find.  Then it clicked.  The register.  Simple, and easy to remember.  If only she'd remembered it a minute earlier instead of looking stupid to the man in front of her.

"Follow me love."

She zipped off without another word and B-lined it to the front.  Hopefully the man didn't have trouble keeping up.  She was after all a swift flyer, and liked to dip and weave between people.  Which she did around a lovely couple scrounging for odds and ends, and another man that peered into the eyeless sockets of a dog skull he held.  Lenthi gracefully landed, tiptoe to heel next to the register and quickly did what she needed to pop it open.

"Fortunately for you we have a nice little bookshelf.  Locked away to keep the baddies from busting it open." She paused, lifted the key from the drawer, and with force slammed it back shut.  "Can't let anything get out.  Be a bloody mess if that happened."

She joked of course.  Which was shown with the playful wink that followed and again she fluttered off with haste.  

[Johann Sebastian Eligius]

Johann nodded. [Johann] Likelihood is it's a useless incantation, but I'm not giving it power as long as there's a risk it can hurt people. Learned that lesson years ago.[/johann]

 

The dragon may have been brash and untrained in the art of sublety,but he held a genuine concern for the frailty of humans.

 

Ayelenthi flitted off through the crowd, and Johann did his best to keep up, weaving through the mass of humanity. He made it to the register just in time to hear her explain the books were locked away. Miss Shannon was no fool. She'd taken precautions. A smile crossed his face.

 

He resolved to follow the pixie once more.

 

[Johann]Once had a fellow come into my shop and ask me to engrave Cyrillic characters into a spade. You might remember it as the zombie assault of 2014.[/johann]

 

A soft chuckle. [Johann] Melted that thing down...along with his bones when I found out. [/johann]

 

[Johann] So... I do my due diligence these days.[/johann]

[Aeylenthi Tarania]

"No incantation is useless love.  Just got to use it in the right way to get it's full effect."

 

She listened to his little story as they approached the secret book cabinet.  Though it wasn't exactly 'secret' because it was in plain sight and locked tight.  Most wouldn't bother with the lock due to some of the contents inside.  Nevertheless she reached the lock and forced the key into position.

 

"I'll just ignore the fact you just admitted to murdering some bloke, I'll put it as you being a good Samaritan and leave it at that."  She laughed and with a bit of effort finally got the lock open and pulled open the cabinet, fluttered around it's content for a moment before she saw the only Chinese book she could find and pulled it out slightly to mark where it was.  "There ya go mate.  Not too bloody hard to find."

 

Lenthi cleared her throat and waited for him to lift the book so she could close the cabinet and lock it back up.  Not like she was gonna give anyone the ability to take one of the more important books in the store.  Antiques, and what not.  Some of them had a bad taste to the air around them and she just wasn't dumb enough to just let those bad joojoo books sit in the open.

 

"When you say melt down, does that mean you're a smithy love?  Haven't met a real one in quite some time."

[Johann Sebastian Eligius]

The pixie was right. No such thing as a useless incantation. Some, however, were utterly powerless on their own. That was why he wasn't going to take the risk of combining an unknown chant with what could be its necessary component to activate.

 

"I'll just ignore the fact you just admitted to murdering some bloke, I'll put it as you being a good Samaritan and leave it at that." 

 

[johann] He was a threat to humanity at large. [/johann] The dragon's words were devoid of sympathy. It was objective fact that the man was using a tool he'd created to bring harm to the fragile life of human beings. 

 

[johann] My thanks. [/johann] He lifted the book down from its shelf, letting her lock back up as he tucked the book under an arm. 

 

Ah, perceptive, this pixie was. [johann]That I am. Magical Blacksmith at your service. [/johann] The man beamed, [johann] Mostly deal in specialty items and unique orders at the shop, so if someone asks me for an incantation to be inscribed in something they might try to funnel mana through, I do my research. [/johann] He paused.

 

[johann] Being a dragon doesn't mean I know everything, after all. [/johann]

[Aeylenthi Tarania]

"Right, because humans aren't a threat to the bloody rest of us.  D'you know how many humans have tried to hurt me in the past because I'm a fae?  Too many."

 

She nodded to his thanks and gestured for him to walk to a table.  He was after all an interesting person and she was going to have to find out more on him.  He seemed a bit off somehow though. 

 

"Magical blacksmith?  That's brilliant.  Honestly.  Never met one of you before."  She hadn't met a lot of things before, especially a magical blacksmith.  Must mean he put magic into swords and stuff.  Well that would be cooler than cool.\

 

Then it hit her.  It took a few seconds to register what he said.  But he was a dragon.  Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened.  She hadn't seen a dragon in ages.  Or maybe never at all she wasn't a hundred percent sure.  Definitely in those old wizard movies with the kid with glasses and a scar.

 

"You're a bloody dragon?  No way!  It may seem like not that big o' deal to you.  But it's fuckin' huge to me.  Why aren't you more... Dragon-y?"

[Johann Sebastian Eligius]

Johann just nodded as the pixie snapped sarcasm at him. She was, of course, correct. Humans were warlike... but so were dragons, fae, and pretty much any other race... except maybe zombies. They weren't a race though.

 

They did like eating people. That complicated matters.

 

"Magical blacksmith?  That's brilliant.  Honestly.  Never met one of you before."

 

A soft chuckle. Very few people had the proficiency with mana and ability as a conduit to actually make ordinary metal possess magic powers.

 

[Johann] I don't know any others. [/johann] It was true. Most people with that kind of ability either didn't have the infrastructure necessary to do what he'd done, or didn't have the desire to turn a profit off the work.

 

He was about to open the book and find a place to sit when she spoke up again.

 

Why aren't you more... Dragon-y?"

 

A blink. Did she really not know? 

 

She had to know. Dragons in full form tore through mana like nobody's business.

 

[johann] Several reasons. One, there'd be no mana for your lovely mages. Two, I highly doubt people would be very accommodating of a winged, clawed, tailed dragon walking around New York City. [/johann] 

 

A gentle smile. [johann] Besides, everyone pointin' and staring... it gets old, right quick. [/johann] He'd picked up some speech habits from all over the English speaking world, thanks to recordings of old TV shows.