Shadows of Bankor

Djanik made his way to the market after his largely useless morning.

After all, he had a seed of an idea, a rumor, at least.

With his idea in mind, he made his way to the market, to try and find some equipment, or to find out what equipment he should be shopping for.

At one of the stalls a skinny female Twi'lek was driving a sharp bargain with the shopkeeper over some kind of large animal pelt. "Come on, Vas, I was sitting on this for weeks cause I knew you would appreciate it better than anybody. Can't you do at least ninety?" She sighed and took a bite out of some kind of fist-sized crunchy fruit, already half eaten.

Djanik drifted over, curious what sort of wildlife the locals brought in.

If nothing else, it might give him a slightly better idea of what inflation was like on Bankor.

There was no head attached to the cured pelt, which made it hard to tell if it had belonged to a carnivore or an herbivore, but it seemed to be something hexapedal with a shaggy coat—perhaps about the size of a large dog. The twi’lek and the shopkeeper went back and forth over it for a little longer, the latter pointing out flaws in color and the placement of the blaster burn that had presumably killed the thing while the former talked up its qualities. They eventually settled on about seventy credits for the things value.

As she pocketed the credits, the twi’lek took notice of Djanik watching. “Are you a collector? If you had said something I could have cut you a deal and left out the middlebeing.” She tilted her head inquisitively.

"No, just curious."

He shrugged.

"I've not spent much time on planet, outside the city."

Glancing around the market, he added, "I haven't really even spent a lot of time in city... so I guess I was curious what sort of wild game would be bought and sold in these parts. It seemed like a harmless thing to learn, given my own shopping isn't turning anything up."

“Oh, haven’t you seen a visybara before? I guess not. They’re grumpy little bastards from the temperate and subarctic.” She nibbled the last bite of her fruit and wiped her hand on her trouser seam. “They eat plants and bugs, mostly, but the males have a nasty venomous bite if you make them angry.”

She extended a now-juice-free hand. “I’m Sinn’yatar. Although most people out here just use Sinnya. Welcome to Bankor, stranger.”

Djanik took the hand, trying not to notice any residual stickiness.

"Djanik. Nice to meet you. I've lived here for a year or so, but not gotten out of the city very much."

Looking around the market, he gave a small shrug. "Always figured the local wildlife knew the terrain a lot better than I did, and I never did find out the local hunting laws."

“Rygor is a pit, especially since the foundry opened.” She shook her head, lekku tips curling disgustedly. “But the wild places... they are about the only thing besides the hypermatter that brings offworlders here. If you’ve stayed in the city, you haven’t seen Bankor.”

"Maybe some time, you could show me some of them?"

He gave a little smile.

"I'm not against learning a little more about the planet - Rygor doesn't exactly make a man fall in love with the place."

“That is exactly what I do.” Sinnya chuckled. “I go out often as a wilderness guide. Hunting and camping, materials recovery, things like that. Or sometimes just for fun.”

She flicked a lekku tip toward the stall where she’d been a few minutes earlier. “That visybara you saw, I tracked while I was out on my own. Something like that usually comes along to keep the lights on in between jobs.” She smiled, a bit wry. “Beats working in the foundry.”

"Oh? I know foundries aren't ideal, but they keep the hyperspace lanes open..."

He paused, as what he was saying and current events collided in his head.

"Something tells me worker conditions have not improved under new management."

"No." The grim quirk of her lips was like a salute of recognition. "They were never good, either. But I hear the hours are getting worse." Her eyes flicked warily from side to side and she lowered her voice further to add, "With foundry management and the army in the same pocket, workers can't even organize without getting hauled away... I'd not advise anyone to take a job there now, no matter how tight things got."

Djanik shook his head.

"There was a time you could at least make a living, even if it wasn't easy."

Looking about the market, he added, "I suppose you still can, it just isn't getting any easier."

"I don't remember a time when it ever was." Sinnya shrugged expressively. "The people who have it made stay that way, and everyone else... tries."

As if the word 'try' reminded her, she gave Djanik an inquisitive look. "Right, you said you were trying to find something here, but without luck? I know this market, if you need direction."

"I'm not sure it's something they'd have..."

He shrugged.

"Mineralogical survey equipment, long range scanners, that sort of thing. Might be outside my price range but there used to be some civilian models that went somewhat cheap."

Glancing at the twi-lek, he added, "Weird request, I know."

Sinnya shrugged. "Not really. There's still a lot of unsettled land on Bankor--specially if you're prospecting." She tapped her lips with a fingertip. "Or doing anything else that doesn't need temperate climate and a water supply. I spent two weeks leading a team of durantium prospectors back and forth over the Dead Sands once. They spent more time fixing their speeders than surveying... should have listened to me instead of buying the cheap intake filters. Eh." She cupped a hand over her laugh.

"I imagine."

Djanik smiled.

"Well, in my case, I'm trying to make some pretty wide ranging scans for metals, power signatures, or active shielding."

With a faint shrug, he added, "You happen to know any good devices for that?"

"I don't know anything about that technical stuff." Sinnya flicked the tip of one lek in a sort of mini-shrug. Her formal education had never gone past the compulsory level, and that not exactly in Rygor's best schools. "I know where to find some dealers you can ask, though... hey, wait, active shielding? You're not talking about an ore seam, are you."

He gave a little shrug.

"I'm following a hunch. It probably is nothing."

Glancing at the Twi-lek, he added, "If I'm wrong, I'm out a few credits. If I'm right... I'm up a few credits."

She chuckled. "That is how it usually goes, right?" With a wave, she indicated a general direction of travel. "You probably want to ask the light industrial resellers, not the outdoor suppliers. I can show you which way they are." As was often the case in large marketplaces that had grown up semi-organically, merchants of the same types of goods mostly seemed to cluster together, like with like.

((If you actually want to do a streetwise or negotiation roll, I can help? I'm 3g either way. Don't know if you're looking to buy the stuff this time slot, or just RP it!))

(For now, RP, as I may get to do the scan another way on D3.)

"Ah, maybe I've just been in the wrong sector of the market then."

Djanik sketched a small bow. "I entrust myself to your greater knowledge, then."

Sinnya smiled a bit uncertainly at the out-of-place courtly gesture as she led off. "You came here a year ago? I grew up here. That's nothing much to be proud of... still, I had a long time to learn these streets." That was easy to believe, considering the way she navigated the market with a confident stride.

"Well, that's still a step up on me."

He chuckled.

"I ended up here, so at least you know your way around, even if we are both stuck."

"Stuck, huh? I only think of it that way when I have to spend too long in the city." She rounded a corner, dodging a stack of barrels, and slowed briefly to make sure she hadn't lost him. "You probably mean the whole planet, though."

"For me, this city has, by and large, been the planet."

He shrugged, following her with relative ease. He'd spent enough time in Rygor to manage the crowds.

"With no ship, it may as well be. Maybe some day I'll change that."