Storyboards: Taorin

Taorin's Humiliation | Taorin's Knack at Merchanting | Becoming a Merchant...

Taorin's Humiliation
‘More beer! Plate of chicken here! How'd business go today?’
The door that separated the common room from the kitchen of the tavern did not stop the noise from flowing in. Taorin sighed, glanced around and gulped down another mug of cheap beer. ‘You can do this. You've been trying for this your whole life. It's just a small group. I can't!’ she cried as she grabbed for yet another mug of beer.
‘It's time.’ Taorin looked up and stared at the door. She stood up, her long skirt made of fine deep green Mallorean silk spinning around her. She was ready to perform as a Nadrak dancer.
She stepped through the doorway. None of the people noticed her. ‘Confidence,’ she whispered to herself. ‘You're good at this. You've practiced for so long. Just daze the audience. Breathe in breathe out.’
She put her right foot forward and began to dance, moving around the center area with a steady beat with her feet. Her skirt swirled around her, revealing her slim legs from time to time and tantalizing the audience. Feeling more confident, Taorin glanced around ... People! So many people! She gasped as she lost all her confidence and ...
Thump! Taorin groaned as she lay on the ground. She had tripped. The humiliation! Krolak would kill her for sure! Inwardly, she sobbed, ‘My first try and I trip.’
She started to get up when a hand from the audience reached out to help her up. She gasped and looked up. A foreign face looked back at her. He flashed a friendly smile before looking grim once again.
‘Krolak! That was quite a poor performance. You had us quite excited about this new dancer of yours.’ Taorin cringed as she heard the previously kind man say this. The others in the tavern cried out loudly in agreement as Krolak glared angrily at her.
‘How about I do you a favor and buy her from you? I'm bored and need some ...entertainment ...while I travel.’ This time, the man gave her leery look as he looked her over. ‘What say you to 3 gold bars? That's quite a deal.’
‘Outrageous. That was only her first time. She's worth at least 15 gold bars.’ Krolak responded, clearly completely humiliated.
‘You're trying to rip me off aren't you? An inexperienced dancer for 15 gold who's just tripped in front of all of us. I’ll be nice. 5 gold bars.’ Taorin grimaced. A humiliation. She would never be worth anything.
Krolak thought for a bit. ‘Done! And good riddance too.’ Taorin miserably walked back to Krolak and quietly collected her belongings.
‘I’ll be keeping your share of the gold Tao. You don't deserve it in the least.’ Taorin nodded desolately.
‘I'm sorry Krolak I really am.’
‘Just leave!’ Taorin unhappily followed the foreigner outside.
The man and Taorin walked quickly to a caravan waiting by the fountain.
A petite woman there cried, ‘Took you long enough to get her. Let's go already.’ The woman glanced sharply at Taorin. ‘We'll have more time for introductions later. Right now we're behind schedule. I'm Kadirae, Lady of the Angarak Consortium.’ She glanced back at the man controlling the horses. ‘Why aren't we getting ready to go yet? It's time to go.’

top

Taorin's Knack at Merchanting
Taorin was happy that her abilities to read was getting better and better. She was able to completely read a storybook meant for 10 year olds with no help. She could tell that Lady Kadirae was happy with her progress. She was not only able to read better, but she was now able to add and subtract with no problems. Taorin smiled. Learning to read and do calculations was nothing like learning to dance and fight. Less strenuous for the body but still tiring at least for the mind. Taorin straightened up a bit as she realized they were entering a town. Lady Kadirae announced a short break of 2 hours before the cavaran would move again.
Clutching her small bag of coins, Taorin hopped off of her horse and scampered to the market place. She was eager to put her coins to good use. She stopped at a booth containing an assortment of different drinks. Taorin was tempted to try some of the exotic drinks, but remembering the drunken state of the caravan men the night before, she left the booth and continued on. She sat and admired some of the horses for a while but soon realized they were much too expensive for her. She finally arrived at at a booth that was selling precious furs. There was quite a crowd gathered as the man selling the furs was selling them at a discount. Taorin elbowed her way to a piece of fur and felt it. How puzzling.... This doesn't feel real. Does no one else here realize this? she thought. Excuse me? This fur is genuine right? The shopkeeper glared at her and replied, ' Of course! And at a great discount too. Taorin was puzzled. She was sure it was fake. How she knew she had no idea. It just felt.... fake. Gathering her confidence, Taorin tried again.
You're a lying swindler. These furs are fake. He's cheating you all. I've seen this before. The shopkeeper visibly weakened and started walking away. The others at the booth could tell that the shopkeeper never expected anyone to see through his trick. Taorin decided now would be a proper time to retreat. She was still puzzled. Do I know my furs? My years being owned by a fur trader has ... paid off I guess. Taorin smiled and continued looking through the other booths.

top

Becoming a Merchant...
Taorin rode silently out of the town that had contained the swindling furrier and thought about her future. Lady Kadirae had mentioned about being a Merchant and how she too could become an independent Merchant, not owned by anyone. Taorin boggle at such a concept but smiled slightly at the idea of it. A daughter of a Thull becoming a merchant.
She could imagine it: 'Hi, I'm Taorin, a Merchant' instead of 'Hi I'm Taorin who you think is really stupid because I look completely Thull.' A merchant selling.. something. She smiled again as she realized that there was indeed something she was decent at. She was good at evaluating fur. She would resell furs! She would learn the art of bargaining from the fellow Merchants and resell furs. Most people who wanted the furs were too lazy to travel the distance to get the nicest fur. She didn't think she would mind the work. They had been travelling for many days and she didn't mind the horseride or anything.
Being independent. Ah. That would be precious. Taorin smiled. She would need to dedicate herself to learning the letters and numbers so that people wouldn't trick her. She thought again about what she was good at and what she could use in the future.
I'm good at furs, but I'm a Thull. Will I be any good? I spent all these years just dancing and learning to be good with my daggers. Taorin slowly realized what she was telling herself.
Dancing... If I dance and appear to be merely a Nadrak Dancer, no one will expect me to be any good as a Merchant. Taorin began to grin. Maybe I can be a success as a Merchant.

top