You stop in your tracks as your eyes glance over a peculiar store that has attracted your attention. It wasn’t there a moment ago and you know this maybe because you are a local, maybe because you had just walked down this street or maybe because you are in a location where a store shouldn’t be, at all. It seems to call to you to come and visit, like an invisible attraction force is pulling your very being toward it. What’s even more curious about it is that you seem to be the only one to notice it, as it is completely ignored by any other passerby and even wildlife. You also realize something even stranger in that the building, obviously newly placed there, fits right in with the necessary architecture surrounding it, as if it has always belonged there, and while others seem to believe it, you know it doesn’t. Maybe out of curiosity or maybe out of suspicion, you approach to look into one of the two large windows and peek inside. Strangely, despite the windows being clean, your eyes can’t seem to adjust properly to see the content inside. The light seems to play tricks and the various silhouettes of shapes that are visible seem to change every time your eyes look elsewhere. To satisfy your desire to know more, you have to enter and you might feel compelled to do so, which is when you hear the bell above the door ring your arrival. You can finally see the store proper. Wooden clean floors, wooden shelves with contents unknown, signs indicating products, but strangely, you can read the words, but it is like your brain refuses to retain them or maybe they make no sense at this time. On the shelves, many trinkets, objects, items, scrolls, vials, you name it, from top to bottom. Some of them may seem familiar, others likely not. The air smells different, like an old library, but more than that.
“Hey there customer! Come on in, don’t be shy!”
A soft and musical voice welcomes you, ringing from deeper within the store, between the shelves, at the back. Whoever is awaiting you inside seems to be in a good mood and judging by the voice alone, still plenty young. You can’t help but feel a certain unease as if you’d just stepped inside a portal and were now somewhere else entirely, so you look back through the windows and although the glass seems to play the same trick as when you were looking in, you can see where you came from in a blurry fashion and the door doesn’t seem to be locked behind you, so at least this isn’t a trap. You start taking a few steps toward the source of the voice, hoping to get an explanation of what this store deals with and just what the hell this store is. As you make your way between the shelves, you look over your right and left and notice the range of items that are available here. Weapons, armor and items you recognize, some you don’t. Vials with liquids of various colors and consistency. You even swear you saw a couple where the content moved on its own. You can even see one that swirls by itself as if moved by an unknown force. You can see scrolls, rolled up and sealed delicately. Each item has labels, but just like the signs, it doesn’t matter how hard you try, they can’t be read. The words are in your language, but you can’t read them and the more you try, the more you can feel a headache coming in because of the frustration. By now, even the most novice magic user would have been able to tell that the store reeked of magic and even a non magic user would get the idea that the store was supernatural in nature.
“Are you looking for something in particular? I have something for everything and everyone! Whatever it is you need, I can help!”
You listen to the voice as you continue to walk down between the shelves and you start to consider the size of the building, viewed from inside. There were way too many shelves and the ceiling and wall dimensions didn’t fit the building size as viewed from the outside. This would confirm that this building defied or bent the laws of space within its boundaries, further proof of magical interference. You continue onward anyway and consider the words that came from deeper within, thinking to yourself: ‘What do you need?’ Maybe this store makes you feel uneasy and you’d like a weapon or a form of defense. That’s when you notice that the signs above the shelves next to the ones you are in right now are now readable and indicate ‘protection’ and ‘destruction’. You decide to visit one of those aisles before continuing deeper into the store, and sure enough, the shelves are now furnished with all sorts of weapons, apparels and items meant to protect oneself or destroy another. Some you recognize, others you do not. You stop for a moment and consider for a moment before you think about wanting to alter your physical or mental attributes and sure enough, when you look up, toward the sign of the aisle you were in just moments prior, it reads ‘Alteration’. You quickly understand that the store changes its content based on your thoughts and needs, or so it seems. You decide to confront the owner of this establishment to see who owns such a place and step further in.
“Oh, there you are! I thought I was talking to myself for a second! It wouldn’t be the first time anyway. Give me just a moment, please!”
You soon find yourself upon a small counter area, nestled between even more shelves, another area visible beyond it and . Behind it, a male wolf is smiling at you while carrying a box that he sets down on the counter at your approach. The first thing you notice is the lack of measures to secure coins or money. The second thing you notice is the weird buzzing coming from the box that the wolf was manipulating and it also seems to be ticking. The canine smiles at you as he opens the box and reaches inside confidently. Soon the buzzing stops and the wolf reaches for something else in the box. You wait for a couple more seconds and when you blink again, the wolf is suddenly standing there, behind the counter, smiling at you. The box is gone, so is the ticking as if nothing had happened. You can’t help, but feel that the wolf, much like the store, has much more to offer than meets the eye and despite his soft features, he isn’t as defenseless as he would seem.
“Welcome to The Silk Throat, my name is Eden and I am at your service. How may I help you today?”
You eye up and down the canine before you. A few things would catch your eyes. The first being the small, lithe and feminine build of the obviously male wolf. Standing at 5’7 and weighing approximately 120 pounds, it would be easy for most to tower over him. His arms and his body do not appear very muscular either giving him soft features. The second thing you’d notice would be the glow in his golden, happy eyes that are echoed by the golden markings on his face, along his neck and on his shoulders that make it seem like the wolf himself is made of gold, but closer inspection reveals it to be fur, although a debate could be had on whether it was natural or not. The third and final thing you’d notice about this wolf is that he seemed to have this constant air of happiness and genuine innocence behind his everlasting smile and yet, the wolf projected an aura of a lifetime of experience behind such young-looking features. You ask where you are and what this store is about.
“You should take a seat, friend, because this is quite a story!”
Eden proceeds to answer your question by explaining that the store was family owned, down several generations. The story about how his family acquired the store was convoluted and with a wink ,he’d explain that he believed the store found his family, without elaborating further. At first, the store was just an antiquity store where folks would bring in old items they no longer needed in exchange for services from the family or in exchange for other items in the store or a mixture of both. Those who wanted an item, but couldn’t provide one would be asked to provide a favor to be claimed at a later date or provide a "search and provide" service for the store by finding things other customers wanted. As the store and its reputation grew, people started requesting exotic items and soon enough started seeking magical items of various powers. Once the store passed into his own hands, Eden fully committed it to the magical realm, something he truly enjoyed and thrived in and specialized it toward a very specific goal: Letting people enjoy their wildest fantasies as safely as possible. Through the network of contacts acquired over the years of the store’s operation, Eden sought out alchemists, wizards, smiths, adventurers and others to create or find what he would need to furnish the store and then renamed it ‘The Silk Throat’ due to an unusual popularity of his predator and prey apparatus and concoctions. You ask him for more details on the exchange of items and services.
“Oh! This store doesn't run like a usual business.”
Eden smiles and explains to you that the shop works on a barter system. You can trade something for something else and he’ll judge if it is worth it. This ‘something’ can range from a magical item of your own, a favor to be claimed at a later point, a service to be rendered or even a part of yourself! He goes on to explain that this works both ways as well. If you’d like to ‘sell’ an item to the store without taking anything out, he’ll offer a favor to be claimed later or a service to be rendered! He continues on to explain that the offer to trade a part of oneself applies to creatures with magical properties. Spirits, dragons, aliens, gods and goddesses, etc. He explains, before it is pointed out that surely you have noticed that this store isn’t like any other store and as such, deserve a large variety of creatures, so long as they can be understood and also understand the nature of this shop. As for the problem of trading in a part of one’s self… The store has ways to ensure that while we do accept an arm and a leg, the client always leaves the same way they came in. He winks. You ask about how can a dragon fit in here.
“You have been listening, but not truly listening! This store is not like any other!”
He smiles and motions you to wait for a moment. He disappears in the area behind the counter and returns with a plushy looking strangely like him. In his other hand, he holds a vial that he opens with a thumb and pours a few drops of the content on the plush replica of the salesman. A short moment later, it starts growing in his hands so he tosses it on the floor beyond and behind you. As it gains in size, you notice that the store does as well and visibly so. The shelves would slide along the ground to make space for growing plushy and the walls and ceiling would push outwards. Eden would then open the door of the counter and starts to push the plushy between shelves. They would spread apart to give way without spilling their content. He mentions the front door is always the size of his next customer as well. As for smaller than normal beings, he explains that the store has multiple ways to help them move around as well, from magical birds to wings sprouting and such, but that he would prefer not to demonstrate.
“So are you interested in getting anything anything?”
You tell him that you are going to look around and he nods politely. He tells you to let you know if you need his help for anything. His voice sounds strangely distant. You turn around to explore the store, but the shelves seem pretty far from you. Surprised, you turn to Eden, but he’s not there anymore. You blink and the whole world becomes blurry. You wonder what the hell is going on before you spring awake in your bed or wherever you sleep. What a weird dream... But next time you go into town, maybe you’ll notice a familiar shop...
The one and only, Eden
“Nice to meet you, I am Eden!”
You stare at the wolf that stands before you. He’s lightly built and a bit small compared to the average. His frame is almost feminine, now that you think of it. He has narrow shoulders, but they are at least toned and kind of square. He has wide hips and a curve to his rump, but he dismisses your stare with a tail wave. You probably pay more attention to his golden markings though as they cover part of his face and his chest. They seem real enough, but you highly doubt they grow naturally like that. Your doubts are increased when you notice that he has tan markings, instead of golden, on his arms, hips and thighs. You judge the wolf’s outfit.
“Hey, don’t look at me like that! These are comfortable!”
Eden isn’t one to go fancy when it comes to clothing. His go to clothes are usually a well worn pair of jeans, either blue or black and a single colored T-shirt or shirt. In hot weather, he might be seen wearing jeans shorts or normal shorts and either a T-shirt, sleeveless shirt or go topless if he’s in an area where it is acceptable. Finally, during cold weather, he tends to cover up with a sweater, again single colored and a pair of jeans. This doesn’t mean he only wears these, but it is always a safe assumption that he is wearing such outfits. He rarely wears socks and shoes due to his feet not being very accommodating, but he does wear boots during cold weather! You look at him work and walk around.
“Well, if you have nothing better to do than stare at me, enjoy the show, I got things to do!”
The wolf demeanor is one of assurance and general happiness. His tail sways behind him lightly as he works and keeps busy. He whistles and hums as a smile never leaves his face. When he walks, his steps are confident and full of vigor. When he stands, he tends to put his hands on his hips and bring out his chest. When he sits, he crosses his legs, which might be a bit unusual. In general, you’d give Eden the age of a young adult as he bounces around and seems full of energy. You know, though, that this might only be the public Eden since he’s at work. People tend to have different personalities on and off work.
Skip to sliders if you want to discover Eden on your own!
Last warning! Reading below will explain more about Eden, but will spoil surprises!
“I am not exactly who you expect me to be.”
Eden isn’t entirely gender consistent you see. As explained prior, you’d think at first sight that the wolf is a typical male for the most part, but after an unfortunate case of ‘curiosity killed the cat’ incident with one of his own products, he became what people typically refer to as intersex. He was young and foolish, as well as extremely curious. During his teenage years, he wanted to know what it was to be the other gender, female. At the time, his father was the owner of the store and would let him play around with the magical products that had already been tested and were safe. However, safe doesn’t mean to carelessly use anything. The young wolf found a magical artifact that gave him the full appearance of a female. At first, Eden would only toy around with the gender-bending artifact for short durations, but he enjoyed the attention and the rush of magic too much and soon was spending days as the other gender, living a sort of double life that he…or in this case, she found exhilarating. However, what he failed to consider was the danger of long term transformation which he’d have known if he had properly read the instructions that came with the item. After several days spent living his female life, he went to transform back one evening and found that… his body never fully reverted back to his old self. It was… a learning experience for younger Eden. Today, he’s used to it being him. He could easily fix it using his own products, but to him there is nothing to fix. It is who he is now.
Played under A_Thousand_Alts