Melons

Tenebrae - Monday, May 12, 2014, 11:01 PM

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-=--=--=--=--=--=<* A07: Local Alexandria Market District *>-=--=--=--=--=--=-

Just west of the Northern Highbridge and east of the arena, commerce blooms. Noisy and bustling, most anything may be purchased here for a price. Vendors from all cultures sell their wares from exotically colored carts, and the smells of different nations and far-off city-states mix with local ones from Alexandria and its riverbanks.

For all its commerce, visitors are advised to keep hold of their purses. Even the merchants possess a certain, cunning look. Most are positioned at carts or stalls as opposed to a formal storefront, with trade here being mobile, and visiting from all parts of the world.

Though the quality of goods suffers here compared to Upper Alexandria, the options are more diverse. Too, the oversight of the Watch is slightly less, and during times events are held at the Arena, chaos abounds. After dark, the square becomes a hangout for bards and other entrepreneurs whose business is best conducted by night; the shadows at the edges of the square often contain furtive figures engaging in their own brand of business.

The cold has finally broken, and warm weather is upon Alexandros. And with the warm comes fresh merchants. Or at least, fresh items the merchants are selling. One fellow is selling cups of sliced melon. Just where exactly he got melons this early in the season is uncertain, but it may have somethign to do with why they're all a funny pear shape. Still taste fine, however. Off to the side of the melon stall sits Munch, turning a large pile of melon rines into a distinctly smaller pile.

Stjepan is picking his way through the market, shouldering through the crowds as best he can. Fruit! Melons! He likes melons. And so he ends up, almost face to face with Munch.

Munch blinks at the large man, and buzzes softly. "If you want some fruit shells, talk to the guy there. These ones are mine." Okay, so the golem might have a little trouble with the proper name for things.

Stjepan looks down, tilts his head, and nods. "Thank you," he buys a melon of his own, and as he starts carving it up, he asks affably enough: "So, can you actually taste that? You're... built to do so?"

Munch's head splits open, peeling back along the vertical and horizontal axis, the interior somewhere between a fang filled maw and a nightmare of a blender. A few bits of melon are shoved inside, there's a wet crunch, a moment of grinding, and the maw is empty again. "Oh yeah, I can taste. Not quite like your taste, I think. I like flavors most don't. But I can tell a cantelope from a watermelon without looking."

Stjepan stares. He's going to stare. "Huh." He digs into the melon, then levers his bulk down to sit next to the golem. "Why? Do you know?"

Munch is pretty used to being stared at. Most golems are. Then again, Giantborn tend to get a lot of stares as well. "Sure. Chemical analysis is part of my primary functions. Only so much you can do with look and touch."

Stjepan squints for a moment, then nods slowly. "Right. What are things made of." He gets to demolishing the melon, then buys another. "These are good."

Munch shrugs. "They're okay, but I prefer meat. Richer texture. And a better fight in getting it."

Stjepan's head turns a little. "I don't suppose you need water, then."

Munch shakes his head. "Not typically. Depends on what I eat. Some stuff needs a bit of water to process properly. But stuff like melons has enough water in it already, no need for more."

Stjepan nods slowly. "Right, makes sense. It just means you don't appreciate the melon in warm weather like I do."

Munch mmmms, and nods. "Maybe not, but you don't enjoy the crunch of a fresh oak branch like I do. All sorts of people like all sorts of things."

Stjepan nods. "True. I was more thinking about the needs of the body."

Munch ahs. "Yeah, not the same way certainly. I don't get overheated, or chilled easily. Have enough chemical stores to heat up pretty easy, and robust cooling system if things get too warm. Still not fireproof though. Keep meaning to work on that."

Stjepan pauses. "/Can/ you work on that?"

Munch nods, and shrugs. "More or less. I mean, I'll need a hand with it, but can be done without too much trouble. Fire resistant, anyway. Actaully fire poof is almost impossible. But when you can take off your skin and send it to a wizard to get enchanted, all sorts of options open up." Munch taps lightly on a metal scale with his finger. "Actaully got it entirely replaced a year or so back. The mithril is pretty awesome."

Stjepan pauses for a moment. "That really sounds quite disturbing."

Munch hehs. "To you maybe. To me, is normal. Which I understand is abnormal, but whatever." He pauses a moment. "Was going to say organics do some weird stuff, but that's just weird, not really disturbing."

Stjepan nods once, slowly. "Well, perspective is pretty important, isn't it." He plucks at his skill. "This just doesn't come off."

Munch hehs. "Sure it does. Just a painful process most don't care to think about. Saw a wizard take the skin off his arm once." The golem blinks a few times. "Or maybe was a priest. The resulting demon was pretty distracting."

Stjepan nods slowly. "Exactly. That shit ain't natural." A pause. "To clarify -- I can't just remove it at a whim, without, likely leaking out."

Munch nods. "Well, neither can I. I mean, is a pretty involved process, takes hours to do right and not tear anything. But I get what you're saying."

Stjepan considers slowly. "Learn something every day, right?" He pauses, gets another melon.

Munch hehs. "Think you forget stuff too, after a while. Else elves would know everything after a few centuries."

Stjepan smiles into his rind. "I forget stuff ever day, and I'm measured in decades, not centuries."

Munch nods. "Some stuff I don't think you ever forget. Well, not easily anyway... can forget everything if you do it wrong." The metal man buzzes quietly, and noms a few rind pieces.

Stjepan nods. "For you, too?"

Munch shrugs. "Guess so. I forget stuff, though not everything. Still remember being born, which I guess most don't."

Stjepan glances over sharply. "No. Most don't."

Munch shrugs again. "Someone has to. Mine, I mean. You familair with Sage Brew? Nah, doesn't seem popular over here. Not so much back where I'm from either, but some use it. Like a tea, kinda. Makes you smart for a little while. use a lot of it, get really smart, but then you crash and get dumb for a bit. Use a really really lot, and you get super smart, but you never fully recover from the crash. Guys that made me, bunch of grey haired fogies, used to be top smart guys. Wanted one last blast before they croaked, I guess. Made a huge batch of Sage Brew, chuged it all down, got super super smart. Built me from scratch. And when they crashed, got so stupid they forgot how to breathe."

Stjepan pauses. "That." He squints. "That's a lot to take in, all at once."

Munch hehs. "Try processing it at less than an hour old. When I first activated, they were still smart. Asked me questions, made sure I was working fine. Were pretty happy about it all. Then they settled down and got quiet. Went to sleep. Then died. Wasn't until a lot later that I understood what that really ment. I already knew the word, but not how it all fit together."

Stjepan pauses. "That sounds... strange. But not unlike being organic, in some ways."

Munch nods. "Though I don't think most kids watch it happen. Not until later, anyway."

Stjepan nods. "I think it's slower." A pause. "It didn't happen to me."

Munch mmms. "Which part? Knowing the word before really understanding the meaning?"

Stjepan says, "Most of it. Knowing the word happens a lot, though."

Munch nods, blinks, and extends a handshake. "Munch, by the way. Munch TerrowMaw."

Stjepan takes it, shakes it. "Stjepan." A pause. "TerrowMaw, huh."

Munch shrugs. "'Munch the Golem' wasn't quite working for me. 'TerrorMaw' has a better ring to it."

Stjepan laughs. "Fair enough, fair enough."