Incoming Shipment: Backstory

The Merchant:

The sun is high in the sky as the cart rolls across the desert sand on its way to Harlem. The cart is drawn by two large bison like creatures with curled horns atop their heads. At the helm of the cart is The Merchant, an odd looking man of questionable origins. His wiry hands hold onto the reigns with his gaze onto the town they were coming into. To either side of The Merchant were two bandits riding atop desert camel like creatures. Immediately behind the cart was a boxed in area with various wares and such and beyond that was a caged cart holding a half dozen women females whereas only four of which could be considered ‘women’ by age. These women would have been kidnapped from their homes and/or the fields. They were locked up like animal with very little food or water given to them; just enough to keep them alive and lucid. The desert sun would pour down relentlessly with no cover over the sturdy cage of wood, leather and metal; the slows would only be large enough to maybe get two arms between, but not much more than that. By now, the women would have been battered and beaten into submission with special attention given to those with strong spirits and the will to fight back. The lashing whip on the side of one of the bandits had already seen its fair share of skin today. One such girl by the name of Dyshana would be encased within this cage.

The two riders on either side of the wagon speak across to one another. The first speaks, “ah! One of our affiliated villages. Maybe we can make some money on the way to Harlem?” The other male comments, “or maybe pick up some new merchandise…” The first bandit scoffs and scolds, “we can’t steal from an affiliated village you idiot… they’re part of us…” The second bandit grins, “right right… Her merchant, I’m going ahead to see if I can secure a place to action. Hopefully these poor miners have enough to at least buy one of these wenches from us.” With that, he taps the side of his animal and moves ahead at a swift pace.

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“Hey! Keep it down back there!” the remaining bandit would say. There would be no particular reason they would have to be quiet, just a personal preference and a reason for the guard to be sadistic. The bandit maneuvers his camel like creature to the side of the moving cart to look in on the females there in before giving a smirk and moving back up with a “ya!” The beast of burden jogs back forwards a little bit before coming side by side with The Merchant again. After a while they come into the village they were heading into. The bandit who went up ahead was standing by this point with his creature tied to a post. He was waving them to come into the center portion of the small settlement with a few men with him. It didn’t seem like this village was large enough to have a market place; it seemed to be a small mining town, the type that was under the employ of the Kingdom of Domenance. There were just a few houses, no more than ten with a few barns and a well in the center of the town. The coach pulls into the town’s center and slowly comes to a halt. The cart stops in front of the bandit and a group of four sexually hungry looking men of varying types as their eyes immediately move to the girls in the enclosed cage. “Gentlemen,” the first bandit speaks as he motions towards the girls, “we have a few lovely desert treats on the way to Harlem, but we’re offering first dips to you. Make a price that’s worth it and you might find yourself a lady. Once you get them, they’re your responsibility, they could use a good scrubbing and some food and they’ll plump right up.”

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The men come near the carts as they look at the women who were available within the confines of the cage. One in front rubs his hand together with a large grin on his face as he looks between the various girls there, his eyes coming to rest upon Dyshana. Seemingly with odd tastes, his gaze moves away from her as he looks to one of the other girls in the cage. He asks, “how much for the young one there…” His weathered finger points to one of the little girls who had earlier approached Dyshana. The bandit remarks that it wasn’t his call and that was when attention was brought to a eerie and morbid being as The Merchant disembarks the seat of the coach and walks along the side of it, making it to the cart area. The men immediately show discomfort around such a man who seemed to ooze exaggerated notions of horrific absurdity. The Merchant speaks, “that one has many years ahead of her that may be purchased at a modest man’s weekly wage. Give me 1500 for her and she is yours.” The man retorts, “don’t you think that’s a bit much.” The Merchant scrowls, “she will make that much in a week at Harlem, would you rather visit her there? 2000 will quell your lust…” The man seems baffled as he protests, “but you just said 1500!” The Merchant speaks, “2500…” The man decides not to talk anymore as he reaches for his wallet begrudged. Turning to one of the men there with him, he asks, “John, we can share her, how much do you have on you?” Between the two of them, they attempt to gather up The Merchant’s hefty sum. As they do this, one of the men would have walked around the cage to the corner area where Dyshana was sitting. His hands are selfish as he attempts to grab at her ass and legs to sample them as if picking out and examining fruit at an open market. One of the bandits stands by and watches, but doesn’t do anything to try to stop him from touching Dyshana. He wouldn’t say anything unless the man tried to do something lewd for free, like try to finger her without asking and explaining why, or at least showing a deposit. The other bandit would be in the front, casually casting his sales pitch to the other men.

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The man touching her soon finds her leave the range of his grasp as looks up unhappily watching her calmly walk away. The two who were up for sharing begin to compare funds before Dyshana speaks and gains their attention. After her words, they look at one another before everyone there came to the consensus that no one would want her, much to The Merchant’s disapproval. The bandit on that side snaps the whip sending it to strike the side of the cage as if to tell her to step back and to shut up. Of course, this blow would not actually hurt her since the cage protected her from it. It was more to attempt to scare her into place. The Merchant takes another very subtle approach to Dyshana. Without saying anything at the same time as the whip snap, he strikes out at her mind with a mental strike (strong) to punish her for speaking out of place; it would seem to come with his disapproving glare. Either way, the damage was already done and the men there were murmuring about how they did not want her out of all the women there. She seemed like she lacked the emotions that would make her fun. The Merchant returns his cold gaze to the male whom he had been bargaining with and states, “take the two girls for 3500. Between the both of you, you should have those funds.” The two males look at one another and nod before fetching the money. The Merchant nods to the bandit to open the cage to retrieve the two girls. The other women in the cage would immediately move to the back of the cage when the male reaches in for the girls. The girls would plead and protest being pulled out, but the bandit would get his weathered hand on one of the young girl’s leg, pulling her out by the chains that bound her ankles with the help of the other bandit standing by. If all went well, they would pull out the other girl as well; both would already have chains at their wrists and ankles as the others should have.

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