Character Ages: Enid is 30 and Audra is 42.
Sampling the Wares
The closer Enid got to the island, the more it revealed itself to undeniably be a place of magic. The harsh, whipping winds suddenly dissipated in an instant and the turbulent waters which had threatened her small vessel calmed. The surface was like glass, revealing swirling, pale lights and wholly unique sea creatures. Anywhere that Enid's skin was bare still stung from the cold, so the warmth that descended--though very humid--was welcome.
She was there on behalf of a man and woman from a town she had been passing through. They were offering substantial coin to anyone who would brave the perpetually tumultuous bay and the individual who presided in it; a witch in alleged possession of a certain magical substance. A powerful aphrodisiac, to be precise. It was an extreme length to go to for some added intensity in the bedroom, but Enid wasn't about to turn down such a payment.
Her boat was dragged up onto the shore by an unseen force as she approached. A long, dark and slimy tendril emerged from the sand which made her reach for her sword. But it simply acted to tie the ship in place, burbling quietly as it secured itself. She released a breath and disembarked.
Before Enid was a moderately-sized, craggy rock face. A staircase with stone steps and decrepit wooden railings ran up it. It could only lead to the small island's only dwelling; the home of Audra. Several large insects scurried out of Enid's way when she walked towards it and began to carefully ascend.
At the top edge of the cliff, she came to a dirt pathway leading up a fog-shrouded knoll to a modest shack a short distance away. She paused to look for any sign of the reportedly monstrous witch. Nothing. The only movement was that of a crow pecking at something on the cabin's crooked roof. It eyed her curiously as she approached, cocking its head before returning to its repetitive business.
Enid made her way up the three creaking porch steps and to the shack's door. Beside it was a tarnished bell hanging from a short, haphazardly-installed metal arm.
"Best not to assume I can just barge right in," Enid thought.
She pulled the bell's string, startling as it made a horrible squawking noise instead of a ring. Her attention snapped from it and back to the door which opened mere seconds later.
There stood a creature a couple heads shorter than Enid; humanoid in most places, shark-like in others. She had sand-coloured skin, muddy yellow eyes, and a shock of short, unkempt golden hair on her head. Many deadly-looking teeth stuck out from her lips which twitched into an insincere smile as the equally sharp gaze travelled to meet hers.
"Hello, pup," the creature said in a voice like salt water.
Enid straightened her spine. "Are you Audra?"
"I am she," the witch said. She briefly looked Enid over, her nostrils wrinkling as she scoffed. "More hired muscle to take out a coward's perceived threat?"
Her tone wasn't angry or fearful; more lightly condescending. As if she were speaking to an insect that could be easily crushed should it think large enough of itself to try and sting.
"No," Enid said, taking her hand away from the hilt of her blade. "I've come to purchase...something specific."
Audra sniffed. "Suppose you wouldn't have bothered ringing otherwise."
She turned back towards the inside of her home, the fin of her shark tail audibly brushing the door frame.
"Come in, then," she said. "Let's get you sorted."
Enid followed, finding herself in a dimly lit room full of curios and magical implements. There was a scent in the air. It wasn't unpleasant, warm in her nose and somewhat spicy. Various ingredients were laid out on a table nearby. Assorted herbs, jars full of liquid too murky to discern the contents, and a strange purple root sitting half-chopped on a cutting board. Enid had clearly caught the witch in the middle of something; she would try and make this quick.
"Now, what might a warrior want of me?" Audra asked, leaning against the work table with her thick arms crossed over her chest; which was bare and carried two matching horizontal scars underneath where her breasts might have once been. She motioned towards the sword at Enid's hip. "Perhaps to enchant that toothpick you carry?"
Enid gripped the scabbard protectively. "It was left to me by my late father. I would not see it altered."
"Suit yourself," Audra said with a shrug of her broad shoulders. She blinked into their brief silence. "Speak. What do you want?"
Enid's face burned. She had not considered the embarrassment that would come from requesting the item she had come for.
"Courtesan's Touch," she said. "A jar of Courtesan's Touch."
A real grin found Audra then, a chuckle shaking her frame and flaring the gills on her neck.
"I haven't brought any of that to the mainland for a while," she said thoughtfully. "You must be desperate to come this far for it, you naughty thing."
"It's not for me," Enid defended.
"Your loss," Audra said, her yellow eyes flashing even in the low light as she walked over to a nearby cabinet. "It's exhilarating. What your client lacks in guts to come themselves, they make up for in taste."
Enid coughed. "It's not my job to judge; my client or the product."
"But of course," Audra said. She procured one of a collection of clay jars from the cabinet. It had a burlap cloth secured with twine covering the opening. "Though it could be."
"What do you mean?" Enid asked, finding herself oddly fixated on the way Audra's large hand cupped the round jar.
"Come now," Audra said with a smirk. "You're telling me you aren't the least bit curious? To 'sample the wares', as it were?"
She was not wrong; Enid had speculated multiple times about the substance. What was it about a simple topical ointment that could be worth her journey and pay? It had to be powerful. Images of heated bodies going wild together with pleasure under its influence rose unbidden in her mind.
"None whatsoever," she said, attempting to dash the lustful thoughts away and keep her pride. "This is a--."
