Modernizing a Fantasy World with a System!

Eight: Shapeshifter

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Two days later, we were on our way back from another day in the square when a commotion occurred outside of our carriage. I peeked out beyond the curtain to see a man thrown through the door of a store, out onto the street, almost landing between the wheels of our carriage. Immediately, I knocked on the front side of the carriage, signaling for Juak to stop, and listened.

"I ought to have your head, for lyin' to me, you shapeshifting twat!" The shopkeeper roared, throwing the man's bag out next to him. "A shame, 'cause you were the best damned clerk I ever had, but I ain't havin' no skin-turners in my shop!"

"Well, screw you, too!" The man yelled back, getting up and storming off. I managed to catch him with <Observe> before he blended into the crowd, curious. "I'll show you what a skin-turner is capable of!"

[Siv Wippo]
Race: Shapeshifter;
Titles: Salesperson Extraordinaire;
Age: 22
Rank: Shapeshifter (1.5x)
Affinities: Wind; Blood;
Level: 53 (91%)
Health Status: 1590/1590
Mana Status: 1590/1590 (2.5/m) (3rd)
Stamina Status: 1590/1590
Body: 159(106) (+2/)
Mind: 159(106) (+2/)
Spirit: 159(106) (+2/)
Status: Frustrated, Disappointed, Saddened.
Thoughts On You: Curiosity; Hope;

I signaled for Juak to keep moving as I looked to Vaquin and Ilyor. "What is a skin-turner?" I asked.

"It's what shapeshifters are called," Vaquin answered. "Damn creatures wear other people's faces, manipulate and cheat people on the daily. Not a surprise that shopkeeper acted that way, when he found out he was employing one."

"I think it's too harsh," Ilyor said meekly. "I mean, they didn't choose to be born like that..."

"My ma got tricked into believing my pa came back from the dead, by one of those skin-turners," Vaquin spat. "Shithead stole her savings and ran - we never found the conniving bitch."

Ilyor frowned, but remained quiet. I glanced back at the shop, which then had a paper stuck to the door window reading 'no skin-turners!'. It seemed social prejudice permeated every society, no matter what universe they were in... Something else to think about.

*****

At the end of the week, following a final free enchantment, the carriage made its way through the streets on a different route, then before. Not towards the castle, but towards another district of the merchant district. Father and I had gone through the paperwork, and I had rented a somewhat-downtrodden building not far from the square for cheap. 'Cheap' meaning more than the monthly wage of most non-merchant workers, but only one-fifth of what we made in a day in the square.

The carriage pulled into an alleyway next to a quaint two-story building, with access to one of the main roads leading away from the square. I took out one of the masquerade masks Ravelus had given me - one that looked to be made of griffon feathers - and wrapped it around my head as I got out. Ilyor used a key to open the doors to the shop and opened them for me, revealing the some-what run-down interior of the building.

To my understanding, this building had been a high-profile clothing shop about a decade prior, but the owners had been laundering money through it to avoid mercantile taxes, so the place had been shut down and turned over to the royal family. In that time, nobody had been around to upkeep it, so it suffered from coastal weathering, and slowly broke down. It wasn't too bad, not by a long shot, but it wasn't yet presentable.