Stables
Upon entering, the nose is assaulted with the smell of fresh hay mingled with the smell of runners, not at all an unpleasant mixture. The lazy buzzing of vtols and an occasional snort or whinny helps to break the silence. On either side of the massive room are rows of stalls, each kept meticulously tidy by the stablehands.
A doorway leads back to the rest of the herder's area, while other exits and gates open out to the courtyard and a nice green pasture.
You see Glory, Quicksilver, Wildfire, Enigma, Beast Pen, SilverWind, Misty, and Peppered here.
Beatrice is here.
The following runners are here, and not in the stables: Cornix, Araby, Purple, Blue, Surreal, and Breeze
There are runners in the stables. Type '@stable' to see a list.
From here you can go:
Pastures HerderHall
Courtyard Ladder

Beatrice
Average in stature, this woman is of delicate build. Wavey brunette hair flows freely to her bare shoulders. Eyes of light brown may appear sparkling and full of happiness at one's first glance or encounter, but they can be filled with much scorn and stare straight through one's self. Her face is soft, yet well defined and also sunburnt. Full pink lips match her dark, evenly tanned skin. A fair lady is she.
Sunburnt shoulders are left bare as her white dress does not cover them. Around the top edges are thin strings, which meet up and tie in the middle creating a thin, loose royal purple bow, preventing the dress from sagging. The torso of the dress fits rather snug and has well-defined lines running up and down. The rest of the dress drifts in slight folds down to her ankles. Her feet are adorned with simple light brown leather sandles.
She is awake, but has been staring off into space for 4 minutes.

Beatrice just looked at you.

Aldrea moves into the stables, a few sheafs of hides in one hand while the other sports a long stylus. Eyes shift around the stalls slowly, lips pursed as she gazes down and makes a few notches onto the topmost hide. She notices nothing other than the hides and the runner's she's checking over, so intent is she. "Good... good..." comes her thoughtful mutter as she moves down the line of stalls.

Beatrice is hanging on a stall, admiring a runner. She notices the runner's ears perk up in the direction behind her and she turns slightly. She picks up a handful of hay as she notices the Herder, looking rather busy. She smiles and only stares, watching what it is she is doing.

Aldrea pauses by a stall, smile spreading along her features as she stretches out a hand towards the icy muzzle thrust at her. "'lo Skitter," is the greeting, before herder checks the stall and sizes the runner up, makes a notation and moves on. Finally, she's aware of another in the general vicinity and looks up, spots Beatrice and studies her with a wide grin. "Hello, is there something I can do for you?"

Beatrice returns the smile, "Hi there." She nods, "Yes, there might be something you can do. I've been visiting the stables quite often and have been observing the runners." Her hand lays at her side, clutching the hay. "I have been thinking a bit about maybe owning my own..."

Aldrea taps the stylus on the hides, musingly before nodding at Beatrice. "That's what I'm here for," she comments, grin wide as she shuffles the hides and brings up one with very little writing on it. "I'm Senior Apprentice Aldrea, at your service. Is there one in the stables that sparks your interest, or would you like to order one?"

Beatrice nods, "Thank you." She turns towards the beast pen and sighs, "I've looked all the ones here over and none of them seem to spark my interest. Don't get me wrong, they're all great, but I don't feel as if I could 'click' with any of them." Her eyes glance up at Aldrea, "I would assume I would need to order one. Though, how long would that take?"

Aldrea moves to the beast pen as well, fond gaze moving over the animals within as she nods. "You are wise to not just pick the first runner that catches your eye." Appreciative of this, is the herder-girl. Glancing down at her hides, she gives a grin. "It depends on what exactly you want in your runner. If you'd give me a small description of what you'd like, I can have it sent to the proper places and they'll look over the stock they have. If they find one, it could be here in around a sevenday, if that's alright?"

Beatrice smiles, "Yes, I have learned many o' times to not get the first thing I see, but wait because I might find something I like better." She stands in silence for a moment, pondering over the idea. She leans against the rail and nods, "That would be wonderful. A sevenday is much sooner than what I thought it might've been."

Aldrea nods slowly before adjusting the stylus in her hand and looking up patiently at Beatrice. "Would you please describe what you're looking for... temper, personality, looks? And gender as well." She pauses, marking some things down on the hide before continuing, "Your name, please ma'am?"

Beatrice gazes at the hide and nods, "I'm Beatrice." Her head swarms with ideas of her runner, "Well, I would guess I'd like a runner with a kind, docile temper, a little bit curious as well as cautious..." She pauses, "A mare would be nice. Oh, also, I'd like her to be full of plenty of energy. I don't want a plug." She stops again to ponder, "There is this certain color, that I don't seem to know the name of, that I've seen and I thought it was rather pretty. Um, it's sort of a yellow-goldish color and they have black points... Do you know?"

Aldrea scribbles furiously onto the hide, pausing to reread it before resuming. Finally, she looks up with a grin. "Bay. The colour is refered to as bay," she comments softly before pointing at a bay stallion in one of the stalls. "Similar to him, yes?" She makes a few more notes on the hide before awaiting Beatrice's reply, kind eyes settled upon the other, grin marking her lips.

Beatrice peers over at the bay stallion and slowly shakes her head, "No, not really. The ones that I have seen are yellowish in color."

Aldrea looks startled before giving a shake of her head. "I'm sorry, buckskin?" Eyes rove the stalls before a weanling colt is seen and pointed at with the stylus. "Closer to his colour then, I'm assuming." There's a faint blush for her mix-up... maybe it was good she wasn't going exclusively into the runner part of her trade?

Beatrice gives a strong nod, "Yes, that's more like the color." She smiles and overlooks the mix-up, not too worried about it, "Um, do you think it will be rather easy to find one like I want?"

Aldrea writes down the last parts of the order before she rolls up the hide and tucks it into a pouch on her belt. "It shouldn't be too hard, ma'am. Some of our stocks contain lovely buckskins. I think we'll find one soon enough." Beaming, the herder holds out her hand. "You can pay now or on arrival of the mare, whichever you choose. Would you like to order a saddle and bridle with that? Or special items?"

Beatrice quits leaning on the rail and digs through her pouch, counting her marks. She looks up at the young Herder, "Might as well add on a saddle and bridle," she giggles, "for I don't know how else I'd be riding the beast." Her hand still digs for marks, "I might as well pay right now, while I still have the marks. How much would the runner, saddle and bridle be all together?"

"You could always try bareback," comes Aldrea's teasing reply before she looks towards the ceiling in adding everything up. "The mare will be seven marks square... saddle and bridle another four and a half. Eleven and a half altogether. Does that sound good to you?" Her twinkling eyes come back down to rest upon Beatrice, waiting to see if the other would haggle or take it.

Beatrice shrugs, "Well, I truthfully don't have any clue as to what a runner or saddle or bridle go for, but I'm going to trust you." She smiles, "If I would have known, I might've tried to haggle a little, but since I don't, I'm going to make it a little easier and not make a fool of myself. I'll give you the eleven and a half marks." She gathers the marks together in one hand and slowly reaches out to Aldrea with a grin, "Here's all of it."

Aldrea beams as she reaches out and takes the marks, tucking them safely into a pouch. She isn't so wary as to count them. That'd be rude. The order hide is taken back out, a few more things added to it with the stylus before everything is tucked again into respective places. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll have this order sent out as soon as possible. And I hope you like the mare when we find the right one..." She's never had a dissatisfied person... but there was a first to everything.

Beatrice smiles, "I'm sure I will like her. I've never heard of very many disappointments coming from the Herdercraft. I just can't wait until I get to see her when ya'll find her." She grins once again, "Thank you ever-so-much for your help."

Beatrice has disconnected.