To say that this particular store was 'high-end' would be an understatement in the mage's mind. A vast one. Drinks, helpful assistants, trying on a fair number of clothes, everything just by flashing a 'bit of gold' at the door. It felt like she'd been sucked into a high-end world, speaking of, that was so richly decorated and fashionable that it sincerely boggled her mind a little bit. Dresses with full arm-length gloves, satin curtains that felt smoother than silk, mirrors that shone with enchanted glass without so much as a speck of dust or scratching on them, and that was just in the area for trying on clothes for pity's sake! Ice cold champagne in glasses that never seemed to get uncomfortable to hold yet whose contained drink never got anywhere away from the perfect level of chill and cold no matter how long they sat out. Likely had ordurves sitting nearby for anyone that got mildly invvonceniced by peckishness in here even...
Heck, ornate likely gold-leaf design on engraved borders were seemingly etched onto the borders of the walls for decorative and artistic purposes. Corners had partial-columns embedded into them as well, with gold flare and the faintest noticeable hint of silver trim, which seemed as grand as perhaps those of the ancient Parthenon were in the original building's heyday! There was even a small indoor fountain near the front, carved from smoothed marble with gold and silver trim, atop the center part of which was a statue was pretending to strump a harp and singing songs while the rest of the also gem-embedded (into different shapes no less in this regard) fountain looked like a totally paradisic island with carved features that almost seemed to come to life in front of her eyes. For pity's sake! She'd never been in a place such as this in terms of sheer
decadence and
royal grandeur save once or twice in her dreams back home. The most 'fancy' she'd seen had been a still rather nice little clothing store otherwise back home, which for a time she'd visited with her uncle's girlfriend and said girlfriend's two daughters, though compared to this place it might as well have been a shack made of dirt in the middle of the woods in the comparative sense.
...But despite all of this nearly flooring her more than any other place thus far in whatever new world this was, she had done her best to accomodate the desire of her compatriots to enter the establishment and try on clothes. Because if nothing else, she felt it deserved an honest try for the sake of those about her despite her own internal reactions to it all. That and...well...umm...maybe she was a bit excited as well to shop here as well, if she were to be honest about everything.
Another attendant had even seemingly gravitated toward her as she'd tried to look at some clothing, mostly as she'd nerbously tried to thumb through varied styles in some attempt to narrow something down to try. An eccentric short man, it seemed, who had a gem-like glint in his eyes but seemed to be a little bit shorter than a dwarf. He'd introduced himself as one
'Addelsby Laurentius Higginsbottom the Third', a fancy enough sounding name as it was, and while somewhat white-haired and older in the visible sense he'd softened when talking to her and tried to make her less nervous and more comfortable along the way. He'd then politely complimented her looks, thankfully as well in a non-creepy sort of way, and had invited her to try some designs on for him in the process as she thought about something to try.
At first had come a few lesser dresses and tunics and so forth, mostly involving golds and silvers and whites and lighter colors, before transferring to darker colors and even a sterotype 'little black dress' of sorts as the gnome had asked her questions and brought items to her to try after observing her reactions and getting some general verbal feedback. All the while he'd made complimants, talked to one or two others working there at certain intervals, and occasionally grabbed some spectacles and jotted down some notes on paper before returning to her once more. Yet something seemed to be eating away at the man's mind more and more as they did so, and thus after the small gnome had taken a second to think he had asked her to try something 'well outside the usual range, a unique piece even, for his sake', and she'd tentatively agreed.
...To say what he brought out had floored her on sight was an understatement. She had to sit down before he convinced her to simply allow herself to touch it! Then another female attendant had come by to help her put it on at that, invited along by the small gnomish man.
It was a splendid snow white dress with ornate silver trim and hints of stand-out gold around the torso that seemed fit for a noble gala or royal vista. Certainly grand and very magestic to be sure, and it even had a small train to boot! It had arm-length gloves that went up to nearly her shoulders, and smooth snow white leggings with silver trim to match alongside a pair of gold-imbued dress shoes to adorn her feet. To boot, it came with a pair of silver sapphire-embedded earrings shaped like diamonds, and a small tiara embedded with a small array of sapphires and ornate metalwork that was beyond anything she could think human hands were capable of on their own back home.
Simply looking in the mirror in this full attire she'd felt, perhaps for the first time in greater earnest, utterly overwhelmed and like a...well....a
real, hoenst-to-goodness princess. Like she had arrived in a fairytale carriage, a royal escort, and all the bells and whilstles that some girls had perhaps dreamed of more so than herself. Yet even then, simply seeing herself looking so well made her feel a heat in her face and especially around her eyes. Like she was nearly going to cry, really, before the small gnome walked over to her as she sat afterward and put a gentle if not grandfatherly hand on her left shoulder.
"It's ok. Just let it out. I've been looking to have someone try this piece for quite a while, and I must say you compliment it the best I've seen yet in my line of work! Like you were made for it....my oh my, thinking about it is making my face feel so very flush with heat! It is as if you made made for it, my dear!
But, of course, I know an adventurer only has so much of a budget....so of course I will not pressure you. Still, you've made an old gnome proud of this work enough to cry tears of pure joy. I feel I'm entitled to that much at least, once in a while, for an old designer like myself."
The gnome chuckled a bit as he wiped away a tear or two, and she couldn't help but join in a little soft chucking herself before the two took a few deep breaths to calm down again. As it turned out, and the gnome had told her after she would get some help changing out of the attire, he was a designer and had been at the store for many a year. Apprenticed in a small village in the Empire under a local tailor, and from there had managed to make his way through a personal 'traveling tailor' streak before landing in Valheim nearly burnt out. From there he'd worked on many a design and idea, before the prior owner (mother of the current one to boot) of this particular store had seen him out one day sketching while sitting on a bench. From there? From there he'd gone up to levels he could never have imagined, helping train clerks and others wor work with cloth and so forth. Works that had seen the grandest of balls, all the way down to the humblest of city marriages, had been through his hands since then, though the latter had admittedly been more of a personal hobby and work on the side still.
After delving into his story, however, it was at this point that Addelsby let her return to her compatriots and to take the already-present female attendant who had assited her with the much fancier dress. It was also at this point that the slightly less-nervous mage would clam back up as she went about to look at certain things. Not all of them things she was used to shopping for this fancy either, really, as things such as more 'daring' bits came up here and there as she experimented and tried them on to try to get an idea. It would involve much blushing along the way, admittedly, though in the end she would actually settle on a few humble things to buy.
Yet once the attendants perked up at her being a magic user, mostly as she was asked some general questions, the attendant directed her to some other magic-user-befitting clothes that could help her use magic while in them. These, as she'd seen were certianly something with their own flair for 'the high class mage' as it were. Not that she....well maybe such a thing could be nicer too, right? In that vein she would see a few things to try them, and then be turned back into the hands of the other attendant helping MacKensie and Fenna as well as the one assisting her got pulled away to help some other customers.
Ultimately, it would lead to the mage feeling a bit special in a sense. Even if it was in a store way out of her league in many ways. Though as she stood in front of the mirror once more, Lillianna would be donning perhaps the last of the outfits she'd been envouraged to try by this attendant in particular. A nice knee-length black skirt with a small gold and silver trim, and a white blouse with short sleeves and some gold trim that felt comfortable and came with a small black jacket with longer sleeves of similar color to the skirt (just in case in got cold) that had a few gold hints about it to match the skirt and compliment the blouse it seemed.
"Lillianna, you look fabulous!"
MacKensie had already bought an outfit and had it bagged but she was now trying on a beautiful olive tunic that showed off her neck and shoulders. The satin olive garb was embroidered with an elegant gold pattern across the top and hung down to her hips, tightened by a black sash-belt at her waist. The outfit was finished off with black pants and knee-high boots.
"I will wear this out of the shop, thank you," she told the assistant, who graciously bagged up her Ranger gear for her. "Fenna, have you decided on anything yet?" MacKensie asked, a flute of champagne in her hand. She gave herself one last look in the mirror, then went to sit down.
"Y-You mean it?"...Well, it wasn't on the more expensive end of things, and so the mage would take pause a bit before caving and asking to get it as well alongside her other purchases from the store.
It would be a second casual outfit with some magic-conducing functionality, one of two in total she would have purchased on their shopping spree thus far. That would mean in total she had purchased two not overly fancy, and importantly cheap enough despite her finances, casual outfits. This one with the black skirt and white blouse with an optional jacket, and another that had a mostly backless (but not too low cut mind) darker blue blouse with silvery-light-gray shorts, a pair of pants to go with the second casual outfit she'd bought prior. There was also a long-sleeved shirt, four sets of additional underwear (most made to be able to adventure in, including whatever she'd arrived in at least), several pairs of thigh-length socks for both protecting her legs and keeping comfortable during travel or causal affairs alike, one pair of good boots for traveling and casual winter occasions, one pair of shoes she was going to put on alongside a pair of the socks she'd bought already that seemed to go well with the blouse and skirt, and a silky soft and comfortable nightgown for sleeping in when not out adventuring.
"Almost," Fenna said to MacKensie as she compared two skirts of a fabric resembling cotton. She smiled when she glanced towards her female companion and how comfortable she was in the shop. Then she turned to find Lilliana to see how she was doing.
Going with the theme of her earlier purchases, she settled for a dark green long-sleeved vest made of a velvet-like material with gold buttons, and a matching ankle-long skirt with some golden embroidery along the edges. The shop assistant assured her the material was crease-friendly, so it would be suitable to be transported in a bag like most adventurers carried.
She examined herself in the mirror and nodded to herself, this outfit would do. "I think I will carry this out of the shop as well," she decided. "Is it possible to have my armour sent to the inn I stay?"
The shop assistant told her that was possible as she could fetch an errand boy or girl to do that and went ahead to ask MacKensie and Lillina if they too wished for their current clothes to be brought to the inn.
Without the weight of her leather armour, that was a constant reminder of the situation they were in, she started to relax more. She accepted the bubbly drink when it was offered and sipped from it. Not quite the same as real French champagne, but it was close enough.
Once Lilliana was ready they would set out again, but for now Fenna enjoyed the moment of soft cushions to sit in while sipping her drink.
After getting it organized to have her things safely sent back to her room at the Mending Drum Inn, though she did admittedly worry about that a bit, the mage felt comfortable about how much she'd spent on the matter of clothing. However, she would admittedly keep on her current casual outfit and have her mage attire sent back to the inn as well. Better to break things in while she had the chance, after all, and while they had a moment to rest. It had been a decent bit to spend on clothes, but given her situation she'd worked to budget the whole affair with regards to herself....which had included a lot of quick mental maths and calculations to optimize her efficiency in it all really. Of course she didn't mind using the showers at the inn, which were functional and kept clean enough, and didn't really get anything else as she wanted to save plenty of money for food, mundane supplies, and most importantly anything she needed to spend for magically-related items or supplies and such otherwise in the future.
In short, the mage had spent a fair bit without trying to hyper penny-pinch, but had saved a greater bit of remaining cash to sort out other things.
In contrast to the other two, however, the mage would not really take up any of the offered drinks in this particular high-end shop. Whether it was habit or a lack of desire for something at the time or whatever was mostly left to her quiet discretions, though the mage would sit next to Fenna before letting out a small and soft yet self-admittedly mentally-tired sigh. Because, as it were, shopping was quite exhausting to her like this. Where MacKensie got the super-fashionista-energy from was beyond even her mind to be able to fathom, and perhaps was well beyond the reckoning of any divinity here unless there was a 'god or goddess of shopping' somewhere out there.
