She gazed out upon the coast, watching the lone ship or two head into port. It was as indicative of the change of seasons as anything, never mind the change in weather, the cold breeze that met against the skin where the warmth of summer and even the early days of fall seemed to carry with it. Now though, it felt as if that feeling were nothing more than a memory, instead the only thing in which one may have felt would be the cool wind, if not a slight ting of the frigid world that was to come. Winter was approaching, and while many did not wish to believe it, or otherwise cling to what had been one of the more enjoyable summers of recent memory, the fact was that the world was having to adjust itself to such a fate, the ships which ventured in and out of ports similar to that of Hargeon being no exception.

For Vyra, the idea of winter returning felt odd, if not a bit foreign to her. Not winter itself, as she was no stranger, nor fan of the season, particularly what had happened in her past. With winter often came either brutal snow, unforgiving cold, or a combination of the two, and living within the streets, seldom was she able to escape it entirely. Occasionally there stood an opportunity to escape the rough winter within a local inn or tavern, but often those were fleeting, temporary at best. This stood to be something different for Vyra; a chance to enjoy the winter for the first time without the risk that had historically come with it. Now, from within the safe confines and comforts of the Blue Pegasus Guild, she could hopefully come to see what winter was actually like. And the lacking of ships within the harbor was as indicative that it was right around the corner.

316/2000

The adjustment was still something that she was not quite used to; being within Blue Pegasus, or at the very least, associated with them. Tis was her current arrangement with Alisa, the woman who had in more than one way, saved Vyra, the streets one such instance of that. Had Vyra never encountered Alisa, she may well be finding herself once again within one of the various alleyways within Hargeon, hoping that it was not hit by a rough snowstorm, hoping that the cold was bearable, but with the city’s proximity to the water, to hope for that was wishful, if not foolish thinking.

No, the likely reality was that the winter was going to be harsh, or at least, historical trends would have one believing that. The winter the previous year was bad, the one before it not nearly as rough. For the past several years, the state of the season had gotten worse and worse, if not significantly so, at least enough to make notice. It meant a different thing for plenty based on their own interactions with the season. For Vyra, it was as though this was going to have been the very first winter for her, a chance to view it from a different perspective, to no longer view it as a threat to her own survival, but rather just a completely different experience, one that she may have come to love.
 
552/2000

That was a feeling felt much by those who otherwise carried with them an innocent perspective of the winter, but for many of the people who lived within Hargeon, it was hardly the case. The plight of the people often came when something, whether it be pirates or weather or any sort of obstruction find its way into the heart of the shipping industry that had become so utterly vital to that of the city. Hargeon lived off of the sea, not only its byproducts, but also the means of being able to traverse them. Rough tides, pirates, water cold enough to freeze or cause wood to expand and fracture, if anything could cause the city to freeze to a halt, something like a horrible winter could certainly do that.

While these concerns were very real, the worry that this was going to be the case this season was purely speculative, but nonetheless something that everyone had to be mindful of. To the betterment though of the people that were having such concerns, the fact that the autumn season seemed to extend for so long proved only to be a great benefit to the people, as more tolerable weather for longer meant that more preparation could have been given. And it was certainly taken advantage of; day upon day, ships had been ferrying various goods throughout Fiore into Hargeon, everyone hoping to use the remaining windows of time to buy in excess, to front-load future purchases and investments in hopes of not being caught off guard by a tough winter.

812/2000

What remained in the port now stood more as just the remainders of everything, the last few ships that strolled in, having some sort of goods that were ordered well before and otherwise delayed for one reason or another, or otherwise something of luxury, no real sense of urgency tied towards it, nor the need for a ship to arrive as quickly as possible to arrive. So long as the ship did not get robbed or otherwise sink, it did not much matter when it arrived, whether it was at the time of the purchase or a month or so out. Essentially as long as it were to arrive before the end of winter, it would be considered a suitable arrival time.

It lent for a serious lack of urgency within the port as well. In past weeks, one could have arrived and seen more people than what anyone may have expected constantly moving to unload ship upon ship, working in uniformity like that of a seasoned group. Rather, it was simply a need to get as much shipped out as possible. Could not risk having a ship still docked because people were moving slow while another waited to dock. If ever there were something that could warrant or otherwise entice pirates into attacking, it was a ship that was considered helpless.

1034/2000

There weren’t much risk of pirates hitting ships for that reason, though it was not to say that the risk of pirates were not present. If anything, the fact that the winter was approaching as much stood as a reason for pirates to strike at ships, regardless of the value of the cargo that they may have been carrying. For the same reason that ships were not incentivized to traverse the seas during the coming winter, so too were pirates, slavers, and other unsavory patrons of the seas. In an ironic sort of way, the coming winter was as much a deterrent for some of the worst crimes that could stand to occur within Fiore. The same risks that were posed to any ship stood to their ships, and goods lost that stood to be put upon a black market or otherwise in the hands of the ill-gotten always tended to be weighed of greater value.

One could have easily regarded this time as the calm before the storm. The moment in which, if there were an effort made by pirates to strike, it would likely be during this period than anything else. But despite that risk that was posed, it did not seem that the people of Hargeon were much concerned about this, at least based on what Vyra was able to see. If anything, it seemed that if there was any sort of risk or concern, there was nothing on display. Guards were barely posted if at all, nobody seemed to be on watch, and the urgency that often was put upon getting ships unloaded and out of the port was not there at all. If anything, people seemed to meander, taking their time with everything.
 
1344/2000

Vyra watched on, the view not being quite as exciting as it had been in the past, but still something to otherwise distract her and kill the time. It was funny, once upon a time this activity would have been her distraction from the rest of the world, but now such escapes hardly seemed worth it. Or at the minimum, did not feel like such a requirement for her. With her now residing within the guest quarters of Blue Pegasus, it was a great luxury that she still found herself wondering if she were dreaming or not, having the chance to live in conditions far greater than anything that she ever could have imagined herself living within. It was lovely, a beautiful change of fate that she once could have only dreamed of.

But with such a luxury now, so too came a question of just what to do now. She was not a member of the Blue Pegasus guild, at least as far as she knew. Her arrangement with Alisa left so many questions to Vyra that she never quite knew just what she should have considered herself to be, not just among those within the guild, but by people otherwise. For the time being, she simply had gone by the title of friend of Alisa, Guild Leader of Blue Pegasus, and that often serviced enough questions or doubts that one may have had. Still though, with a title such as that, it presented her with the uniquely unfortunate position of not knowing quite what to do with her time. At this point, watching the ships were all that she knew really.

1595/2000

It had become largely routine, as well as knowing just what had been going on with the people, even the actors who were in the scheme of the show that played in her mind, insignificant. The dock workers, the lazy overseers who were otherwise just done with showing any sort of care towards the matter, and the occasional dock worker who had finally had enough and decided to take matters into their own hand. It was often the small things that grabbed Vyra’s attention, even with things being as slow as it was now, there was no reason to not taking things seriously, or at the least, that she intended on watching and seeing play out

Nothing particularly special about this engagement, nothing that screamed that of an orchestrated plot like how she had sometimes seen a shakedown like this go down. No mastermind to a large group, if anything nothing more than a lone worker going rogue, hoping to take advantage of this slow day to seize what he may have believed to have been his. Vyra watched, this lone figure making his way towards one of the crates that remained on the pier, cracking open the lid of it, hardly with the elegance of someone who had done this before, hastily and making little effort to hide his endeavors. As pieces of gargabe were thrown about to the ground, it drew finally the attention of the guard who had otherwise been ignoring what was going on.

Vyra at this point had opted to make her way towards what was going on, not for the sake of being involved, but as she had come to learn of from first-hand experience, the right moment during one of these confrontations often meant she stood to walk out of there with something in her favor. As she made her way towards the confrontation that was about to take place, hardly making an effort either to conceal herself, she watched as the man and guard began a small fight, which seemed like two figures who hardly were capable or knew how to fight trying to outmatch the other. At some point, seeming to go at pace with Vyra’s step, the guard was eventually gotten the better of, being thrown into the cold water of the pier while the rookie thief celebrated his victory over him, ignorant towards Vyra who was now behind him. A simple push was all that was required to also send the man into the water, the suddenness of it enough for neither he nor the guard within the water to notice Vyra’s presence or action. With both of them having fallen in the water, Vyra helped herself to what was in the crate that the man had hoped to rob, somewhat disappointed to see little more than a few bedroom items. Some lamps, other miscellaneous items that did not have huge value one way or the other. Eventually Vyra settled on a small glass orb, a table arrangement more than anything else, as her prize. Taking the item and putting it within a small bag that she had with her, Vyra departed before anyone hoped to identify herself.

2100/2000