Sinsi the Spice Seller (Petrichor 365)

One of the people you will inevitably run across in the open market is Sinsi the Spice Seller.

An old, dark woman always dressed in dark brown robes with her head covered.  The occasional strand of grey hair escapes from her headscarf.  Her eyes are dark, probably brown.  Her hands are covered with spidery tattoos and she has a single thin silver ring on the index finger of her right hand.

Sinsi speaks several languages fluently, at the very least the Imperial Tongue, Lesser Draconic, Earthkine and Gemkine, the dialects of Sailor’s Argot and the private language of the Visse.  Others are suspected.

Sinsi shows up at the open market every morning, spreads out a multicolored blanket and sets out bowls of spices from a carrying box, but there are more spices set out than would ever fit into that box.  The spices are always fresh and from places across the Sea of Stars.  Sinsi‘s prices are always fair and non-negotiable, pay it or leave the spices.

Many people seek out Sinsi‘s spices, they are the best available in Port Imperial but there are only limited quantities available each day, she does not allow anyone to purchase all of what is for sale for more than three spices a day.  Sinsi never sets up in the same place twice and she does not play favorites, first come, first served.

Once she has run out of more than half of her spices or at the end of the day, Sinsi packs up what is left into her box, folds up the blanket and leaves the market.  Where she goes is unknown.  No one has ever seen her after dark or more than a block or two from the open market.

Those who have tried to follow her have lost her in crowds, behind a cart, a brief burst of smoke from an oven, seagull attack . . .  In any case, no one knows where Sinsi goes.  Or where she gets her spices from or what happens to the money she earns . . .

Questions: Who is Sinsi?  What is she?  Where do the spices come from?  I have no answers.  But perhaps she is a dragon who was almost killed and lost most of her powers.  Or perhaps she is the last surviving avatar of the goddess of commerce.  Or perhaps she is a wizard testing a new form or magic.  Or perhaps something stranger and more wonderful still that you will think of.

Notes: Spices are quite valuable even in the Sea of Stars which has a considerable amount of trade.

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Image photo by babawawa found on pixabay and is in the Public Domain.