Quoted By:
For a moment, you linger uncertainly, looking at the Omnibuses sitting in the yard of the livery. But as much as you would like to be finished and done with this errand, you also know that a bird or a 'bus in the hand is only worth more than two in the bush if all birds or 'buses are equal. And the grasp of your immediate reaction cannot be slaked; surely, if the appearance and condition of his buildings is of such little concern to the owner, then how could it be different for his conveyances? Besides, the last time you stepped into a seamy establishment, it became a whole production just to get yourself out. The specter of the effectively windowless room in the Harpoonist's Perch and the indignities of its proprietor settle you - you will not be getting involved with this place.
Of course, that means you are going to have to find another livery - which might be easier said than done, considering the time constraints that you are under at the moment. You believe that most of the liveries are either going to be near the stock-sellers, located outside of the Upper Boardwalk, on the far side of the Mount, or where the Thoroughfares fan out, leading up and down the coast, or inland ... which is not exactly on the far side of the Mount, but it is still quite a way away. You would have headed there immediately ... if you had only the time to walk there. You might still have enough time to get there and get back to The Hooded Heads, but that doesn't account for actually finding a livery that is willing to sell something that you are willing to buy and closing the deal. Instead, you are going to pin your hopes on the prospect that there should be a few liveries by the Gatehouses, perched just a stone's throw from the Landward Walls. It makes sense - custom comes out of the gates, so there is some benefit to perching nearby - and if nothing else, this future derelict establishment with the Omnibuses shows that this idea of yours has some bones to it.
So now both the rain and your feet are pattering away. Instead of marching down the perimeter beltway towards the Upper Boardwalk, you adopt a bit of a search pattern, going up streets, then over, then back to the beltway, all to make sure that you don't accidentally just brush past a livery with your head locked in place out of fear of your veil breaching the envelope of your Hide-Eyes Glyph. Through this method, you are able to get a pretty good view of everything - but you are chewing through some particularly precious minutes, and you haven't seen another livery. Hell, you haven't even seen anything that would suggest that there are liveries outside of this stretch of the Landward Walls, besides the one you passed by and on. Compounding your frustrations, your left arm has long since passed the point of simply 'aching'. It is <span class="mu-i">hurting</span> at this point. You'd consider shifting the bundle off of your left arm, but you are too concerned that it might open up if you were try such a maneuver.
