[Residence] Shakah's Home

[Hadrian]

"I was going to come in and introduce you to Master Djenov," he said with a friendly smile. He had done a bit of work for the master luthier a few months back, magecrafting six unbreakable lute strings for the man's personal instrument.

But his thoughts were turning toward his anthropological studies at the metnion of the Tatsuwaat. "Oh, the red crow tribe?"

[Shakah Doviaire]

Shakah's mood brightened immensely. "That'd be great!" He smiled and followed Hadrian a ways to the shop and paused. "The Red Crow tribe is kind to my mother, though we only head out there for the gatherings. I'm not too immersed in their ways, though I've heard a lot about them." As they approached the shop, Shakah stopped. "Oh. It might be an easier introduction if you knew my name first. I'm Shakah." He extended his hand.

[Hadrian]

"Oh, of course. I'm Hadrian." He shook hands. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I've read about the Chaktawe; I've even seen a bit of their lands, but not your tribe's."

Then he opened the door for them, and the sound of lute-strings being plucked, pure tones, came pouring out onto them.

[Shakah Doviaire]

Shakah entered the building, lutes hung from the walls, and were lined up on the floor. A workbench held a lute that was in several pieces, surrounded by various tools that he couldn't name or recognize. The music was amazing. Better than he could play, though he was no novice. "Um... Hello?" he called out into the shop, wondering what kind of person he was about to meet.

[Hadrian]

"Hello, hello, welcome, come in!" came a gruff voice from the back somewhere. The music didn't stop, as Djenov liked to show off the quality of his instruments at work. He was quite the musician as well as a crafter of lutes.

"Hullo, Master Djenov," Hadrian called, clearly pleased to be people who know people. He had this city down. "It's Hadrian. I brought a new friend who's in the market for a harmonica. Any ideas?"

"Learn the lute," he said, walking out into the main room of the shop. Djenov was a large, hairy man. He squinted at Shakah. "Learn the lute, boy."

"Master Djenov, this is Shaka. Shaka, Master Djenov." While they made each other's acquaintance, he continued. "No, really. It's to replace a family heirloom..."

Djenov puckered his lips thoughtfully. "Garus would have a few, but if you want more variety... something special to replace an heirloom, go see Paulina. Her shop is near the docks. Near the Sailors' Guildhall."

[Shakah Doviaire]

Shakah smiled. "It's nice to meet you, and thank you for the suggestion." He looked around. "It's not quite an heirloom, but I had it for years." He smiled. "I'm rather attached to it, like you are to your lutes." He stood near the doorway, trying to use a breeze to hide the air flow around him, but outside the wind was silent. He wanted to curse it out, but that wouldn't help, and would only draw unwanted attention. "At least I know where that is though..." He'd been to the docks often enough, and knew where the guild hall was. It couldn't be too hard to find the shop. "I could use a hand though. I can't think straight with out it. Then I can barter my way to a new crafting kit."

[Hadrian]

"All right," Hadrian said. He was starting to feel the familiar pull to his books, but he had agreed to help this strange half-Chaktawe. "Let's go find you a harmonica. Thank you for your help, Master Djenov. Perhaps he will want a lute next time."

The big man clapped Hadrian on the back, knocking the skinny scholar toward the door.

"Thank you, young Hadrian. Your strings sing as sweetly now as they did when you first crafted them."

He just smiled and waved to the man and crowded Shakah through the door.

[Shakah Doviaire]

Shakah smiled. "You craft strings," he asked as they walked towards the docks. "Is that what you like to do?" He was trying to be friendly, while grasping at straws. His mind flitted around, and he couldn't come up with one thing to really get a conversation going. Of course he'd just bumped into Hadrian. It wasn't like they were working for some common goal. Or were they? He didn't really know any more. They might be. Had he agreed to something? No. He was certain of that much anyway.

[Hadrian]

"I did for a project," he said, steering Shakah toward the harbor where they would find Paulina's shop. "He asked my professor how much it would cost for lute strings that wouldn't break, but couldn't afford it, so my professor suggested he talk to me because a student couldn't really charge as much. So I was working with metal wire and you have to wrap the wire with even finer wire, and the whole while I was pouring djed into them... I had to make them unbreakable, but they still had to be perfect so they would sound right when he played them. It wouldn't be any good if they were unbreakable and sounded like shyke."

He smiled, but underneath his good humor, he was still trying to put his finger on just what was off about Shakah. It couldn't just be his Chaktawe blood and his apparent hermit-like lifestyle with his mother.

[Shakah Doviaire]

"True. True. A harmonica won't sound good with a crappy reed built in." He had picked up the word djed. This man was a magic user like he was... or used to be. "So you work with magic? I tried that for a bit. I never quite got the hang of it. My father wasn't happy, but there was nothing he could do when I finally quit. My mother tried to teach me the sword instead, and that fell through as well." Shakah was starting to open up a little and was getting talkative. That was a sign of trust from him.

As they got closer to the docks, it was becoming obvious due to the smell of fish. Soon he could organize this messed up head of his.