Completed Living in the solar wind

[Ornea]

...

Living in The Solar Wind
Timestamp: Day 1 of Fall 514 AV Day 1 of Fall 514 AV
Location: Lhavit

ORNEA ARRIVES IN LHAVIT AND MAKES PLANS FOR THE FIRST DAY OF HER NEW LIFE


And so they stepped in through the Amaranthine gates; Ornea from Wind Reach and the endal she had travelled with. They parted there, after an agreement to meet in the evening, at Shooting Star Inn, where the endal was going to stay.

Ornea was pleased and honored that he had been as polite as to invite her to dinner. He hadn't just told her to show up, which he could have done, due to his caste and the power it entailed. It had been worded as a proposal and not as an order. She took it this generous invitation meant she already had both lodgings and company for the night.

She found the endal nice enough. He was an average plain looking man and neither handsome nor ugly. He seemed smart enough, decent enough, able enough and he was a valuable member of the Inarta people. He had also let her come along on this trip, which had simplified her journey greatly. It had only taken twelve days by Eagle. Very convenient.

What more could she wish.

She wasn't going to slack with finding and renting a place of her own though. The Shooting Star Inn was too expensive for her now when she was going to be resident in Lhavit. She was going to look for permanent lodgings at an affordable price.

And there were more things she needed to do this day so she took time to think them through; she would get information about the city and what was going on there, find a suitable job, and shop things she would need in the days to come. If she had time over when this was done she could stroll around at random and just watch people and take in the atmosphere of the city, until it was time to get ready for her evening date with the endal.

Such was the plan Ornea made for her first day in Lhavit, while she stopped for a while right inside the gates and looked out over the parts of the city she could see from there. She had been in Lhavit before, but she never stopped feeling amazed by the nearly unreal beauty of the glittering skyglass city, so different from Wind Reach. Ornea loved Mount Skyinarta, where she had lived her whole life until now, but difference what just what she needed. A different life in a different city, different thoughts about different things, and the chance to become a different person in some ways.

Now she would catch up, finally, she thought. In Lhavit she would live another life. She had the money to be lazy for a while if had wished it, but Ornea was going to work. Work was always good for people and being Inarta her working morale was high. Besides, she was interested in the metalsmithing and it would just be boring to not do it. She hoped to find a metalsmith position; this would be the best.

Come to think of it, she added one more thing to the list of things to do. She would find a good meditation trainer and do all the meditation she had been postponing for far too long time. Ornea was aiming to heal and recover from the overgiving she had suffered in winter and still didn't feel fully recovered from, and she was going to leave behind her old bad habit of using magic as a drug.

In Lhavit she could change her life. This was the reason she was moving there.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA EXPERIENCES THE BEAUTY OF LHAVIT AND WATCHES PEOPLE ON THE STREET



Lhavit was called "The Star of Kalea". The beauty of the city overwhelmed her while she started walking toward The Cosmos Center, which would be her first stop. It was raining in Lhavit this day, but this just made the city look even more beautiful to her. Instead of the bright sunshine glitter she had seen at other times, the buildings emanated a soft gleaming reflection of the daylight, the translucent and silvery curtain of light rain making them look slightly diffuse.

She felt like she had left reality behind and walked into a wonderful and enigmatic dream.

Lhavit had earned its name because the city was entirely built of a unique, incredibly strong, yet translucent stone known as skyglass, which gave the city a crystalline appearance and caused it to gleam like no other in Mizahar.

The buildings around her, the cupoles and towers she could see at a distance, the bridges linking the city together, the pavement under her feet; all was made of the beautiful and material and it felt like she was walking in a surreal, iridescent world of glass and gemstone. But the skyglass was a very special and translucent kind of stone that couldn’t really be compared to other materials.

Looking farther away she could see the incredible views of Kalea and of the sea. It was breathtaking. It was like she could see everything from up here, the sky, the sea and the whole world.

But the city and it’s inhabitants were real enough, and there were many people out in the street. She watched them too, observed the way they looked and moved and the way they were dressed. The Lhavitians were somewhat influenced by the Inarta fashion of Wind Reach; but the Lhavitian’s had their own style, with layers upon layers of garments. Wide and flowing gowns, pants and skirts were common. Some outfits were dramatic in color and patterns and combined with an abundance of jewellery, while other outfits were more simplistic and worn with sparse jewellery. The variation in clothing was huge.
Most of the people she saw looked to be perfectly human. And they were human she supposed, though often enough there were something subtly other in their appearance; sometimes strikingly so, though she wasn’t able to tell exactly why, sometimes barely discernible.

A few of them could be etheafal in human form, she thought, and she had seen etheafal sometimes, but they were rare beings and the explanation to the slight otherness she saw in a larger number of people was likely they were of mixed blood. The mixed bloods could often look just like humans, though with some traits from the other race too. And the race mixing had gone on for a fairly long time in Lhavit, hadn’t it? She guessed there must be lots of people who weren’t first generations mixed bloods, but had a quarter, or eight or sixteen percent of nonhuman blood, or even less. Maybe there were also people whose ancestors were different kinds of mixed bloods.

Ornea knew from previous visits that the city offered an abundance of culture and knowledge. But she had been working day and night in trade operations the times she had been there in the past, so she had never really had time to see much of Lhavit. And the city had it’s very own time schedule, which made it more complicated. They divided time up in their own way. In Wind Reach there was night and day. Simple and clear. But in Lhavit there was instead four blocks of time, with rests in between.

She had arrived after the morning rest, obviously. Now she hoped to get things done before it was time for the Lhavitian’s noon rest. After this she would have few bells more before the dusk rest, if there was anything that remained to be fixed. After the dusk rest would be the right time to turn up for her evening date at Shooting Star Inn and meet up with the endal. Ruian. That was his name. Her thoughts touched briefly on the topic. It felt reassuring to know she had another Inarta to meet and socialize with, this first evening. She wouldn’t be alone in a city where she didn’t know anybody at all yet.

A huge and impressive beautiful building stood before her. It was The Cosmos Center.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA VISITS THE COSMOS CENTER AND MEETS YOUCHI SAKANA DAWN


The Cosmos Center was an elaborately carved building, Lhavitian architecture at it’s best, with it's typical domes and the high spires pointing towards the sky. Like the rest of the city, this building too looked dreamlike, in the silvery haze of the rain.

Ornea knew from her previous visits in Lhavit that the light that used shine from this building at night was far more prominent than the rest, like a beacon for those lost in the myriad of spectacles put on throughout the city. She had used to watch that enigmatic light at the times she had visited Lhavit in the past, many years ago. But she had never been there. Now she would finally visit it, but it was day now. The building just shimmered softly the same way all the other skyglass buildings did and if it held anything enigmatic at all, it was concealed.

But she was here to get practical things done. So after admiring the exterior a bit she tore herself out these thoughts, walked in and looked around for somebody to speak with about hosing and work. She was surprised to see that the furnishings of the big circular room she had entered were relatively simple. The only decorations were a few potted plants and several parchment drawings on the walls. It felt like an odd and unexpected anticlimax after how awed she had been when she looked at the house from outside. It had seemed to promise so much, but contained so little.

She saw several artistically decorated desks made of white material stationed off to the right, and behind one of these desks sat a woman who seemed busy organizing papers in parchments folders. There was nobody behind the other desks, so Ornea approached the open one. The woman did however not seem to notice that a visitor had entered. She kept picking up papers from a pile on the desk and after reading them she put each one of them in one of the several folders on the desk. Her expression was focused and serene. A thin silvery band around her brow kept the woman’s curly brown hair away from her face while she worked and her garb was simplistic, the colors pale beige and blue. She looked young, her skin fair, not a wrinkle on her face.

The Inarta resolutely tapped a crystal bell that that she assumed was meant to help visitors call for attention. She tapped it once, and a beautiful clear sound could resounded in the room, but nothing happened. Ornea tapped the bell again with the same result, or lack thereof. But when she persisted and tapped it a third time, the woman promptly looked at her, like Ornea had uttered a spell that suddenly made her exist.

“Yes. I'm Youchi Sakana Dawn, at your service. How can I help you?” Pleasant voice; obliging smile.

Ornea had started to feel a little bit irritated while she had tapped the crystal bell over and over again but seemed to be ignored. She wasn’t too impressed by the sudden willingness to give service. But this was Lhavit and not Wind Reach, she reminded herself. They did things differently here. For some reason it had been important to ring the bell trice. Ornea made a mental note to remember this at occasions when she would need Lhavitian’s to pay attention to her.

“My name is Ornea. From Wind Reach.” Ornea added her origins in a try to match the way the other had said her long name. She didn’t know why really, but suddenly her own name felt short and it seemed proper to add something to it. “I’m looking for housing and work. And information; if you could tell me about what’s going on in the city and if there’s something special I need to know. “

Youchi bent down and picked up a small scroll from a basket full small scrolls she kept behind the desk. This, she explained as she handed Ornea the scroll, was a simple copy of the city’s official calendar where all important information and events could be found. And for a start she wanted to advertise that The Cosmos Center along with The Ethereal Opera House would arrange a unique guided tour of the city the next day; if this could be of interest. Oh, and on the 5th there would be a seminar about the history of candle making at a shop named Bright Lights ... she spoke on and seemed to know everything by heart. There seemed to be no end to the abundance of information she had to share and Ornea wasn’t able to take in all of it. She wondered absentmindedly how it even could be possible for somebody to memorize all this information.

Youchi seemed to notice that she didn’t have the visitor’s attention anymore and stopped, smiling politely. “Well. It’s all in the scroll. But you were looking for housing and work. What did you have in mind? How long are you going to stay in Lhavit? ”

At this point Youchi seemed to hesitate and gave Ornea a discreet once over, taking in the simple hunting gear that were all the clothes the Inarta owned at the moment. Ornea had sold all other clothing before leaving Wind Reach and was planning to buy new things in Lhavit. But right now she was wearing simple brown vinati and bryda and over this an open, common, simple hunting katinu. She had no scarves, no jewellery, nothing whatsoever to embellish herself, and she guessed she didn’t look too wealthy.

“I’m going to settle down here. I want to find affordable lodging, relatively spacious for the price if possible, and a job as metalsmith.” Ornea paused for a tick or two before she added: “I am also looking for a good meditation trainer.”

“Metalsmith”. Youchi smiled and there was maybe a vague hint of relief in her voice. Ornea figured she was now calculating the possible income of a metalsmith and matching it with possible lodgings. For some reason it occurred to Ornea that this was when Youchi’s brow ought to have wrinkled, if only a little bit, but the woman’s skin stayed perfectly smooth. She radiated youth. Still, the moment of something else, invisible, a weird impression of wrinkles that didn’t exist, had been there. Ornea had started to feel an odd uncanny feeling and hope to get this errand done soon.

“Let me have a look.” Youchi took one of the folders full of papers, picked the one at the top of the pile and put in on the table. It was a list of rooms, many of them marked by crosses in the margin. Youchi studied the list and then she looked at Ornea again. Right now, she said, there were several free rooms at Solar Wind Apartments, where rooms of good standard could be found, as well as simpler ones, but they were overall affordable and well worth the price. So what Ornea could do was go there and have a look at the available rooms.

This done, Youchi put the paper pack and opened another folder. She picked out a list of free positions. “There is the smithy, Touch of Fire” she said after studying the list for a while. “But there’s also a gadgeteer business looking for a metalsmith. Luci’s and Luci’s. This seems to be your best bets if you want to work as a metalsmith.” She was silent for a tick or two before she added: “As for a meditation trainer you could try to ask for advice in the Dawn Tower.” A new pause. “And you would also need to register as a wizard. In the wizard registry. It’s mandatory for magic users to register there and I would advice you to do this as soon as possible. ”

She told Ornea the way to the Wizard registry, in amazing detail. After this, Youchi fell silent, still smiling, but obviously waiting for Ornea to leave. It was like the sound of the crystal bell had make her wake up from her organizing, come alive and give excellent service, but now it was over and her attention was turning back to the folders and papers again. Anew, Ornea felt that odd uncanny feeling. She hadn’t said anything about being a wizard or even mentioned magic. But Youchi had guessed it, maybe because the ones most interested in meditation were the ones who needed it the most.

The enigmatic secret the building and it’s light at night had seemed to promise couldn’t be seen anywhere in the sparsely furnished round room; Ornea hadn’t learnt it. Oddly, she felt like her own secrets had been revealed instead, by this Youchi Sakana Dawn, who would now add this and all other facts she had about Ornea to that endless store of information she had exposed the Inarta to in the beginning of their conversation. Ornea said a quick thanks for the help and turned to leave, while Youchi’s flawlessly youthful face once again took on the focused expression and she leaned over her papers to continue her work.

Ornea walked out from The Cosmos Center without looking back and headed to the Wizard registry.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA TAKES A WALK AND FACES REALITY


Youchi Sakana Dawn’s advice to Ornea to register as a wizard as soon as possible had definitely shaken the Inarta. She had been totally unprepared for being revealed as a mage that easily. Ornea was a reimancer, yes, but an inactive one, who feared overgiving more than she yearned for the magic.

The overgiving she had experienced in the winter of 513, after the avalanche accident and her massive overuse of magic, had made her wake up from years of irresponsible addiction. The onslaught of altered states of consciousness and weird dreamlike experiences had seized her, toyed with her perception, taken her on a ride of wonders and nightmares outside her mind's control. This had changed her, and not only temporarily. It wasn't possible to live through something like that and come out on the other side as the same person.

She would never be the same again. She was a one way journey, no way back.

The insight had eventually made her take the step to move to Lhavit in order to change her lifestyle permanently. And after this decision, Ornea had somehow unwittingly started to assume that as she wasn’t using the magic anymore, and hadn’t been thinking of herself as a wizard for season, others wouldn’t think of her as a wizard either. To her it had been over. She had thought this meant it also was over to the whole world.

She had been wrong, that much was obvious. Now she felt exposed and nervous. Lhavit was liberal when it came to magic as far as she knew. But in the times she had assisted in trade journeys to Lhavit she had been in her upper teens and not initiated yet. After the initiation at age twenty she had been busy in Wind Reach and then the children had been born and she really had been far too busy at home to be picked out for trade journeys anymore. So she had never heard about the Wizard Registry until now. The need to register hadn’t been in her plans. It was a surprise, and not a pleasant one.

Ornea had wanted to totally forget that she was a reimancer. But she wouldn’t be allowed to forget magic as easily as she had thought. Lhavit wouldn’t let her just forget the one she had been, become another woman, immerse in the enthralling atmosphere of the celestial city and let it swallow her and carry her away forever, like a dream she would never wake up from.

She had already been woken up before she had even begun to dream for real.

Reality had caught up with her, right there, in the simple round room of at The Cosmos Center. She truly was the one she had said she was; not just Ornea, but Ornea from Wind Reach. All the history she had aimed to leave behind had come back, crashing down on her mercilessly.

She could take herself out of Wind Reach, she thought. But she could take Wind Reach out of herself.

If you cannot change life, then change the city where you live, she had told herself; like changing city would automatically also change herself and her life. But while she walked to the registry she understood one thing. It didn't work that way. The change wouldn’t be so automatic as she had hoped. She would carry with her all the memories and experiences of her past.

In this mood she arrived to The Koten Temple in the center of the city, where the registry was situated. She stood for a few chimes and just looked at it. It was a temple, and like all the buildings of Lhavit it was unique and endlessly, tremendously beautiful. The skyglass of this building gleamed with the same soft light as every other building of the city. But in the state of mind Ornea was now, she had started to feel she could choke on all this nearly unreal beauty and endless uniqueness. It didn’t feel so enchanting and dreamlike anymore. Beauty was going repetitive and the awe she had felt was already starting to feel a little tiresome. It didn’t seduce her, didn’t make her dream, imagine and forget. It had started to feel like nothing else than broken illusions.

She was fully awake and aware. More so than she had felt in a long time.

It occurred to her that today she seemed to have suffered one of those overgiving flashbacks again; only a mild ehco of the dreamlike states that had been totally overwhelming in the beginning. Eventually, after long time they had faded out to this kind of subtle, insidious, dreamlike feelings where reality seemed to become just a little bit vaguer as her thoughts wandered away, absentmindedly.

Had this happened to her today? Was that the explanation she had felt like she was stepping into the city of her dreams, where everything was laden with mystery, enigmatic secrets and wonder ? Ornea feared it was so. She seemed to have gone down, gone under, and it had been so faint and seamless that she hadn’t noticed it; nevertheless it had changed her perception. A chill went up her spine, as always when she found one of those faint vague residual effects of overgiving might have seized and made her grasp of reality slightly weaker.

Ornea knew she could never more be totally sure if it was just herself getting carried away on the feeling of a dream, or if there really was magic, enigma and wonders in the air. Mysterious things could happen; everything in the world was the doing of the gods, and more often than not it wasn't explained to the mortals. It was fully possible that everything really was magic and tantalizing. It could be wise to think so, or it could be foolish to think so, how could she know? In order to stay on the safe side, she was going to take a down to earth view, and consider her initial feelings and impressions this day nothing else than the shadow of an overgiving dream.

She looked at the temple a last time. It was an impressive and beautiful building, yes, and this was real. But if there really was anything magic and dreamlike with it beyond the sheer beauty of the skyglass and the architecture, she was set on not allowing herself to be affected anymore. Before the meeting with Youchi and the walk to the registry she might have been susceptible to the allure of the unreal fogs her own dream-seeking mind. But she had reined it in now, she thought. She was going to be on alert and watch herself like a hawk and stop herself from being carried away. She would hold on to true reality with the willpower of her mind, like the talons of a wind eagle holding on to it’s prey.

Reality, she thought resolutely. This is reality. I see things like they are. The things I can see are real.

Ornea repeated this in her mind over and over again while she entered the temple, found the door to the Wizard Registry and stepped in.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA VISITS THE WIZARD REGISTRY AND MEETS HANEI FEN


Ornea had entered a shining lobby, lined with people milling around, others standing in line. To ‎the right hand side of the lobby however, she found a door, smaller and less noticeable than ‎the rest. A sign on the door proclaimed it as the Wizard Registry.‎ Ornea had went through it, feeling uneasy.

She was now in a large, sky lit room, with foliage and ferns and gilded designs on the walls, decorated with multiple statues made of skyglass. A dark haired and quite handsome man who seemed to be about same age as herself, lower thirties, turned to her and gave her a once over.

Smiling and speaking in a friendly and welcoming tone he introduced himself as Hanei Fen, responsible for the registry. To her utter disbelief he stopped there and gazed deeply into her eyes without saying anything, in a soulful, longing and suggestive way that reminded her of seductive gazes she had received in her day.

Despite the serious situation, the man's behavior didn’t seem professional at all. But Ornea was set on not showing any surprise. She did her best to act like she was unmoved and pretend she didn’t notice anything unserious. This was Lhavit, she thought to herself. Perhaps this more than welcoming greeting was how all wizards were treated when they turned up to register.

This Hanei Fen was maybe an aurist, she speculated at random. Maybe this inspection and the way he had locked eyes with her meant he was sensing for her aura to check out if she was honest and worthy of being registered? She didn’t know much about that kind of magic but it had been mentioned just as information during her studies in magic once upon a time. So maybe he was looking for her aura, deep down there in her eyes?

Aura. She tried to recall what she had learnt about it. Items and living beings alike emanated an aura which was the essence of their properties; properties that could be found out by wizard who was skilled at working with it. When it came to people it wasn’t the concrete content in people’s thoughts aurists could read, nor their feelings, but the sheer basic properties that constituted the person’s body and personality. At least this had been how what she had thought the explanations meant. She had also had the opportunity to make a few tries at the art; not in order to really learn to practice it, just to give her a hint about what is was about.

Ornea looked back at Hanei Fen, thinking of this as a possible explanation to his behavior. As nothing happened and she was unsure of how to do now, she decided to mirror him and do as he did. She gazed deeply into the man’s eyes and for added similarity she added an improvised try to read his aura. She focused on him and tried sharpen her perception and discern something emanating from him...but this made the well known feeling of beginning nausea come alive and she stopped. Petch. She hadn’t used magic for seasons and it was for a reason. The overgiving was nearly instant.

The faint feeling of nausea receded and she felt nearly well again. But only nearly.

She watched, perplexed, while Hanei Fen added a truly welcoming smile to the smouldering gaze he still was giving her. Unsure of what she was expected to do now, she introduced herself: Ornea from Wind Reach. Hanei Fen smiled even broader and sauntered over to her, moving like he was on his way to speak with somebody in a bar. He extended his hand. Ornea took it and expected him to shake hands with her. But before she knew it, Hanei Fen had lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.

He looked at her over the hand, still holding it and breathing on it, while he started to tell her what a pleasure it was to have such an enchanting visitor in his boring registry office. He spoke more, but it was like the words were becoming a soporific blur that wanted to lull her into a safe and comfortable sleep. She felt a dreamlike and tantalizing feeling start to grow in her mind. It wasn’t totally unlike the sweet whisper of magic.

The thought of the sweet whisper of magic tore her out of the sensation. To her that sweet whisper had turned sour and become more of a curse than a blessing. She looked at Hanei and realized she had lost track of reality and hadn't been aware that Hanei Fen was about to pull her into a tender embrace. Surprised, Ornea stepped back, hardly able to believe this could be happening. She was here to register as a wizard, not to dally. But the registry responsible was trying to take the opportunity to seduce her instead of doing his job? It was surreal, unbelievable, absurd. Was this real or one more of her dreamlike states?

The question she silently asked herself made a new chill go up her spine and with an icy feeling of fear she drew her breath and told herself she must hold on to her awareness, stay awake, keep seeing reality such as it was.

Reality actually seemed to be just what it looked to be. Hanei Fen actually seemed to try to lull her and make her lose herself in dreams with his stream of sweet-talking. Ornea knew she really, really ought to say something smart and stop this madness now. She knew it. But her head seemed to still be spinning a little bit with that tantalizing feeling, and she felt giddy and somewhat unsteady in her knees. Hanei Fen was a very attractive man, no doubt. Now he looked at her again and in a voice full of unspoken promises he said something about how nice this was and how he was looking forward to learning to know her better. His eyes seemed to glitter and shine just like the skyglass and her gaze seemed to be trapped in his. Albeit she had stepped out of range for an embrace Hanei was still holding her hand and he kissed it anew, now with more ardor.

Confused and indecisive she stared at him stupidly. First the uncanny feelings in The Cosmos Center and now a seduction attempt in the Wizard registry? Lhavit wasn’t like she had thought it would be. She didn’t even know how she thought Lhavit was anymore. It was unfathomable. The only thing she knew was that everything that happened was as unexpected as it came.

Hanei Fen was kissing her hand and speaking a lot of nonsense and it felt like her mind swam in a weird fog.

Her first day in Lhavit was rapidly derailing beyond belief.

But Ornea’s brief, impulsive and misguided try at using her scant knowledge about auristics had made her unable to feel comfortable. She felt a little bit, just a little bit, nauseated and though the short use of magic hadn’t been enough to trigger a migraine attack or even a light headache, she felt a kind of tired weight in her head. This made her able to withstand the increasing need to succumb to the seductive atmosphere that seemed to want to overwhelm her and make her stop thinking. She kept to the inner resolve she had felt when she stood outside the building. She needed to keep her grip on reality and herself.

She pulled her hand out of Haneis and sat down on a chair nearby, apologizing for feeling a little bit indisposed at the moment, due to overgiving. She would like to register as a wizard now if that was alright. Hanei Fen looked at her and if he was disappointed it didn’t show in his face or his behavior. He fetched a glass of water for her and fussed about her, not exactly pawing her but definitely touching her like in passing by, while he tried to give her the water and told her he hoped she would soon feel better. Maybe she would like to rest somewhere? Hanei lived nearby and she could spend the noon rest at his place, he offered. It would be noon in half a bell.

The noon rest ? The words made Ornea start and finally go wide awake again! How long time had she spent in the streets, the Cosmos Center, the streets again and lastly the Wizard Registry ? How could the noon rest already be so near? She had felt like she had all the time in the world, but now she felt the opposite. Help! She had so many important thing left to do and now she was running out of time. Where had all the bells gone? What had she been doing? And in particular, how long time had she spent here with Hanei?

Hanei Fen finally came around to get the registry process done, seeming a bit reluctant and still speaking about how she ought to rest in his apartment. The registration turned out to be quick and simple. The question from Hanei was: “Wizard or reporting a ‎wizard?” And as she was a wizard she then registered, which was needed in case action needed to be taken by the ‎Shinya, in the event of overgiving. She signed one form ‎that stated that she was indeed a practitioner of magic and gave the permission for the ‎Shinya to detain her if necessary. That was it.

“It will not be necessary to detain me” she said. “I’m not going to use magic.”

Hanei Fen laughed out loud and took the form in order to archive it. “Aren’t we all saying that once in a while?” he said enigmatically. “By the way, where are you staying tonight, Ornea? Shooting Star Inn? Traders from Wind Reach often use to stay there, despite the price. “He smiled. “You could stay for free in my place you know. As I said it’s noon break in half a bell.”

But Ornea was already on her way out from the registry. It was on time she went on with all the things she had to do. The registration had certainly taken way longer time than she had expected and she was behind schedule now. She said a quick farewell and closed the door behind her.

She was heading to Solar Wind Apartments, walking at high speed.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA MEETS LANA WINTERFLAME AND RENTS A NEW HOME AT SOLAR WIND APARTMENTS


Time!

Time was a treacherous thing indeed! Invisible and intangible it expanded or contracted as it liked and left her with more of it to pass at times she didn’t need it, or disappeared like water running between her fingers at occasions when she didn’t have any time to spare.

She was somehow running out of time despite how it had seemed like she had lots of time when this day started. Hadn’t she even thought she would get time over and have to spend it just strolling around at random? This didn’t seem so likely anymore. Not a chance, she thought. She would have to run around like crazy between the noon break and the dusk break if she wanted to apply for that metalsmith job, get her most urgent shopping done, find a mediation trainer, dress up for the dinner with the endal, get to Shooting Star Inn in time ...

While she walked as fast as she could towards Solar Wind Apartments Youchi she adjusted her planning for remainder of the day. She would first rent a place to live and she really hoped to get this done before the noon rest, so she would have somewhere to spend the rest. She could rest a bit and maybe also have a closer look at the new apartment and its possibilities.

Then she must apply for the job, and she must get new clothes for the evening. If time went short and it was hard to squeeze in the rest she could postpone some shopping to another day. And as she would really not get time to meditate today, finding a mediation trainer could wait too. It would of course be ideal to get everything in place for her new life on the very first day, but the ideal isn’t always possible.

Satisfied with this new plan she arrived at Solar Wind, at the outskirts of Suraya Plaza, on Zintia Peak. Stopping briefly to study the exterior she could see that this building too was made of skyglass, just like all other houses in Lhavit. It was definitely more simplistic in style than some others, but beautiful all the same. It must be impossible, she thought, to build an ugly house of skyglass. The material’s innate beauty made everything shine.

As soon as she entered a dark haired woman of uncertain age showed up and greeted her with a warm smile, asking if she was looking for lodgings. When Ornea said she was, the woman introduced herself as Lana Winterflame, the housekeeper and cook of Solar Winds. After a few questions to find out what the Inarta was looking for she started to show the rooms that were currently available for rent. The first ones were quite elegant and the price was good for the standard, but Ornea cautiously said she had imagined something simpler; spacious, but maybe a bit lower standard.

Lana Winterflame seemed to hesitate a bit. But then she said : “There’s a room at the top floor. Well, an attic room actually. Quite spacious, a two bed room, but it’s a bit unpolished. I can show it to you, but it’s not the most convenient room we have. You would need to walk the stairs all the way up there and I can tell you the roof logs are visible and some walls are raw stone with no wall papers. Well there’s a canopy bed for two, a heart and so on like all the other rooms, you have all the things you need there, but it’s ...I can show it to you if you want to see it. “
She sounded like she found it unlikely that Ornea would want to have a look at the room she had described. But the Inarta immediately said yes. Climbing a few stairs didn’t deter her. Raw stone walls didn’t deter her either; she was used to caves in Mount Skyinarta.

They went up. There was only one door at the top floor, and while Lana opened it she told Ornea that there was only one room at this floor, and it hadn’t been there from the beginning. A few years ago the owner on Solar Winds had the idea to make a room up here; Lana had never figured out for what reason, but he had wanted the room so it had been built. But then he had changed his mind, also for unknown reasons, and the decorations had been left half finished, as they didn’t really need one more room to rent out. It had become a kind of emergency extra room, and they had furnished it, but in practice it had never been rented by anybody.

Behind the door was a room that looked like Lana had described it, yet Ornea found it much better than the description had hinted at. There were wood tiles on the floor and the “raw stone walls” meant the skyglass showing, which Ornea found nice. The canopy bed with it’s white draperies looked good enough in the light that came on through several big windows. The logs in the roof weren’t as bad as Lana had seemed to paint them out when she described the apartment. The style was definitely a bit rougher than the rooms Ornea had been showed downstairs, but the space was generous and thought it still wasn’t the cheapest room they had, she felt she would get much for the money.

Lana was utterly surprised when Ornea took the room, but she adapted quickly and they went down again and Ornea signed a contract and paid the seasonal rent in advance, 21 Kina, and received an ornate key made of brass, the length of half a hand. Being a metalsmith Ornea had an extra look at it and appreciated the metalwork.

It was time for the noon rest now and no time to go out and have lunch, so when Lana offered to make a salad for her before withdrawing Ornea was happy to accept. She paid 5 Topaz Kina in advance and followed Lana to the kitchen.

The housekeeper was skilled and quick and her work and chatted while she chopped fresh vegetables and mixed them to a multicolored salad, topped this with several slices of a white soft cheese and sprinkled the dish with a spoonful of the clear light green sauce she kept in a jar on the work bench. She put this in a bowl and in a smaller bowl she put what looked like rice mixed with herbs. Lana put the bowls with food in a small basket and handed it to the Inarta.

With the basket in her hand Ornea walked up all the stairs to her new rustic attic apartment.

She suddenly had time now. She had a whole bell of idle noon rest time that couldn’t be used for anything productive, in the middle of a day where she was low on time and had too much to do. This was how time was, she thought. Time is a scoundrel. It steals your bells and chimes away when they are most needed, and puts them in your way as meaningless waiting time instead.

Ornea resigned herself to a bell of inactivity in the middle of all her pressure and lack of time. But not long after she was back in her new apartment and had started to eat, somebody knocked on the door.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA NOON RESTS AT SOLAR WINDS AND MEETS HESPER


Ornea opened the door. Outside the door stood a serious looking man dressed in simplistic dark clothes. He introduces himself as responsible of Solar Winds; his name was Hesper. He told her only this single name and said he had wanted to see who had rented this odd room at the top of the building, that hardly anybody wanted to even have a look at. “Most people don’t want a room this high up.”

He had a special relation to this room, he said. He’d had plans and ideas for it, although it hadn’t been completed. Maybe it was even special to him for this very reason, the project been left unfinished.

What did she think, he asked, why had she settled for this room with nothing to cover the stone of the walls and with no ceiling hiding the logs of the roof ? The rooms downstairs were completed, nice and smooth. This room was incomplete, unfinished, raw and the way up here was a longer way to go. What had made her choose the incomplete and hard instead of the complete and convenient ?

There was a sincere tone in his voice. He seemed to find this question interesting for real. As he was the one running Solar Winds and Ornea didn’t have anything else to do during the noon rest, she decided to let him in and socialize a little bit. She introduced herself and moved to the side and Hesper entered the room.

“The incomplete can have a mysterious attraction that the complete cannot compete with” he said thoughtfully while he looked around. Now when they stood in the light that came in through the widows, she could see that his shoulder length hair wasn’t as dark as it had seemed but had faint streaks of silver. The man was pale, like he seldom went out. The cryptic way he spoke was unusual, and Ornea didn’t know what to make of it, but she was getting really curious and decided to try to answer.

“You are right” she said. “The incomplete has a special allure. I believe it’s because there is an invisible emptiness that compels us to try to fill in the lacking things and understand what the incomplete would have been if it had been complete. But we can never know for sure what it would have been. When all our imagination has been tried on it, the incomplete keeps its secrets. It remains unfinished and we are left with our questions and our search for things that never got to happen and didn’t come to exist. ”

She stopped there and thought of what she had said and what the petch she had meant. It had sounded deep. Philosophical even. And it felt right. Ornea hadn’t been aware that she could think and say things like this. It must be because she had been reading so much in her mother’s book lately. The content of that book, her heirloom, could be pretty abstract sometimes. In her old age, the glass master Mereth had become a bit eccentric, and some of her texts were cryptic indeed. But the illuminations were beautiful to look at.

Hesper’s facial expression had looked a bit absent, like he actually was somewhere else, far away. But now he looked at her like his mind had arrived to his body, landed in this room and really was here, now, speaking with her. He nodded slowly. “I have often been thinking of this room and how to complete it. And I have often been thinking of how it could have been if it would have been complete. But I have left it as it is, and seem to never come around to finish the works here. And now we rent it out. Well. Maybe I want it to stay as it is? Once the work is finished, there will be nothing left to speculate about. Then I will know the outcome. I will have my answers. But the questions and possibilities that so fascinated me will be gone.”

“I know what you mean” Ornea said. “I’m a metalsmith; I cast items of metal. At first there’s the idea, and it takes time to make it clear and visible enough to create the design of an item. But this is still only the model, and the crafting itself remains. I can’t know exactly how the result will be, not really, not until the idea I have in my head and the sketches I made, the mold I or somebody else made and the molten metal has converged to a new item, which I can adjust and polish and finally finish. It is nice to see the final result. If it was successful I can feel proud of it. But when the work is done, the dreams and ideas that carried me through it alongside the physical work are gone. It’s like waking up from a dream and find that there is nothing left to do. It’s fades out and is over ... and then I go on to something else, just like it never happened.“

“And this room” said Hesper and seemed to abruptly change topic to practical everyday life. “What will you do with this room?”

“Live in it.” Ornea looked around and thought of what this meant to her. “I think I will add a few things of my own. I will see. I don’t know yet exactly what I want. But I will buy candles, because I may need light here in the evenings.”

Hesper’s everyday practicality ended there, as abruptly as it had appeared. He made a gesture towards the window and told her the light from a fireplace and candles was good if she wanted to write and read and for things she needed to learn and practice, but the light of the stars was better if she needed real knowledge. Many things could be explained by the stars, he said, for those who knew how to read their silent messages. “Everything is written up there in the high sky, your past and the reason you are here, and your future and your fate.”

Ornea nodded, though truth to tell she didn’t understand what he was saying or how her down to earth plan to buy a few candles could have sent the chat on a journey to the supposed mysteries of the stars. She nodded despite this, the way people do when they are confronted with things beyond what they are able relate to. “Everything is written up there?” she tried to pry. But Hesper just nodded in confirmation and didn’t try to tell her more.

They spoke a bit more, for a little while. More cryptic things were said, the chat was meandering in unexpected ways and Hesper wasn’t easy to understand. The vague, distant and distracted expression showed on his face again. Politely, in a low and thoughtful voice, he told her he could often be found in Solar Winds and he was sure they would meet again. It was like he had investigated something only he knew, and now he left her with this weird conversation feeling oddly unfinished.

Ornea was alone. The silence in the room was complete.

Feeling confused, she did the only practical thing; she ate the rest of her lunch and put the bowls back in the small basket Lana had given her. The chat with Hesper had taken longer time than she had realized and according to the increasing noise from the streets outside the noon rest was over. She took the basket and went downstairs to return it and ask for the way to the place where she was going to look for work. Lana gave her descriptions of the way there and Ornea went out on the streets again, set on using her time efficiently.

Lucis and Lucis.

That would be her next stop.

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA APPLIES FOR WORK AT LUCIS AND LUCIS AND MEETS EDWARD LUCI

Ornea lost her way a few times and wasn’t totally sure exactly where in the city she was now, but finally she found the place. The entrance to Lucis and Lucis was hard-to-miss: a set of gilded gates with the name worked in intricate scrollwork.

She walked in, found herself in a forecourt and felt lost again; Lucis & Lucis wasn’t the single workplace building she had expected it to be. It was an industrial area unto itself, with a collection of buildings that looked to have been built at different times gave the place a haphazard look.

All the buildings sported the same sign: Lucis and Lucis. Ornea hesitated a little bit. But she didn’t have any time to lose, so she decided to take a straightforward approach and walk into the first and nearest building. It was a large structure which looked solid and quite forbidding. Only the skyglass decoration on the exterior lightened the impression up a bit.

The door was open and when she pulled it opened smoothly and without that croaking sound doors so often used to make. This door moved soundlessly. Ornea took time to stop and study it’s well-oiled and pefect hinges; it was normal, simple hinges, but still a set of small masterpieces of high quality metalsmithing.

Inside, the building was cavernous and echoing. Ornea walked farther in, among the heavy machinery that dominated the house, looking for somebody to talk to. A multitude of amazing big pneumatic pumps were at work and the wheezing sound of them wasn’t too loud but it was strange and surprising. Ornea had never experienced anything like this huge, highly active machinery hall. Stunned and amazed she nearly forgot why she had come there and just looked around in sheer fascination.

Now a man came walking in her direction, pulling a large cart loaded with big metal parts behind him. He stopped before he reached the place where she was standing and started to unload the cart. Ornea watched him work and marveled at the precision of his movements and how strong he seemed to be. Some of the metal parts were quite big, but the man seemed to lift them with ease as he arranged them carefully among other heavy equipment and parts that lined the walls. She had no idea what all the items would be used for, but the sight had a decisive impact on her. Never had she seen a place this utterly intriguing. A sudden and overwhelming yearning to see what all the parts of this giant jigsaw metal puzzle was meant for awoke in her heart.

Awed and nearly scared by her own strong reaction she walked over to the worker and greeted him.

The man turned to her with an odd, precise movement. It was like he turned his whole body instead of just turning his head to look at her. A bit confused she told him she was looking for work and needed to speak with somebody. A short silence followed and the worker just stared at her in an odd way. His gaze was really weird and made her feel uneasy. But then he turned again and lifted one arm like he was pointing her forward in the direction she had already been walking. So odd was his behavior that Ornea didn’t dare to ask anything more and just hurried on forward. Unwittingly she had met an automatized transport worker golem. Most of the simpler work in Lucis, like transports, was done by golems.

She came to a section of the building that held several large forges and foundries. This made her feel hopeful, as it confirmed that there was actually metalwork to do in the building, and this could mean they might need a skilled metalsmith. She hadn’t been working with as huge things as Lucis and Lucis seemed to do though, but the craft was the same and she would be able to do it.

There was nobody around. Ornea went over to one of the foundries and had a closer look at the equipment. It was top class. It would surely be useful for casting and creation of both intricate and cruder things, she thought. There was a lot of space for molds too. A well planned work area. She immersed herself in professional daydreams about metalsmithing for a while and didn't hear the approaching steps.

“Excuse me, but I don’t think I have seen you here before ...” said somebody behind her.

Ornea started and turned around to face an elderly man. His hair was white and a small scar cut across his forehead, above his left eye. When he shook hands with her, she could see that his hands were working hands, crisscrossed with a fine, pale latticework of scars, Pockmarks studded several of his fingers, too. He had obviously been busy in his day. She met his gaze and was relieved to see that he wasn’t odd the way that other man had been, but seemed totally normal. He was old...but when she told him her errand and also exclaimed over how good the equipment was and how absolutely fantastic, fascinating and interesting she found everything, he seemed to get energized to no end.

He introduced himself as Edward Luci, doing a routine inspection. Vigorous and energetic like few old people she had met, he pounced on his interested listener and visitor and soon she was on a guided tour in the building. And now she truly forgot why she had come there in the first place. Edward Luci was one of the most charismatic and interesting people she had ever met.

He explained the machinery to her and told her about it’s history and how the pumps provided Lhavit with water. It was a fascinating insight into the infrastructure that made the city work. Lhavit relied heavily on complex pumps to bring fresh water up from the Amaranthine River far below, and to control hotsprings deep within the mountains for the many baths. It was the expertise of Lucis & Lucis in control of water that made this possible. And all the parts lining the wall were for project in progress and for experiments he said, experiments and tests to refine designs – greater efficiency and greater safety were the twin paradigms on which the Lucis gadgeteers worked.

Time had passed on and now Edward Luci stopped, telling her this was only one of the buildings. Though showing it all at once would be too much, he said. Perhaps another time, if she had time? His question made Ornea recall time and the purpose of being there. Again she respectfully told him that she was looking for work.

Edward Luci had spoken about the machinery around them, but he’d had even more about elaborate astronomical clocks and intricate automata, nonetheless insists on rigorous quality across every single machine to leave his premises. Ornea didn’t understand half of it but compensated for this with her Inarta way of looking up to valuable people. As Lhavit was totally dependent on this man bringing water to the city, she thought him silimar to an endal in terms of caste, as well as a skilled avora. She was full of heartfelt and honest admiration and so interested in all the things he told her that she was nearly unable to stop asking questions.

She had been like enthralled and wanted to know how everything worked. There seemed to be something with her reaction that had appealed to Edward Luci. He looked at her. “You know what. You may actually be something for us. You are already pretty good at metalwork if I have understood it right. We can always get mere metalwork done by Touch of Fire, but you seem to take a more complex view and feel more interest I cannot get from the smiths at The Touch. It’s not always they understand what I want from them. So...I will give you a chance to show what you are worth. A trial employment of a third of this season, full metalsmith payment. If you do well we can discuss a permanent job when the trial period is over.”

Ornea found this offer decent. And she sincerely told Edward Luci she was looking forward to see more of Lucis. After this they parted, both of them in good mood, and she walked out in the city again. She was really low on time now, as she had spent a lion’s part of the time between noon rest and dusk rest admiring machinery and speaking with Edward.

Time had been flying! Now she would need to speed-shop !

...

[Ornea]

...

ORNEA VISITS A SHOP IN THE AZURE AND STARTS A TOUGH NEGOTIATON ABOUT PRICES


She had a job ! Good, but ther were more things to do. Ornea didn’t want to turn up at her evening date dressed in simple hunting clothing , now with machine oil stains on it too so she would look like a chiet.

Her Endal friend, Ruian, would expect her to be dressed to the nines and do her best to look like somebody he would be proud of having dinner with. He would expect her to do her best for him. It was a question of respect for a member of a higher caste as well as respect for a friend who was being nice and benevolent to her, kind of. And as Ornea was also dependent on him for convenient journeys on eagle back between Lhavit and Wind Reach. There were many good reasons for her to not want to disappoint him, or make him feel slighted and annoyed.

In short, the situation was serious, time was limited, and she needed to find a good clothing shop as fast as she could. While she walked on at a fast pace she started planning. There was that market ... The Azure.

She was going to buy some beautiful Lhavit clothing and if she got time also some scarves, jewellery and perfume. But the latter, and other things, was only if she found time. The clothing came first.

Ornea found the entrance to The Azure, the market of Lhavit off to the side of the Surya Plaza after looking for it for a while. The thin passage was somewhat hidden to those who aren't familiar with its existence. Amazed by the blue buildings that created a very special atmosphere, she walked on the climbing, twisting streets up the Zintia peak. She wasn’t too familiar with The Azure, but when she had asked for good shops she had been told this was where she would find them.

And the alleyways really were lined with shops, each specializing in different trades. Tools, Food, and clothing stores and many other shops could be found here. Ornea was in first hand looking for clothes though. Going to an evening date in Shooting Star Inn in her hunting and work clothes was out of question.

She saw a shop that looked somewhat promising and entered it in the hope that she would be lucky and find something suitable at once. Perhaps she would be able to solve the shopping in a quick and easy way? But the shop was a disappointment to say the least. It looked elegant, but she found the simplistic clothes they were selling there colorless and boring. They were also surprisingly expensive. Ornea hadn’t grasped it yet that in Lhavit people went for more simplistic and understated outfits the higher standing they had. To her it just seemed like utterly soulless and impersonal clothes which wouldn’t please neither herself or her endal date.

She wanted to wear something beautiful ! Not that pale, drab crap!

After several similar disappointing shops, she finally found one that was named Volcano Fashion. There were a lot of clothes that appealed much more to her taste; lhavitian garments as well as Inarta outfits. Feeling relieved she started to look at the wares.

The cute female clerk behind the counter it didn’t look up. She was flamboyantly dressed in an outfit with printed patterns in vivid rose and light green colors and she wore a whole collection of colorful jewellery; much of it made with glass beads from Wind Reach, Ornea noticed. A bright red scarf adorned her smooth black hair and the nails of the hand right now putting a paper into the folder were long, well groomed, and looked like they had been gilded. Despite all the colorful clothes the shop had for sale, this clerk was by far the most decorative sight in the room.

After comparing possible clothes for little while Ornea picked two outfits.
One was traditional Inarta clothes of high quality, befitting a member of the avora caste. It was really appealing, in her opinion. It was elegant, darker and more modest than the most vividly shining bright colors of the exquisite clothing worn by the people of highest standing. The bryda, loose flowing pants that resemble a skirt, were made of cinnamon goldbrown silk. The broad waistband to wear around the waist and hips, and the matching vinati top, were made of dark burgundy red silk; the belt and the vinati are both richly decorated with embroideries of gleaming metal thread and small sequins of metal and small glittering glass beads.

The other one was a lhavitian outfit, but not one of the drab and boring ones. The color was a rich burgundy read with gold patterns. It was a silk brocade three piecer that consisted of a long and quite narrow skirt, a sleeveless top that actually reminded her a little bit about a vinati but left much of the back bare instead of the midriff, and a big elegant piece of cloth to drape as an extra layer over this as a loosely arranged shawl. Ornea hesitated a bit about this one, but she realized it could be good to have a set of fine lhavitian clothes at ready if she would need them. And if she bought them now she would save shopping time.

She approached the clerk.

The colorful clerk gazed at her in wide eyed shock when Ornea said she wanted to buy the clothes and asked for the price. There was no price! Oh, no, these clothes were priceless, and the clerk refused to part from them ! She wasn’t going to sell them ! They were her favorite garments, the best in the whole shop, and she had changed her mind now, it had been a mistake to put them out for sale. How could she have done it. Oh no, no! She jumped up and came around the counter, reaching out for the clothes and trying to take them back, while she ranted on about how she would never forgive herself if she parted with these rare pieces of cloth art. No. No. It wasn’t going to happen.

People didn’t behave this way in Wind Reach. Ornea didn’t like it, but she knew what it was about; the start of haggling about the price. The clerk’s task was to make her pay as much as possible. Orneas goal was to not pay more than the normal price. She knew she had to adapt to Lhavit’s culture so she was going to haggle and negotiate as well as she was able. Silently she feared she was going to lose this negotiation, as she wasn't used to the kind of haggling and negotiations people did here, but she tried to look confident.

She steeled herself for the commercial combat that was about to start.

Her opponent, the cute clerk, looked back, a determined mien on her face. “No. I won’t sell them! “

Ornea found it best to take the opposite stance. “I’m buying these for a dek. Only. Look at the colors. Dark and drab! They are at most worth 5 topaz kina each. So one kina for both, but that's only if I get a few scarfs and necklaces into the bargain. And some perfume, if you have perfume of good enough quality. That’s my last bid! “

...

[Ornea]

...

THE HAGGLING CONTINUES AND A PURCHASE IS MADE

The clerk looked flabbergasted, baffled, utterly shocked. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again as if she was speechless. Mutely, moving like Ornea's words had injured her and transformed her to an old woman trice her age, she shook her head from side to side, moaned faintly, mumbled to herself and tried to grab the wares.

Ornea deftly snatched them out of reach for the clerk. She didn’t know why really, but it felt like keeping a firm hold on the garments and keep them in her control was essential for not losing the chance at buying them. Irrationally, it felt like she needed to get the things at all cost. As the clerk advanced slowly on her she jumped back.

“You are crushing my heart when you speak about clothes like these in such a demeaning way” the clerk said in a tragic tone. “You are crushing my heart! I would say 100 Kina is a more suitable price for that wonderful brocade three piecer. The same goes for the unique Inarta style three piecer of genuine silk from Kalinor. This is art, not mere garments! I will not seel them for less than 200 Kina!"

The clerk made a pause there,and when she contiuned she was nearly whispering, like she was telling Ornea a secret. "But tell you what, as you appreciate art. I might be nice and let you buy some other things you mentioned for a really good price if you take the offer. You can get lhavitian flower oil perfume, a silk scarf of high quality in colors that match both the outfits, and three pieces of our own artistic and original jewellery. All of this for only 20 Kina each. In total for all of it ... 300 Kina ! But this is only if you decide quickly, before the shop owner comes back.”

The clerk looked around like she was anxious about somebody turning up to catch her redhanded with giving away the precious items for free. Judging from her behaviour, one could think she wasn't authorized to do this deal.

But Ornea was shocked for real. “Are you crazy ?” she said in the outspoken and straightforward way of the Inarta. “Look at me! Do you really think I own that much, even ?” She held out her hands to the sides, one outfit in each hand. As she stood like that, flanked by the two elaborate garments, her simple work and hunting clothes looked more simple than ever.

However, this did nothing to make the clerk think Ornea a pauper though. In Lhavit the rule was that the richer people were, the more simplistic were their style. As Ornea hadn’t grasped this cultural difference yet she was unaware that she was being contra-productive to her own goals.

The clerk jus shook her head when Ornea increased her bid to 10 Kina per each outfit and the other things into the bargain.

“Yes you look like a respectable customer and art-lover and a woman of reasonable means” said the clerk persistently. But the honesty of the very first part of Ornea’s reaction hadn’t gone totally unnoticed after all. The clerk realized there was a limit to how much the Inarta was going to pay and she didn't want the customer to bail. “Fifty for each outfit and fifty for the other things. In total 150 Kina. That’s incredibly cheap. What am I doing? I’ll lose my job! “

At this point Ornea stalled for time. She demanded to sample the perfume and have a look at the scarf and jewellery. Well she could hardly even discuss the price without taking a closer look at the items first, she said. The clerk answered by showing her some ridiculously expensive things. But after seeing how this made Ornea take a step back, the clerk showed more normal priced silk scarfs, jewellery and perfume . At least it seemed like more normal prices after the first absurdly overpriced “pieces of art” the clerk had tried to sell.

The beautiful perfume bottle had been decorated to look like it was made of a combination of metal and glass, but it was only cleverly painted pottery. Ornea wasn’t what to think of the content, as the bottle seemed to not be exactly what it wanted to seem like. But the fragrance was pleasant, fresh and flowery with some warm spice scent blended into it. But was it really true that it was made of flowers harvested during the midnight rest in order to give the perfume a mystic extra property of bio luminance essence that enhanced the user’s natural attractiveness in an invisible and intriguing way? This was impossible to know. But Ornea liked the perfume and settled for it.

A colorful scarf in plum, rose and yellow, a bracelet with rose and brown glass pearls, a white and cream necklace and one with white and green pearls...this was what she picked after a while. The haggling and negotiation went on, the clerk and Ornea taking turns giving new bids. Finally it ended with 25 Kina for each outfit and 25 Kina for the other things, when Ornea suddenly realized time was flying and said she didn’t have time to speak more now; she must rush .

The clerk quickly closed the deal at 75 Kina in total and made the Inarta hurry up and pay, enthusiastically telling her she was doing the bargain of her life. A pure robbery, it was though !

Ornea left the shop with the new clothes, scarf, perfume and jewellery in her backpack, feeling unsure of the whole thing but happy that she had at least managed to not pay more than three times as much. If I was a bargain or not remained to be seen. Anyhow, now she had clothes for the evening and for future occasions that could require her to be well dressed.

Out on the street again she realized it was dusk and the shops were closing for dusk rest. Feeling rushed and wondering where all her time had disappeared, she headed back down the windling path of The Azure, out on the Surya plaza and home to Solar Wind Apartments. There she went up all the stairs and entered her room at the top of the building. It was time to get ready for the evening date.

Purchases and Ledger :

- 75 Kina in total


Elegant Inarta Outfit
Elegant Lhavit Outfit
Colorful Scarf
Bottle of Lhavit Flower Oil Perfume
Bracelet with rose and brown glass pearls
Necklace with white and cream glass pearls
Necklace with white and green glass pears

...