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Seasonal Challenge: Help Rebuild the Rotting Mansion

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A lawless town of anarchists, built on the ruins of an ancient mining city. [Lore]

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Square One

Postby Aladari Coolwater on September 1st, 2016, 3:57 am

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40th of Summer, 516 AV

Syna had not yet touched the earth, and the fog still kissed the air. Despite the sharp, early morning wind, sweat dripped between her brows. Aladari wiped it away with the back of her hand, frowning at the wetness she saw gathered there. Gross.

"Ar'ya helpin' here or what? We don't have room for ya jus' to stand there."

Aladari scowled at the man who dare address her ao rudely (and so early in the morning no less). Her hands itched to give him an obscene gesture, but she gripped her shovel tightly instead. She had been working all morning to help rebuild the old rotting mansion, but so far all she had done was dig in the backyard. Was it for a garden, a latrine, somewhere to bury a dead body? She had not been told. She had only been given a shovel, pointed to the backyard, and instructed to dig.

She had spent several chimes digging already. Her hands were sore from rubbing against the wooden handle, and her back was tired of bending for so long. She stretched, moaning lowly, and her partner glared at her again, as if disgusted that she was tired. This is volunteer. She thought. I can go home if you'd prefer. But she couldn't say such a thing. Otherwise, they might take her up on the offer. Her pride would not let her leave after she had already agreed to help.

She hated this work, and her body ached everywhere, but she'd be damned before she gave up. She couldn't let the smug petcher win. She plunged the shovel into the ground with ferocity and pushed down on the handle like a lever. The man working with her smirked, never looking up, but hearing her frustration in the sounds of her digging.

Morwen, cool my temper. She pleaded, tapping the Gnosis on her shoulder in habit.
Last edited by Aladari Coolwater on September 26th, 2016, 5:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."
- Cornelia Funke
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Aladari Coolwater
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Square One

Postby Aladari Coolwater on September 17th, 2016, 6:38 pm

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Two bells later, they had procured a large, lowered patch of dirt. It was relativey even, and the dirt was finely packed. It would make a good base for the foundation of the house, or a fantastic garden should they fill the top layer with fertilizer. Even with the tension between the two workers, they had managed to create a good outcome, and they even shared a little smile as the coordinator came over to check their work.

Aladari leaned on her shovel in satisfaction, watching with pride as the he examined the work. She couldn't wait to be told she could go home. It was hard work that she apparently wasn't cut out for. All she could think about was a tall glass of ice, and nothing else.

But the coordinator had other ideas. "No, no." He shook his head firmly. "What were you thinking? Who owns a 2 foot deep basement?"

"Basement?" She growled. The coordinator flinched away from the sound, but remained firm.

"What did you think you were doing? We're building a house." He emphasized each word as though he were trying to drill the idea into her thick skull.

Aladari's dark eyes went absent as she felt old memories rushing back; there was a sailor's hand striking her face, pointing at her and speaking slowly in that same tone as if she knew nothing, using words she didn't understand. She remembered being afraid to go to school, because they thought her stupid, afraid to speak because they made fun of her accent. She had developed a fear because of the way they treated her, through no fault of her own. She remembered her father's shockingly red angry eyes as she told him this.

"You will not let them make you stupid. Speak up, Al. Speak your mind."

In her broken accent, with a voice that could not be ignored she hollered at the coordinator fearlessly.

"I was not known, a'cause no one tells me!"

The man shrugged. "You should've asked." And with that, he turned and walked away, never noticing the way her partner had to hold Aladari back.
Last edited by Aladari Coolwater on September 26th, 2016, 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."
- Cornelia Funke
User avatar
Aladari Coolwater
Rock the boat.
 
Posts: 477
Words: 267621
Joined roleplay: March 8th, 2016, 3:26 am
Location: Syliras
Race: Human, Vantha
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Medals: 3
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Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1)

Square One

Postby Aladari Coolwater on September 26th, 2016, 5:56 pm

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The soft grunts and the muted crunching of the shovels pushing away the dirt were slightly comforting to Aladari's enraged soul. It was the rhythm of work that she fell into everyday and the kind that she remembered from her childhood. It brought back memories of swaying on the ship, back and forth, rocking in happier times. She could almost feel the salty mist from the ocean, the crisp wind scratching her scalp, and the rough rope in her hands. It was calming, and Aladari closed her eyes as she worked to be further absorbed in the memory. Swiftly, she was taken away.

Her mother reached for her shoulder and squeezed it gently, reassuringly. Aladari had been trying to pull in nets of fish with her father, but her arms ached and her small eyes were welled with tears. She had complained about the pain, but her mother had shaken her head, tsking in disapproval.

"It isn't worth the work unless you want to give up at least once." She sang in a raw, untrained voice. Her mother had never been a canary, so she hadn't spoken often, but when she did open her mouth you could be sure she knew what she was talking about.

The advice was not exactly what Aladari was looking for, though. Neither then, nor now. She had been ready to give up several times, bells ago. She was hoping that she might find a reason to stop; perhaps they were lucky she had helped at all, and so she needn't push herself. But her mother was right, as always.


Back in the present, Aladari pushed her shovel into the ground once more, satisfied by the thick crunching sound. Her arms ached, as well as the muscles in her stomach, and her clothes was splotched with sweat. But it was a good kind of tired, and a good ache. So she continued, giving a breathless laugh to herself. "Ma, you had better appreciate this. I'm working for you."
"The sea always filled her with longing, though for what she was never sure."
- Cornelia Funke
User avatar
Aladari Coolwater
Rock the boat.
 
Posts: 477
Words: 267621
Joined roleplay: March 8th, 2016, 3:26 am
Location: Syliras
Race: Human, Vantha
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 3
Overlored (1) Donor (1)
Sunberth Seasonal Challenge (1)

Square One

Postby Karyk on June 18th, 2017, 12:34 am

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Aladari Coolwater
Skills
Endurance: 2
Bodybuilding: 1
Lores
Basements are deeper than 2 feet
Management expects you to ask questions
"It isn't worth the work unless you want to give up at least once."
Miscellaneous


 
Notes and Comments
CS Checkmarked: ✓
CS Reviewed by Me: ✓
Season Request was Submitted for Grade: Spring 517
Season of last IC post: Summer 517
Season of last Paid Seasonal Expense: Spring 517
Eligible for grade? Yes




Felt like it cut off a bit early. Short and sweet, well done. Please mark your post in Queue as graded
Follow your heart, and the plot will follow.
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Karyk
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