Solo The First Meeting

[Rohka]

1st Day of Fall, 517 AV

“You can’t be serious.” The incredulous tone was tinged with a sarcasm that could only come from a woman with a repressed desire to be challenged.

“Yes, dear. The truth has no real value in this city. If you can disguise your lies well enough, you’ll go far. For Rhysol’s sake!” He slapped his hand on the wooden table, “My job relies on lies! Do you really think I care about honesty?”

Rohka didn’t expect to be talking much when she decided to come into the Malt House that evening. She really just wanted to grab a hunk of cheese and get out. She told herself that she wouldn’t waste time again; she would walk out and go back to the job search. But nooooo, of course, she gets herself stuck in a conversation yet again. It’s just too tempting. How could she not? The old man looked so out-of-place in here, in his fancy leather cloak and his well-groomed silver hair. She had to know what brought him here.

“You told me you’re an interrogator now, Ven,” she grinned, leaning forward as her elbow rested on the long bar. They’d been talking for a good 10 chimes now; she figured it was long enough to give him a nickname. By the flicker in his smile, she guessed it was maybe a little too soon. Oh well. “Don’t you find joy in figuring out the truth?”

Sariven Drolore and Rohka had discovered they possessed something in common: the inability to stick with a job. But while Rohka was young and fairly inexperienced, Sariven had turned his weakness into a strength. His career was far from monotonous and he apparently has never had a dull day in the last 20 seasons. She was impressed, to say the least.

“I find joy in yanking out a person’s truth, yes,” he paused to take a sip from his mug of ale, and then began to chuckle. “Because they were stupid enough to leave holes in their lies! My dear, take it from me. You will not get anyone to give you a job if you’re honest about your character.”

Rohka could feel the hint of fatherly concern in the old man’s voice. She lowered her gaze, fighting her conflicted conscience as her cheeks tinged pink. The young woman had been living on her own since she was seventeen; she didn’t think his tone of voice would make her miss her parents. It had been them who ingrained honesty into her set of cherished values. If you lay your cards out for all to see, the purity of your fortune is trusted; was what her mother used to tell her.

She looked back up at the man and smiled, shrugging. “Maybe you’re right,” she paused and looked away, biting off a corner of the cheese, still thinking. “Or maybe I’m just not communicating my character very well!” Her voice lifted. She clearly couldn’t give in to his persuasion.

“Oi, Rohka,” Sariven laughed at her. Her almost childish whining reminded him of his granddaughter. “Fine. Or maybe you’re just not finding the right line of work,” he raised a brow and took another sip.

Secret :

A hunk of cheese: -1sm

[Rohka]

Oh petch, maybe, yea, I don’t know… she thought, her mind racing. She just wanted a job to survive. She didn’t really think she needed to tailor her job search somehow. Why? She just needed to do what she was told to earn her mizas.

She pondered for a tick longer. It was true that she couldn’t stick to a job. She’d tried being a teamaid, a cook, a merchant’s assistant… she even tried to pilot a ravosala. It was all either too boring or too annoying or she just plain wasn’t good at it. Piloting a ravosala was the worst one; she had fun chatting with passengers but she quickly realized that her sense of direction was worse than she’d thought. Rohka knew how to get from one place to the next… but does she know the shortest route between two places? Nope. She frustrated a ton of Ravokians that season.

“Um. What do you mean?” She asked, obviously unsure of what the ‘right’ choice for a career would entail.

“I mean,” it wasn’t shocking to hear that the young woman had no idea how to choose a job. Most people in Ravok look for security and comfort before adventure and excitement. Gods know he certainly did. His family took his simple boyish interest in ‘how people function’ and turned it into assuming that he’d be perfect for medical training. Staying at The Healing Hand would’ve been far less risky than the things he’s asked to do now.

“Okay, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?” It was a simple question. There wasn’t much worth in performing a job without some enthusiasm.

“Hmm… I love talking to people,” she said, earning a smirk from the old man. “Um, I like reading, exploring the city, painting… I play with my cards… Ven, I really don’t see how any of this applies to finding a job,” she frowned. “I mean I obviously only chose jobs where I have to talk to people because I know I’d absolutely hate doing something where I’m alone all the time,” she said, rapidly. “But besides that, there’s not many mizas in the amateur paintings I make, plus it takes mizas to make the painting!”

“What cards?” Sariven asked, unfazed, taking another sip. It was the way she’d said it. She’d looked off into the distance and drawled, smiling faintly when she mentioned them, like she was being pulled into a trance before coming back to the present moment, where she’d filled herself with frustration.

“Oh,” Rohka was slightly confused, but didn’t mind the new tangent. “Well, they’re my mother’s. I, um,” This part was always a little hard to explain because she was never sure how a person would react. “She taught me how to read them. Well it’s kind of like a game, and I’m pretty good at it most times.” She watched Sariven’s face as she spoke, noting that he seemed receptive and curious so far. “Well okay, my mother calls them Lheroa cards. She got them from her grandmother a long time ago. They apparently come from down south in the world, passed on for generations,” Rohka didn’t really want to spend too much time on that fact, lest she betray her devotion to the city of her present citizenship. Thanks the gods when the old man interrupted her,

“How do you play?” He had a feeling he knew where this was going. He’d heard of card reading before.

[Rohka]

Rohka smiled at him. A spark of excitement coursed through her body, knowing he was open to play. “I have them with me, I can show you.”

She placed her hunk of cheese on the bar and wiped her hand on her blouse before reaching for her bag. Sariven watched as she pulled out a small, worn leather pouch with a drawstring, the size of her palm. She opened the pouch and shook out the deck. He guessed that there must’ve been about 50 cards, each one with a various colourful images on one side and a uniform, dark, flower-like pattern on the other side. He definitely knew where this was going.

“Let me guess,” he sipped again, catching her eyes, the moment void of judgement. “You’re going to read my fortune.”

Rohka inhaled and held her breath. He still seemed relatively willing to indulge her, which was a plus. But the nervousness of what she was about to do was a feeling that she guessed would never go away, as long as she chooses to touch these cards.

She let out a giggle. “Mmm, close! It’s more fun to try to read your past,” she smirked as she shuffled. Her mother had told her that the game could only be played if her partner believed her. ‘Reading the past’ was the easiest way to ensure that the game could work between them.

Sariven held hope and a little bit of fear. If she turned out to be terrible, it would be a bit embarassing. He figured he could console her somehow. But if she turned out to be good… well, he hoped she wouldn’t say anything too compromising.

“Alright. You do know that I can tell if your extrapolating from things I’ve told you already. That’s my job.” He grinned.

“I know,” she returned his doubt with a confident swish of her hand, fanning out the deck.

“All I need you do to do is ask a question about your past. An open-ended question, to help you understand something about your past, or to illuminate an event in your past with a different perspective. You can start the question by asking ‘What do I need to know about…’ or ‘How can I…’ ”

“Fine.” Sariven paused to think. They hadn’t spoken about his personal life. There was no way she’d be able to glean anything about it from their conversation thus far. “What do I need to know about my very first relationship?”

Love life advice is easy to generalize, he thought.

Rohka closed her eyes. She grazed her other hand over the top edge of every card in the fanned out deck; the dark side with the flowered pattern facing Sariven, and side with the different images facing her.

With her eyes still closed, she spoke softly, “Pick two cards.”

Sariven plucked out two cards at random. He was slightly entranced and slightly amused by the seriousness in her expression.

“Lay them down, face up.”

She opened her eyes and stared deeply into the images laid out on the bar table.

“Your first relationship was exciting, adventurous. Your partner wanted children. The relationship didn’t last. You know your partner wished to have a better life and you yearned to make things better. You weren’t blamed for the relationship falling through, but… um,” she knitted her brows and closed her eyes again, taking a breath.

“Your partner didn’t want to be owned.”

[Rohka]

“She didn’t want children.” He said, after what seemed like an eternity.

Sariven had been solemn and quiet, staring intensely at the cards after her reading. Roh knew it was normal for first-timers to take time to process the reading, so she waited patiently for him to speak. She also knew it was normal to be corrected.

“Oh. Well, it could also mean that she wanted to create something new with you?”

He nodded, slowly.

“Her name was Arebella. She was my slave.”

It was Rohka’s turn to nod.

“She’s in a better place now,” he looked up at her with saddened eyes, but a smile returned to his face. “Well good!” Sariven slapped his hand on the table, shaking the both of them out of the duller mood they’d created. “You’re not so bad at this, dear! Have you ever been to The Mystic Eye?”

“Hm? No, I’ve never heard of it.” Her heart fluttered at the mention of a potential opportunity. She hoped she kept her voice no more eager than she needed to be.

“Lelia is a woman I know who works there. She’s helped us out a few times for our investigations,” Sariven took the last sip from his mug and stood up from his chair.

“I’ll tell you what, dear. Meet me here tomorrow morning and I’ll take you there. She’d be thrilled to talk to you; the woman loves company,” he smiled and picked up his cloak, throwing it over his shoulders.

“I should get going now, I’m due back at the C.E.B for a night shift. It was a pleasure meeting you, Rohka.” He offered his hand and she shook it firmly.

“Thanks Ven, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” Roh waved as he walked off. Was he rushing out?

…

Sariven got into a ravosala and began to brood. There wasn’t a day that went by without him remembering her. He took out a tiny blue gemstone from his pocket and rolled it between in fingers, a tear rolling down his cheek as the ravosala rode on.

[Karyk]

 

Rohka

Skills
Socialization: 3
Fortune Telling: 2
Lores
Sariven Drolore; Interrogator and patron of the Malt House
Sariven: Bounced around many jobs
Lheroa Cards: Reading the past only works if the person believes you
Location: The Mystic Eye
Sariven: Knows Lelia of the Mystic Eye
Lelia of the Mystic Eye has helped with investigations
Sariven will introduce me to Lelia
Miscellaneous

 

Notes and Comments

CS Checkmarked: ✓
CS Reviewed by Me: ✓
Season Request was Submitted for Grade: Fall 517
Season Thread was Started (IC & OOC): Fall 517 & Fall 517
Is that Season's expenses paid?: No, not needed as it is the current season
Eligible for grade? Yes

Minor CS Note: Now that it is Fall, Rohka is 22, not 21

A fun little thread, I enjoy that you decided to find an established NPC and make into a drinking buddy, and use that as a contact for your employment. Very interesting indeed, stuff like that will open interesting doors. No seduction in this, seduction is trying to coerce someone into sexual acts or using the possibility of sex to get what you want. This was just normal socialization. But well done indeed