Completed [Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Dovey on December 5th, 2017, 10:27 pm

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11 Winter, 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"


Gods, but she'd been hard up lately.

Well, she said lately. It had been two seasons now, as long as she had been in Alvadas, since Dovey had had much in the way of mizas to spare. At first it had been the city's illusions throwing her off her stride - she had lost so much time, wandering irritably through the streets before she'd learned Alvadas would direct her to her destination if she only relaxed. And when she did manage to find the Stables, she spent as much effort jumping at illusory shadows as she actually put into her work. Then, just as she'd been getting used to her new city, the sickness had come - and, well, she didn't really want to dwell on that. Especially not its last phase.

All that was going to change this season, though. She was at the Stables now - she'd come just as soon as she thought she could get through the streets without being buried in a snowdrift - and with the sudden onslaught of winter there was a good deal she could do to earn her keep. The moment she'd arrived she had been handed a shovel and told to clear a stall which had been left open during the storms. Half a bell later she was there yet, tossing shovelful after shovelful of glittering snow out into the yard beyond the door. The stuff was still calf-deep on her stocky frame, and it clung wetly to her legs, bringing out goosebumps.

Soon, though, she'd have a little saved up, and she'd buy such warm furs and woolen clothes she wouldn't be cold again all winter. Her energy renewed by the thought, she carried on, attacking the frozen snow with the edge of her shovel. She'd get this stall cleared before the bell was out, see if she didn't. She was tired of living at the low edge of decency. She was ready to be comfortable again.

Dovey's toes were numb and her ears red and stinging by the time the last shovelful of snow was added to the pile outside the door. It was better than another missing winter, with all the chaos that had brought on the world this past year - but did Morwen really have to make the season so petching cold? She leaned the shovel against the wall and stamped her feet, blew into her hands, rubbed her palms in little circles against her ears. This clothing was really not anywhere near warm enough for the weather. Well, never mind it now. Just as soon as she had enough mizas saved up she'd go shopping.

And in order to make that possible, she reminded herself, from now on she had to really work. Retrieving the shovel from where it rested, she slipped through the door and past the small mountain of snow she'd removed from the stall - only to pause as she spotted the stablehand who'd sent her off to shovel in the first place. He was staring at the snow pile.

"Shyke, Dovey," he said, pointing at it. "What's that meant to be?"


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Last edited by Dovey on December 13th, 2017, 2:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Dovey
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[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Dovey on December 6th, 2017, 4:17 am

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11 Winter, 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"


Dovey blinked, then stiffened. She hardly knew this man, and what was he implying with that tone? "It's a heap of snow," she replied coolly. "As one might expect."

"Yes, yes," her coworker said, impatient. "My point is, what the sweet petch is it doing there?" He gestured at the pile, the broad sweep of his hand encompassing both the snow and the doorway from whence it had come. "We might want to use that stall before spring, you know."

Dovey turned to look at the snow pile. She hated to admit it after the way he had spoken to her, but he was right; no ordinary horse would consent to wade through that mess, and no competent handler would want one to do so. "Right, of course," she said. I wasn't thinking, she would have added if he'd been polite about the matter, but instead she only turned her back and fetched the shovel, shoulders squared and chin high. "I'll move it out of the way." The yard this stall opened on was small and seldom used; she didn't relish the idea of shifting all that snow again, with her arms already aching, but there were several corners available for her to shift it to.

"Just make sure it really is out of the way this time," the other stablehand said. "Don't put it by the little gate, we'll be using that once we dig it out of the frost. And - "

"Thank you, Ser Speaker," Dovey snapped. It was mixed in quality as retorts went, but she was too cold to be clever, and more than anything she was finished listening to this gangly boy puff himself up. She slid the edge of the shovel beneath the snow and levered it upwards, taking the strain in her protesting shoulders and back. She'd have liked to take a few breaths before beginning to work again, but not with the other here. She would not present a hint of incompetence to him, to give him fuel for his patronization.

There was silence for a moment behind her, and then, "Sorry." He sounded sheepish. "I just want it done right, that's all."

Well.

She wasn't so sure if she could believe an apology coming from the likes of him.

After a moment of silence, in which Dovey carried that first shovelful to the nearest out-of-the-way corner, he coughed and began to crunch away through the frost. Dovey waited until his footsteps had faded before she relaxed. That had been uncomfortable. Thank gods the cad was gone.

Thank gods, because although she hadn't shown it, her back was now really beginning to protest. While she had simply been repeating the same motion, bending to take up a shovelful of snow then tossing it out the doorway beside her, the developing ache had not been a hindrance. But now she found that when she braced her bent back against the weight of the snow, it cramped in protest as soon as she attempted to straighten up and carry her load to its corner. There had to be some way to save herself that pain, not to mention the trouble it took to work the kinks out of her muscles each time so she could actually continue her labor.


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[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Dovey on December 9th, 2017, 4:32 am

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11 Winter, 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"


Perhaps she could shovel without bending her back at all. If she straightened her arms all the way down and held the shovel beneath her...

She tried it, but it was no good; the pull itself was still in her lower back, and her arms shook with the effort of holding her load at such an awkward angle. She readjusted and dumped that shovelful, then turned back toward the snow pile, resolving to keep experimenting.

A few swift hoofbeats were all the warning she had before a ghostly gray horse burst into the yard from the hallway. Dovey recoiled instinctively, clutching her shovel before her like a shield, as the mare ran straight for her only to veer at the last moment and trot the circumference of the yard. A moment later the stablehand who'd been so irritating earlier came dashing out of the hallway as well.

"Help me catch 'er!" he puffed out, waving the halter and lead rope which dangled from his hands.

Dovey bit her tongue and glowered, waiting for the runaway horse to surge past before she strode urgently to the stall and tossed her shovel down inside. Of all the people who could have come running here after a lost horse, it simply had to be this man again. "Stop flapping about - " she hissed, closing the meager distance between them and snatching the rope and halter out of his hands. "You're going to spook her. Go stand by the hall and keep her out of it." He might be better than Dovey at shoveling snow, but judging by the way he'd raced out here panicking, she had a bit more experience in dealing with horses.

She couldn't deny the prideful satisfaction that brought her.

The horse was still circling the yard, head held high and tail like a banner. Dovey was pretty sure this was a game to her, but that didn't mean her energy couldn't turn frightened at a moment's notice if she were startled. Holding the lead rope ready to slip round the mare's neck, the young woman stepped forward, into the middle of the circle the horse was trampling in the snow. "Shhh now," she said, her voice as low and calm as she could make it. "Whoaaa now, girl."

She got no reaction, which was disappointing but not surprising; not many horses in such a state of excitement would heed a mere verbal command. They might just have to wait for her to tire herself out.

She saw a movement in the corner of her vision, and then the lad was beside her, reaching for the halter. She yanked it away. "You need to be blocking the hall."

"You don't understand," he said, "I need to - "

"You need to keep her in this yard if you ever want to find her again," Dovey snapped. This stable could be a maze - for petch sake, didn't he know that? The lad scowled and reached again for the halter, but she took several steps away from him and after a glance at the mare he returned to his post.


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Dovey
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[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Dovey on December 11th, 2017, 4:17 am

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11 Winter, 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"


The mare was still circling the yard, now trotting, now taking a few strides at the canter. Once she slowed to a walk and Dovey started toward her, but when she saw the girl coming she bucked her way out of reach and ran swiftly on. She was tiring, it was clear - Dovey could see her flanks puff in and out more rapidly as she breathed, and her speed faltered every so often - but regardless, the mare seemed determined to keep out of reach. Little tease.

Dovey was prepared to stand and wait for her to fully exhaust herself, but her companion evidently had no such plans. He called to her from by the hall, voice dark with impatience and something stronger: "You come guard. Let me get some grain and lure her in."

"You want to use good grain for that? She doesn't need fattening," Dovey rejoined, turning to face him. He was almost two heads taller than her, and she had to nearly crane her neck to look into his face, but she wasn't going to start acquiescing to him now. "She'll quiet in ten chimes or less, and you'll have her back without any waste."

"Petch it!" He shouted the words; Dovey jumped, and the mare spooked momentarily away from him before resuming her normal trot with her ears pricked higher than before. Dovey glared. How dare he act so high and mighty, as though he couldn't wait ten chimes for her to catch a horse which was his petching charge, and then yell fit to frighten half the horses in the stable? If he wanted the mare to listen to him, he had better start acting as if he had even a drop of horseman's blood in his body - something which Dovey was beginning to doubt. "You spooked her," the girl contented herself with saying, jerking her chin at the gray mare as she passed by in her circle again.

"I know," he said, quieter now. "Sorry - really - only I really need to catch her - " He backed down the hallway. "Keep her in here." Turning, he loped away.

Dovey scoffed loudly at his retreating back, but she moved over to the hall in time to ward the mare away from its entrance when next she came near. What in Hai could he be in such a hurry for? A tickle of doubt stirred at the back of her mind. She'd sort of assumed he was just being unreasonable, but even twits didn't get panicky for absolutely no reason. Compressing her lips, she kept watch over the gray mare, hoping her coworker was simply overreacting to whatever the situation was.

In a chime or two he came running back out, brushing roughly past her with a bucket swinging wildly in one hand. "Watch yourself!" she cried, indignant, and the mare made a sharp turn to avoid the sudden noise and movement. But he paid no attention, taking a few more running steps before skidding to a halt in the center of the little yard, bucket held out at the end of a long, stiff arm.


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Dovey
One unlucky girl
 
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[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Dovey on December 13th, 2017, 2:15 am

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11 Winter, 517 AV
"Speech"
"Others"


The horse stayed well clear of the swinging bucket, notwithstanding the rattle of grain from within; her eye rolled so that the white was visible as she kept good watch on the boy who held it. Lips thin, Dovey stepped to her coworker's side and seized the bottom of the pail, steadying it."You're frightening her," she said, unnecessarily - the lad nodded unhappily at once. Dovey hesitated a moment, then added, "Is there something going on? You seem really nervous."

"Something going on," the lad muttered. "You could say that. I - I didn't want to tell you." And he fell silent again.

"Oh, come on," Dovey said impatiently. "Do you want me to help or not?"

The lad sighed, a short, tense sound. "All right," he said. "Only it's stupid. It's - well, my da's here."

Dovey softened. "Family trouble?" she inquired. She could understand that well enough. The mare trotted around them, her circle tighter than before; now that the bucket was holding still the grain it held was beginning to tempt her. The lad shook his head, hesitated, then nodded.

"He doesn't like that I work here," he confessed. "Wants me doing something fancier, I guess. I thought if he saw how well-run this place was - but then the snow, and it just had to be a mess on the day he came to visit - anyway, that's why I was rude earlier. Sorry."

Dovey nodded, accepting the apology without fanfare. He'd owed her one.

"But Da was impressed by this girl," he went on, waving a hand at the mare. "He told me he'd like to try riding her. So I went to tack her up for him and, well - " He shrugged helplessly. "I was careless, and here we are."

"I see," Dovey replied. "Well, we'll get her in a chime." The mare had come down to a walk, but Dovey didn't want to approach her and risk setting her off again. Better to let her nose in for some grain and get the halter on her while she was indulging herself. The young woman eyed the mare, who seemed to be circling in closer to Dovey than she was willing to come to the other stablehand. "I think maybe she's wary of you, with all the running about you've been doing. Why don't you back up and I'll grab her?"

Her companion nodded immediately, apparently calmer and more willing to listen now that he'd aired his grievances. He turned and went to the hallway, though as the mare hadn't taken that route while no one had been blocking it, Dovey doubted there was much risk of her doing so now. Still, better safe than sorry. Alone now in the center of the yard, Dovey shook the bucket softly, making the grain rustle inside. "Come here now, girl," she murmured. "Come on now, get some tasty grain in your belly. Come on." She was just talking, saying anything that came into her mind. The important thing was the soft, soothing voice. The mare slowed, looking at her, ears positioned tautly forward but gradually softening. She whickered.

"Come on, come on," Dovey said, and the mare made up her mind. She turned from her circle and walked straight to Dovey's side, plunging her head into the bucket. Dovey looped the lead rope over her neck and let her get a mouthful of grain before tugging the mare's head out of the food and slipping the halter onto her face. She let the mare eat a bit more grain before she set down the bucket and guided the horse to the other stablehand, giving him the lead rope.

"There," she said. "Go appease your dad," and turned to retrieve her shovel. She was a little sorry she'd treated him so shortly today, but she didn't show it. People were still responsible for their behavior, even when they were in difficulty. He ought to know that.

He murmured thanks and left the little yard, mare clopping behind him as placidly as though she had not been at such mischief only a few moments before.


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Dovey
One unlucky girl
 
Posts: 269
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[Unstable Stables] Snow-wreaths

Postby Madeira Dusk on January 25th, 2018, 10:50 pm

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Dovey

Skills
  • Endurance: 3xp
  • Cleaning: 1xp
  • Logic: 1xp
  • Retoric: 2xp
  • Weightlifting: 1xp
  • Horsemanship: 1xp
  • Socialization: 1xp
  • Persuasion: 1xp

Lores
  • Lore of luring a horse with food
  • Horsemanship: calming a startled horse

Awards & Retribution


Notes
*Sass: 1000xp

I look forward to seeing more of Dovey and her adventures in the city of illusion! You play an Alvadas forigner better than anyone I've ever seen. :nod:
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