Snow Time Like The Present

by **Ennisa** on January 19th, 2020, 6:54 pm

9th Winter 519 AV
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"Good morning!" Ennisa's bleary smile welcomed the lanky stranger into the Cosmos Centre. She was stood at the welcome desk taking a stint for Youchi, whose turn it was to have some time off. Her son was somewhere about, but Ennisa didn't much care for the lad. This was mostly because he was roughly the same age as her, and had what she thought to be a cocky, know-it-all air to him.

She looked at the stranger, who had removed his hat and was in the process of shaking the damp snow from the rim, as well as from the hem of his long cloak. "It's nice to see the snow, isn't it?" She called this out conversationally across the room, to the annoyance of her co-workers. Ennisa was only partially oblivious, but it amused her to wind up her colleagues.

She was helped in her wind-up act by the presence of the baby on her hip. The baby, who was yet to be named, was cocooned in a sling she'd crafted and was safely strapped to her hip, which allowed her to work mostly with ease. He wound her colleagues up by his occasional outbursts of tears and the soft grizzling he made as he chewed his mother's clothes. Ennisa had fast grown used to his peculiar noises, but her co-workers had to suffer through it as best they could.

The boy was asleep at the moment. She had managed to get him into a schedule which minimised his waking bells during work time. Usually this meant instead that she was awake most, if not all, of the night. Hence the bleary smile she shot in the stranger's direction.

"Aye, it sure is lass. Though I've fast grown weary of it." By it, he meant the snow. Ennisa didn't really agree; the snow had been magical when it first began to spiral down onto the city, and she would continue to think so. However, she kept her lips shut. Youchi had recently noticed her smart mouth and had pointedly warned her not to be so out-spoken when it wasn't necessary. Ennisa was head-strong, but not entirely stupid, and she'd heeded the request from her boss.

"How can I help you?" Ennisa looked over the man, and brought her pen to the ready for whatever it was the man needed. "I'm looking for work. I arrived a few days before the snow hit; I've not been in Lhavit for half a season at least." He narrowed his eyes briefly as he thought. "I did have a job getting meat for Sazeema, but she's gone now." The man faltered over the mention of Sazeema. Ennisa noticed a slight downturn in his lips, and wondered who he or she might be. She realised he had more to say, so allowed him to continue whilst she jotted down a little of what he'd said on a scrap of paper lying on the desk. "I remember the Hunter's Guild. Are they still accepting members? I'm good with a bow, and I have a keen eye."

Ennisa searched her memory, and nodded agreeably. "I don't think anything has changed at the Hunter's Guild recently. I would be happy to pass along a message, although I believe they would prefer a direct request. Do you know how to find it?" Ennisa's head tilted in the stranger's direction. Before he could reply, she suddenly remembered she needed something else as well..- "Oh! My name is Ennisa. Could I take your name?"

The stranger grinned equally suddenly. Though he was quite gaunt and scruffy, the smile split his face into something kindly that made Ennisa think of a nice old grandfather, though this man probably wasn't old enough to be one. "I'm Ruben. Ruben of the Foxglove, though I'm happy to be simply called Ruben. As for the Hunter's Guild, if I wandered Lhavit for long enough, I'm sure I could find it. If you could give me some instructions on how to get there, I would be very grateful."

"There's another thing too, Ennisa. I'm looking for somewhere to stay. I usually camp, but at this time of year it isn't so pleasant, and I'd like to see a bit more of society. Where's best, and how many mizas am I looking at?"

It took Ennisa a moment to register the word mizas. He was of course referring to money. "I think you've been away from Lhavit a little longer than you thought if you've forgotten that already. We use kina here, Ruben. But the best place to stay, that would be the Shooting Star Inn, if you aren't staying here long. Otherwise, if you are looking to put down roots, there are rooms at the Solar Winds, or there are a few properties available to buy on the Okomo Estates."

WC: 804

by **Ennisa** on January 21st, 2020, 6:07 pm

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"Oh, I see! Yes, you are probably right. In that case, can I exchange my mizas here? I'll be needing the proper currency for my stay, no matter how long I'm here for." Ruben began rummaging in his pack, which was a dark, stained leather that showed its age. Ennisa waited and played a little with the baby. She got a strand of her hair and dangled it in front of his face. He would try and grab it, but he was only small, and her hair fell through his stumpy little fingers.

"Right, here it is." The man withdrew a smaller pouch of leather, which was tied with a string. Ennisa picked it up, raised her eyebrows at the surprisingly hefty package, and replied, "You'll have to bear with me a moment." She smiled encouragingly, and walked through to a back room.

She carefully shut the door behind her. The room was quiet and empty, except the stacks of boxes and various organisational detritus that gathers in an establishment as busy as the Cosmos Centre. Ennisa was glad of this - she wanted to look at the mizas in private, because she'd never seen the currency before, and she was desperately curious.

Carefully, she opened the pouch and poured the contents out onto the table. The coins were larger than she expected, and were a mix of some metal and coloured stone. The stone in question was similar to kina, though there were different, more varied shades sprinkled through the mix. The metal made her stare, like a magpie, because the precious metals gleamed in an appealing way in the clear snow light that streamed through the window. However, Ennisa didn't have all day to idle, so she searched for the conversion sheet to check. It was usually lying around on the desk...

After a quick scan, she saw the well-used scrap of parchment lying on the side. She picked it up and smoothed it down. The instructions couldn't be clearer, though they were written in the most minimal of ways. One gold miza is one kina. One silver miza is one topaz kina. One bronze miza is one jade kina. Ennisa located the lock-box containing the exchangeable kina, and then paused. Petch. Of course, she'd forgotten the key.

She scooped the man's mizas up and poured them back into the pouch. It wouldn't do to leave his money strewn about and for some to go missing. Once that was done she went searching for Oishi, Youchi's annoying son. It was him who would undoubtedly have the key.

On the way back to the main room, she first walked up to Ruben to explain what was going on. He had been waiting five chimes now, but nevertheless he looked cheerful even as she explained. "Hello Ruben, I'm just getting the key so I can exchange these mizas for you. Please, take a seat over there and I'll call you when it's ready."
"Alright. I'll go see to my dogs then, outside. Would you catch me outside if I'm not in here when you're back?" Ennisa nodded in agreement, and watched Ruben walk off before shaking herself to attention again. Where was Oishi?

WC: 532

by **Ennisa** on January 21st, 2020, 10:06 pm

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The answer to the question was not as straight-forward as it could be. Ennisa knew the lad liked being outside. In fact, outside was his favourite venue to tell his tall tales. However, what with the weather being what it was, it was unlikely that there was anyone lingering, and so she discounted that from her search. She quickly scanned around the interior of the front hall, but couldn't see the kid anywhere, which meant it was more likely he was lurking in the back somewhere. Her next port of call was a little room filled with people's files. She knew she had seen him there on occasion.

She made a hasty beeline for the door, and twisted the handle to step inside. There was a couple of clerks within who were checking on a couple of records. Ennisa stepped closer, and grinned jovially. "You folks haven't seen Oishi around have you?"
"Nope, sorry." The other shook his head too. Ennisa sighed, thanked them, and left again. Not there.

There were a couple of storage rooms adjacent, and she checked a few of those before eventually finding the lad sequestered cosily on a wooden chair bedecked with padded cushions. A scruffy book was propped in front of him. To any casual observer it would look as if he was deep in thought. Ennisa's eyes narrowed, and she approached for a closer look. Without much surprise, she found he was snoozing.

Most of the Cosmos Centre staff found Oishi a charming and helpful young man. He was bright, cheerful, and full of enthusiasm. His eagerness to help, his love of a good story, and his knowledge of Lhavit made him a key player in the organisation. Yet, despite (and perhaps) because of all that, Ennisa found him distasteful. The fact she'd found him asleep was somewhat of a vindication. She had no sympathy as she spoke loudly into his ear, "Wake up Oishi!"

With a flurry of movement, he awoke. The book, a journal of sorts, slipped from his loose grasp and landed spine up on the floor. His feet shot from their tucked-up position and landed squarely on the floor, and his eyes flickered into awareness as he sought to identify whoever it was that had roused him. When he saw it was Ennisa, a look of confusion blossomed across his face. She wondered if he had been expecting someone else.

"What is it, Enni? How can I help?" She sighed. "Don't call me Enni." The response was snappish. Oishi looked a little hurt; a little affronted. "How can I help, Ennisa?"
"I've got a traveller at the front desk waiting to get his mizas changed to kina. I need the key. Do you have it?" She stood with her arms folded, waiting for an answer.

Oishi wrinkled his nose as he straightened, but a certain brightness twinkled into light as he reached to his belt and extracted the key, which was held on a brass loop. "Here it is!" She took the proffered key and twirled the loop once around her finger. "Thanks." The boy, who seemingly had forgotten Ennisa's terseness, grinned and enthused, "You're welcome!" As she walked away from the insufferable teen, she hefted a sigh, glad that was the extent of their interaction.

With the key now in her possession, she was free to go about the task she needed to do. The curiosity mounted as she remembered the weight of the mizas in her pocket. The counting room was still quiet and empty when she reached it again, so she poured the contents of the pouch out onto the table and heaved the heavy lock-box into position. The lock clunked satisfyingly as she twisted the key, and she opened the box to view the glittering hoard within.

WC: 632

by **Ennisa** on January 25th, 2020, 9:15 pm

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Firstly, she needed to make sure she was giving Ruben the correct amount of kina for his miza dosh. To do that, she needed to count out how much he had. She scanned the coins, and began to separate them out into the colour of the rims. She had one gold pile, one silver-edged pile, and the last was the bronze or copper coloured rims. Once she'd done this, she quickly dashed up to go and grab a small roll of paper and an ink pot, before returning to the mizas she'd arranged. She began to count... One, two, three, four... Once she had made a pile of ten, she wrote '10' on the paper as a record, and put the header 'gold to kina'.

She did the same for the silver and copper-rimmed mizas, and each time put the corresponding kina type as the header so it was clear at a glance which was which. Once she had done that, she added the numbers up (albeit slowly) and wrote the total down. 346 mizas. It was an impressive sum for such a scrawny-looking man. Ennisa supposed he didn't have much chance to spend it if he was stuck in the wilderness. That thought lead to wondering how he managed to survive, because by all accounts the wilds surrounding Lhavit weren't exactly easy to live in. They weren't called the Unforgiving for no reason.

Nevertheless, it was time to count out the correct kina. She scooped a loose collection of the coins onto the table, separate from the mizas, and began arranging these into their groups, too. She then grabbed a handful and started to count them out. Each group she checked on the sheet she'd made, and put the kina into neat piles. She counted under her breath as she did so, just to make sure. Even then, once she'd finished, she counted through the coins to double-check. Thankfully, she had been going slow enough that she hadn't made any mistakes.

Ennisa started to deposit the kina into the man's coin-purse. Once this was done and the purse was satisfyingly heavy, she moved over to collect the chest labelled MIZAS, and shuffled through the keys on the loop until she found the correct one to open it. The chest creaked open and revealed the sparkling collection of coins within. Ennisa succumbed to temptation and plunged her hand within the pile, just to see what it felt like. Then, already feeling like she was being watched, she withdrew her hand and sensibly collected Ruben's mizas to deposit within the chest.

With this done, she locked up the two chests she'd used, and begrudgingly went to find Oishi to return the keys. This time, to her satisfaction, he was a lot easier to find as he was at the front desk talking animatedly to a young woman, who was laughing mirthfully. Ennisa approached and without even stopping to explain, walked straight up to the teenager and deposited the keys with a harsh jangle onto the desk in front of him. "There ya go."

She smiled without any amusement, then turned on her heel to walk outside into the snow. Ruben needed his kina, and she wanted to see his dogs.

WC: 539

by **Ennisa** on February 2nd, 2020, 6:52 pm

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Outside was freezing. An impolite wind breezed over her and the baby, who awoke with the cold and began to shuffle uncomfortably until his foot was lodged firmly within Ennisa's side. With gritted teeth she mumbled, "You little petcher," but no matter what she did she didn't want to disturb the boy further by moving him, so she let him be. She squinted against the bright light as she looked about for Ruben, and saw the gangly man several metres away playing with his two dogs.

She grinned as she watched him throw a scrap of meat high in the air. The dogs, both lithe, dark-haired things, leapt up and collided in mid-air as they went for the treat. Their gracefulness instantly displaced by their goofy yapping over the morsel of food. Ennisa's grin broadened to a chuckle, and she walked up to the man with the coin purse held loosely in her grip. Ruben looked up as he heard her approaching, and he sternly directed his dogs to heel. She admired the speed with which they obeyed.

"Are those my kina, then?" Ruben looked a little less gaunt outside. Ennisa noticed a little flush to his cheeks; the same kind of flush she had from the biting air. He clearly felt more at ease in nature than he did within solid walls. She nodded and replied, "Yes, here are your kina." Jokingly, she continued. "Don't spend them all at once!" She grinned a little up at the man, but her smile fell a little when she realised Ruben was no longer paying her much attention, but was instead patting his dogs.

Removed from the position at the front desk, Ennisa's professionalism deserted her. She stood there awkwardly, trying to keep her baby from crying, and waiting for a response from the man. "Can I help with anything else then?" Ruben looked up at this. "Oh, yes! Would you accompany me to the Hunter's Guild? I can't quite remember the way."

She brightened immediately. "Sure, are you ready to go?" Ruben ran a hand through his snow-damp hair, looked about him at his two dogs and his pack, and shrugged. There was nothing else; this was all he had in this world. "I'm ready."

Ennisa began walking, with her mental map of Lhavit up and ready in her mind. Admittedly, she hadn't properly visited the Hunter's Guild before, but she did have a rough idea of where it was. Somewhere on Sartu Peak, as far as she could recall. For a while, they walked in silence through the mushy snow. Ennisa kept a side-eye on the baby, but he seemed calm as he peered out at the passing streets and snowflakes, his dark eyes absorbing everything he could see. No hint of a glow from his pale skin.

"This way." They passed over the bridge. Ruben began to talk as they walked, and they shared a pleasant conversation about nature, his dogs, and Lhavit as Ennisa practised her job. Compared to her last stint as a tour guide, this was much more pleasant. "So, Ruben. How long do you think you'll stay?" He mused thoughtfully to himself.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. It has been a long time since I've been in Lhavit. Time has moved faster than I might have liked. This city holds many memories for me. I'll stay for a few seasons at least, earn my keep hunting. Do you like venison, Ennisa?" The man narrowly avoided the personal stuff, but despite Ennisa's natural impulse to pry, she liked the man and decided to leave him alone. They walked and talked good-naturedly all the way to the Hunter's Guild, where she bade him and his dogs farewell.

On the way back to the Cosmos Centre, she dwelled on Ruben. His stories of hunting in the Unforgiving made her wonder what it was like to be self-sufficient. She liked the idea of living from the land, but there were so many terrifying stories of monsters, and nature itself, that she doubted she could ever survive in the wilderness. As a Lhavitian, she respected and enjoyed nature, but found comfort and solace in the city. Yet, as she thought about all the things he'd spoken about, she found herself challenging her own mindset. Perhaps she needed to be able to survive by herself. She wanted her own independance, didn't she? And what if Lhavit didn't always like her as much as she liked it? Then what?

With these thoughts, she spent the rest of the day at the front desk, but she could not concentrate and went home with her mind in the clouds.

WC: 774