Completed Entertaining at a family gathering (Job)

[Chandray]

Chandray Evereene Timestamp:Day 80 of Winter 513 AV Chandray was hired to play fiddle at a private family gathering in Bluevein Apartments. It was, a consequence of her efforts to play harp at The Almond Blossom earlier in winter, when a small akalak boy had wanted to play with her. It was thirty days later now and to her surprise she had received a very polite and well written letter with an excuse for the trouble the small mischievous boy had caused her. But the main purpose of the letter had been to offer her to come and perform at a closed family gathering - they were celebrating a newborn child. She would be generously paid, the letter said. It was signed by somebody named Aristis Mauridis. She had never heard the name before, but she was always interested in job opportunities so she had immediately sent the messenger back with a yes. It was of course good to earn money, but what Chandray found most exiting was the opportunity to get to see the akalak culture and family life from inside. She would for once get a brief but deeper look at the life of wealthy akalaks in the upscale part of the city. For a foreigner and outsider like her this wasn’t an everyday thing. She was soon going to start from her home in Northwind Suites, where she was right now half-sitting on a blanket and a pillow from the bunk she had put on the floor, in front of the small fireplace. It was good to sit there and bask in the warmth, dressed in shirt, pants and socks. The apartment was small and simple, but she found it comfortable enough and was happy to have found housing at a reasonable price for such an expensive city. It was a place where she could relax and spend her time playing fiddle without anybody complaining - many other tenants were musicians too, and she could sometimes hear them play their own instruments. She would soon leave, but first she needed to investigate the map and find out which was the best way there. Walks in Riverfall could take time and be strenuous due to all the stairs and steep walkways on the hillside and she wanted to make sure to plan a good route. She spread the map out on the floor in front of her and looked at it. After a few ticks she found Bluevein Apartments ; a blue symbol for residences. It was situated near the waterfall, on the same side of Riverfall she was living. In order to get there she would mostly just need to follow streets that had partly become well-known to her by now. She decided to walk up to the main street and walk on past Arma’Drex Smithy and the Labor Aid Office, then turn right and walk downwards, where she ought to find the residences. Chandray folded the map and got to her feet. Then she put on her knee-high dark brown winter boots, and the cloak, took the fiddle and went out.

[Chandray]

When she arrived at Bluevein Apartments she stopped to look at the residence from the outside. It was located in the cliffside immediately adjacent to the waterfall, and there were balconies with a view of the falls and the Plunge Pool Bay below. Although it was winter now, and nobody could be seen on the balconies, she could imagine it must be fantastic to sit there in the summer with a cold drink and watch the scenery. She went to the front door. It was guarded. She had to give her name at the front desk and the man there checked a guest list before he made a small nod and told a girl doing paper work to show the musician the way to the Mauridis family home. Chandray followed the girl and while they walked she looked around curiously. There were lots of staff around in the first floors, maids, servants, chefs. There seemed to be more than enough service for the residents, she thought. She had expected it to be a luxurious place, after what she had heard about it, but she was still surprised. They reached the apartment where the family gathering was held. The maid knocked at the door and waited until it was opened and Chandray was let in by another maid. Right inside the door she was asked to take off her outdoors wear and her boots, so she did, and the maid deposited them behind a drapery. She could hear the sounds of voices and laugher, and when she entered the living area she saw that a quite big group of people was gathered, a mix of blue akalak men and women of other races, and a few akalak children too, not many. One of them came running to her, small and wild, and she recognized him: it was the small Novalak who had been so mischievous in The Almond Blossom. He called her name in the exited way only children can call your name, jumped at her and chatted about how she was going to play fiddle for them. Chandray laughed and greeted him. She didn’t mind the hug she got, though it felt odd that such a small child was already pretty strong.

[Chandray]

“When are you going to play?” He sounded like he expected her to start at once. “Not yet Novalak” said a darker calmer voice. She regocnized the man too. It was the akalak from the tea salon, the one that had fetched Novalak and carried him back to the table, the small boys grown up brother. “I’m Aristis Mauridis. I thought we ought to make up for the trouble last time I saw you and as we wanted music at the his family party …” He smiled at her and spoke on, well behaved and polite. Chandray answered in the same manner. While they spoke she looked around. The big and spatious living area had natural stone walls carved from the cliff, like a cave. But it wasn’t like a cave there, not at all. Plush rugs covered the floor from wall to wall, big luxurious glass windows let the daylight in, and in the inner parts there were candles in openings in the walls. Couches and pillows surrounded a deep hearth, and the spiral staircase in the center added an artistic and elegant touch. It was beautiful and no doubt expensive. Aristis Mauridis took Chandray on a tour around the room and introduced her to the other people there. Obviously the apartment belonged to a cousin of his, who was the proud father of a new baby, the reason for the family to gather here today. They all seemed to live in other apartments in the same residence or nearby. After this she was simply expected to play nice music and entertain in the background. Chandray found a good place to sit, somewhat to the side so she wouldn’t intrude in the family when they were socializing. She took the fiddle and started playing. Her fingers moved deftly on the strings, pressing down in the right way to make the tones, while she moved the fiddlestick back and forth to make create the sound. She played a light and happy tune, a swefra dancing tune from the Anchorage Fleet, up north in the Suvan Sea. It was one of her favorite tunes and she immersed in the playing, forgetting the surroundings. When the dancing tune was finished she made a small pause and watched the party. It seemed like she was free to choose music as she liked. After thinking a bit she decided to play another happy tune, not unlike the first one. She could be called a pretty skilled novice at the fiddle and many of the tunes she had learnt was in the same style. It was music to dance to, suitable for inns and taverns, where people would tip a busker for entertaining in the evenings. She had heard the instrument be played other ways too, completely other music. The instrument could sound so many different ways, depending on who played and the kind of music that was played. Sometimes when she was alone and just playing for fun she tried to play other things, tunes she wouldn’t perform now and perhaps never. Increasing the speed just for fun she played on, her fingers moving very quickly now and the fiddlestick flying over the strings with an energy and enthusiasm that seemed to carry Chandray away and make her care about nothing else than the music. If she hadn’t been playing so intensely she might have seen more of the party and the people there. But she was after all hired to play. And besides she liked it. Truth to say it didn’t feel like working, it felt like getting paid for having fun.

[Chandray]

“Can I play?” The small voice cut through her immersion and made her miss a tone. It was Novalak, who seemed to take special pleasure in socializing with her and ask to play her instruments. Recalling how he had made the harp sound she wasn’t going to let him manhandle her dear fiddle though. She ended the tune and smiled at him : “A fiddle isn’t like the harp” she said. “A fiddle takes long time to learn, and much practice. In the start, when you are new, it sounds horrible.” This didn’t seem to deter the small akalak boy. He gazed at the fiddle with unconcealed yearning and asked her to please, please, just let him try it once, just once. She hesitated. It was hard to resist the small boy when he asked so nicely and was so clearly interested in instruments and music. But she didn’t want to repeat of what had happened in the tea salon. “Please? I want to play music.” Chandray knew she was being weak now, but she had a soft spot for children, so she gave in. “Come here then” she said. “But you will do exactly as I tell you. Promise?” The boy promised. He was small and like small children use to do, he happily agreed to climb up to sit on her lap, where he nestled in and made himself at home. Chandray helped him hold the fiddle and showed him how to put his fingers. He didn’t press down in the right way, he was too small, but she kept her own finger on the strings in order to get it right. Then she let him hold the fiddlestick, her own hand over his, and they moved it over the strings together. The fiddle gave a horrible sound, as the child suddenly moved and Chandray lost control. She dampened the sound and hoped it had gone unnoticed.

[Chandray]

“Again!” Chandray shook her head and tried to put the boy down on the floor again. But Novalak wanted to play more, so he clung to her and refused to leave her lap. She wasn’t sure what to do now, as she didn’t want to cause a scene, but was saved by Aristis Mauridis. He picked the boy up and put him down on the floor. Chandray could see that the akalak’s mouth was twitching slightly, like he was suppressing a laugh, and his pale eyes was alive with mirth. “Again?” he said, his voice amused. “Are you always this lenient?” Chandray felt a bit stupid for having let the child persuade her and to her own annoyment she could feel that she was blushing. As she didn’t find anything adequate to say she just shrugged and smiled and then she put the fiddle back under her chin again and resumed the playing. Once again her fingers moved on the string and once again she moved the stick, but this time she played a song she had learned in Syliras. Through the music she heard the Akalak laugh. She wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad thing. Work was work and she really wanted to do a god job of it and get the money she had been promised. And she also wanted to avoid the topic he had brought up. She was unsure what the question meant. Chandray didn’t think of herself as lenient, but she didn’t want to argue with the man that had hired her. He was the one with the mizas. Novalak started to argue though. He wanted to play more and he wasn’t’ going to give up easily. Aristis attention moved from Chandray to the boy and in a serious but kind tone he told the child it wasn’t polite to nag. But the boy seemed at once tired and exited and was starting to be difficult. To Chandray’s relief Aristis brought the child with him to the other side of the room where they joined a group of guests and seemed to forget her, leaving her alone.

[Chandray]

After the small incident she played on and on, eager to do her job in a good way. She stopped for a while the new baby was carried down the spiral stair and everybody went to look at it. Chandray wasn’t able to see much from where she sat in the background, but she got a glimpse of a tiny blue hand waving in the air and there was no way to avoid hearing the angry wailing. When the little one had been quickly carried up to the second floor again she played a bit more. But the family gathering was nearing its end and some of the guests were already starting to leave. When Chandray ended the next tune Aristis Mauridis paid her and told her it had been a pleasure to listen to her music. And - perhaps it was possible to hire her to teach the little Novalak to play? Not now, but in spring, when it could be done outdoors and nobody would need to listen ? He said it with a smile. Chandray smiled back and told him she would perhaps have time now and then to teach the boy to play. Why not, she thought. If they would pay her for playing for the child, and teach him to play too, why not. But she told Aristis Mauridis he would need to get an own fiddle for the boy, a smaller one. The akalak nodded. “I’ll see you out” he said. Chandray put on her outdoors wear again, and they went down and out through the lower part of the building, speaking a bit more about the child’s fiddle lessons, until they parted at the front door. Chandray walked home slowly through the winter-cold Riverfall, content with her day. She hadn’t seen as much of the akalak family culture as she had hoped, but it had been a nice job and I everything worked out she could look forward to some easy money in spring.

[Venser Rush]

Grade Awarded!

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Chandray

Award :

Skills

+2 Observation

+1 Instrument: Fiddle

Lores

Akalaks: Even the Children are Strong!

Getting Paid for Having Fun

Novalak: Wants to Learn How to Play the Fiddle

Miscellaneous

N/A

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Notes

A nifty little thread. There was a lot of playing going on, but there wasn't adequate description per post to earn more than one XP in the thread. Especially at Competent level :/ I'm really sorry!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to PM me! Also, when you log the thread into your CS for XP awards, please erase or edit the post in the moderation thread! Happy writing!