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70th Fall, 516 AV
Midmorn.
An illusionary breeze ruffled the tent doors as Ssanya peeked out into the streets of the market. Her gaze was following the back of a man's head, the same man who had just left the shop. He was a bit of a peculiar man, she had decided. It had started to feel odd when he first stepped inside. His right hand had been clutching a faded, ratty old bag. His left hand was gloved, but his other wasn't. Ssanya's boss was elsewhere, out on a supply run, so Ssanya was left by herself for a few chimes to deal with any customers. She wasn't particularly comfortable with this, but it had been quiet for the most part. All except for that man.
As soon as it became impossible to see his head in the crowd, she tucked back into the shop and settled herself down on the pillow that was her workspace. The fabric was worn thin in places, so it wasn't necessarily that comfortable, but she didn't mind either way. Then she took what the man had left behind in her hands, and examined them.
The conversation had started when the stranger had entered the shop, and put the bag of clinking items straight into Ssanya's hand without any kind of explanation as to what it actually was.
"I'll need you to fix this, please." He had appeared polite, but the woman was left baffled trying to figure out what they were. She had opened the bag, looked at the contents, and then been left in even more confusion. She had tried to voice it, but the man had then dropped two cleaned, prepared goat's horns into her lap, and immediately got up to leave, only telling her that he would be back tomorrow to, "Pick it up." She had been unable to ask, and was now left sorting and picking through the strange pebbles with their equally strange carvings on.
However, it was clear to see what the man wanted. Almost half of the pebbles had been burnt badly. That in itself was odd- the burns were neat, orderly, and only affected what she presumed were the backs of the pebbles. The fronts were mainly undamaged, and she gazed at the peculiar symbols etched into their surfaces with a ponderous look on her face.
Without looking, she reached for her engraver's toolkit, which lay on the floor behind her. It was almost pristine, with only one or two tools showing any sign of use at all. Ssanya flipped the leather case open, and took out the wooden-handled tool she called 'the picker'. It was long and thin, with a sharp end. She picked it up and held it in her hand carefully, before picking at the charred bone of the pebbles. Some of them were less burnt than others, and so she was trying to figure out if there was any pattern on the underside as well as the top.
It didn't really seem like there was. It was all such a puzzle! With a half-frown, half-bemused smile, Ssanya tilted her head and picked up the two deer horns for assessment. She could see the half-hearted and sloppy work of someone previously who had tried to make cuts in the horns and had failed. However, it was work that could be easily hidden, she figured. Yet the real difficulty here wasn't remaking the pebbles, but actually figuring out what they were for. The actual job that the man had left for her was easy enough. In fact, with two horns, she figured she would have enough to make two sets of whatever-they-weres.
OOCHey Nephti! So I figured Nephti could come into the shop, and Ssanya would probably ask the first person who comes in if they had any idea what the pebbles (aka runes) were. But feel free to take it however you want!
Midmorn.
An illusionary breeze ruffled the tent doors as Ssanya peeked out into the streets of the market. Her gaze was following the back of a man's head, the same man who had just left the shop. He was a bit of a peculiar man, she had decided. It had started to feel odd when he first stepped inside. His right hand had been clutching a faded, ratty old bag. His left hand was gloved, but his other wasn't. Ssanya's boss was elsewhere, out on a supply run, so Ssanya was left by herself for a few chimes to deal with any customers. She wasn't particularly comfortable with this, but it had been quiet for the most part. All except for that man.
As soon as it became impossible to see his head in the crowd, she tucked back into the shop and settled herself down on the pillow that was her workspace. The fabric was worn thin in places, so it wasn't necessarily that comfortable, but she didn't mind either way. Then she took what the man had left behind in her hands, and examined them.
The conversation had started when the stranger had entered the shop, and put the bag of clinking items straight into Ssanya's hand without any kind of explanation as to what it actually was.
"I'll need you to fix this, please." He had appeared polite, but the woman was left baffled trying to figure out what they were. She had opened the bag, looked at the contents, and then been left in even more confusion. She had tried to voice it, but the man had then dropped two cleaned, prepared goat's horns into her lap, and immediately got up to leave, only telling her that he would be back tomorrow to, "Pick it up." She had been unable to ask, and was now left sorting and picking through the strange pebbles with their equally strange carvings on.
However, it was clear to see what the man wanted. Almost half of the pebbles had been burnt badly. That in itself was odd- the burns were neat, orderly, and only affected what she presumed were the backs of the pebbles. The fronts were mainly undamaged, and she gazed at the peculiar symbols etched into their surfaces with a ponderous look on her face.
Without looking, she reached for her engraver's toolkit, which lay on the floor behind her. It was almost pristine, with only one or two tools showing any sign of use at all. Ssanya flipped the leather case open, and took out the wooden-handled tool she called 'the picker'. It was long and thin, with a sharp end. She picked it up and held it in her hand carefully, before picking at the charred bone of the pebbles. Some of them were less burnt than others, and so she was trying to figure out if there was any pattern on the underside as well as the top.
It didn't really seem like there was. It was all such a puzzle! With a half-frown, half-bemused smile, Ssanya tilted her head and picked up the two deer horns for assessment. She could see the half-hearted and sloppy work of someone previously who had tried to make cuts in the horns and had failed. However, it was work that could be easily hidden, she figured. Yet the real difficulty here wasn't remaking the pebbles, but actually figuring out what they were for. The actual job that the man had left for her was easy enough. In fact, with two horns, she figured she would have enough to make two sets of whatever-they-weres.
OOCHey Nephti! So I figured Nephti could come into the shop, and Ssanya would probably ask the first person who comes in if they had any idea what the pebbles (aka runes) were. But feel free to take it however you want!
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