[Registration Office] Black Cloth Omens [Kayak]

by **Tierra** on September 6th, 2017, 5:05 pm

21st of Fall 517
6th Bell

Tierra ‘woke’ at the crack of dawn -- what constitutes waking when one didn’t sleep well the night before at least. Smug face Charlotte Cairnswarren’s stupid voice and words kept the young orphan up. "Ohmigosssssh, you're in sssso mush trouble Tear-uh!"… Shut up and lemme alone The words plagued the girl’s thoughts and ‘dreams’ fitful sleep gave way to the rising rays of Syna. A new day had begun and Tierra was not ready for it at all.

Preparing for the day as an orphan was easy, a fast breakfast of porridge – a few bites of the gray clumpy mush was all her knotting stomach could handle. What do they want with me? A wash in the basin, luckily she was the one that had to draw the water, heat it, and pour it for the morning so she got real lucky to having a warm bath. The heat from the water kept creeping in her exhaustion and dragging her to sleep, but the importance of the day cause the orphan to stay awake. A chime later the orphan was washed, dried, clothed in what could be called her only best – a gray skirt that lacked as little holes and stains as possible, a non-wrinkled shirt to accompany it. Her well-worn gray jacket and knee high socks with black shoes finished off the outfit .

Her hair was combed straight and down, to hide as much of her features as possible – not that they were anything amazing. What do they want with me? A man in black and stuff… The Citizen Registration Office? What did I do to gain the ire of this… man in black? Still she was ready for Ms. Sonja at quarter to the 9th bell. Together they left the orphanage, not a word spoken between them. A Ravosala was hailed and the duo got aboard, directions from Ms. Sonja to go to the Employment Office was given. A nod from the silent man steering the boat and away the three went. It was a quiet and almost serene ride, enough to give the small girl a chance to nod off and get a few rocky snoozes in, only to be roughly woken by her chaperone’s voice calling to Tierra to come along, they mustn’t dawdle.

And groan from the orphan gave way as she climbed out of the small boat and onto the canal’s shore. There it was, not far off, the Registration Office. A gulp from Tierra showed her fear clearly. A look down to the ground as she was directed to move forward. It was just a half past the ninth bell now. And accurate to Ms. Sonja and the rest of the chaperones, if they were right on time they were late, if they were a chime early, they were on time… It took less than a chime to arrive at the Office and ushered in. Ms. Sonja had handed over some kind of paper to the guard and they were allowed in without question.

by **Kayak** on September 7th, 2017, 7:15 pm

The two busiest roads to evil are vengeance and temptation.

Jill sat behind her desk, nervously fidgeting in her chair, seemingly unable to know what to do with her hands. Tawny was pacing around the inside of the room, face stricken with apprehension. Eyes looked up as the doors opened, the little girl and older woman started to walk in. The guard halted the woman, "Just the girl."

Ms. Sonja's eyes flared with annoyance. She might be a stern, shrewd woman, but she truly did care for the well being of her orphans. But she knew she could not question the man. In an extremely rare display of comforting, she placed a hand upon Tierra's shoulder, "I'll be right outside this door. Do as they say."

With that, the woman turned and stood there in the center of the waiting room, everyone giving her a wide berth, fearful of the aura of motherly wrath just barely contained by a thin smile. The guard closed the doors behind Tierra, and resumed his post.

Jill and Tawny both stared down at the young girl, worry in both their eyes. But worry for themselves, not for her. Then their eyes glanced over Tierra's right shoulder. A man stood there, leaning against the wall. Even though he was right there in the room, it felt as if he were a ghost, a shadow. Nothing from him could be heard. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing.

Jill jumped as the man coughed, and stood up straight. He plucked a honeyed candy from his pocket, and popped it into his mouth, before offering a second to Tierra. "Don't mind them. They think I'm here to punish them for something. Probably thinking that they messed up one of your records and I have brought you in as proof before I slay them."

He moved silently around the desk, footsteps completely and utterly silent, nonexistent really. Striding about, he stopped behind Jill's chair, when he suddenly clasped his hands down upon the woman's nervous shoulders, and she yelped weakly, visibly shuddering. "But no, I'm not here for that. Nor am I here for the bribes they don't give us the appropriate share of. Petty cash really. Leave that to the Cherries, if any of them have a proper brain between their ears."

The man had dark brown eyes, and close cropped hair, and a soft, teasing smile, staring down at Tierra. A hand moved from Jill's shoulder and stroked her cheek lightly before moving a stray strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. "No. I'm here to present you, Tierra, with an opportunity."

With a firm squeeze, he let go of Jill, walking over in front of Tawny, eyes looking up and down the man's form, unimpressed. The man wore nondescript black clothing. No formal garb whatsoever. Stepping past the man, who finally breathed once more, this mysterious stranger moved to the front of the desk. He hopped upon it, sitting upon Jill's perfectly neat and organized paperwork.

"Why you? And for what? No need to bother me with such questions. I have a mission and we need to move quickly to see it to fruition."

With that, he pulled something from a deep pocket, and held his hand out. It was an origami squirrel, bounding about in the man's hand. "I know you, and many others, have one of these. This is not an invitation. It is a threat. One we must stop. And you will help with that. Starting today, and once per tenday, let's say... on the days ending in '9', you'll work here. Let's call it an apprenticeship for now. And do so honestly. Learn the trade. These two will help to get you incredibly involved, so no area of this building is off limits to you."

The man hopped off the desk, landing more silent than a cat, "You answer to them, and to me. Learn this... boring paperwork job. Appreciate it. And remember, you have this opportunity by the good grace of Rhysol. Do not disappoint him. Or me."

With that, the man held the squirrel up in front of her eyes. Then the creature's tail caught fire, seemingly for no reason. It scampered in pain and fear, running around in his hand, squeaking loudly. It tried to jump from his hand, but kept being stopped by an unseen force. The fire slowly consumed the creature until it was nothing but ashes. The man blew the ashes into the face of Tierra, then ruffled her hair playfully. "I must be off. Much work to be done. Enjoy the new job."

And with that, the man opened the door, and nodded at Ms. Sonja, her face going from concern to true worry. The guard shut the door once more, leaving Tierra alone with her new coworkers.

Super Secret Dice Roll :

Code courtesy of Prophet the swagnificent

by **Tierra** on September 8th, 2017, 4:54 pm

Tierra was just ready to follow Ms. Sonja into the adjacent room when the guard promptly halted the duo and spoke a single short sentence: Just the Girl. Normally this would give Tierra a look of smugness on her face that would quickly be hidden from the woman watching over her, but today those words cause Tierra to seize in her tracks only long enough for the lady to place a hand on her shoulder and reassure her in a quiet way that everything is okay, that Rhysol has a plan for this. Right, you will be out here and I will be… In there. She nodded a small short nod before stepping past the woman and through the door.

Once the door was closed though, Tierra jumped when it clicked shut. The look though on the two people behind the desk made the orphan frightened, there was clearly something that scared them and it was behind Tierra, just beyond her right shoulder it would seem. As she turned though the man coughed – and as if in perfect synchronicity she jumped with Jill. A brief shriek of fear escaped her lips and her heart immediately thudded hard against her chest. He was rather quiet, shadowy in his positioning. Tierra paused in thought, allowing her heart to regain its normal rhythm before her mind went a million miles a second trying to figure out what was exactly going on. How come I didn’t see him when I walked in? He should’ve casted a shadow…The thoughts were quickly banished though as he offered her a honey candy.

It was on autopilot that she reached up for the sweet bit and promptly popped it between her lips. As the sweetness invaded her taste buds the orphan remained observant of the flavors and the man’s attitude. Something about the way he carried himself made Tierra want to emulate him more. She heard the words that came from his mouth and grimaced, she followed him, turning as he walked past her ready to raise her hand and speak in the two people defense, when he continued on. I am just an orphan, what papers do I have? As her eyes observed the cute redhead shudder and yelp in fear.

An opportunity? Tierra wasn’t sure what he meant by that, but needless to say she was about to find out. When he came around to the front of the desk and sat down, she was about to speak up asking what he meant by those words when he kept going. When the mysterious man pulled out an origami squirrel from his pocket and spoke Tierra knew immediately before he spoke – He knows I have one…

The man continued though, not allowing Tierra to speak a word into the matter. He sees this as a threat, something to be stopped. I felt something was fishy with the name of a group called the Inverted… My help though? What does he need me for? I am nothing Don’t they have better trained people do what he wants?

Yet he kept going, more words, more demands. I will be… Working? Starting today? And then every day thereafter ending in 9… So, let’s see. That would be the Twenty-ninth, thirty-ninth, forty-ninth, fifty-ninth… So eight days total this season. To learn… the trade… What trade? A look of confusion and then fear cascaded over her face, Those two will help me get involved? Involved into what?! And this building, I have access to it all?

He hopped from the desk just then; Tierra flinched, her eyes squeezing shut, in the assumption of a loud impact of his feet hitting the floor, but instead nothing. Just silence. Opening her eyes she looked at the man, “Boring paperwork job… got it.” She looked up at the other two, Paperwork job? There has to be plenty of other things they do. But the man’s last bit though struck fear into the girl’s heart. Do not disappoint Rhysol or him. Tierra nodded her eyes wide and filled with terror at the idea.

Lastly he lifted the paper-squirrel before her gaze and she watched as it ignited out of nowhere. It started to squeak and run, but was unable to. She watched in terror until it was reduced to nothing but ash. A brief tick it sat as a pile on the man’s palm, the next it was in her face swirling around her eyes causing the orphan to shriek and try to remove the ash from her face and eyes. It was warm and stung. Soon, with watery eyes, panting fear, and ruffled hair she watched the man blurrily walk away open the door and leave.

“What about Ms. Sonja though?” She spoke softly, as if the air and her new ‘coworkers’ would have the answer.

by **Kayak** on October 10th, 2017, 2:35 am

"Speech"

The man's gait did not stop at Tierra's question, but his course did. Silent footsteps carried him over to the matron, she was stiff as he approached her. He got close, far too close for the older woman's comfort, the closeness a lover might receive. The man slipped a hand around her waist, pulling her even closer to him, before whispering into the chaperone's ear. With that, the man departed, and all eyes were on the woman whose face of worry had been replaced by one of pure terror.

Quickly she rushed into the room, crouching down next to Tierra. "I'll be here at nightfall to take you home. Be very good to these people, and do what he says. And tell no one about this. You must do this better than anything else you've ever done."

Then standing up, her eyes still fearful, but with a hint of motherly fire, she stared at Jill, "You'll treat Tierra here as an honored apprentice. If I hear of any mistreatment, that man won't be the worst of your worries."

And with one more comforting hand on Tierra's shoulder, Miss Sonja left. As she did, all eyes in the building followed her, a lioness that had been cornered. But still a lioness, fierce and proud.

And for several moments it was quiet, until the guard coughed, and then remembered his duty, and closed the doors to the office. Jill still sat there at the desk, stricken, pale and white, while Tawny managed some semblance of normalcy.

"Follow me, girl."

He led her through one of the two doors at the back of the office. This one had not been locked, and led into a massive room with spiraling stairs leading both up and down. The room was filled with rows and rows of books, some thick, some thin. And upon the spines were names.

Some had but a single name, 'Terrence Coldbright', but others had 'Julia Fairchild', with 'Claretta Lorenza' and 'Shamara Zecheska' below them. "This is where you will be spending much of your days, as a copyist. We are busiest in the mornings up front, so before lunch, you'll be up front with Jill or myself, learning how to take in new citizens. In the evenings you'll be back here working through the older dossiers and copying them into the new books you see here."

He climbed the spiral stairs upward, into a room filled with messy and disorganized boxes. "These are the old files. They are remnants of a time before I began here, and must be added into the system. Every citizen gets their own book. All documentation and information we have for them is available within them."

Heading back downstairs to the main floor, Tawny disappeared into the shelves before returning with a thin book labeled 'Tierra' on its spine. He handed it to her, "You'll probably be too curious to resist looking for it, so let's get it out of the way now." Inside the book, it had all the important moments within Tierra's short time in Ravok. It had the date when she selected her family track, the dates of the man who adopted and abused her, the date of her return. A yearly report from the orphanage on her progress. But on the very last page, after several blank pages, was a small footnote, and a basic map of the city. Each building was shown with a simple shape, but no names or indentifiers were attached.

4-5 5-3 4-2 4-1 6-5
1-8 2-7 6-8 1-7 5-7 5-3

"The fresh books and other supplies you'll need are downstairs. All copy work must be done there. If you need to add to existing books, please follow the organizing schemes we use here. It's very standardized. You are not to speak of anything you learn here. To do so will invite death. If you need any help, ask Jill.

And with that, the man left Tierra there, in the room of documents, containing an impressive amount of information of every person in Ravok, past or present.

Code courtesy of Prophet the swagnificent

by **Tierra** on October 11th, 2017, 1:23 am

Tierra watched in near fear as the man never stopped to answer her question – at least not verbally. No, he answered in a way that could only cause a sinking terror in Tie's chaperone. The look on her face, the stiffness of her body as Ms Sonja was pulled into the man's embrace unwillingly. He leaned forward and whispered something into the older lady's ear. It sent visible shivers down the girl's body at the very thought of what he told her. As quickly though as he whispered he was gone. The look of terror that quickly replaced the look of fear and worry cause Tierra to shrink on instinct as the chaperone approached rather quickly.

It took Tie only ticks to realize she had nothing to fear but that man's unheard threats, whatever he said to the woman put a thorn in the lady and she wanted Tierra to be completely obedient, to do as she was told and to do the best she could... Better than anything else she has ever done before. Right now anything better than being abused or falling from a window isn't going to be too awfully hard. Tierra thought, it was almost an afterthought though, all she could do physically was nod though, the orphan was unwilling to speak in case she spoke something out of place or worse Tierra was afraid she would unleash even an ounce of the fear she felt in a torrent of words that she couldn't take back. Luckily for Tierra though the look of fear was quickly replaced with a look of protection only a mother would have – it was briefly seen by Tierra but she saw it nonetheless.

The next fired set of words were directed to the young girl, still clearly scared of the man that had left. Treat Tierra like she was an honored apprentice. Whatever that means... Then there was silence. Pure unadulterated silence. It hung there, palatable and heavy until the guard coughed and resumed his duties. It startled the young orphan, a bit of a shriek broke free from her lips. She managed to gulp it down as the man behind the desk finally spoke.

Unlike the man that just left, this one did not scare Tierra as much. Briefly Tie assumed it was just a part of his job, to put people at ease she thought. It was the first time Tierra though could recall hearing him speak and she did as was commanded. She followed him through one of the two doors that were in the back of the office. A mental note to remember for later was that the door was unlocked. Does it always remain that way? What she walked into though, it was a treasure trove of information! Rows upon rows of books, like a library. In a way though, it was. As she looked at each book she could read the names on the spines, they were real names, not story titles.

“What is with the ones that have multiple names on them?” She reached up and pulled the Julia-Claretta-Shamara book from the shelf, almost without thinking or asking. Her body was stuck in place with the book in hand, she didn't want to forget where it was placed. The leather felt cold in her hands, as if it hasn't been held in some time. This room was surely not cold though, but the book was certainly chilled. Looking up at the man her hands absentmindedly went to flip open the book, only her conscious thought brought the book snapped back shut and she slide it back into place.

No. I am a copyist. Not a snoop. Tierra noted her duties, “In the morning I am to help you... Out there at the desk?” She pointed at the door they passed through just ticks ago, there on the other side of the barrier was the desk and the young redhead girl Tierra wondered curiously if she was still frozen in fear. “Then after lunch I am here... Among the... Dossiers...” She spoke the word 'dossier' with a whispering of awe, not sure what the word truly meant but she mentally penciled that in to ask what the word meant later. Maybe Sayana would know.

Following him up the stairs to the above floor Tierra came to see the room the task she was given. It was grunt work, a monumental task that she felt doomed to deal with. “So I am being tasked with taking this... Mess and turning it into...” The orphan girl pointed down the stairs in the direction fo the shelves of books, “Those?” There was no immediate answer, it was obvious he just wanted to plow through his task of explaining everything to Tierra so he could get back to his duties and she could do... Well, whatever was necessary to start. “Every citizen... Documentation and information? What kind of information?” She questioned, it was the start of a flood of questions, yet when the younger of the two managed to get to the bottom of the steps Tawny had already disappeared into the shelves.

She felt odd to be just left hanging out there at the bottom of the stairs that acted as the bridge between the old and new systems of data entry for the city Tierra called home. What he returned with was something that the girl never would've thought to have seen in a million years. A thin leather bound book with a single word stenciled into the spine – her name.

If what she was just told by the man holding that book was true, inside that might have more questions than answers... It might hold secrets even Tierra was not aware of about herself. As he held it out to her the girl took it slowly, a mixture of curiosity and confusion ran across her face, it was hard to comprehend everything that was going on just then.

As her fingers took hold of the edge of the book she lifted the cover, revealing neatly written lettering. Crisp and clear. Inside it was her track selection, her adoption that slid into soul crushing abuse, and her eventual return. Tierra has to pause and re-read several of the pages again, to ensure she was reading what little was there accurately. They have been watching me... All this time. Flipping past the the empty pages though it felt heavier in the back of the book then the rest. Instead of just flipping all the way through it she flipped the back completely over, now holding the closed book in reverse and with her right hand the orphan lifted up the back cover.

There revealed the last 'note' on Tierra... A map of the city, the buildings were shown as squares, circles, or trianges. Nothing too elaborate. And a series of numbers. Four,five, five, three, four, two, four... Wait.. There are small dashes between then... Four dash five, five dash three. I am going to need to figure out a way to remember these.

And it seemed as if her answer was given to her just then. Fresh book, supplies are downstairs... Where the copying needs to be done. Standardized format, simple enough it seemed. Once again, the comment of total silence on her tasks here or death was imminent... Tierra had a feeling that is wasn't going to be her death. Jill... That was the young redhead lady manning the desk right now. And then he was gone. Tierra stood there, her hands clasping the book on herself. The map and the odd combination of number pairings were calling to her. Begging the girl's inquisitive mind to search out the answers.

With book in hand she ran down the stairs in a hurry, the supplies she sought out was easy enough to find. A massive table before her and with it a quill suspended in an inkwell. She grabbed the quill and yanked up her sleeve. In the crook of her elbow Tierra wrote down a handful of the number pairings '5-4, 5-3, 4-2' she yanked up her other sleeve and with her opposite hand the orphan wrote down the other set of pairings from the smaller line, '4-1, 6-5'. Without much thought after that she waved her arms about, the air quickly drying the ink so it wouldn't rub when she yanked her sleeves back down. Sitting down at a nearby stool she lifted her legs up and yanked down the knee high socks down her shins.

With fresh ink dripping from the quill the orphan scribbled the pairings: 1-8, 2-7, and 6-8 onto her left leg just on the middle of her shin and allowed it to dry before she yanked the sock back over it, hiding it. On her right shin Tierra scratched down the last set:1-7, 5-7, and 5-3. Once that one was dried she pulled her sock back up and replaced the quill back in its inkwell.

It was just then that Tierra realized she was breathing heavily. The idea of doing something that deliberately went against what she was just told was exhilarating. Finally closing the book Tierra reminded herself to grab a map of the city. Like the ones they might give new citizens... Her eyes drifted back up to the floor above her. Grabbing the book from the table she stepped back up the stairs slowly, going back through the shelves the girl hoped to find where the location of her book went.

After some time though the orphan just gave up and placed her book on a nearby table that could be easily seen. She had no idea where it went and figured the man or Jill would come back around and assist in returning the books to their rightful locations.

WC: 1643

by **Tierra** on October 12th, 2017, 12:30 am

Tierra went back up to the old dossiers, preparing to take the first step into her duties as a copyist. She didn't want to even think about the threat of death looming over her head, the ink on her limbs made the skin feel taunt from the fluid losing it's fluidity. Resisting the urge to scratch at the numbers Tie picked up the first box she came across and carried it back downstairs. The papers ruffled around with each thudding step down, her small body groaning with the weight. This was not an easy task for her little body.

Five dash four... Five dash three... Four dash two... Ran through her head as she glanced down at her quivering left arm. With a sigh of relief she dropped the box down at the floor at the foot of the steps. Gasping for air she sat down on the step itself and leaned over, her eyes catching brief words on the papers on top. She looked at the box itself, there didn't appear to be any indication of the people who's lives were chronicled within. A frown came to her lips as she picked up the first paper on the top of the stack, it was a name that started with an 'E', the girl couldn't read it, as the letters were far too faded due to age. It only felt normal though to go in search of the name on the shelves, there was a last name started with a 'B'. As she stood by the first of many many shelves the girl realized she was far too small to see the top shelf standing as close to the shelf as she currently was.

Stepping back she craned her neck, this shelf contained a bunch of names starting with 'P', clearly the name on the paper the orphan held was not going to be found on this shelf and the need to search down another was clearly needed. Taking pause, trying to gain some kind of orientation to the direction of the room from her standing point. Directly in front of her was the wall, to the left it went away down to a corner were it was darkened due to distance. Tie could see the glimmer of a torch or some other kind of light source down there, but it was of no use for Tierra strain her eyes to see that far. To the right though she could see the door that she went through earlier. E's must be towards the door. She turned towards the direction of the letter 'E' that Tie figured was in.

It took about twenty ticks to find the the letter 'E' in the row, but as the orphan walked down the list she was unable to find the name in concern. After about two chimes worth of time of looking she set it aside in the box. The girl spent several more chimes looking for names, unable to so far find any of the ones she looked for. After returning the dossiers to the box Tierra sighed, she didn't have the energy to go searching for the materials needed to go and begin copying, but she did go grab the quill and marked on the box 'Books needed.' Tierra figured she would need to create a system that worked for her in order to get through these details.

Instead, the girl now realized how much more time she had left in her day, several more bells to go, and thus decided to allow her curiosity get the best of her. So off she went! Down the S shelving is where she ended up finding herself. “Say... Anna... Say... Ah... Nah...” Her fingers touching the spines of the S names in the row she was in, they were all 'Sa-' but Tierra had no idea how to spell the rest of her savior's name.

“I wonder if she is a newer citizen. I would imagine that the newer citizens would have a smaller notebook, having not been in the city very long why would they have a thick one?” Tierra's reasoning seemed sound, if her thin leather bound dossier was of any indication to the twelve year old, a new citizen might very well have a thing one too. “Say... Say...” She muttered as she kept walking slowly down the row of books, “Sat... Saw...Say!” So this was a good start Tierra figured, assuming her savior didn't give her a false name. Should have thought about that... Ignoring that thought though and assuming that the multi-armed lady was telling the truth Tierra looked at for thinner notebooks. Only two were in the Say's that fit her desired description: Sayana and SayeshaJust a random name.. Pulling down the books she read the names to her self, “Say-An-Ah and Say-Eh-Sh-Ah”... The girl looked back over her shoulder, she was still alone. Looking back at the two books the girl picked the one on top when she held the properly in her left hand, it was the book on Sayesha.

“Sayesha is a Eth... Eth... AH... Ethah...” After struggling to pronounce the race Tierra just shook her head and shut the book with a thud, “... Nope. This one apparently has horns during the day. Apparently she is some kind of horse riderDrykas at night?” She shut the book and slid it back into place on the shelf. The girl was nowhere ready to try and understand what that was all about.

“One last book.” She looked down at the cover. It's leather binding danced in the fire light of a nearby torch. As the girl stared down at the book she felt a sense of hesitation. It felt like she was about to just get some secret kind of details found only to her savior and whoever wrote the dossier's original details. It was this book that she wanted to read. Yet she was scared too. It was too soon.

“Later...” She broke off the feather tip from the quill she had brought along with her and without looking the orphan slid the broken off bit between two sheets of paper somewhere in the middle of the book and slid it back into place on the shelf to the left of Sayesha's book. Trembling from head to toes the orphan turned away from the books and walked back to the box that held the old dossier's, it was time to copy...

---
At nightfall Tierra was picked up as expected. Once back at the orphanage the girl grabbed her notebook and starting with her left arm she wrote down the number pairings, then she moved to her right arm, then to her legs. Staring at the number pairings Tierra spent time trying to figure out their meaning...

WC: 1129