Solo The Grand Undertaking

[Rosela]

Timestamp: 5th of Spring 513AV Rosela took a deep breath and drummed her nails on the desk in front of her. The task before her would be the greatest undertaking of her, admittedly short, career. It would likely determine her success or failure in Riverfall. The Spring menswear line needed designed. She’d put it off long enough, making small changes here and there to pieces she knew were worthless. She’d intended to spend a great deal of time on it at the end of winter, but had fallen well short of that goal, getting distracted by the gaiety and relative fun of women’s wear. The time was past for the men’s side to get the complete rehaul it deserved. In front of her: pencil, and paper. Behind her: springtime cotton and linens, a double order of leather, and a small leatherworking kit, credited to the store’s account. Expenses she normally didn’t have, but she did have a plan. Sliding into her seat with the austerity of one sitting for an exam, she picked up the pencil and slid the paper towards her. “Starting already? Are you sure you don’t want to pace around and think some more?” Though it had no face, Rosela got the distinct impression the shadows at the corners of her workroom desk were sneering at her. She still wasn’t sure if the shadows were distinct creatures with individual personalities, or if they just framed their reactions based on her state of mind. The shadows at her home seemed to be calmer, with a touch of the dramatic when she talked to them, while the shadow under the front desk was nothing short of a critical twat. The shadows of the back room were a mix of both, alternately interested in testing both her creative limits and her patience. It was only every seven days that she got to speak to them – normally she worked exclusively at the front desk. “There’s nothing wrong with being careful. If I’m going to redesign half my store, I’m going to do it right,” she snapped at them, flicking her pencil in irritation. They didn’t respond, and she refocused on her paper. “Men want to look good. They want to look good and tough. For women.” There was a snort of derision from the corner. “Something to add?” Rosela inquired testily. “Of course not, you clearly have the whole picture of what all men of Riverfall want…” Nostrils flaring, she bit her tongue. They had a roundabout way of doing it, but she sensed they were trying to help. “I suppose some of them want men instead-” “Now you’re being willfully stupid.” The retort was on her tongue, barely held short of being spoken. “Some want women…and men… and…” She paused, and through the sound of the torrential rain outside, the laughter of children playing in it drifted in through the walls. “And children! They want to be seen as virile and ready to reproduce at any moment.” “And with children comes…?” “Respect.” The word slipped out before the thought had fully processed. “Respect… Siring lots of brats gets you respect around here. Virile, and respected.” The shadows were silent again, and this time Rosela felt satisfied she’d gotten to where they wanted her to go. “So what makes a man look virile…” She continued, thinking out loud. “There’s always the purely physical part. Big muscles, good figure. That nice V-shape…” On the paper in front of her, she sketched a stylized man, with broad shoulders and a thin waist. After a pause, she erased her lines and made the V shape less prominent. “But not every guy is that amazing. They want to be though. So they’ll want things that make them look amazing.” With rough strokes, she added fur draped over the shoulders in a truncated cloak. After another pause, she made the cloak even shorter, only falling to mid back. She made a quick note in Arumenic to the side to attach the cloak to she shirt below it. Leo’s words came back to her, and she reminded herself to think of how all her pieces could function in a battle. The long sleeve shirt beneath the fur came to life with a few lines, and after sketching a plain neckline, and then a turtleneck, she settled on the v-neck. It would show off a strong neck and collarbone, and keep the fur from overwhelming the whole area. Patches of stronger cotton at the elbows and shoulders would add interest to the rest of the shirt, and make it sturdier. Sitting back in the chair, she hummed softly, and casually flipped the paper towards the darkness. She thought she heard a grunt of approval, but didn’t react.

[Rosela]

“So I can do a whole line on that theme. Shirts that make a man look bigger.” She was talking more to herself, and the shadows remained silent. On the next sheet, she drew a relatively plain shirt, this time with a folded collar, one that may be folded up around the neck under some armor, and cuffed sleeves. She made two more notes in the margins, to add discreet darts to the shoulders and waist. She’d experimented with the shoulder darts before, to accentuate the curve of the shoulders. The waist line might not have needed a dart at all – just something to visually trim the waist. “I had all those ideas when Leo was here: stain proofing, double backstitches all over the place, lots of leather...” She sighed deeply at the leather, casting the pile of it a baleful look. She didn’t like working with it, especially since it required a whole new set of tools and real, physical strength to work. Not for the first time, she wondered what Loads of Leather would think when she started rolling out more leather products. On one side, hers were clearly more fashionable, but on the other, slightly more expensive since she wasn’t her own supplier of leather. The miser in the back of her mind wondered just how difficult it would be to tan her own leather, but the smell of the tanner and the thought of working with actual carcasses summarily dismissed the idea. To edge out Loads of Leather, she needed to be more than just a cheap leather supplier, she had to make it look good. Sketching out another man’s figure, she drew a casual men’s jacket, indicating the material to be leather with a quick note to the side. Thinking of the ideal V shape, she added heavy leather patches to the shoulders, in rounded diamond shapes, which bulked out the shoulders a bit. The waist she made form-fitting, and then raised the edge of it from just above the hips to the formal waist line. She’d seen countless men about the city with their weapons around their waist, and she imagined the belt going below the coat, over the shirt and tight against the body for security. She’d never worn a real sword, but she imagined the inconvenience it would cause for a leather belt to slip against a leather coat and start riding the sheath away from the side. “We get it, men want to look muscle-y. There’s other ways to get the point across, you know.” “I do know!” Rosela exclaimed, scowling into the shadows. “I just need a couple pieces on each theme for me to work on.” “And just what are those other themes?” The shadows called her bluff smugly. Thinking quickly, Rosela sat back and folded her arms. “There’s…ah…weapons, obviously. It’s the ultimate accessory around here. You think all this leather’s just for jackets?” “I should hope not.” Satisfied at keeping the upper hand, she twirled her pencil around two fingers. “I know you saw me bring in a bunch of sheaths and stuff.” “And stuff? Very knowledgeable.” “You know what I mean.” “But do you?” “Of course I do.” Her cheeks burned and she pursed her lips. “A sheath is usually soft leather for a smaller knife, and a sc…scabbard is usually hard leather for a longer sword.” She recited almost verbatim what the young Akalak had told her when she bought them. “Very good.” The shadows didn’t sound impressed with her knowledge. “So what are you going to do with them?”

[Rosela]

Choosing instead to show the shadows rather than tell them, Rosela pulled out another piece of paper. “Ok, so the whole weapons harness thing has been done. Tanroa knows how long Loads of Leather’s been around, so the practicality angle’s been pretty well handled.” She drew a man’s torso with a belt and scabbard on. “But just add some stability straps this way, instead of that ugly suspender style they’re using now…” She added two thinner straps that crossed across the chest and over the shoulders. “And bam, pecs and abs, front and center. And a nice big buckle on the main belt to draw attention a little south.” She twitched an alluring eyebrow at the darkened corner as she doodled a silver blob where the buckle would go. “A bit crude for your tastes.” “Only because you know why I’m doing it. Things lose their subtlety when you know the backstory.” The shadows quieted, accepting what Rosela would call defeat in their usual way. “There’s only logically so much we can do with strategic placement,” she continued, narrating her thought process. “And I’m obviously going to make sure everyone walks out with the best fit. Big guys with big belts, little guys with, well, small ones.” “I thought size didn’t matter?” The flat jeer brought a sardonically lifted eyebrow from Rosela. “I assume that’s a joke. Of course it does.” Not bothering to pursue the line of double entendres, she drew two basic belts on a new page, one thicker than the other. “So what do men like on their belts…” “Snakes and snails and puppy dog tails.” “Cute, but not helpful. Okay, maybe the snakes. Swords? Skulls? Monsters?” The ideas all seemed juvenile, and while she could easily picture a warrior with skulls carved into his belt, the image wasn’t very sexy. “A warrior doesn’t boast…” She sighed thoughtfully, silently hoping the shadows would give her a hint. They remained silent however, letting her suffer alone. In an attempt to force her creativity, she drew a double line border on the larger belt. She paused, looking at it, then added a basic design of jagged lines in the space between. It was interesting, and she held up the paper in front of her, and tried to imagine it on a muscle-y hunk of man. The mental image appealed, much better than a row of skulls. The thin belt was more difficult, as neither jagged lines nor swirling ones looked good. She didn’t personally find thin men attractive, so it was difficult to imagine what might make one look good. Scribbling out the bad designs, she drew the double lines of a plain thin belt, and realized it didn’t look too bad as it was. Coloring it in black, she nodded slowly, seeing the attraction more clearly. She made a mental note next to it to make the belt out of extra thick leather, maybe even double layered, so it would be sturdy even despite the thinness.

[Rosela]

Rosela stretched widely feeling very self satisfied. She’d spread her designs out on the table in front of her, partially to show them off to the shadows. “It seems you’ve clearly got the virile part down.” It was disguised as a compliment from the shadows, but she heard the unspoken criticism. “’Respect’ is coming, I’m just resting.” “Hard work, slaving over a hot piece of paper.” “It’s hard work slaving over a hot needle and thread, so I’d better get these right the first time, or I’ll pay for it down the line.” The shadows fell silent, leaving her to her thoughts. A man needed to be sexy to get a woman. He needed the woman to get kids. He needed the kids to get respected. Any man could get a Nakivak, but men still wanted women to want them. It made sense – who didn’t want to be wanted? ”The city is in love with the arts. The gallery, the parks, the festivals, it speaks of a deep love for all things beautiful. Maybe it's not so much that they always value function over form, but that they think of the two things as separate.” She mulled once again over Leo’s words to her, over a season past. She’d thought often on their conversation, drawing what inspiration she could from it. Men appreciated beautiful things, but not necessarily on themselves. Not exclusively for the capture of women, either; there was something deeper she was missing… She suddenly wish she had a man to pick his brains, but dismissed the idea. To reveal that she was lost on the inner psyche of men would be to reveal weakness, and put herself on their level. It would make her vulnerable in a way that was in no way to her benefit. Running two hands through her hair, she tried to refocus on it from another angle. Respect. Children. Women. Beauty. Her eyes popped open. Discipline. Not just beauty, but cultivated, purposeful beauty. Not just siring children, but attracting women who would want him to be a father. Not just making the kill, but making it and coming out flawless. And what did the virile, disciplined man wear? Her designs. Whipping out a piece of paper, there was a noise of curious surprise from the corner. Her revelation had been silent, but she wondered if they had been thinking it all along. “The respected man,” she paused to draw a man’s figure on the center of the page. “Is virile, good looking,” She drew a thick plate of leather at the center of the chest, held in place by crossed belts, with a scabbard indicated by notes in the back. “Powerful, and above all, disciplined.” She drew heavy pants with leather patches for the knees, and three leather straps around one thigh, holding a sheath. “His clothing fits perfectly, and seamlessly meshes with his weapon harnesses. Everything matches, and even better – stain proof.” She added boot and shin covers that laced up at the back of the thigh. Lastly, she colored all the leather black. “And how do you think you’re going to make them stain proof?” “I don’t know yet,” she responded fiercely, and for once, wasn’t irritated that they’d pointed it out.

[Rosela]

She stacked up the designs, one by one, looking over them to make sure they coordinated with her new direction. On the fur cloaked shirt she’d drawn first, she erased the v-neck and added a single button collar. If he wanted to show off a little chest hair, all he had to do was pop that button. She made an additional note to attach the fur with secure, but detachable buttons. Snaps or hooks, preferably, but she’d have to see if she had any left in her button box. If a man had to hook his weapons harness up, it’d look better to have it under the fur, rather than over it, and snaps were easier to connect if he was dressing by himself. The folded collar shirt, she made a note to make with heavy cotton. She started to add pinstripes, since she knew she had that fabric, but erased them after a moment. They seemed superfluous, trying too hard. The leather jacket she made slightly more form fitting, and made a note to reinforce the pockets with an extra layer of cotton on the inside, and a double layer against the body. Whatever went in there should be protected and, worst case, protected from the body. She wondered if there was a way to reinforce them for vials of potions and such, and a made a note to look into it in the margin. On the crossed-suspender belt and scabbard, she added tiny boxes to the front of the smaller straps, indicating to herself that they needed to be adjustable on the fly. An additional note to the side was made to double up the leather on them, with a bit of cotton on the inside – for durability and comfort. The belt buckle she made a bit smaller, to stop it from being too obvious. The two belts she left mostly alone, but did pause to organize the design on the thicker one. It became more orderly and purposeful, as though he designs were a subtle, careless decision. Lastly, she had the full outfit with the crossed leather chest belts, pants, and shin guards. She widened the laces on the shin guards so they were the same width as the straps on the thigh holster, but otherwise couldn’t see what else to change. Leaning back, she cracked all six hands one by one, looking at the spread of designs. “Not bad.” The shadows seemed almost surprised at what she had made. She acknowledged the compliment with a winning smile. “Why, thank you.”

[Limey]

Skill and Lore Rewards Skills Lore Drawing 3 No More Procrastination Observation 5 What Do Men Want? Planning 3 The Hallowed V-Shape Fashion Design 5 Riverfall: Horde Of Brats Equal Respects Psychology 1 Loads Of Leather: A Rival Drawing 3 The Shadows: Smug, Belligerent And Omniscient Being Original Suspender Straps The Shock Of A Revelation Discipline Above All Finally, A Compliment! Additional Notes : I will never, EVER get tired of reading the glorious snarkery between Rosela and her shadows. So funny! Your designs were very cool, too, and I loved the figuring out of what Riverfall and Akalaks really want. Hence you're little point for Psychology: very insightful, and that deserved to be rewarded. Keep 'em comin'. Any questions or queries, please PM me.