Open [Riverwave Plantation] Just Another Day in Paradise

[Opal Draer]

16th of Fall, 513AV

Opal had chosen the most remote landing of the plantation for her morning's activities. Shady and open enough to benefit from the slight breeze, it also overlooked the fields, the slaves, and the generally less glamorous areas of the plantation. Which meant that she was unlikely to be interrupted while she worked. She spared a moment to gaze out over her family's plantations. The floating gardens were out of her line of sight, but there were groves of cacao trees nearby and a handful of slaves scurried to and fro, tending them.

Enough! Make music, she told herself sternly.

She bent her head over her lute, fingers lightly flying across the strings in a warm-up melody. Without a pause, the tune turned joyful, lilting over the plantation, melody accelerating towards a high and quavering end note. Opal grinned. The song was one of her favorites, and always got her fingers loosened up. It was the perfect preface to the more serious finger work she'd come to practice.

All intense focus now, Opal readjusted her lute in preparation for the unfamiliar hand positions she had in mind. A casual observer would have taken her to be the very image of a devoted musician; her brow furrowed in concentration and small, even teeth clamped onto her lower lip. She presented the image, perhaps, but the ears were left wanting. Notes jumped forth, awkward and deliberately slow, as Opal attempted to coordinate her fingers in the foreign positions. The hesitant notes were not made sweeter for the listeners' wait. Sour and twanging, they echoed through the air, accompanied not by sweetly sung words, but by words best suited to a sailor's mouth.

Or a svefra's.

Plink! "Petch it! This doesn't work. How could this work?" Twang! "What petching masochist developed this method?!"

Opal glared at her lute. It wasn't the instruments' fault, of course; it was perfectly lovely. The belly was stained a deep honey color, sanded smooth and polished to a high and gleaming shine. The instrument's 17 ribs sat in her lap; comfortable, lightweight and with a lustrous shine of their own. Gator-gut strings climbed up the neck, straight and taut... And mocking her.

A huff and an audible sigh left her frustrated lips.

The freeborn who had visited her shop recently had mentioned the new plucking technique, where the thumb of the hand was positioned outward, toward the neck, rather than toward the musician's body. "Thumb out", it was called. The strings were plucked, then, as usual. It had sounded so much simpler when the man explained it. But it was proving more of a challenge than she had the patience for.

[Lilou]

Lilou was working at a Cocoa tree when the music came. She wasn't very tall, and not so helpful with this job, but... she was told to. She needed to pick some of the riper beans, and spotting them out was something she had an uncanny eye for. Reaching up to her full height (which wasn't very much) the little girl was just able to tap the bean she was aiming for. Frowning, she jumped, smacking it harder. She hopped again, able to close her fingers around the object and pull it down as she fell. The thing collected, she plopped it into the basket at her feet before looking for the next cocoa bean that was ripe. She found one on a neighboring tree, at a perfect height, sticking out on a low branch. She moved up to it, tapping the bean to check if it was ripe. It let out a hollow sound, telling Lilou that her guess had been correct. She dug a nail into the base, slicing it off carefully. She didn't want to damage the tree, otherwise it wouldn't grow any more pods from that spot. It came off quickly, and the girl added it to her basket with the other. That was when the music caught her ear. Simple, true, but nice, and it called the little girl's ears like a mother. She turned to it, and wandered towards a figure, where the noise seemed to come from. She frowned, basket in hands as she stood watching the woman. It was obvious she was one of the masters- a Drear, and Lilou recognized the red hair and the music. It was Mistress Opal, one of the Dynasty family. She didn't always come out to play her wooden thing, and the slave rarely heard, but it was... simply amazing. It was obvious she was deprived of music. She watched for a few moments, lost in the sound, until the Mistress starting swearing loudly at the instrument, and one of the guards came by and noticed the frozen slave. "Get back to work" he told the girl gruffly, cuffing her around the ear. Lilou yelped and fell back, muddying her dress, and bringing a chuckle from the freeborn. Not wanting to get his again, she turned and scrambled to the nearest tree, dragging the basket along. In a rush to get back to her job, the slave found the nearest ripe-looking pod and quickly cut it off, grasping it in her hands like it meant safety. Only then did she remember that she hadn't double checked. The girl rapped it hard with a knuckle, possible a little too much, as the joint throbbed a bit. It let out a dull clunk, not the hollow noise she should have heard. Lilou gulped, realizing she'd picked an un-ripe fruit. They would get so mad at her for wasting it! Her lip trembled in worry. Maybe if she rolled it into the water, they wouldn't notice... Hands wobbling, she lost her grip on the bean and dropped it onto the soil. It rolled before she could grab it, dropping right into the nearest entrance into the swamp, and sinking out of sight. The slave gulped, worried, but persuaded herself that at least the cocoa pod had done the job for her. Hands still shaking, she set off to find another plant to pick.

[Opal Draer]

16th of Fall, 513AV

Opal glanced up toward the fields; a child's exclamation drawing her attention momentarily from her music. Watching with mild detachment as the guard ordered the little thing back to work - girl couldn't be more than eight or nine, and really too short to be efficient at harvesting cacao beans. She made a mental note to speak with the foreman about his assignment of slaves; clearly the man hadn't made the connection between the child's size and the height of the trees she was intended to be working.

That's what happens when you pay freeborn to do the job, Opal's thoughts echoed. Really, there was very little difference between these freeborn guards and the slaves her family owned. Both were terribly uncouth, and barely worth note; her nose wrinkled slightly, as though smelling something entirely unpleasant.

Not that Opal minded all freeborn. Some of them were quite handy, in their own way. And certainly it was amusing the way they toadied up to the Dynasties - though some Dynasties really didn't deserve that sort of behavior. Rajor. Radacke. The names flitted through her mind of their own accord, and Opal smirked a bit. But, still, some freeborn found something appealing in the two families. There really was no accounting for some people's tastes.

Realizing she had been staring in the direction of the little girl, who had since gone back to hop-picking pods from the trees, Opal dragged her thoughts back to the matter at hand. Giving up on the new fingering style for the time being, she instead switched back to her standard technique. Thumb facing inward, fingers parallel to the strings she plucked, Opal gave in to the devilish voice in her head and began to play a lively tune she'd heard coming from the slave's housing a few nights prior.

Playing by instinct, Opal kept her eyes on the young girl. It was interesting, now and then, to tease them a bit. She wondered if the girl would be distracted by the music. If so, would the guard notice? Opal's toe tapped along of its own accord, the tap-tap-tap of her boot on the wooden floor providing a quiet counterpoint to the rollicking tune echoing from the lute.

Not for the first time, she wished she'd been more interested in the vocal aspect of her music. It was just that most instruments were played with the mouth, the air, and so you didn't need or even have the option to sing. But her first love was the lute. And plucking the strings would be so much more immersive if she could manage to carry a tune at the same time.

[Katherine Morealis]

Katherine sauntered through the floating structures of Riverwave, gingerly walking on the wooden floating bridges that made up the plantation. She knew the paths by heart, having ran to and fro them since childhood with her friend, Opal Draer. Today, she came to meet her, waking up too early for her liking and having had nothing to do at all. She didn’t like lingering around Blacksugar when her two uncles were there, prancing around like monkeys with only the faintest bit of intellect. The boredom is killing her, and she wondered if Opal had something in mind they can both do. But where the petch is she? She’s been to her suite but there was no one there. A pleasant sound caught her ears. She didn’t need to look for her further. Following the all-familiar melody of her friend’s lute, Katherine made her way towards the landing overlooking the groves of the plantation’s cacao trees. She remembered the song all too well, Opal had played it to her a few days before when they were alone. It was a slave’s song, her friend had mentioned hearing it from a slave’s quarters. Katherine wondered why her friend even bothers to hang around those peasants. Well, she knew exactly why, but still. Humming the tune in time to Opal’s playing, Katherine moved to sit with her friend, whose gaze was glued on something from the cacao trees. Following her line of sight, she realized Opal was looking at a tiny slave girl, a field worker. What is it this time? What’s interesting with that sorry excuse for a slave, Katherine wondered as her icy blue eyes scanned the girl. Finding nothing of note, she quickly returned her attention to Opal, gesturing for her to continue playing. Despite her friend’s considerable lack of mastery with her current instrument of choice, Katherine always liked listening to her play. Unlike her, Katherine was not so talented in the musical arts, despite having a keen interest in it. She wished she was able to play something. Katherine frowned at the sudden realization of her musical ineptitude. She only had her voice, and she knew she even with that she’s still not good enough. Maybe she can ask Opal to teach her to play something. Perhaps she can go with a violin, like her father did. She thought it a really beautiful instrument, and the sound it makes is simply perfect. “Opal, I’m bored.” Katherine complained after a short while. “Do you know of anything interesting to do? You know, the usual stuff?” She grinned meaningfully, wiggling perfectly arched eyebrows at her friend. They haven’t stirred up trouble for quite a while, and it’s about time they do. It’s boring when life is all work and no play, after all. How’s a rich lady to cope?

[Lilou]

Despite the certainty that she would get in trouble for it, Lilou turned back to Mistress Opal as the music came again. This time it was much nicer- much more upbeat, and happy. She recognized if from somewhere, but wasn't quite sure where. She paused in her work, hand grasping one of the pods, and stared at the Drear. A friend had joined her, seemingly. Another important person, but not of this family... A large smile grew on the girl's face. She couldn't help it. The sound was just so... amazing! Her fingers began to tap on the pod with the rhythm, it making a nice hollow sound stating that the bean was ripe. But she didn't care. Her toe began to tap too, along with her fingers. She really wanted to dance, but... that would get her in way too much trouble. Anyways, here came a guard... One of the Freeborn men strode up to the happy slave, and Lilou noticed just too late. He cuffed her around the head, smacking her back to the ground with a throbbing on that side. It hurt. "What do you think you were doing, slave? Get back to work idiot!" He didn't seem to notice what she'd really been doing, or the family member she'd been staring at. He also seemed oblivious to the music effects. The girl crashed to the ground with another cry of surprise, wrenching down the pod with her. Now sprawled on the dirt, she spluttered "Yessiryessir! Sorrysorrysorrysorry" She spoke so fast that it was hard to understand what she was talking about. Lilou scrambled up, using the tree for support, still clutching that pod. The Freeborn had walked away, laughing at the little girl's distress. Glancing at the pod, then at the tree, she frowned. She'd destroyed the eye when she fell... that meant no pods from there next season. Sighing sadly, she dropped the pod into her now half-full basket and returned to her search, the music still itching at her conscience. OOCMess with Lilou as muuuch as you like

[Opal Draer]

16th of Fall, 513AV

So engrossed was she in her little 'experiment', Opal barely acknowledged that she was no longer alone on the veranda. Aha! The little slave was, once again, entirely distracted by the music Opal played. And, at least she could say the freeborn was not derelict in his duties - he quickly caught the slave slacking off and cuffed her for it, knocking her to the ground. Opal felt no pangs of guilt at the girl's punishment; she should have known better than to let herself be distracted from her job.

“Opal, I’m bored.”

Opal turned away from the fields to see her friend, Katherine Morealis seated next to her. It was a comment Kat often made, and Opal was well-used to hearing it. "Hullo, Kat," she smiled a greeting. She was past the point of feeling like a frump whenever Kat was nearby; the other woman made it her business to look good - literally. As the owner of Black Diamond Cosmetics, Kat's success was entirely dependent on her ability to make people look good. And that started with herself.

“Do you know of anything interesting to do? You know, the usual stuff?”

It was said with a grin, which Opal returned. She had planned to spend the morning practicing that new playing technique, but there was no way Kat would sit still all morning listening to badly played 'music' - if what she'd been doing earlier could be termed such. So, what to do? Eyes straying back to the little slave girl, Opal began to get the faintest glimmer of an idea.

Kat loved handing out fashion advice - had, in fact, done so entirely unsolicited on more than one occasion. While it wasn't the 'usual stuff' that the other girl had requested, chances were good that they could find some trouble to get into in Kenash. Besides, it wasn't completely unwarranted; Opal's wardrobe did need some fleshing out before fall got fully under way.

"Let's go spend some money, Kat," she said with a grin. "You can dress me up in all the finest, and I promise this time I'll even buy some of it."

That girl can't pick cacao pods, Opal thought, mentally referencing the little slave in the fields, but I bet she could carry my purchases, anyway.

[Katherine Morealis]

Ahh… Shopping. It was not what she had in mind when she decided to make her way to Riverwave, but it was just as good as any. Her clothes were all the rage this past summer, but now it’s just that. A thing of the past. She needed a fresh set to keep in vogue. But to think that it was Opal herself who asked to go out and get spending was such a pleasant surprise for Katherine. Usually they come to a point when Kat had to forcefully drag Opal out of her instrument shop - it wasn’t always easy, with the stubborn woman refusing to “sacrifice those precious bells of practice” for clothes shopping. It was a good thing that she had brought her coins with her. Really, you never know when it comes to Opal. “You promised, hun. Prepare yourself for a whole day of shopping. And no dropping out midday on me this time, you hear?” She winked, alluding to a time, a few years back, when the woman sneaked off while Kat was explaining the importance of keeping up with fashion. It’s good that her friend had some sense to listen to her better judgment now. Katherine got up from her seat and instinctively straightened out her dress (it becomes a habit when one is under scrutinizing eyes all the time). Her eyes wandered towards the cacao grove once again, suddenly lost in thought as she watched the field slaves busy themselves with the harvest of those dark-colored, bitter beans which, by some amazing miracle, turns into delectably sweet chocolate goodies. She’ll probably ask Opal to drop by the chocolate shop later. Right now though, there was something more important weighing in her mind. “Who’s going to carry our stuff this time?” she asked, looking expectantly at Opal. If they had time, they could probably stop by her shop to grab her freeborn servant. She can then make the girl lug her purchases around as they make their way through the city. If not, she’s going to ask Opal to grab a slave or two to do the job for them. There's no way she's going to carry them herself.

[Opal Draer]

16th of Fall, 513AV

"No dropping out midday on me this time, you hear?”

Though said jokingly, Opal knew that Kat meant every word. Their friendship was not one of blindness, and she knew that the Morealis woman could be alarmingly tenacious when she put her mind to it. Surely Opal would not be getting off lightly on this trip. Well - her coin purse would be lighter, anyway.

But she managed to keep the long-suffering sigh behind a smile that was only slightly strained. After all, it had been her suggestion.

“Who’s going to carry our stuff this time?”

It was a valid question, and not an unexpected one. Luckily, Opal had already thought of this one. Although if this event turned out to be a marathon, she wasn't sure the little slave girl would be a sufficient pack mule. Still, perhaps that would be a clear indication of when the shopping should be over? If the small child could physically carry no more, then they would have no choice but to leave off for another time. Liking the idea more and more, as she thought about it, Opal gave her friend a wide smile, and pointed to the field hand.

"She is. That little one, there. Its not like she's all that useful in the field, anyway. Too short," she said dismissively. Standing, with absolutely no attention to the now-wrinkled state of her skirts, Opal secured her lute in its case before striding over to the freeborn serving guard duty.

Giving the man a bright smile - it never hurt to grease the wheels with a bit of feminine charm - she inclined her head in the very barest indication of respect. "Hello! I'm afraid I'm going to need one of the fieldhands for the remainder of the day. That one will do," indicating the child slave with a flick of her pale wrist in her general direction. Raising her voice just slightly - a lady never shouted - she spoke to the slave. "You, girl! Stop that. Come here."

"What do you mean you need her? I need her. She's got a job to do," the guard voiced his dissent, louder than Opal liked. Was he arguing with her? Hm.

With exaggerated movements, she straightened her skirts. Patted her hair back into place. Drew her shoulders back. Looked him in the eye, with the force of years of Dynasty tradition behind her. And smiled with deliberate, and frightening sweetness at the guard. "I will be taking that slave," she pointed to the girl, "from this field," here she pointed to the ground at her feet. "Immediately. I have need of her." And, for Opal, it was as simple as that. It was unfathomable that she should be questioned by a... Freeborn. Employee. Unfathomable.

Except that, apparently, the guard fathomed it quite well. In fact, he had more to say. And loudly. "She has a quota. I have a quota. Who is going to pick these pods?!"

Opal narrowed her eyes at the man, considering. It was bad enough that he was challenging her right to her own slave. But to raise his voice at her? Still. A lady did not shout. And so, with a sickening sweetness that, by now, was more sickening than sweet, she leveled a tight smile at the guard. Opal marched over to the slave and snatched the harvesting basket from her shaking hands, with no caution for the pods already inside; several fell to the ground at Opal's feet.

Returning to the guard, she held it out to him with a self-satisfied smile. "That is a terrible dilemma, sir," the word held all the intonation of a most pirate-like epithet, "I believe I can help. And I imagine my family will be most impressed with your ability to meet your quota in less than half the time that it would have taken this child. After all," her smile widened, showing small even teeth before she continued. "Being so very much taller, just think how much easier it will be for you to harvest where she could not."

Point made, and discussion closed, Opal turned on her heel and walked back over to meet Kat, tossing a nonchalant instruction to the small child that stood, sans basket, at the edge of the field.

"Come."

The guard's reaction in the field was of no consequence, and his indignant sputtering went entirely unnoticed by her. To Kat, she lamented, "FThey're worse than slaves, these freeborn. At least the slaves know that we're superior. The freeborn seem to think we're all equal." A bemused chuckle escaped her lips at the thought.

OOCLilou skipped with permission for this round.

[Katherine Morealis]

In all those years they had been together, Katherine had learned one interesting and very important fact about her friend. No one says no to Opal. No one. With that said, watching her friend sass the older man elicited a most ladylike snort from her. After all, there’s just no use arguing with the strong-headed young woman, nor with any member of Dynasties for that matter. It’s a wonder the man still had his unsightly head sitting on his burly shoulders. If it was Kat the man had tried to disobey, she would have dragged him to the gallows and hung him herself. Katherine threw a derisive look at the freeborn who stood whining at his loss before nodding in agreement to Opal’s thoughts. “You’re right. I wonder where they get those strange ideas about equality. Seriously, we’re in Kenash!” She tutted, throwing her eyes heavenward. “I mean, freeborns? Ridiculous. They call themselves free but really, in this world, no one is.” Not even those living their luxurious lives in their big mansions. After all, freedom’s just an illusion, Katherine mulled silently to herself. She sauntered through the wooden walkways with Opal, looking passively at the slave girl she had tasked to carry their items throughout the day. “She’s so tiny. I doubt she’d be able to carry more than five boxes of clothes.” Kat raised an eyebrow at this, feeling that there was a deeper reason for Opal’s choice of slave. However, not really in the prying mood at that moment, she just shrugged it off. “Well, a small slave is better than no slave at all. Anyway,” Kat grinned widely. “Fall is all about earth tones. Moss green, umber, ochre, and sienna would be great palette choices for this season so we're going to choose clothes of that color." After a short pause, she continued, "Hmm... reptilian skin items are the new fad. Boots. They’re important now that it’s raining lots. Would you like alligator skin boots? I think it’d look good on you.” She nodded sagaciously after a quick glance at the other woman's footwear. Yeah, Opal needs a new set of chic boots.

[Lilou]

Lilou watched in amazement as the woman strode up to the guard watching her, and demanded to use her for carrying things. The man said no, and an argument ensued, ending with her basket pulled out of her arms and her service as a 'carrier' beginning. She'd yelped at the former, watching in horror as several cacao beans scattered over the earth. Well... at least it wasn't her fault, right? Still, it was sad to lose even a few pods.... Still, she wasn't going back to her harvesting work... though who knew how carrying clothes would end up. The second woman, the one who was not a Drear, began talking about how much she could carry. The little slave had no idea how much a 'box' of clothes weighed, having never dealt with them, so didn't even stand up to the minor insult. She probably would have been beaten if she said anything. After that, they began talking about fashion, something the girl had heard conversations about. The not-Drear woman mentioned colors, and... alligator skin. Feeling oddly self conscious, she glanced down at her simple dress and sighed quietly. She'd probably never get anything like what they were wearing. Jealousy was an odd feeling for Lilou, something she'd rarely felt until today. At the moment she was jealous of.... clothes. And Mistress Opal's music. Maybe today wasn't such a boring day after all? She was heading into the city... something she never, never did. What was there? Suddenly, the little slave began almost bouncing in excitement. Maybe there'd be horses! And flowers and trees! Better than the plantation at least. Unintentionally, a wide grin spread over her face, and she happily and obediently followed the two Dynasty women wherever they went. Common