69th OF SUMMER, 515AV
4th BELL, EVENING
THE DOCKS
4th BELL, EVENING
THE DOCKS
The grunt work should have ended earlier. Of course, with an unskilled job, competent workers were not expected. So even though the task of cataloging cargo that was going on board was considered so simple a child could do it, the merchant soon learned that was false. After spending the day hauling crates of carefully packed paper onto a Khnor, the overseeing sailor had checked the inventory and determined it was charted wrong. Eliro, looking for a few extra Nilo, had offered her assistance in rewriting the chart correctly. So while it was still early in the night, the sea-woman considered herself staying late for work. Of course the untrustworthy Svefra wasn't allowed to simply wander off to copy the inventory, so she sat on a tightly tarp-wrapped stack of wood, meant for shipping out the next day, carefully dipping her quill in ink and filling in the chart correctly with painstakingly small handwriting.
"Not a child's job after all." The Svefra grumbled to herself in Fratava as she shoved the cork back into the ink. Blowing on the scroll, the Svefra looked over her work for a few minutes. Her handwriting wasn't perfect, but she was better with mathematics than the child was, and she could at least keep the item's logging in their correct columns. Pulling out the dented scroll that the child had scribbled on, she compared the work for a few ticks before nodding to herself. Ensuring the last of the ink was dried correctly, Eliro rolled the scroll up and tied it closed, taking the discarded scroll and sliding it into her Atani that she had tied around her waist. Perhaps these sailors saw it as useless, but she was a resourceful woman.
Gathering the ink and quill, the Svefra slid down from the pile of wood, dropping into the busy crowd of the docks. The merchant's sailors had been given the night off to account for the lapse to recheck the inventory and have Eliro fix the mess. So simple a child can do it should remain a saying. The Svefra smirked to herself, sliding the dry quill behind her ear so that she could weave down the dock towards the parchment merchant's Khnor.
She barely stepped onto the boat when the merchant emerged, snatching the scroll and ink vial from her. He tossed her a few Nilo for the day and turned around. Obviously he was angry with the delay, but he knew just as well as she that with the night coming so quickly, it was safer to delay a day than attempt to leave the Bay that night.
Returning to the docks, Eliro was preparing to shove past the various humans to return to her Casinor by the more private section, but something caught her attention. She was trying to slide past a a slightly intoxicated sailor and a whore who was attempting to lure him in for her own money.
"The end is coming! Beware, Beware!" The hoarse but obnoxiously loud voice rang out, and Eliro paused where she was, uncomfortably close to a slightly intoxicated sailor and a whore who was attempting to lure him in for her own money. "The end is near! Prepare, Prepare!"
Eliro rolled her eyes. Laviku spare my ears this misery. She chuckled, as the procession got closer, one preacher narrowly missing the aim of a empty bottle of rum. The morons forgot to prepare for the rough and excluding atmosphere of the docks. The faint of heart were not welcome, and by the looks of some of the robed preacher's, they hadn't seen the side of town that boarded East Street. The Svefra moved away from the redhead and her customer, nearing the shops once more. She found herself stuck behind the procession, next to a tall, and seemingly confident woman.
"Really?" The Svefra announced in Fratava, aiming her words at the gorgeous blonde and the sailor she had interrupted. "Who's shyke idea?" She grinned at the woman, unconsciously taking a whiff of her. She did so, because the woman beside her didn't smell of sea like she was used to. If the salt was not infecting her nostrils from the wind, it was mixed with the alcoholic tint of the many sailors she spent her time with, so the land-dwelling woman was a shock in scent if anything. "I thought it ready end!" She exclaimed in her second tongue, trying to goad a response from the woman, even if her Common wasn't perfect.
"Not a child's job after all." The Svefra grumbled to herself in Fratava as she shoved the cork back into the ink. Blowing on the scroll, the Svefra looked over her work for a few minutes. Her handwriting wasn't perfect, but she was better with mathematics than the child was, and she could at least keep the item's logging in their correct columns. Pulling out the dented scroll that the child had scribbled on, she compared the work for a few ticks before nodding to herself. Ensuring the last of the ink was dried correctly, Eliro rolled the scroll up and tied it closed, taking the discarded scroll and sliding it into her Atani that she had tied around her waist. Perhaps these sailors saw it as useless, but she was a resourceful woman.
Gathering the ink and quill, the Svefra slid down from the pile of wood, dropping into the busy crowd of the docks. The merchant's sailors had been given the night off to account for the lapse to recheck the inventory and have Eliro fix the mess. So simple a child can do it should remain a saying. The Svefra smirked to herself, sliding the dry quill behind her ear so that she could weave down the dock towards the parchment merchant's Khnor.
She barely stepped onto the boat when the merchant emerged, snatching the scroll and ink vial from her. He tossed her a few Nilo for the day and turned around. Obviously he was angry with the delay, but he knew just as well as she that with the night coming so quickly, it was safer to delay a day than attempt to leave the Bay that night.
Returning to the docks, Eliro was preparing to shove past the various humans to return to her Casinor by the more private section, but something caught her attention. She was trying to slide past a a slightly intoxicated sailor and a whore who was attempting to lure him in for her own money.
"The end is coming! Beware, Beware!" The hoarse but obnoxiously loud voice rang out, and Eliro paused where she was, uncomfortably close to a slightly intoxicated sailor and a whore who was attempting to lure him in for her own money. "The end is near! Prepare, Prepare!"
Eliro rolled her eyes. Laviku spare my ears this misery. She chuckled, as the procession got closer, one preacher narrowly missing the aim of a empty bottle of rum. The morons forgot to prepare for the rough and excluding atmosphere of the docks. The faint of heart were not welcome, and by the looks of some of the robed preacher's, they hadn't seen the side of town that boarded East Street. The Svefra moved away from the redhead and her customer, nearing the shops once more. She found herself stuck behind the procession, next to a tall, and seemingly confident woman.
"Really?" The Svefra announced in Fratava, aiming her words at the gorgeous blonde and the sailor she had interrupted. "Who's shyke idea?" She grinned at the woman, unconsciously taking a whiff of her. She did so, because the woman beside her didn't smell of sea like she was used to. If the salt was not infecting her nostrils from the wind, it was mixed with the alcoholic tint of the many sailors she spent her time with, so the land-dwelling woman was a shock in scent if anything. "I thought it ready end!" She exclaimed in her second tongue, trying to goad a response from the woman, even if her Common wasn't perfect.
