| Present day Location: Ortal's home, The Spires The bones of the writer's left hand were clearly visibly, barely covered by the pale and thin skin. The wrinkles and creases, the cracks in the skin, all of it pointed towards age. One first glance, the skin would look nearly a century old. The fingers curled around the ink well, holding it as the right hand works to pull out the cork sealing the ink inside. The writer's right had is just as bad as the left, wrinkled and pale, cracked and bony. With the cork placed next to the well, the left hand grabs a parchment and the right hand grabs the quill resting on the writing block on the desk. With the early light of sun slipping through the foliage outside the window, the quill is moved and taps on the surface of the desk for a moment as the writer thinks. Then it is quickly dipped in the ink well and brought to the parchment. |
| Spring, 1st, Year 513 It had been quite a trip and the Undrykas had finally arrived at his destination. Besides research a long time ago, the Undrykas had used a combination of maps, tales and even the description of a man claiming to have been in the Spires to find it. And on top of that, he had to sit through an incredible storm for a dozen days or so in a cave he had found for the night. He had been quite lucky in finding the cave as the storm had wreaked havoc on the local fauna and flora. It had been a double challenge, since the Undrykas had to survive on the food and water he had with him, having been unable to go out into the storm. On the other hand, the wild Djed flowing around outside had been a strong test of the Undrykas' willpower. He knew it could fuel his djed for quite a lot of time and he would probably be able to use it quite easily but leeching off of it would result in his body decaying even faster than it already was. The Undrykas managed to decide against it, keeping his leeching to a bare minimum. Upon his arrival at the location of the Spires, the Undrykas had spent a few days on the ground, trying to find the city but he had been unsuccesful in his pursuit. No matter how much he looked he couldn't seem to locate the city. With no other options open to him, the Undrykas sat himself down on the ground and focused on his spirit. With ease he detached the spirit of his left eye and cast it forward. Much quicker than the body of the old man could have taken him, the eye slipped through trees and foliage, spying around, looking for the city. Unseen by any of the creatures in the forest, the eye moved higher and higher until finally the Undrykas spotted the city, his eye passing through the lowest of the camouflage and into the city. A little looking around and he found one of the entrances as well, by following one of the ape like Jamouras. His eye settled back into his body and the Undrykas made sure to reconnect the spirit to the flesh before standing up, grumbling and cursing his old and weary bones. Spring, 6th, Year 513 After a few days stay in a local inn, the Undrykas felt rested enough to start working on his humble abode. He went through the proper channels, both a reflex from the past and it seemed like people here quite enjoyed them, especially after what had happened here during the storm. After meeting with a female Jamoura called Araisha, the Undrykas was granted permission to start building on the petal of the Climbing Snake. But first they would need a good plan to work after. Sitting down with the Jamoura, which towered over him, the Undrykas started to work on the architectual plans for the house. They bend over the parchment and the Undrykas started explaining his vision for his house. "I'll need... four rooms, possibly five. A meeting room, dining room, kitchen, study and a bedroom for myself. The meeting room will have a fire in it as I get quite cold often. I'd like windows in the meeting room as well. The study should have a big window as well. And one in my bedroom." The Undrykas spoke quickly as his mind started forming the desired spaces and rooms. The Jamoura sat next to him and was sketching on the paper. "No, not like that. It needs to be more like this." His bony, pale finger pointed towards the paper, drawing an invisible line on it where he need changes to be made. Their little one sided conversation continued on for a while and the Jamoura got more upset as time passed. The old man that was with her constantly changed his mind and interrupted her drawings the whole time. He even took her drawing tools from her on two occcasions. "Perhaps you should sketch it first, sir. And then I'll finalize it when you are finished?" The Undrykas thought about that. "Splendid idea, dear girl." And without a second thought he snapped the writing tool from her large hands. There are always problems when an untrained person does a trained person's job. The Undrykas was able to draw out his ideas from his mind but none of it made much sense and things progressed very slowly as his body wasn't able to move as fast as it used to do. The Jamoura left the Undrykas alone as she went to take care of other business while she waited for him to finish. |
| Spring, 80th, Year 513 The hands stop for a moment and rest. The old bones of the writer are weary and tired, even from a simply task like holding a quill and writing. The left hand rubs over the back of the right hand, trying to ease some of the pain. The quill drops a single ink blob onto the side of the parchment, staining it with a dark splash. The writer grumbles and the quill is put aside by the right hand. In an attempt to save the paper, the writer's hands put some sand and wood shavings on it, to dry up the ink. After removing the sand and shavings, the left hand goes back to the parchment while the right hand reaches for the quill. |
| Spring, 6th, Year 513 From his mind, the Undrykas pulled ideas and memories, pooling them together into the sketch of his house. It wasn't much to look at in sketch form but he could see it in his mind and it looked grand. He drew on the paper, first the square that would be the meeting area, the entrance area. From the entrance area to the outside, a small hallway and two big doors leading outside. In one corner he drew the fireplace, a stone structure that would keep the entire room warm and provide enough heat to even keep the study and library room heated as well, although not as much. The study room was situated to the right of the entrance room. The hallway between them grew bigger as it moved closer to the library. A window opposite of the entrance and walls, dividing the room into cubicles, for books later on. The middle cubicle was much larger and would fit a good desk, right in front of the window. The Undrykas' hands moved to the left side of the entrance room and started sketching the bedroom. A simple square, almost cut in two by a wall seperating the bed from the entrance door. Above the bedroom he drew a door leading out into a little garden. The garden would have a fountain and trees or bushes and plants and herbs, things he could use when they had grown. Right next to the door he drew another hallway and stairs down, big stairs, so it wouldn't be difficult for him to descend them. The hallway turned right after the garden and led into the dining room. A simple big square, nothing interesting about it. From the dining room there was another hallway which led back to the meeting room up the stairs as well. The writing tool continued to move as the Undrykas drew the last part of his house. The kitchen was placed right against the dining room so that the cooking fire would heat the dining room as well. Another stone part of the otherwise wooden house. From the kitchen he drew another pair of stairs, leading down from the kitchen and into the dining room. From the meeting place there was a short hallway to the kitchen as well. The rest of his ideas he left undrawn as they were for him to do, not for these people. Secrecy was important here, something he had learned throughout his travels. The Undrykas handed the sketch over to the Jamoura woman who looked over it and the notes he had made all around the sketch. "You want two fires in your house?" She didn't sound very happy with that but started turning the sketch into a proper architectural design anyway. The Undrykas looked over her shoulder, often coughing and grumbling as he pointed out mistakes or clarified notes to the female. "The stairs should be long, so that I can easily use them. I'm old, you know." - "I want foliage to grow in front of my windows. I need light but I don't need direct light." - "No, the door opens the other way." - "Yes, that's a fountain. It helps me with meditations." After both parties managed to get satisfied with the design of the house, the Jamoura promised to contact him when she had gathered the required materials. She did mention, however, that they would need his help in building it. "I'd like it to be placed somewhere... alone. Where I can live in peace and quiet, away from prying eyes and noisy youngsters, alright? The Jamoura seemed to raise an eyebrow at the smaller human. "We've got such a place, yes." |
| Present day Location: Ortal's home, The Spires The right hand stops writing and places the quill back onto the writing block. The hands rest next to the written text on the parchment. They remain there for quite a while as the writer reads the text, sometimes out loud, sometimes not, looking for mistakes in words or sudden memories that would change things already written down. Satsified with the script, the hands move to pour sand and wood shavings over the ink, letting it dry up quickly. The parchment is then rolled up, slowly, as the old hands don't move as easily anymore. The writer's two feet carry him as he moves toward the shelf on the right of the desk, where the hands place the parchment along with many others for storage. Perhaps some day someone will bind them together in something resembling a book. Perhaps... |
