Closed Leaky Ravosala gets the... Zeltivan? (Karyk)

[Sayana]

Summer 74, 517 AV - Sullins Residence

Over the past several days it had stormed, and rained, and stormed, and rained… Sayana had grown rather sick of the weather, and the only thing that had kept her from losing her mind and going out in the torrent of water was the fact she was still recovering from an earlier incident on the docks.

The Eypharian lay in bed, partially propped up by pillows and clearly taking it easy on her right mid and low which were bandaged to her side. The trick was not to move them and she winced as she straightened up into a sitting position. At least she still had full functioning left mid and low arms, while her highs were healing and getting back to normal capacity.

Shiress had promised that her Zeltivan ‘friend’, a boat maker, would come along on the first true dry day after this incessant rain. She knew her ravosala bobbed wearily, tied to the dock, just like she had been bedridden for the last several days. From her bed, she could just barely peer out the window of the main sitting room and it looked like Syna was finally shining at last. The dock was dry, gulls could be heard calling above, the water sparkled with the sunlight… Then a sudden swirling funnel of rain and water and… But when she blinked and shook her head it was gone as if it had never been there at all, replaced by the calm lapping of the waves upon the canals.

She bit her lip and looked around, wondering if someone was pranking her, but there was no one to be seen. Her slave had gone out that morning to do some errands for her. She had provided a simple list of purchases along with some coins to do so. After what had happened, the Eypharian was no longer as confident out on the streets and canals. And not as herself. However, she didn’t have the energy or willpower to create an alias for this Zeltivan fellow. So long as Zeltivans didn’t have the same dislike for her kind as Ravokians.

Feeling the urge to do something, anything, Sayana swing her legs over the bed to get up into a shaky stand. It was well into the morning and she hadn’t even had breakfast. Grabbing some bread and biscuits, she sat down upon one of the benches in the common room and was distinctly reminded about the lack of furniture, namely a table.

Her poor boat. She had only purchased the ravosala that season and already it was battered up with a leak, or crack, or something. It was actually a miracle that she had managed to pole herself back during the rain in the shape it was in, but she had been using everything in her ability to keep the water out of the ravosala. Including magic.

With longing, the Eypharian gazed outside at the beautiful day. When would she be able to truly and freely walk the streets once more?

Credit: Shimoje

[Karyk]

A burly brown haired man with a thick beard sat next to a tiny girl with a messy mop of crimson curls, poles in hand. The twins were in the apartment, two stories up, in the window at their back, fast asleep. Or they'd better be. The moon was already setting over the forest to the west, and Syna rising in the east, but Karyk knew they had a few more bells before he had a favor for Shiress to get to. Her house mate, a woman whose name Karyk had already forgotten. Shiress had seemed nervous and eager to get away from asking him of that. Like she didn't want to talk about it or something. Karyk began reeling in his line, it hadn't done anything all morning, whereas Sharay had already caught a couple of small pike. The man sighed as the hook left the water, baitless. These fish were sneaky as hell, he'd felt nothing. Sharay just giggled and shoved into him. Karyk grunted and shoved back, knocking the girl over in a fit of giggles. She righted herself and slugged him in the arm, not that it hurt the man, but he made a dramatic show of it, clutching at it and moaning in pain. Karyk grabbed a couple of worms from the bait box, tossing one at the girl. It landed in her hair, but rather than squeal like many girls might, she threw it back at him, missing, and it sailed into the water. And with that, the morning of fishing passed. The pair packed up, and went back upstairs for some breakfast. After that was done, and Sharay was ready to watch the boys for the day, Karyk grabbed his pack, axe bundle, tool kits, and the wood he'd bought a few days back. Kits in one arm, wood over his right shoulder, Karyk nodded at the kids and left. The ravosala ride to Shiress' house didn't take too long, and much to Karyk's appreciation, this particular ravosalaman wasn't particularly chatty. He stepped off the boat, seeing another nearby. It was dinged up decently bad, probably from that rough storm that came through the last several days. But it had an... almost elegant look about it. Almost. It was just missing... something. Karyk shrugged, he had no idea what though. He was just surprised these boats had all survived the storm, he was sure most would have been splintered. Approaching the door, Karyk wondered if Shiress would be about, it had been weird how they departed. The shipwright set down the wood, leaning it against the house and pounded on the door, and waited for this woman to answer the door, his face smiling politely.

[Sayana]

The sudden knock surprised her, heart beating in her chest and low left reaching for her daggers. Calm down. If someone was hunting you, they wouldn’t knock on the door. Or would they? Her gaze drifted to the painting of an eclipse. When chaos reigns, anything is possible. Sayana stood up slowly and crossed the room on shaky legs, still with a half-bitten piece of bread in her high left. The Eypharian first went to the one and only window, and peered out to see a burly figure outside the door. Was it the Zeltivan Shiress had spoken of? Or someone else?

With trepidation, Sayana reached for the door with her good left mid hand, and opened it slowly. Her stance next to the door concealed the fact that she rested her low left on a dagger hilt and she met the sight of the stranger with wariness. He was tall, or at least taller than herself, wide set and with a reasonable smile. He stood with confidence compared to her closed in posture which favoured her bandaged right mid hand and her arms in general.

“Are you the Zeltivan Shiress told me about?” Sayana asked hesitantly. Her eyes roved to his large back pack and the wood leaning against the house. This should have been obvious, given the nature of his possessions, but she seemed to be searching for any slight flaw or piece of evidence out of place.

Preferably with his confirmation, she would slowly nod. “My name is Sayana. I have a ravosala that needs some repair. If I could just get my cloak…”

It would seem strange for someone to need a cloak in the midst of Summer, but she was quite adamant about returning with the long black garment covering her from head to toe. She proceeded to lead the way to the boat, docked on the side of the wharf. For a brief moment, a large booming sounded in her mind, and she jerked her head to the left. Yet there were no black clouds to be seen and her attention returned to her ravosala.

“I think, at the bottom… there must have been a crack or something.” She seemed distracted and her eyes roved around in the morning light. Finally a faint smile creased her lips and she looked up at him. It would have seemed genuine, as if she had at last relaxed at whatever was bothering her. Yet she used that moment as her crutch. Sayana felt the djed within her veins and opened up her magic to a warm calming feeling. A sense of trust and welcome. As if they had been friends more than just a mere two chimes. Gathering that feeling, she let it sink into her djed and slowly reach out to wrap his aura in a comforting embrace. The djed movement was slow as her eyes lingered on his gaze and all she did was impart a feeling of welcome and trust. But ironically, the side effects of her hypnotism, the slight overgiving she experienced seemed to reproduce the same feeling inside herself and her earlier wariness seemed to fade.

[Karyk]

Karyk stood there, examining the smooth wooden grains of the door. It was well done, cut along with the grain, sanded down well. The boards were fit together, perfectly flush, no room for a draft or prying eye to seep through. A bit of jealous crept through Karyk. He longed to have his own home, built by his own hands. This renting a room thing he was doing now wasn't his cup of tea, particularly with how fancy of a room it was. He wanted some land on the shore. He wanted to be able to build what he wanted when he wanted. He wanted something that was his. And he was determined to make it happen. But before he could continue the thought, the door opened. A beautiful, dark skinned woman stood there, a bit hunched it seemed. Karyk smiled as his eyes studied her stunning features, but noting that she seemed off. Not at her best. Maybe she wasn't a morning person. None of the women he knew well seemed to be morning people. Even little Sharay was a grouch before lunch. Karyk's smile softened at the woman's question, "Aye, ah'm Karyk. Goo' tuh mee' yah." Karyk considered sticking his hand out to shake, but it seemed as if the house was holding this woman upright. Maybe she was just hungover. Karyk listened as she introduced herself. Sayana, a pleasant name on the tongue. He made an effort to remember it, as she was Shiress' roommate. Plus she had a boat of her own, so maybe she'd need more work done in the future. But when she expressed her desire for a cloak, he cocked his head sideways a bit confused. It was summer, the weather was lovely and the wind refreshing. Why would she need a... Oh of course, he thought. She's from the deep south, the deserts, with skin that dark. She was probably used to heat much hotter than anything they could get here. Smiling politely, Karyk gestured for her out the door to lead the way, which she did promptly. No nonsense, no need to make small talk it seemed. Karyk liked that. While he liked people, he preferred to work on work time, and talk over a beer afterward. Karyk watched her suddenly jerk her head to the side, as if someone had called her name from a far. Looking in the same direction as she, he saw nothing of note, and had heard nothing. Maybe this was why her and Shiress were roommates. Both a little...off. Shiress passing out randomly and talking of mistresses and the like. Turning back, Karyk heard the woman's words and found her looking up at him. She looked happier now, healthier. Definitely not a hangover. The sun would've made that worse. Perhaps she was just tired of being inside. Karyk knew that feeling well. He felt himself warming up even more so to the woman, more relaxed now that she was. Shiress hadn't really said anything about this lovely woman. But it seemed that if she were a friend of Shiress', she was a friend of Karyk's. More chipper now that she was feeling better and more open to him, "Well, le's jus' 'ave a look, eh? Maybe i' ain' so bad." Karyk crouched down, balancing on the balls of his foot, peering into the boat he'd seen earlier. The first thing he noticed was the red cushions on the benches, followed immediately after with seeing a thin layer of water in the bottom of it. He tsked his tongue a bit at that, definitely a leak of some sort, but the real question was what kind. Obviously it wasn't too terrible, but any more weight and the whole thing would be under the surface. "'ow'd it 'appen? Still surprises meh tha' these are so common 'ere. Theys good for comfor' an' all, bu' really ain' seaworthy in a storm or rough waters. Good for the shop tha' sells em I s'pose." Karyk reached in and grabbed one of the poles, awkwardly swinging it about, making sure to not smack his new friend with it. He pressed down on the boat, eyes searching for an upwelling surge in the water to see if he could spot the leak. But he saw none. Once more he tsked his tongue, "Gonna 'ave to pull 'er out. Ah'll ge' some blocks made up firs' to se' 'er on." Karyk returned the pole to where he'd gotten it from, and stood up, stretching his back arms out wide. Walking over to the door of the house once more, he picked up some of the lumber he'd leaned there. These were mostly just cedar and pine, both excellent for shipbuilding. Balancing them on his shoulder, Karyk turned back toward the woman, "Wanna 'elp? Ya don' 'ave to, bu' migh' be good to know more 'bou' yar boat, ya know?" Setting the lumber down on the dock, he unrolled his bundle of axes. Grabbing his half hatchet, and a board of cheaper pine, he prepared to make the block to support the ship while on the dock, to prevent it from further being damaged. Belting the hatchet, he grabbed his measuring tape, a simple marked coil of cloth rolled up. Grabbing a small jar of pitch from his kit, he stuck it on the end of the tape, just a small sticky dollop. Then he laid down on the dock, and stuck it to the boat, just above where the lowest end of the keel started. He then stood up, and gently pulled the measuring tape along, keeping it out of the water, and laid down at the bow. Mumbling a bit, "Keel is twenteh an' one foo'." He then loosened the tape, and stuck it again to the rock he specifically kept in his kit for this purpose. He moved to the center of the boat, and lowered the rock into the water, judging judging it to about the bottom. Pulling it up, "One foo' deep," looking at where the tape divided from wet to dry. This time he lightly tossed the rock out over the ravosala, feeling it catch over the opposite side. He then pulled it until the rock caught on the edge. Setting it down to the side closest to him, "Four an' one 'alf foo' wide." Standing up, he reeled it in. Still mumbling, "Block needs to be 'bou'..." Karyk pondered, thinking about the math. He could already feel the anxiety setting in about dealing with numbers. They just didn't always make sense to him. It needed to be taller than one foot to keep it off the ground, shorter than twenty-one feet so that it would be supported by the keel, and a bit less than four and a half feet wide suited to the curve. "Two long'uns... twenteh foo'. Two short'uns... four foo'." Thinking about it momentarily, starting to get self conscious of doing his math in front of someone. "For'y two foo' needed of the pine, one and a 'alf foo' wide." "Ah brough' six twelve foo'ers. Tha' shoul' gimme... thir'y and four foo' lef' of the pine." Despite being terribly wrong, Karyk felt somewhat confident with his answer. "Alrigh', le's ge' to i'."

[Sayana]

Sayana hovered nearby as the burly man inspected the ravosala. At first her eyes seemed to dart about like a cornered animal, but as the occasional person passed without threat, and ravosalas on the canal skimmed by without a passing glance, she seemed to grow calmer and less anxious. When Karyk asked about how it had happened, she hesitated for a tick or two before answering.

“One of my passengers was carrying something heavy. It was in a bag, so Rhysol only knows what was inside. Could have been a hunk of precious metal for all I know. Then they had the nerve to drop it as they were climbing out. Nearly flipped my boat. They apologized, and I didn’t think much of it at the time. It was only afterwards that I noticed the wood was busted and the leak wouldn’t go away.”

She was momentarily brought back to the scene in which she had left her ravosala for just a few chimes, yet had returned to see it surrounded by young men taking swings at it. Hammers? Axes? She doubted the latter, otherwise the damage would have been much worse. But it had definitely been for sport. Maybe clubs…

As Karyk headed over to the wood and asked if she wanted to help, the Eypharian gave a subtle nod and broke herself out of her memories. She had the momentary urge to grab all six lengths of wood, one in each hand. But for one, her right mid wrist was still healing, and for another, she was still doing her best to conceal her other arms. Instead she took two, holding them between her high hands, and placed them where Karyk had laid the others.

Sayana watched curiously as the man took various measurements. She vaguely made mental note of them, having never thought to actually measure her boat. It was functional and she was able to move people around. That’s all that really mattered to her.

Two long ones made twenty. Two short ones made four. That made twenty-four… At his jump to forty-two, she made a surprised expression. Oh! Two planks of those lengths. Twenty and twenty is forty, and four and four is eight…

“Karyk? Karyk?” She began, but the shipwright was already making more calculations and she was struggling to keep up.

The Eypharian quickly fell silent and tried to take in the rest of what he was saying. There were six twelve-footers. And… She had no idea how much would be left over. But if he had gotten the first bit wrong, maybe the mistake had carried over.

Twenty and four made a nice twenty-four, which was two of his twelves. But it was double that. So that would mean four of his twelves.

“Karyk? I think, if you’re going to need a twenty foot one and a four foot one… That’ll be two of your twelvers. And then another two since you need that doubled. And then two twelves remaining… Is that enough?” As she spoke, she indicated each pair of planks with her boot hoping that he’d understand better.

Was it just going to be a small patch job? Or was he replacing the main planks? She was suddenly feeling rather worried for her boat.

Edit: Thread abandoned. Assumed that boat was fixed for a price of 20gm.

[Rook]

GRADE

Sayana: It seems as though you're skill list is not alphabetized. Once you've gotten your skills sorted, shoot me a pm and I'll be happy to get you your grade!

Karyk: It looks like you might be inactive at the time of this posting, but I'll have to withhold your grade as you don't have your expenses paid for Autumn of 517. If you return and would like your grade, shoot me a pm once you subtract your expenses!

Rook