Solo Candle Day

[Ssezzkero]

77th of Winter, 514AV

The winter was typically the hardest on the temple. It wasn’t appropriate to call rain in Morwen’s realm, and there was no need for it. Ssezzkero was of the opinion that it shouldn’t matter, but then again she was not used to living in cold enough areas to care about the winter season. Regardless, the temple was fairly nifty at keeping funds with less of the usual raindancing duties. One of those was with the selling of herbal candles to help with meditation. It was a whole pantheon offering to the people, and could be used in religious meditation or otherwise, which was how they gained popularity.

First thing that Ssezzkero did when she reached the temple was scale the stairs to the kitchen. She had nearly ten pillar candles that made it through her experiments yesterday, and then ten more that one of the acolytes had graciously helped her out with. At least Ssezzkero thought it was grace, but it was likely the quota they had to fill. Still, this morning she wanted to use the left over wax, and that which she messed up on yesterday in order to make tapered candles; the one candle which she could successfully make.

Set with a mission, the snake retrieved the materials from the storage closet once more, laying out the drop cloth on the table and then setting the brazier on top of it. Using the flint and steel, she lit the tinder, and then fed it small pieces of wood while it grew. Placing a deep boiling pot of water on top, she began dropping the candle stubs into the deep pale that she used for tapered candles. There was a small amount of wax left over from yesterday’s candles, and no scents. Apparently scents were best for pillars, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do anything with the tapers. At the very least, she knew that people would buy taper candles for light in the dead of winter. She felt the need to contribute more.

Once the water was boiling, Ssezzkero placed the deep pitcher with the scented wax into the water. While waiting for the wax to boil as well, Ssezzkero pulled out the plank of wood with three slots carved into it. She grabbed the roll of wick from the bag and measured out three lengths about twice as long as the pitcher. To each end of each length she then attached a nail as a weight, and then arranged each evenly across the wood. This way she could hold it from each end and easily and evenly dip it into the wax. Stirring the half-melted wax one last time, Ssezzkero grabbed an extra pitcher and pumped some cold water into it. When she returned, she was pleased to find the wax had melted. She smelled it, unsure if her nostrils have become immune to the scents that she spilled in the wax yesterday, or if they had burned off. She would have to wait and see. Or smell.

[Ssezzkero]

Luckily, making tapered candles was relatively simple, and would dry quickly; she would be off to sell them in an hour. Making sure all her wicks and weights were even one last time, she dunked them slowly into the wax, and then quickly pulled them out to ensure a smooth finish. She held the candles over the wax for a few seconds to let all the left over wax drip of, but knew not to shake it. Then she turned and dunked them into the cold water in the same manner. Ssezzkero repeated this process ten times then inspected the candles for thickness. They seemed appropriate; ten always seemed to be the best number for beeswax tapered candles.

While the wax was still warm, Ssezzkero pulled the boiling water from the brazier, pouring some of it into a shallow pan. The iron would keep the water warm, but because it wasn’t on the heat, it wouldn’t burn her. Ssezzkero pulled one pair of tapered candles off the bar and cut off their weights, setting them on the counter to make sure they matched up and then dipping them in the warm water. Holding them just above the water, she began to twist them together. It was a little more difficult because the candles were thick, and Ssezzkero realized this might be more beneficial if they were thinner. Before she could twist them too far, she dipped them in the water, and then rolled them on the table to straighten them out again.

Instead, Ssezzkero cut the nails off the bottom of each of the candles, and then dipped them one last time to seal them up before cutting the wicks about a quarter inch above the wax. Simple tapered candles, easy.

Since the wax line was still relatively high, Ssezzkero began setting up the wicks and nails for six more tapered candles. This time she dipped them only seven times, before cutting off the nails. Then Ssezzkero grabbed a pair of candles, dipped them in the warm water, and then began twisting them together. This time the wound together with much less resistance, and she grinned, they actually looked good. Ssezzkero dipped the twisted candles into the wax once more as well, sealing them together. Once that was done, she cut the wicks again, and let them float in the cold water. She was fairly proud of those.

[Ssezzkero]

By the time Ssezzkero had finished the wax to a point where she could no longer use it, she had six long tapered candles, six medium twisted tapered candles, and six short tapered candles. On top of that she had the twenty scented pillar candles from yesterday. All were plain pale beeswax, except the ten that the acolytes helped her with, which had herbs impressed into the sides. It was useless, but it looked nice and would help sell. Just to make sure that all the candles were hardened enough, Ssezzkero dipped them all in the cold water and then patted them dry, carefully wrapping each kind in a cloth and then stacking them together in a large basket.

Satisfied with her results, Ssezzkero teeterd down the stairs, the back basket throwing her center of balance off. As she passed the main rooms down stairs, Kal was patting out a rhythm on his drums in the corner. When he saw her, he waved her over.

“Ker!” Kal called, in a cheerful voice, which after yesterday, Ker was suspicious of. Kal seemed to have a lot of life lessons for her lately, and she wasn’t entirely a fan.

“Hey Kal.” She sighed and smiled, walking over to him and setting the basket down next to him.

“How many do you have?”

“Twenty pillar candles, ten of which Selba made, she impressed herbs into the sides. Then I made six long tapered candles, six short tapered candles, and six medium sized twisty tapered candles.” She listed off her hoard for the day. The sun was just finishing its rising so the markets wouldn’t be too busy for another bell or so.

“Nice haul. Twisty tapered candles?”

“Yeah, let me show you.” She pulled out the cloth containing the twisted tapered candles, and presented him with one.

“Oh, nice.” He inspected it, and then handed it back to her, and she wrapped it back up and put it in the basket.

“Remember our talk yesterday?” Ssezzkero used every bone in her body not to sigh of impatience which would directly negate what he had told her yesterday.

“You know I appreciate your dedication to this temple.”

“Yes…” She waited for the life lesson he was bound to give her in a couple of seconds. “And?”

“That’s all.” He smiled and then went back to his rhythmic drumming. Ssezzkero paused for a second, almost unsettled by the simple hello. She raised an eyebrow at him, and he smiled at her. Knowingly. Okay. She thought, suspicious. Let’s play.

“See you later Kal.” She grinned back, waving and then hauling the basket over her back and heading out the door. He was so weird.

[Ssezzkero]

When the snake made it to the market, she was fairly out of breath. The candles weren’t all that heavy, but they were awkward which required her to hold the straps to her back, since she was much smaller than any figure this basket was intended for. Holding the straps felt like suffocating after navigating the winding roads of Riverfall in the cold to get to the market.

All the same, even if slightly out of breath, Ssezzkero had made it.

“Hey Ker.” Selba’s voice chimed from behind her.

“Oh, hey Selba. I didn’t realize you were coming today.” She said, looking up at the Chaktawe. Her deep black eyes looked back at her and crinkled with a smile.

“What? I want to see how well my candles sell.” She grinned, stepping around the table beside Ssezzkero, and pulling the large bag from her to help her unload. The small snake looked up at the confident Chaktawe in mild awe for a few ticks before snapping out of it and helping her. Ssezzkoer folded the clothes used to transport the candles and laid them on the table. Selba seemed to catch her drift, and laid out the appropriate candles on top of their appropriate clothes, before the ladies have even finished laying them out.

“Hello, ladies.” Selba’s head snapped up, but Ssezzkero kept assorting the candles. “Makusti’s gals, selling some candles?” Ssezzkero was already annoyed with the voice, but she did not look up at him, looking at Selba instead. It was difficult for the snake to read human emotions, let alone Chaktawe ones. Technically they were all the same emotions across each face, but the features were so different it could be difficult for one as little socialized as she to tell.

“Would you like to buy one, Anro?” Selba asked with a sickly sweet smile, picking up a plain pillar candle and offering it to him. Ssezzkero heard him snort and turned around to look at him, following Selba’s example of sweetness.

“We also take donations, if the Acolyte of shadows doesn’t want to introduce light into his life.” Ssezzkero chimed. “And if you do not want to buy, please leave.” She gave him her most shining grin.

“Glad to see you’ve moved on quickly, Selba.” He muttered, which confused Ssezzkero because it didn’t seem part of the current conversation they were having. To be fair, Ssezzkero was not entirely sure what the conversation was about, but suddenly she understood Selba’s reaction to him.

“Good bye Anro.” Selba said a little more forcibly. Thankfully, the Akalak moved on with little more trouble. As soon as he turned the corner, Ssezzkero immediately turned to Selba, eyes wide.

“What was that?” She laughed a little by the sheer absurdity of the last couple of seconds.

“Oh nothing, Anro just got it in his head that one night after a tavern meant a little more than it did.”

“Okay, sure. If you don’t want to tell me…” Ssezzzkero dismissed it, grabbing the big basket and bringing it around the back of the table to hide it from view and then lean back with Selba, waiting for customers. They could pander, and they would pander. Their total haul would get them a solid 20 golds, perhaps a little more. But what they were really doing was gathering donations. Simple candles like these, with no philtering and no herbalism, were fairly cheap and easy to come by, but they expected people would.

[Ssezzkero]

After a few chimes of watching the crowd grow, Ssezzkero caught sight of a young Akalak curiously peaking at the basket weaver posted beside them. His father was negotiating something, and he was bored. Above his head, a couple of hand woven kerchiefs were hung, and Ssezzkero felt the comforting weight in her abdomen when her djed rested. Closing her eyes for two ticks, she began to push and pull at that djed, pinching it out to her finger tips while trying to keep it as contained as possible. When she opened her eyes, she saw the coppery fluid magic seeping out of her knuckle, and she lifted her left hand to point it at the kerchief, letting the djed pool a few more chimes. At this point the child was tinkering with a loose reed from a basket, directly under her target. Once she pooled enough djed, Ssezzkero gave her finger a playful blow, and shot air out of her hand. With an audible gasp, the gust of wind shot forth, blowing through the kerchiefs up top. The one she was aiming for stayed on it’s hook, but a kerchief two hooks down dropped, directly on the Akalak father’s head.

“Oop!” Ssezzkero giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, as she felt the djed snap back into her core, losing grasp on it it quickly disappeared. The Akalak father plucked the kerchief from his face and gently hung it back on the hook, but the boy looked for the sudden gust of wind. Smart one. Ssezzkero thought, as his eyes landed on hers. She winked at the child and then returned to leaning against the back of the table. Glancing up at his father, the boy stepped over to their stall.

“Whatsup little man?” She greeting the kid, and he frowned.

“I’m as big as you.”

“Oh, but I’m older.” She teased, and the child puffed up his chest.

“But I’m nineteen.” He gloated, and she knew that in his head he was comparing her possible human age to his own, in which there was a possibility he was oldest. But her kind lived longer than his, so she decided to act impressed.

“Darn, I’m just nineteen too.” She could feel Selba’s confused glance. Selba didn’t know that she was Iyvess, but the Chaktawe has probably guessed that she was Dhani by now.

[Ssezzkero]

“Sorry ladies, we don’t mean to hog your table.” The Akalak father finally caught up with his son.

“Yes, long line.” Selba chimed in, which somehow did not feel rude, but a mere joke. Those who associated with Makutsi tended to take on her traits, or perhaps Makutsi associated with them because of their traits. And one of those main traits were the lack of beating around the bush. Everything was a competition, everything was an adventure, and eventually, everything moved on.

“Well, you have some competition on candle vendors.” He said, looking at their spread, not attempting to cover his displeasure with the variation.

“This is a sampling of our candles. We use them in our own Temple. Think of it as an introduction to dancing with Makutsi.” Ssezzkero spoke up, picking up one of Selba’s herb candles, one of the fancier ones. “We use these for meditation, it is primarily lavender and geranium, which are calming and help with meditation.” She glanced at the kid Akalak who was already looking on another vendor’s table. [b] “And bed time.” She nodded her head towards him. The Akalak father raised his eyebrows, considering.

“Well, I hardly think a teenage boy is going to put much effort into meditating, but his mother will enjoy the idea of it.” He amused himself, and Ssezzkero offered the candle to him further. He chuckled at her obvious attempts to persuade him. She wasn’t sure if he took it out of pity or if he was actually interested. “Sure.” He ceded, and dropped one gold on the table without asking price.

“And if you ever want to get him off your hands, send him over to learn to dance and we will drown him in our basin for you, no extra cost.” Selba chimed in. She was an interesting woman, no matter how offensive or cutting her words could be, everything felt casual coming from her mouth, and therefore very little tension ever arose.

“Uh, yeah. No thank you, but if you all would take him for a day, and return him alive, I’ll think about it.” He nodded to himself, dropping one more gold on the table. Selba quietly plucked both golds from the table. “Good bye ladies.” He tucked the candle in his basket and headed off.

“One down, thirty seven more to go.” Ssezzkero sighed, returning behind the table with Selba. Selba held out her hand for a high five, and Ssezzkero returned it, grinning.