It was a bright sunny morning after a couple days of strong winds and storms blowing in from the sea. Like most days, new ships were coming into the harbor. That meant that it would be a busy day. It would be a day that would keep the dock workers and any able man busy, loading and unloading ships. Goods would come in under the watchful eyes of clerks who would be inventorying what came in and calculating the taxes. News from around the sea would be passed; most of it would be true and some not. Naali liked watching the people in the different clothes and languages. She like to see what things people brought and what they were interested in. She liked their money too. Naali was a girl that had a lot of dreams that she wanted to work on.
So Naali got an early start for the day, headed out for the Zhongjie Warren to buy some supplies. She had done a little research about sails and what she would need. She had made a list of the things she would need. The idea of repairing sails came to her listening to sailors who came to the library. She could read all of the books she wanted about the subject, but she wanted to try it herself. She looked at the paper that she wrote her list on.
- sail palm – like half of a leather glove with a hard metal button to allow you to push a needle through layers of stiff fabric. costI tripled the cost of leather gloves. This is probably over the cost. 12 sm
- An Awe – A small sharp punch that could be used to make a hole through the fabric. cost1 GM
- Heavy needles – 4 costI doubled the cost of sewing needles. 20 sm
- Pliers – to pull the needle. cost8 sm
- Sail Yarn – a coarse thread or multiple threads twisted together. Thin thread would break too easily in the wind and rain. cost20 sm
- Wax – This lets the thread slide without tearing the fabric and also helps it resist the elements. Anna was amazed to learn that sailors would wax the edges of their sails to keep them from deteriorating from the rain and ice. cost20sm
- Fabric for patching.- will have to find what the sails are made of..
She went from stall to stall, looking at times. Touching them and comparing prices. She was feeling fairly good about things. She had been staying away from the warren after her encounter with the guards and thief.
Sorgar, now sixteen came up behind Naali and poked something into her back and said, “Well, if it is not the snitch.”
Naali froze, her back still twanging with pain and recovering from a bout with a grey dog. With a defiant independent statement she said, “I am not a snitch.”
Sorgar laughed at her with a strong hardy laugh. One that made a couple of the shopkeepers turn to look, seeing Sorgar they turned and went back to their business. He had grown up in the warren, helping shop keepers and getting into trouble with his friends. Sorgar was loyal and protective of his friends and his town. He was also a sixteen year old boy living on the streets which meant he needed money to eat. This one of the universal constants, sixteen year old boys can eat and still be hungry. So Sorgar worked when he could and stole when he had too. Naali understood that.
Sorgar said in a firm tone, “The word is that you sold a friend of mine out for the reward that was offered.”
Naali laughed. It was a nervous laugh. One the things that Naali had learned about being a Kelvic in Riverfall, she was not considered human. Sorgar could slay her and not much would happen. She was a “pet” and one that did not belong to anyone. That made her feral.
Without turning she says, “I don’t even know there was reward, I am just an animal after all. Anyway, I figured he was smart enough to hide it or get it out of town..”
He poked a little harder. She understood the message to be quiet. It was fairly universal. Well, it was not universal in the animal world. She did not think he want to fight, play, or get personally closer. So, she assumed it meant to be quiet.
Sorgar said, “Let me give you some advice, don’t rat anyone out. You’ve already got one enemy now. Maybe you can do some more work for us at the library, without the guards.”
Sorgar turned to leave. A smile came across Naali face as she realized that what was poking her in the back was a piece of wood.
Since she is out, she also bought some new clothes. Her coworkers were wondering if she had other clothing.
- 2 Raime Dresses [14 sm] – One brown and one a rose red. Well she thinks they are brown and rose red.
- a pair of leather boots [6sm] -
- a leather sash [2sm] – so she can put the sewing out the needles someplace without poking holes in her clothes. She had enough poking for the day.
- Small leather bag with a strap to carry things [2gm]
After handing over a total of fourteen Gold Mizas and six Silver Mizas for the items, she returned to her room, changed into the rose red dress and headed for the docks. She liked the new dress because it was a twirly dress with sleeves and a neckline to keep the sun off her neck, arms, and back. She may not be a girl, but she had learned that the high summer sun was not always nice to those with fair skin. Who does not like a twirly dress?
Now Sailors are generally a superstitious lot. In Naali’s mind they didn’t make sense. Never let a woman on board. Never let a red head speak to you first. Do not whistle. Heck, she liked the fact that she could whistle in her human form. Try doing it as a fox.
Naali heard a lot of whistling, cat calls, propositions for adult entertainment, and one for marriage. As Naali would start walking up the planks of a ship, sailors would block her coming on deck. Late into the afternoon, one of the smaller fishing boat captains was sitting on the dock and agreed to hire her. The ship was a catboat. It had a single sail mast and a lot of fishing gear. As far as the ships in the harbor, she was a row boat to the battleships. The deck hands lowered the sail. The repair was fairly simple to do. The edge that had been into the wind had torn and the sail now fluttering. That meant that sail would tear more as the wind blew into it and the ship would not go as fast. There are a lot of details about sails that Naali did not understand. Most sails are not just flat straight sheets, they are made from strips of cloth stitched together to make the shape like cupping your hand. Too flat and the sail would not catch the wind, to curved and the sail wouldn’t provide the power you needed. The good news was that most of the stitches were standard sewing stitches, mostly zig-zag stitching with some straight stitches which are very common to sewing clothing.
The deck hands lowered a sail to the deck tucking in sections allowing them to move. One part of the sheet had torn a good two hands in length. Now if you have ever really worked with fabric, you know that it tends to rip along the weft. You can grab a very strong fabric and tear it and the tear will go mostly straight. The same is true about sails. Once the tear starts it will go across the sail. Tears on the eyelets can also happen in strong winds where there is a lot of gusts and calm. With the rigging lowered Naali sits on the deck and examines the tear. Putting on the sail palm, sets a chunk of the wax out on the side, gets out the sail yarn and starts to rub it trough the wax. Next she makes a dart, a couple stitches close together at the end of the tear. This will help prevent it from ripping more. She reinforces this by double stitching it. Next she gets a piece of fabric and folds it over the tear. She tucks in the top and bottom edges as well. Then she presses it, creases the fabric, and rubs the wax on this to help it stay. Then she starts to tack the fabric in place. She uses the awl to push a hole in the fabric, pushes the needle through the metal button of the sail palm and pulls it out with the pinchers. The process is then repeated. After straight stitching the pieces together, Naali zig-zag stitched the edges both ways. Then she repeats the process across and down the tear. Finally, she rubs wax on both sides of the seams and into the cloth. By the time she was done, her hands hurt and it was dark. She managed to pack up her tools.
After being harassed, pinched in a couple places, one of which that was still sore. Naali is finally rescued by a member of the harbor patrol who collects the cities share of her work efforts and escorts her safely off the docks.
Pending Monies spent:
| Sail palm | 12 SM | 1 GM 2 SM | |
| Awe | 1 GM | 2 GM 2 SM | |
| 4 Heavy Needles | 2 GM | 4 GM 2 SM | |
| Pliers | 8 SM | 5 GM | |
| Sail Yarn | 2 GM | 7 GM | |
| Wax | 2 GM | 9 GM | |
| Fabric | ? | 2 GM 6 SM | Picked a price to have an even GM, can change if needed. |
| 2 Raime Dresses – One brown and one a rose red. | 14 SM | 10 GM 4 SM | |
| Leather boots | 6 SM | 11 GM | |
| Leather Sash | 2SM | 11 GM 2 SM | |
| Leather bag | 2 GM | 11 GM 4 SM | |
| Total | 14 GM |
Pending Monies made: ?
