Flashback Learning Lhavit (1)

[Ennisa]

63rd Spring 509 AV
Ennisa is 9 yrs old
"speech"
"others"

Ennisa sat cross-legged on the floor of the family home, and daydreamed about riding an okomo. Outside, spring rain poured down onto the garden, and onto her step-father Brelis, who was working on mending the gate. He cast a scowled glance at the clouds, but as a Lhavit man he knew the mountain's weather well, and he continued his work. The vibrant greens of spring life swam into the sitting room through the little window that Ennisa's mother Gela had just recently polished clean that morning. As weak sunlight bled through the cloudy glass, it refracted through rain splatters to create fascinating streaks and shadows on the wall opposite. The rain had been passing across the peaks in brief, sharp showers. The current showering would pass in a few moments, and then the chirruping of the birds would resume. For now, Ennisa daydreamed in the still, quiet living room, with the soft and gentle patter of the rain a soothing backdrop to her make-believe.

Gela smiled at the sight of her wayward daughter. It was pleasant to have even a glimpse of her these days. She and Seth would often scamper away for the day, but Seth was ill in bed from a seasonal cold, and it was a soggy kind of day, designed to keep mischievous daughters indoors. Gela had done most of the household chores, having been woken early by her husband's clattering in the garden, so she was at a loss of what to do next. Ennisa was oblivious to her mother watching her, but Gela soon cleared her throat to draw her daughter's attention.

"Hello sweetie. I've had an idea. With your brother sick, and all this rain, let's have a bit of time together. Get your book. Come on, I'll teach you some things about Lhavit."

Ennisa sniffed, but she couldn't dredge any objections out to annoy her mother with, so she relented and rolled to her feet. "Kay." She softly padded over to the room she shared with her brother, and pushed the door open. The room was dark, with the curtains drawn. Seth was sleeping off his illness, so Ennisa didn't disturb him. She went to her side of the room, and rummaged amongst her stuff for the book which she used for school, and her other school equipment.

Eventally, after a little bit of searching, she found the straight edges of the book hidden underneath a jumble of her clothes, and she pulled it out. The pen and ink was easier to find, and she tucked the book under her arm whilst carrying the other supplies to carry it all out to the living room. Her mother was setting up a little space on the floor, and Ennisa darted down to grab the comfiest cushion with a triumphant grin.

"Careful, Enni! You'll damage your book doing that. You can't just chuck it down on the floor."
"I didn't!" She looked affronted. The book lay there, unassumingly, as Gela frowned at her daughter. She was in a good mood, so she let her off the hook. "Okay, pick up your book, and get your pen ready. Let's have a little bit of basic history."

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

Ennisa concentrated as she opened the worn book and creased the spine so it would lie flat. She get the pen ready, and filled the nib with ink. Like most Lhavitians, she wasn't unfamiliar with pen and paper, but she wasn't the greatest scribe either. In class, she tended to mess around and whisper with her friends, much to the ire of her other classmates and their teachers. As a result, her knowledge was patchy and her handwriting was poor. Nevertheless, Ennisa didn't feel much pressure to improve her academic career. Her interest lay primarily in running, the outdoors, and play. Sitting still in some dusty old room learning about dead people and bygone ages they could never get back didn't hold much appeal.

She squidged her nose with her pinky, and sniffled. She had avoided the worst of the spring flu season, but she did have a little cold remaining, which of course she blamed on her brother. Gela leaned forwards and tapped her forehead gently with her index finger. "Were you paying attention to what I just said, Enni?"

"Uhh, yeah! I've forgotten though." Gela raised an eyebrow, but smiled anyhow. "I said, 'write down what we're doing today.' What do you think we're doing today, when the rain lets up?" Ennisa furrowed her brow. "Um... Shopping?" Gela laughed. "No no, no shopping. I did that yesterday, don't you remember? No, today I'm going to teach you a little of Lhavit's history. Then, we'll go into the city and visit some of the buildings that show our past the best. Then I'll take you for a drink and a snack at the Mhakula Tea House, how about that? We've all got a bit stuffy, hanging around the house these past few days, what with your brother being so ill. Brelis can keep an eye on him."

Ennisa brightened. A drink and a snack at the Mhakula Tea House was a treat indeed. A sweet was incentive enough to make her concentrate. She nodded enthusiastically, and shuffled into a comfier writing position. "Okay!" She carefully set pen to paper, and wrote down the title on a fresh new sheet. The Hisstory of Lhavit.

"How long do you think Lhavit has been here, Ennisa?" The girl pondered the question carefully, but after a couple of ticks she shrugged. "I don't know. Years and years and years." Gela smiled affectionately. "Well, you aren't wrong. It has been around for a very long time. I don't know for certain, but hundreds of years for sure. Lhavit was built and conceived by three very special individuals who are still alive this day. Do you know who they might be?"

Ennisa racked her brain to remember from her lessons, but although the names danced on the tip of her tongue, she couldn't quite remember properly. Frustrated, she bent her head down, shook her head, and wrote built hundreds of years ago. Gela soothed her awkward child with smiles. "It's okay. The three people who brought Lhavit to life were Aysel, Talora, and of course our goddess Zintila. It was they, and many others, who built the Lhavit we see today through hard work, graft, and magic."

Ennisa scrambled to write this down. Now she did vaguely remember her lessons. She wrote carefully, but her spelling was atrocious. Not that it mattered. She knew what she had written, and that was all she needed.

WC : 569

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

"Aysel and Talora are both Ethaefal. Do you know what that means?" Gela looked at her daughter attentively. Ennisa thought she knew, so she beamed and confidently answered, "Yes! It means they have two bodies, one their normal body, and one which is there Ethaefal body." Gela nodded. "Do you know why they switch between two forms?" Ennisa didn't. "When day switches to night, and back to day again, the Ethaefal change, depending on whether they worship Syna or Leth, the goddess of the sun and the god of the moon. They live for a very long time. Definitely not as long as Brelis' dad, your Grandpa."

"Where does Grandpa live?" Gela clasped her hands in front of her. Talk of family sometimes triggered Ennisa. She had remarried once she'd fallen for Brelis, but she had made the mistake of mentioning Enni's true father somewhere out on the ocean. Ever since then, her little girl had a jagged, malicious part of her heart saved specifically for her absent father, and it made Gela sad. Sad that Ennisa would probably never get to know how wonderful her father was, and sad that she had such an intense dislike at such a young age already. With family a touchy subject, she didn't really enjoy dwelling on Brelis' extended relations, in case it made Ennisa jealous.

"Grandpa Haba lives on Sartu Peak, but he's an old man now. We'll visit him another day." To Gela's relief, Ennisa simply shrugged and started writing down what she had just learnt.

The girl wrote down the information in wonky lines of text, but her writing was concise, which she was pleased about. She looked over her handwriting, and added an extra flick to a couple of the letters to make them look more interesting, and nodded in satisfaction. "Okay, what else? What about Zintila?"

"Well, the legend goes that Zintila fell on the peaks of Lhavit. After many, many years of hard work and labour, she saw fit to gift the fledgling people of Lhavit with the ability to make skyglass. That is why so many buildings have skyglass features. Can you name a building that has skyglass in it?"

Gela shifted in her seated position and waited for her daughter to answer. Ennisa was concentrating harder than she did in class, however thinking of a building in Lhavit which had skyglass was easy. She quickly answered with, "The Alluvion Academy!" It was where she went to primary school, so she was intimately familiar with the building. "It has skyglass windows." She smiled, glad to have got a right answer.

"Good answer. The Catholicon also has skyglass in its construction. You went there when you fell over, remember?" Ennisa didn't remember. Gela did. The incident was many moons ago, back when Ennisa was only tiny. She had been running about - always the over-enthusiastic child. She had fallen down a rocky slope and badly scraped both her knees.

"In fact, almost all the major buildings have skyglass somewhere it their construction. Skyglass is a very strong material, so it makes sense to use it in buildings." Ennisa dutifully wrote this down. Very strong material. She wondered how it was made, but didn't dwell on that for very long. "The bridges are made of skyglass as well, right?"

"Absolutely right, Enni. Next, we'll look at how Lhavit is run. Who would you go to in an emergency, for example?"

WC : 571

[Ennisa]

Date
"speech"
"others"

An emergency. She figured she had a couple of options. She could either go to the city guards who were called... Shu... Shi... Sha? Or she could go to the hospital. It would depend on what kind of emergency her mother meant. Ennisa never failed to ask the questions Gela wished she wouldn't. "What kind of emergency? Like, someone's dying kind of emergency? Or someone's hurt someone on purpose kind of emergency?"

Gela frowned. "An emergency. Any emergency, Ennisa." She interjected. "No, but! It depends on what kind of danger there is. You wouldn't need to get medicine if someone had just stolen something, and..-" Gela put her foot down. "It doesn't matter, child. If you don't know the answer, or won't answer, then I will tell you."

Ennisa was affronted. Of course she knew the answer! However, she wasn't given chance to tell it, which was the price of her mucking around. Her mother steamrollered ahead, leaving Ennisa scowling. "In an emergency, find a Shinya guard. Always find a Shinya first. Do you remember what they look like? Blue and white is their usual uniform. Some of them wear robes, others have sashes. They are the protectors of Lhavit."

Even at her relatively young age, Ennisa knew about the Shinya. On a couple of occasions, she had run away from a Shinya guard that had been trying to admonish her and her friends. It had never been anything serious, but she enjoyed the thrill of catching their attention with silly tricks. Her mother's advice fell on (mainly) deaf ears. "Do I make myself clear? This is important Enni. Stop messing around now."

Ennisa nodded a couple of times to show willing, but said nothing. If mother said to go to the Shinya, well, she might just very well do the opposite. Just to spite her. She smiled sweetly and began writing down everything her mother had just told her. Shinya - guards of the city. Blue and white clothes. Some wear robes, other ones wear sashes. "What's a sash, mom?"

"A sash is a strip of cloth that's usually worn over one shoulder and across the body, like this," she drew an imaginary line from her right shoulder down across her torso down to her left side. "You slip it over your head. Sometimes it's closed with a pin or a brooch or something like that."

"Oh, okay." Ennisa hadn't seen something like that before, and wondered what the purpose of it would be. She thought it sounded a bit pointless, but then she was only a child, and her dress sense wasn't exactly cutting-edge fashion. She jotted down what her mother had told her anyway.

"Now, if you are ill and I'm not around to take you, then you would need medicine. You would need to go to the Catholicon. Do you know where that is, Enni?"

"I think it's on Tenten Peak?"

"Yes, that's right! The Catholicon is one of the highest points on Tenten Peak, so I'm sure you've seen it before. It is a pale building, quite pretty. If you or your brother are ever seriously ill, and injured, you need to go there. But I'm sure that won't happen." Gela smiled, a little hesitantly. Ennisa scratched her head with the tip of the pen, and tried to picture the Catholicon in her head. She could just about remember what it looked like - tall stone columns, and a domed roof. "Is there skyglass in it?"

"Probably Ennisa, probably."

WC : 582

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

"Right, up you get!" Gela clapped her hands and stood up. "Pack away your writing things, I think we need to go out into Lhavit now. Especially now that the rain has let up." Ennisa brightened at the mention of going out. That meant a treat at the teahouse! She wiped the nib of the pen clean and screwed the lid back on the ink. She waited a moment before slamming the book closed, so as to allow the ink to dry and not spread onto the opposing page. Then she collected her stuff together and dumped it back in her room.

"Get your shoes on, Enni!"

"Okay mom!" She yelled, and promptly whispered, "Sorry!" to her resting brother, who only murmured soggily through his fug of illness. She peered through the gloom of the room and spied her boots hiding under the bed. She slipped her feet into the snug interior and laced the muddy laces up, although she had to wipe her hand clean of the muck with a disgusted, "Eugh!" Spring had been a bit chilly as summer hadn't quite approached, so she also picked up her coat from the bed.

"I'm coming," she said, and she half-walked, half-trotted out of the room to the front door where her mother was shaking the sleeves of her jacket out so she could slip into something more outdoor-appropriate. "Right-o, out we go." The two of them stepped outside into spring's pale sunshine.

The first thing Ennisa did was make a beeline to the nearest puddle. With a large splash! she leaped and landed feet-first in the mercifully shallow puddle. Even so, she immediately drenched her cheap leather boots, and splashed her mother with streaks of muddy water. Ennisa grinned in a maniac kind of way, but Gela was not as amused by her antics as she thought she might have been. "Young miss. That is not okay. Do not do that again. You're old enough to behave properly now."

Ennisa didn't give a petch. Behind her mom's back, she taunted her with sticking her tongue out. There was no particular reason, but whenever her mother admonished her, she always felt as if she was being unfairly persecuted. In this instance, all she was doing was having a bit of fun. Why were adults so booooring? She sniffled, but followed her mother anyway, the lure of nice food and drink being a powerful influencer.

They hiked through the city in silence. The skies were beginning to clear now, and the people of Lhavit slowly emerged from their boltholes and homes to go about their days, which had been rudely interrupted by the downpours of the morning. Ennisa was sorely tempted to jump in a few more puddles along the way as her shoes were already squelching, but she refrained if only because she feared to miss out on the promised snack.

Her mother led her to Shinyama Peak over one of Lhavit's skyglass bridges. Ennisa often marvelled at the steepness of these bridges, and they were especially beautiful in the rain. There was high humidity that spring, and now that the sun was peeking from behind the clouds, the heat in the humid air was creating light mist that smoked and wreathed the mountainous peaks. Ennisa licked her lips to feel clear, cool moisture from the clouds on her lips. It was a little chilly as they traversed through the low-hanging clouds, so she clenched her coat closer to her small frame.

Eventally, they reached the location Gela was aiming to show her. They had been walking together mostly in silence, with the occasional comment from one or the other. Now that Gela'd had chance to forgive what her daughter had done earlier, she took over their lesson again. "Right, Ennisa. We have arrived at the Shinyama Pavilion. This is the headquarters of the Shinya that we were talking about earlier. What peak are we on, do you know it's name?"

Ennisa recounted the way she had learnt the arrangement of the peaks at school, and counted each one off on her fingers. "Sharai, Shinyama, Zintila, Tenten, and Sartu. So, I think we're on Shinyama." Gela nodded. "Look up there, sweetie. It's clearing up now. Can you see the Pavilion?" Gela was right, it was beginning to get a bit clearer, especially as they were higher up the slopes of the peak. The low, shifting clouds finally parted, and she exclaimed, "I can see it!" She pointed. "It's a pretty building."

WC : 751

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

"This is where the Shinya train, and where you would ever go if you needed to report a crime. Though, don't come here on your own. Especially not at your age. If you ever saw something that wasn't right, always tell me about it first." Ennisa nodded. "Okay. Can we go inside?" She gestured towards the building. Ennisa was often overly curious, especially at her age. The building was quite a tall one, split into several layers. Her mother dashed her hopes, though. "No, Enni. We won't disturb the Shinya today."
"Another day then?"
"No, Enni. Come on, let's go."

Gela began walking away from the entrance to the Shinyama Pavilion. Ennisa lingered a little longer, gazing up at the building, and wondered what it was like inside. One day, she would go in and have a look around, even if mom didn't want her to. I'll go into every building in Lhavit! She vowed to herself, and promptly forgot as she followed after her mother.

The two of them followed the paths and streets of the city upwards. The walk was a bit of a hike, even as the streets wound around the mountain in a relaxed fashion. The day had cleared into blue skies and a crisp breeze, which was cheery. Ennisa tried whistling after they walked past an elderly man who had also been whistling, but she had little effect. Her preoccupation with forming the correct shape with her mouth and blowing with the correct amount of breath distracted her until they reached their next destination. When she realised, she looked up in awe, her whistling quite forgotten.

"Mom, it's so tall..." The two of them were stood outside the Twuele, the majestic building that housed Aysel, Talora, and Zintila. They were, of course, strictly forbidden from entering, but anyone could look at the building, and it truly was a glorious structure. Gela hadn't been so close in quite some time, and Ennisa had only ever seen it from afar. It was worth the hike up to see it up close.

"This is the Twuele, Enni. You may not go in, it's completely forbidden. This is where Aysel, Talora, and Zintila live. Right up here, you can see all across the rest of Lhavit. Isn't it a beautiful view?" They turned to look around, and Ennisa marvelled. "Is that our house down there?" She pointed at the sprawl of buildings, marked by stretches of Lhavit's bridges. It was virtually impossible to tell, due to the different heights at which buildings dwelled on the flanks of the mountains, but she nodded anyway. "I think so, Ennisa."

Gela stood a little closer to her daughter and enjoyed the small moment of wondrous quiet they shared. Ennisa was staring wide-eyed out at the landscape, drinking in the sights and sounds of the city she lived in. Her gaze kept drawing back to the Twuele to examine the different levels and the lofty heights the building reached. Gela placed a soft hand on her daughter's shoulder, and for a moment Ennisa stayed still. She smiled, glad that her little girl still wanted affection, but the smile slid off her face when Ennisa shrugged her off.

"Where next, mom?"

WC : 537

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

Gela considered her daughter. "The day is growing late, and I'm sure Brelis will want some help at home soon. How about we go over to the tea house now?" This ticked all of Ennisa's boxes, and so she grinned with delight and nodded enthusiastically. She even slipped her hand into her mom's as they headed back down towards the bridge that would lead them to the Mhakula Tea House.

The walk was brief and sunny. She picked up her whistling again. After some time of blowing without effect, she eventually managed to make a breathy, warbling note sound, much to her amusement. She then proceeded to annoy her mother with as many versions of badly whistled tunes as she could think of, until the irate woman and her unruly child reached the tea house.

"We won't be staying long, Ennisa, and with the way you've been behaving, I'm minded not to get any cake for you." She looked at her daughter sternly. Ennisa frowned grumpily. "That's not fair! You said..-" Gela cut her off. Gone was the affection from earlier, up at the Twuele. A half-bell of tuneless whistling and jibes had soured the mood between them, and she had suddenly realised Brelis would be wondering where they were. "No, that's enough now. We will get a cup of tea, and that is it."

The two of them walked through the gardens to reach the Mhakula Tea House. It was a pleasant atmosphere, Ennisa decided, and even she quietened down as she sniffed the scented air and oogled at the interesting people sitting within. They took a seat on plump cushions and Ennisa swung her legs whilst she fiddled with the tablecloth. An elderly lady with prim coiffured hair smiled at her, but she only stared back until the woman turned away embarrassed. Gela sighed.

"What can I get you, folks?" Ennisa looked up at the smiling face of the man who had just spoken. Gela replied. "Just a pot of your black tea please." She smiled politely at the man, who nodded with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Anything for the young lady?" Before Ennisa could interject, Gela promptly shook her head. "Just two cups please."

When the tea came, Ennisa took a sip, but winced at the bitter flavour. "Ma, this tastes funny." Gela smiled. "Tea does have a strong flavour, that is true. If you don't like it, just take some small sips." Ennisa wrinkled her nose, but did as her mother suggested. Now that she had come to the Tea House, she found herself growing bored. She thought about the places she had been that day, and wondered about the sprawl of Lhavit's many glittering, fascinating buildings. Where else could she go? What else was there to discover? She distracted herself with those thoughts and some idle people-watching until it was time to leave.

[Ambrosia Alar]

Grades!

Ennisa

Skills

● Detection +1
● History +2
● Land Navigation +2
● Logic +2
● Observation +2
● Rhetoric +1
● Socialization +1
● Stealth +1
● Wilderness Survival (Mountains) +1
● Writing +1

Lores
● Brelis: Ennisa's stepfather
● Gela: Ennisa's mother
● Detection: Using senses other than sight when lighting is low
● Lhavit: Founded long ago by Aysel, Talora, and Zintila after Zintila fell
● Ethaefal: Two-formed worshippers of Leth and Syna
● Leth: God of the Moon
● Syna: Goddess of the Sun
● Zintila: Gifted Lhavitians with skyglass
● Skyglass: A sturdy material widely used in Lhavit construction
● Lhavit's bridges are made of skyglass
● Shinya: Protectors of Lhavit
● Shinya: Blue and white uniforms
● Lhavit Location (Ten Ten Peak): The Catholicon, Lhavit's medical facility
● Why we don't jump in puddles
● Wilderness Survival: Dressing appropriately for the weather
● Lhavit Location (Shinyama Peak): Shinyama Pavilion
● Lhavit Location (Shinyama Peak): The Twuele, home to Zintila and the Constellations
● Lhavit Location (Zintia Peak): Mhakula Tea House

Comments

Ennisa, it's always a pleasure to read your threads. I like that we got a peak at Enni's interactions with her family. That was definitely my favorite part of this thread. As always, if you feel I've missed something or if you would like lore rephrased, just send me a PM. Don't forget to mark your request as graded. Thanks for the read.