Solo All Work, Some Play

[Ennisa]

30th Autumn 519 AV
"speech"
"others"

The day was a scorcher, but Ennisa was glad that the Cosmos Centre was decidedly cooler than the outside temperature. She had walked to work with a degree of haste for the very reason of avoiding the glaring sunshine, and when she had got inside, the cool, calming air made her smile. Since the morning however, Ennisa had got into a little bit of a rut, and work had slowed down to a halt because of her daydreaming.

She had much to think about. A lot had happened recently. Ennisa sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, to tease out the already-unravelling knots of a hastily constructed ponytail. She shook her long, pale hair out around her shoulders, and sneezed as her movements agitated the dust that dwelled in the corners of her work desk. Nearby, one of the workers she hadn't introduced herself to frowned and picked one of her long hairs that had floated free off from where it had landed on his work. He let the hair fall to the floor. Amused by his irritation, she turned a little in her chair, shrugged, and winked by way of an apology. The man rolled his eyes and got back to doing whatever it was he was doing.

Without anyone to pester, Ennisa decided to follow suit. She turned her gaze down to the pile of paper in front of her. She was working on a task that had been taking her a couple of days to get through. The end was in sight, but it was as the end loomed that she slowed, as if something held her back from completion. She sighed again, oblivious to the man's eyeroll, and dipped quill into ink to start writing.

Her task was fairly simple. Mostly, she needed to log some of the new applicants to Lhavit into the filing system. It sounded easy, but there were several sheets of papers that had been lost or misplaced, which she had spent some bells trying to find. Then there had been the very task of trying to understand the Cosmos Centre's filing system, which had been a bit of a struggle. She wasn't sure she even understood it now, but she had the basic grasps. She had to admit, in hindsight, that she should have learnt a little more from Penelope when she'd had the chance. The little woman had been teaching her about the slightly convoluted filing system, but the two got on each other's nerves, and now all she had was the sheet of paper with the complicated drawing of the filing system instead of any deeper, more in-depth knowledge.

She scratched the pen across the surface of the paper as she began jotting down the hard copy of a file under the name of Rami Romtha. The process was relatively simple. There were several short slips of paper which the man himself had filled out on his arrival in Lhavit. These had all been placed in a pile along with everyone else's. Ennisa had spent most of yesterday sorting out one lot from the other. Now she needed to put everything neatly and concisely onto one singular page, and then file that into the correct place.

She finished writing the man's name. Her cursive was coming along, though she occasionally still accidentally let flicks of ink mar the cleanness of the page. Mr Rami was especially frustrating to copy, as his own writing was far worse than her own. The only bit of comfort she eked out of it was that she was clearly more skilled than him at writing. She jotted down his housing application, noted down his estimated length of stay, and then wrote down his job, which, judging from the records she'd found for him, seemed to have been approved earlier today.

WC : 637

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

Ennisa squinted at the next form she pulled over, and tried to fathom the name. The writing was barely legible. She shook her head disbelievingly at the uselessness of some newcomers, but pulled the sheet closer, as although it was difficult to read, the records still needed to go into the Cosmos Centre's files.

From what she could figure out, the name appeared to be K something t*n something. The rest of the text was just as illegible. Ennisa picked up her own pen as an idea struck, and she started trying to copy exactly what was on the page onto a fresh sheet. She hoped, through the act of writing, that she would be able to figure out what letters the original writer had hoped to convey.

She went slowly, and kept cross-referencing. K, then... a? E? O? It was probably a vowel, right? She continued. Kast... i? Kasti? Kasten? What was the last letter? A? U? E! She recognised it now. As Ennisa wrote, she was beginning to get an idea of what the author's handwriting was like. Messy, yes, but it also had some particular quirks and flairs all of its own. Underneath the transcribed note, she added her translation. Kastene. She presumed Kastene was a man, and wondered how she was going to work on the rest of the body of text.

Briefly, she scanned over the scrawled writing. She picked up some words, and some letters, but others were impossible at first glance. Ennisa wasn't a quitter though, and she only had about a paragraph to figure out before she could move onto the next file. Ennisa began as she had before, by trying to mimic the man's writing as best she could. As she went, she tried to figure out the words used and write them underneath the scribbles. She was forced to cross words out every so often as their place in the sentence started to look a little tenuous.

Nevertheless, after about what felt like bells she was finished. She glanced back over what she had written, just to check to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

Name: Kastene
Profession: Captain
Reason for visit: Travel, staying on shoor over Winta. Seeying my family. Payying my respekts.

The spelling errors were Kastene's. She looked them over, and decided that it would be better to correct the mistakes, to make for easier reading later down the line. She pulled up a fresh piece of paper and quickly wrote down the section again, this time with the correct spellings.

Once this was done, she found that she had picked up the flow once more. It was short work to complete the rest of the applications; not that there were many. Lhavit was a jewel in the crown of Kalea, but a difficult jewel to reach from most of the other places in Mizahar. Ennisa was an ignorant child, but she knew this at least. As a result, the visitor logs were mainly from autumn and summer. She wasn't sure why they hadn't been dealt with sooner, actually. Perhaps the focus and interest was on other issues going on at the moment in the city.

WC : 530

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

Now that the records were completed, Ennisa needed to file them in the appropriate places. There was a large shelving unit in one of the back rooms of the Cosmos Centre and this unit housed the majority of documents such as these. The other day, she'd had a lesson with an annoying woman named Penelope, who was supposedly one of the best equipped at understanding the system. Ennisa had not got along with her at all, so she entered the back room with trepidation.

To her relief, the room was empty save for the stacks and stacks of papers, ranging from aged and crumbling to newer and fresh. She clutched her own records and searched for the wheelable wooden ladder. She set the records down on the table as she pushed and heaved it over into place, and then she got the folded guide of the filing system out from her pocket so that she could double-check the correct order of things.

There were small squares with letters writ on them, now that she looked closer. These were affixed to the edge of the shelves. She took the top file and checked which name was written there. 'Sapphire'. She consulted the diagram she'd received from Penelope, but the 'S' section was closer than she realised, so she put the drawing back down on the table, as it wasn't needed. She stepped over and slotted Sapphire's records in between the others.

The rest of the task was easy, and she had it done in no time. Once she'd sorted out the filing, she stepped back and surveyed the shelves. Ennisa was naturally a curious cat, and the rows upon rows of raw information were highly tempting. She stepped closer and breathed in the scent of the paper. The room itself was not luxurious, and the walls were painted a cool grey, but the reams of paper showed a simple kind of luxury. She ran a finger along the exposed spines of the folders. Most were slim, barely more than a page or two. Occasionally she noticed thicker files, some old, some new. These were infrequently interspersed amongst the others. She was incredibly tempted to pull one out and just have a little flick through. No one would mind, right?

Ennisa stopped on high alert as she heard footsteps outside the door, but she relaxed again as they walked by. She listened intently, and heard light chatter and laughter from her colleaugues. Now was not a good time to start snooping. She pulled the step-ladder back to its storage space and left the room to walk back to her desk.

As she did, she dwelt on the records she'd seen. There were so many uses for such records. It was probably against the Cosmos Centre's policy to utilise the information, but one little peek wouldn't hurt, would it? She was itching to check on one of the bigger files especially, but today was busy, and she didn't know where Youchi was. It would be better to plan that particular task. Instead, to distract herself and also because she was beginning to slacken, she picked up her pen and began on the next task.

She seemed to have been given this task as her main role at the Cosmos Centre for now. Perhaps it was what Saami used to do, before she went on maternity leave. Either way, it was Ennisa's job now. She began by writing the header of the article: Housing in Lhavit, Autumn 519 AV. Housing always seemed to fluctuate, so there were some new places to add, and some new ones to take off the list. She underlined the title to make it more obvious, and pulled over the collection of notes that she needed to collate.

WC : 628

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

House, house, house, flat, room to rent... Ennisa was always surprised by the plentiful and varied housing options in Lhavit. Her own home, shared with her best friend, was one of two options she thought she had. The other was the Okomo Estates, which she remembered from childhood. Lush plots with grazing okomo and other creatures, and beautiful views. The housing was quite a hike from where all the action was, though. Ennisa much preferred the tiny flat she lived in. Yet, she was surprised to learn that there were also some houses that occasionally came up for sale amongst the shops and businesses across the different peaks. Ennisa's eye had been caught more than once by something she came across in the pile of loose bits of paper and advertisements that had been posted or deposited to the Cosmos Centre.

In fact, she was half-minded to buy a bigger place herself. Not that she had the kina to afford such a property, but a girl could dream, right? It was certainly something to aim for. She copied down the details of each listing. Her writing was getting a little neater, she was pleased to see. As she wrote down a handful of new rentable rooms at the Solar Winds, she focussed on joining the letters as neatly as she could. She angled the nib and swooshed the quill to create a lovely looking swirl at the end of a 'y'. Ennisa carefully blew on the ink to allow it to dry, and continued.

The list was completed. She now began putting it all into one neater compilation. This did not take too long, so she had time to make a spare copy, that Youchi liked to have on the main desk. It was helpful for newcomers to have their options ready in front of them. Once she was done writing this, she wiped the remaining ink on a square of blotting paper, and set her quill down. So that the ink pot didn't dry out, she fastened the lid closed, and got up to take the two sheets to their respective homes.

The first one she took over to the reception desk. The surface was clean and neat, and from the desk Ennisa had a good view of the front doors. She turned and gazed around the room, whilst having a stretch, and waved over at the man who was sat behind her. She was a little annoyed when he completely ignored her, but petch him. Ennisa set the sheet of paper with her notes on down on the table, and moved a glass paperweight on top of it, so that any air currents wouldn't send it flying.

Next, she took the copy and went to another back room to file it into the correct place. Here, she found the nearest and most recent dump bin and set the record on top. Someone else could deal with it. She didn't understand that particular system, but someone else surely would. Her time in this room was brief, which was good, because Penelope was giving her death-glares from her little work nook in the corner and Ennisa hadn't noticed. She took herself back to her desk, and idly wondered when her work day would be over.

WC : 545

[Ennisa]

"speech"
"others"

The final thing she had to do today was written on a little slip of paper. The note had been left for her, and one of the other scribes had handed it over to her that morning. He'd let her know that Youchi wanted an update on the project, whatever it was, in the next few days. Anything else, she wasn't sure, as she'd yet to read it. Now she had the time, so she unfolded the rough scrap and scanned over the words written in Youchi's neat, looping script.

Ennisa,
Following on from the conversation we had a couple of days ago, I have a project I would like you to complete, with Penelope's assistance. It is our duty to work to the best of our combined abilities for the benefit of Lhavitians, both new and old. To this effect, I would like you to begin compiling a small document, which we may provide to new Lhavitians as a guide to our lovely city. I don't know how long this task might take, but any help you might need, please ask Penelope. Please include details on housing, jobs, and the rules of Lhavit. You may also include anything else you think might be appropriate.
Report to me in the next few days and let me know how your task is coming along!
Regards, Youchi

Ennisa blinked a couple of times. The project did sound fun. A little daunting. The main thing she took issue with was Penelope. Ennisa grumbled under her breath. Obviously, Youchi thought the best way to get the two women to like each other was to force each other to cooperate. Ennisa had other plans. Nevertheless, she was excited at the prospect. It would certainly be a useful thing for a newcomer to have.

She grabbed a fresh sheet of paper, and dipped her quill into the ink. Ennisa intended to begin straight away. All good projects started with a list of things to include, so she put down the heading, 'Guide to Lhavit', and then hesitated with her pen poised to begin.

Obviously, the first couple of items to note down were jobs and housing. She wrote these in her usual way at the top of the page. After this, she scratched her head and thought. Ennisa placed herself in the shoes of a newcomer. Someone like Aleth, who she'd met earlier that season. The poor Kelvic hadn't even known that slavery wasn't a thing, here in Lhavit, until he'd figured it out for himself after observing the crowds. She jotted down the word rules, then paused again. What else hadn't Aleth known? She hummed under her breath, a toneless murmur of thought.

Unless you'd been to Lhavit before, it would be important to know about different shops. If you had come to Lhavit for a purpose, perhaps you would need to know about those particular places? Ennisa narrowed her eyes, and thoughtfully wrote down shops and/or map? Next came the peaks, and bath houses! Hygeine after a long voyage would be handy. She giggled a little. What else?

Ennisa spent a few more chimes trying to think of more things to add to the list, but she was disappointed to find that her brain had emptied. She cleaned the pen and neatened her desk. It was time to go home. She would hold off from talking to Penelope for as long as she could. After all, why did she need help? She could figure it out herself. Ennisa resolved to make this task as elaborate and useful as she could possibly make it, and it was with the list in her mind that she left the Cosmos Centre for the day, in good spirits and buzzing with work fulfilment.

WC : 626

[Ambrosia Alar]

Grades!

Ennisa

Skills

● Calligraphy +1
● Cleaning +2
● Copying +3
● Forgery +1
● Intelligence +1
● Investigation +1
● Larceny +1
● Observation +2
● Organization +2
● Planning +3
● Seduction +1
● Writing +4

Lores
● The Cosmos Centre's filing system is convoluted
● Copying: Discerning bad handwriting
● Copying: Imitating bad handwriting to better understand it
● Lhavit: Difficult to reach in spring and winter
● Penelope: Annoying curator of the Cosmos Centre
● Larceny: Waiting for the right time to steal information
● Lhavit Location: Okomo Estates
● Okomo Estates: Housing for the people and Okomo of Lhavit
● Writing: Keeping things clean with blotting paper
● Close the ink pot to prevent drying
● Beginning a project: List the contents
● Peaks: The important divisions of Lhavit
● Lhavit: Has no slavery

Comments

I'm really starting to love Ennisa. Though this was a job thread, I like that you hint that she intends to use the information it affords her for her own purposes. I'm curious to see what the file contains and how she gets it. I'm always gonna feel like an amateur at grading, so if you feel I've missed something or if you would like lore rephrased, just send me a PM. As always, thanks for the read.