Solo The Scents of Life.

[Marik Sitai]

Fall 30th, 524 AV.

Marik stood in front of one of the two tables made of raised stone slabs which dominated the southeast corner of the Amber Accord's philtering lab. He was dressed in all black satin; as was his preference, from head to ankles as the midnight bell rang into the first tick of a new day. The only color the Philterer's outfit displayed was in the form of a red rose that was tucked into the band of his wide brimmed hat. It was a rose that he willfully plucked from the fresh bouquet which laid on the tabletop. They were fresh roses that he gathered from the fields of roses along the road leading to Kenash from the Bloodflower plantation the earlier in the evening.

Marik mirrored the lone rose of his hat in the way that he cut a striking figure against the frugal backdrop of the lab. He kept a majority of the pomp and circumstance of comfort to any customers that were down below in the smoking lounge. The one comfort the dynast kept to himself was in the form of the good bed behind him in the northeast corner of the lab.

He hummed a song to himself as he plucked the petals from a rose until he had no more to place into a wooden bowl on the table. Marik harvested every petal that the bouquet had to offer until he was left with a bundle of barren stems.

A glassware alembic stood as the centerpiece of the table in front of Marik. Metal legs kept the glassware high above a small iron philtering brazier that could be readily pulled aside by a handle to remove the flame from under the glassware.

The second stone slab table to his left was covered in all of the glassware, jars, and any ingredients he might need to craft perfumes or roll cigars. This first table was meant for distilling things and anything that required fire.

The corner fireplace to his right was the only thing that kept the first stone slab table he was facing from dominating the entire wall. That same honor was equally shared by his bed which kept the other table from fully ruling its wall. Marik lifted a hand to grasp the top of an alembic to gently ease the glass venting hood upwards while also slipping the vents narrow protrusion out from where it connected to distilling coils to the right of the alembic.

"Boiling a liquid causes them to evaporate into vapors. Those collected vapors travel from the hood to the distilling coils... the further away the vapors move from the flames causes condensation to be collected." He said while setting the venting hood aside and poured the rose petals into the alembic. They were words that he learned in his childhood, but set back into his memory earlier that season. Marik did a small shimmy to keep himself entertained as he turned on his bare heels to go pick up a bucket at the base of a barrel of water which rested against the wall near the door. He set the bucket of water on the table just incase he needed to put the flames for the brazier out but also to gather water from it in a glass beaker which he used to fill up the alembic.

He kept an eye on the roses as he poured four beakers of water in it to properly submerge the petals. Marik glanced down to the table to a small wooden dowel which he picked up to probe at the roses inside of the alembic to stir them slightly. He set the dowel aside then picked up the glass venting hood to delicately slip its pointed nose back into the distilling coil while simultaneously closing it like a lid onto the alembic.

Marik grabbed a pair of tongs on the table as he turned to the fireplace in the corner. The fire had been roaring for most of the evening so he probed at the glowing smoldering embers that fell to the sides of the flames to pick on up. He carried the hot ember to the philtering brazier and set it down atop kindling that was already inside of it. The tender began to smoke as he bent down to blow on it until the inside of the brazier fully caught fire. He picked up a rag from the table to protect his hand as he shifted the brazier under the alembic to begin its boiling process.

WC: 755

[Marik Sitai]

Marik placed the beaker he used to pour water into the alembic under the nozzle at the end of the distilling coils to eventually collect the rose output. He tapped a hand against the stone table before turning to the second table covered in ingredients. "Just keep an ear out for boiling water." He spoke aloud to himself as a reminder to keep half of his attention on the alembic since he had his back turned to it.

Marik pulled a clay gallon jug of grapeseed oil closer towards him on the table which he uncorked to fill the beaker up half way then topped the filled beaker with a watch-glass lid. "Where is it?" He mumbled to himself while looking around for an iron kettle. It took him a moment to quickly look through the storage shelves above the table until he found the kettle next to two other jugs of grapeseed oil. He took the kettle over to the barrel of water where he dipped it in until it was half full then moved to set it down next to the beaker.

The sounds of footsteps climbing up the stairs broke Marik's concentration as he lifted his head to stare at the wall ahead of him. The stairway leading up to the shop was on the other side of the wall which allowed him to tell how close the person was getting to the top. Marik adjusted his hat before turning to walk out into the shop to greet his late night customer.

"Welcome to the Amber Accord. The night is never too late to strike an accord with a good smell and a magnificent time." He spoke aloud before the person even reached the top of the stairs. He moved around the shops counter closer to the stairs as he picked up a wooden platter of cigars which laid on the shops counter.

A woman with eyes as black as night eventually found herself in front of him. It was a Chaktawe woman who Marik knew in passing but had rarely ever talked to.

She greeted Marik with a wave of her hand which was both a kind gesture and a way to show off her freeborn brand on her right hand. "Would you care for a cigar? I promise it is an experience of flavors only offered by Sitai tobacco for the price of a gold."

Jakeepa was the owner and instructor at a school of her own namesake titled Jakeepa's School of Feminine Arms. She greeted the dynast with a polite curtsy before waving away the offered cigars. "Hello Marik. I may partake some other time. I heard from someone that you were open quite late which saved me from making a trip to the Midnight Market." Marik turned to set the platter of cigars back down onto the countertop.

"The Amber Accord is always here to please. What can I help you with this late evening?" He motioned his hand to the shelves on the wall covered in gleaming vials, jars, and bottles of perfume of various colors.

"I just witnessed one of my students successfully defend themselves from an assailant in a violent altercation. I believe she has reached the end of needing my instruction in self-defense and I want to give her a sort of graduation present to go with a new scarf in the morning after the incident."

Marik nodded his head as a curiosity lifted both of his brows. "I am interested in hearing more of that story, but first... have you informed the city guard of this altercation and do you require any medical aid? The Accord has medicinal philters which can ease pain for a price."

Jakeepa made her way to one of the shelves to examine the perfumes on display. "The guards were quickly informed and the culprit was taken away. I was not involved in the matter so I am perfectly fine."

Marik walked over to the door leading back into the lab to stick his head in to check on the alembic when Jakeepa shifted her attention away from him. A large amount of condensation began to coat the inside of the glass but the heat had yet to cause any true evaporation.

The Philterer turned back to her with a smile on his lips. "Then all is well! Do you know what scent your student might be fond of? A floral sweetness? Or maybe a blend of fresh green woody notes of nature?" Jakeepa turned to Marik after taking a sniff from a perfume bottle. "I am not quite sure what scent she enjoys but a floral scent sounds lovely."

Marik walked over to the shelf where he picked up a vial of perfume. "If they have an ambitious station in life then I recommend this marsh dandelion perfume." He uncorked the top of the vial to allow himself a sniff of it before holding it out for Jakeepa to smell it.

"It has an orange citrus top note on the air yet a subtle sweet cream scent on the skin. However, this would not fit someone who already has a higher station in life." He motioned his hand to the shelf next to her in a way which obviously denoted something that was more expensive. Marik put the cork back into the top of the dandelion perfume and handed it to her before he grabbed another perfume.

"This is a more refined amber resin perfume. It has warm tones to the nose on the air and is sweetly spicy against the skin or in this occasion when smelt from a scarf." Marik assumed from Jakeepa's conflicting emotions that her student must have been from a notable family if she had that much doubt about them being unable to enjoy a common perfume.

"It is a special occasion so I will take them both. I'll be keeping the dandelion perfume for myself." The transaction of money for perfume was completed quickly before Jakeepa gave Marik a slight nod of salutations. It was a gesture which he happily returned.

"If I am here then the Amber Accord is open for business. Feel free to relax in the lounge below should the need arise to pass some time. Have a wonderful and safe night."

"And you as well." Jakeepa said as he watched her turn to walk down the stairs and exit the building.

WC: 1068

[Marik Sitai]

Marik returned to the lab with only a need to by himself some time as he watched the rumbling in the belly of the alembic emit wisps of vapor which floated up towards the venting hood. Each bead of rose water was purified by flame only to condense within the coiling tubes where the droplets fell with a rhythmic drum of refinement into the waiting beaker.

He removed the hat from his head to set it down onto the stool to his side before turning his attention to the bundle of rose stems that he left on the preparation table. He lifted a handful of them up to sniff at the green stems. "Sharp.... no. Crisp. Leafy in a pure way more refined than grass." He sniffed at the rose stems while trying to calculate how to sell the smell in his mind. "A perfume for those who enjoy the smell of nature. A refined herbaceous woody scent of life."

Marik thought over the scent of the stems as he used his free hand to pull the mortar with pestle closer to him at the edge of the table. "Could use a bit of sweetness to balance it all out. Honey? Apples would be too on the nose. Or would people enjoy an apple tree perfume?" He compared apples to honey in his mind as he reached up into the shelving above the table to grab a basket of dried apples and a jar that held a pint of honey.

He set them both aside as he pulled a dagger from its sheath on his right hip. It was a tool for self defense which he mostly used for cutting tobacco or trimming plants. A sudden heavy chop sliced the blade of the dagger through most of the rose stems. It took two more errant chops to separate a stubborn rose stem. All of the stems were placed into bowl of the mortar as Marik took up the pestle in his hand. Marik was in no rush as he began to grind the rose stems by slowly sliding the pastel in a circle. By the time he finally lifted the pestle after a few moments of grinding had past the only thing left in the mortar was a sticky looking green paste.

"Lets just keep things simple..." Marik mused to himself as he used his hands to roll the green paste into a ball before picking it up. He used his other hand to remove the lid from the beaker he filled with grapeseed oil and dropped the green ball of paste into it.

"Just use honey." He put the basket of dried apples back up on the shelf before opening the jar of honey to pour a heavy splash into the beaker. There was no real measurement he just poured honey until things felt right. Once he set the honey aside he picked up a wooden dowel to push the crushed rose stems to the bottom of the beaker before stirring everything to infused the plant paste and honey throughout the oil.

The Perfumer put the watch-glass lid back onto the beaker then picked up a small wooden square off the stone table that he often used as a coaster to set drinks on. He put the wooden coaster into the iron kettle then carefully picked up the beaker to set it down onto the coaster. The beaker wad half surrounded in a water bath as Marik picked up the kettle by a handle to slowly walk it over to the fireplace. He set the kettle down on the lip of the fireplace to use its heat to slowly bring the water in the kettle to a higher heat without boiling it to aid in infusing the oil faster. Marik stood while nodding to himself knowing that the grapeseed oil would be some type of amber honey perfume by morning.

"Hurry up and wait."

Marik said while watching the beaker at the end of the distilling coils slowly fill with rose water. He picked up his hat from the stool then tossed it through the air to land over onto his bed. Marik pulled the stool closer to sit down and keep an eye on the philtering brazier to make sure the heat did not damage the glassware.

WC: 719