Location [Syliras Location] Squire Dormitories

[Dusk]

Squire's Dormitories Bittern District, Second Tier Squires, Knights, or special permission only! Though the trials and training of being a squire can take nearly twelve hours a day, when that day is done the squires retire to their rooms in the Bittern District. A few hundred squires, the vast majority of them rowdy teenagers, spend their evenings in the suites set aside for their use. Order is upheld by a few dozen dormitory chaperons, usually one of the widows who came to the city and looking for work and a place to live. Housing is divided into suites which have three sleeping rooms, a bathing room, and a common area. Each suite is assigned to a time when they are to take their meals in one of the larger dining halls, which can accommodate several suites at once. Sleeping rooms have anywhere from three to six beds depending on the size, and each squire has their own chest to store their belongings in. These rooms are on the whole unsupervised, though the chaperons may enter at any time to check in on their charges. These rooms are often segregated by sex - meaning either all boys or all girls sharing a sleeping room - though the rooms themselves are mixed in each suite. This means that a single suite might have three rooms of boys and then a girls' room. Though the girls are given separate sleeping arrangements, there is little else spared them for privacy's sake - they must make their way to knighthood the same as the boys. Guests are not allowed in the dormitories, and anyone found sneaking in a friend will be punished by the chaperons and possibly reported to the knights. Anyone found in this area who doesn't belong are usually identified by the chaperons fairly quickly and, when she starts screaming and pointing, tackled by the nearest squires eager to prove themselves capable of subduing a villain. And then, of course, taken into custody by the knights. Fighting or sparring is forbidden within the dorms, as is all use of magic. A squire caught breaking this rule is immediately reported to the Knights and punished by them. For most squires, though, the dormitory is where friendships are formed, families are built, and connections made that will serve them the rest of their years in the Knighthood. NPCs : Marianna Ogson The wife of an unranked knight who was slain riding the Kabrin Road, Marianna has since accepted a position as a chaperon for the Squire Dormitory. She has one child, a son named Teddi who is ten years old and a Stormwarden studying in the Temple. Marianna is by far the most feared of the chaperons - not because she is strict or cruel, but because she has a way of making a young man feel as if he's disappointed her down to her very soul. There are squires who would rather take a lashing than face the heart-wrenching sadness she's capable of expressing with her eyes alone. Skills Manipulation: 40 Leadership: 27 Amber Aelius Born to a wealthy merchant family, Amber was the eldest daughter and had no problem being used as a marriage pawn to solidify her father's trade alliances. When her husband fell victim to sickness and death, she found herself with few skills and even fewer options. With the unfortunate combination of her father's demise and her brother Trajan taking over the family business, as well as having borne no children despite years of trying, she suddenly found her options quite thin. Unwilling to become a merchant and unable to find another husband willing to support her, she found herself in the unenviable position of being without support or useful skills. The Aelius family, wary of catching the eye of the knights with a useless maiden aunt, volunteered her as a chaperon for the squires. Amber is the one best known for shrieking her displeasure at the boys who get too rowdy or break the rules, and is easily sent into apoplexy over the inevitable pranks that are played on her. Though she is never violent - mainly because she is secretly afraid of the young warriors - she still wields a fair amount of authority. She is quick to report any erring squire to their superiors, but she will also play favorites for those who play by her rules. Skills Intimidation: 37 Manipulation: 26 Rachel Pernis The eldest of the chaperons, Rachel has worked in the dormitories for the past two decades. Her husband is a Sergeant Knight stationed outside of Syliras, and so she only sees him perhaps once a year. She has several children and grandchildren, most of them within the Order, and sees her position as the best thing she can do to help her city. Rachel is the doting mother of the chaperons, more likely to cajole a squire into obeying her than to be stern. She plays the part of confidante and grandmother, often counseling the younger squires who miss their families or have a hard time adjusting to the rigors of their new duties. Always waiting with a hug or some bit of candy, Rachel is one of the most favorite of the chaperons, and is obeyed more out of love than fear. Skills Psychology: 52 Observation: 45 Storytelling: 34

This location is moderated by Dusk and Chevalier

[Shale]

Spring, 05, 511 AV: Nighttime

All was quiet in the Bittern District. Or as quiet as it got at night anyway. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of its denizens, and indeed, even the security force, was that a life-and-death chase was occurring.

Shale, was on the prowl. The act of climbing came naturally to her as a gray fox Kelvic; it was what they did after all. She scuttled up the side of a building's side, hot on his trail.

She climbed to the eaves of the squire dormitories. He was here somewhere, she could smell it. Her target was the worst ever known. The most dastardly, the most unspeakably vile thing to ever walk the city streets! Shale glanced around until she heard a skittering noise across the way from her.

Her enemy was not like a terrible serial killer or a petty scam-artist. Oh no, not as simple as either of those. This was so much bigger. An infamous [s]thief[/s] mouse known only as; "El Blanco!" The words came to her immediately just as his visage reached her eyes.

There he was! The chase was on once again!

The dramatic height of this event was unfortunately lost on most who might have seen it. Any homeless man or random bystander who happened to view the spectacle would have just seen a fox pick her way up a wall after a white mouse, and then bark at it when reaching the roof.

Not the most exciting of things in the world. If only they too could know that the hunt Shale had been undergoing for about four chimes now, was sure to meet its end soon.

And she knew it.

Shale's vulpine body was wracked with anticipation. She had learned his tricks, found his hiding places, and gone from building to building in her long search. This was her pursuit, and she was sure to catch him this time!

But she had to actually get him first, and when he leaped off the roof and onto the edge of a window, he was giving his all to lose his chaser.

Shale surged across the building top and hopped onto the windowsill with grace. No way he could shake her now!

She spotted him again and rejoined the chase with renewed vigor, leaping with a soft tap onto the flooring of a squire common room.

El Blanco, like anyone or anything with a hunter right on its tail, was quick to notice that he was in imminent danger, squeaking and fleeing in a panic around furniture and under a table. There was a muted scuffling in the darkness and he had apparently lost his pursuer.

Or so he thought.

There was a flash of light and a pair of hands wrapped around his form before his eyes could readjust. The mouse was trapped. But rather than iron bars and brick and mortar encasing him, it was a cage made of fingers.

A crack opened slowly and his prison trembled with excitement. A form was right outside, that of a naked blonde-haired, woman scrutinizing him with glee and a single blue eye right outside the crack.

But one doesn't become "infamous" by being easy to take. He rewarded her continued persistence with the logical conclusion to the age-old adage; a cornered rat can bite. El Blanco was actually a mouse, but being an animal, he didn't bother to make the distinction or realize that he was fulfilling an old saying from somewhere.

"Yeek!" Shale bit her tongue to keep herself from crying out too loudly at the unexpected counter-attack. He had actually bitten her hand! How dare he!? But in the moment she had winced, she had also released her captive.

The mouse made good use of the opening.

He plopped onto the floor and managed to take about three steps when a hand smacked down on top of him.

As it turns out, one doesn't become a very hard to shake pursuer without having the perseverance to quickly recover from being unexpectedly bitten. It took Shale only a few moments before once again, he was captured, held in a vice grip this time that left him unable to sink his teeth into her flesh a second time.

Despite the still stinging pain of being bitten, Shale looked just as triumphant as before.

The fox Kelvic hadn't been this energized since she first entered Syliras! "Thought you were clever, huh?" She quickly changed to a sitting position, careful to not let El Blanco get a chance to close his jaws on her fingers a second time. Dangling the white mouse by its tail, she grinned, her pronounced fangs adding to her feral role.

"Troublesome thing, you led me around for quite some time." Shale shook her former nemesis, invoking a frantic squeak. "But I got you, I got you. Never try to trick a trickster, kiddo, you'll just look like a fool in the end."

She opened her mouth wide, prepared to drop her prey into it and bring her chase to a final conclusion that would satisfy both her sense of vengeance and (at least slightly) hunger from transforming so often during the hunt. "Bye El Blanco~"

Shale turned her head abruptly. A noise cut her dramatic closure short. She apparently wasn't the only one awake this night.

[Dimitri]

Spring 17, 511 AV

Dimitri left the putrid air of Winthrop Alley, one last destination in mind. He began heading to the Bittern District to the Squire Dormitories. More specifically the kitchens for their dining hall. He carried his decent sized rainbow scaled fish, his true pride of the day. He would have to return to that fishing hole more often, it was absolutely full of them, and he had learned the trick. He would hope someone could show him how to clean a fish. Maybe one of the cooks here would.

He entered the kitchens, seeing the hustle and bustle. He knew they would be quite busy, having to feed the large appetites of the many hard working and quick growing squires. He knew they were always fairly busy and he approached one of the cooks. "I caught this fish earlier out in the woods, I was wondering if the kitchen would buy it. Would make a decent meal and some spending change never hurt. And if it's not too much of a bother I'd like to learn how to clean it for next time."

http://www.mizahar.com/forums/post73325.html#p73325

[Dusk]

Shale An elderly woman stood in the open doorway, mouth hanging open. "What are you doing?" she whispered, brows drawn down. "What - why are you naked? You're not a squire here, I'd know you if you were. Did one of the boys sneak you in? I'll have their hides!" she said, hand going to her hips. Then she seemed to notice the mouth, and she squeaked and took a step back.

Dimitri One of the assistants wiped her hands on her apron and approached with a smile. "Coor, that'll do nicely. Here, lemme show you what to do with it," she said, hooking a fingertip underneath the gills and waving him to follow her over to a chopping block. "First you wanna slit the belly down, see?" she said, producing a little paring knife from some unseen pocket and demonstrating how. "Then you yank out the guts, and best thing t' do is either use 'em for bait to keep fishing or just dump 'em in the water. Keeps the rest of 'em fat, like. You can scale 'em if you want, it's a messy thing that's best done outside. Just flip the knife over and go against the grain," she said, using the dull edge of the knife's blade to scrape against the skin of the fish, sending opalescent scales flying every which way. It left only the silver skin of the fish, shining in the sunlight that streamed in through the windows in the ceiling. "Leave the head on, though, 'cause we can use that for stock. And that's about it, quick as pie," she laughed, smiling as she dug into her pockets to bring out two gold mizas and offer them to him. "Bring us some anytime, we're always happy to have a bit of fresh catch." OOCLedger: +2 gm. Lores: How to clean a fish

[Shale]

Both girl and mouse didn't move a muscle except to look at each other, as if unsure of what to do or say without the other's advice or hints. The blond-haired woman found herself whispering in response to the old woman's own hushed queries.

"I uhhh... no. I was just hunting this mouse." The naked woman pointed to it for a second before she got up from her position, using the hand of her's that wasn't occupied with dangling a white mouse by its tail to boost her up that much faster.

While the fear showed by the old lady was mostly lost on the now standing and still naked woman, she paused for a moment before getting into her proper "stage flow." "Shale the performing fox Kelvic, my lady." She said, with a habitually slightly louder voice.

Shale finished it with a bow, an instinctual part of any decent introduction brought to her from performing for the majority of her short life.

She swept her left hand outwards to her side as she bent at the waist during the movement. Her right hand moved to over her stomach simultaneously, but suddenly stopped before it got any closer than two inches.

This was the very same hand that still held the very same mouse which had just bitten her a few moments ago. Shale was still sore enough to easily recall what happened last time she let him get too close. Her eyes darted to the mouse, who was suspiciously still at the moment, to make sure he was indeed at a safe distance.

[Dusk]

"Keep your voice down, girl," the woman hissed, waving her to quiet. "You wake up the boys and we'll have a scene on our hands, true enough. Well. If you're a Kelvic that explains the distinct lack of clothing. Come on then," she said, stepping closer to corral the girl out through the door and down the hallway to her own suite. She was careful, however, to avoid the mouse entirely. "I'm Rachel," she added, more as an afterthought than anything. "And how did you even get into the dorms? I'll box the guard's ears if he let you up the stairs."

[Shale]

More out of subconscious instinct than anything else, the fox Kelvic allowed herself to be shooed towards the corridor like a sheep might be herded by a sheep-dog. She made her way out of the room, taking care to step gingerly around a table as she replied. "Please to meet you Ra-er" Shale lowered back to a whisper. "-Rachel." She thought about it for a moment, visibly scrunching up her face slightly as she considered the possible consequences of revealing her entryway. "I can still come back and hunt some more if I tell you, right? There's quite a few mice around here, and that is what I do, you know."

[Garland]

Fall 3, 514AV

Garland had packed up his stuff from his old temporary apartment, including his sword. He made his way to the bittern district."So this is the dormitory. I wonder if that little ball pycon guy is here."

He walked inside the dorm and looked for his room, the place seemed fairly empty, but it is still early, maybe the squires are training or patrolling or something.