Open Doing the Job

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 35, 513 AV

Ninth Bell

"The Riverfall Amphitheater is holding auditions for the Fall season. Any aspiring actors please apply at the Amphitheater today by Fourteenth Bell. Drinks served!"

As much as Jorin loved working at the Amphitheater this was not one of his favorite aspects of the job. Actors were expected to pitch in and help out whenever possible, and so Jorin found himself with a multitude of odd jobs. Not that he wasn't already used to this; having spent five years as a stage hand and understudy in the Thespians had taught him plenty about what goes on behind the curtain of a production.

Pasting the small notice onto the wall outside the Zhongjie Warren, Jorin sighed with relief as he picked up his things and prepared to leave. Then he remembered that he was supposed to also promote the upcoming show as well. Jorin had not busked in some time; street performance was not something he was particularly experienced in, or particularly enjoyed if he was being honest. He vastly preferred the comfort of the stage; there the audience was expecting a show. On the streets, one could never tell. Nonetheless, a job was a job. And part of Jorin's job was to try to drum up interest in the passing crowd.

"Oh, for the fires of invention, forged in the heat of inspiration!" he called, his voice clear and strong over the murmur of the crowd. A few heads turned, but most ignored the young actor as he took up a position off the main thoroughfare. He was not intending to block traffic, merely attract it.

"That beauty greater than the highest of the Alvina, and brighter still than Syna's light, should be captured upon the humble stage," he continued, swinging his arms out dramatically, but making sure not to strike anyone in the face with them. Jorin glanced backwards and realized he had little room to maneuver. Better to keep his dramatics fairly tame, then.

"I pray, permit us to transport you back through time, let ancient stone breathe once more, and ruins of the past come to life if but for a moment. Let the stage become an ocean, upon which our humble vessel sails, one among a million yet strong against the wind." Jorin's arms fell, and he turned slightly to face the mass of people in the Bazaar.

"Into the west where heroes died
Rivers ran blue and blood ran red
Warriors fell and widows sighed
Sand and Time covering honored dead

A hundred years in a bell all told
As war raged across the sea and land
Over a single slight made hundredfold
By hubris strong in passions fanned

Can empires great in stage constrain?
Could mighty years in Bells remain?
Would humble words true art attain?
Gods! Tread not on thine domain!

A humble history, great and true
Brought cross the years here to you."

Having finished his introduction, Jorin began to pack up. He didn't stop to see if he'd drawn a crowd; he was merely introducing after all, not truly busking. With the introduction done, Jorin was more than eager to get out of the little alcove and back to what he'd been doing. He still had one or two fliers he still needed to put up, but for the moment he decided to take a little break, and perhaps wander the Bazaar a bit. The place always seemed to have interesting things available.

[Alia Beaudouin]

35th of Fall, 513. Alia bounced through the crowd, being shoved this way and that as the busy streets. She was trying to find the amphitheater, but Riverfall was near impossible to navigate without a map. Now that she had sent in her application for the entertainer job, she needed to find the Amphitheater to see if she had gotten the job. Alia crossed her fingers as she jostled through the crowd. With her skill set, it was either acting, or being a street performer, and the way her introduction to the streets in Riverfall was going, she was really hoping for that acting job. Alia looked around for any sign of the Amphitheater, but it seemed the streets were full of vendors selling their wares. It didn't seem like she was in the right place for a theater at all. Maybe.. Alia thought while shoving her way forward through the packed streets, If I could ask someone if they knew where the Amphitheater was. Alia paused for a minute, looking around at the rushing citizens. Doesn't look like anyone cares about some actor thats lost their stage. Alia continued looking around the shopping street, continuing on her way, or more, being pushed down her way, when she heard a voice echoing around the boxed in street, "Oh, for the fires of invention, forged in the heat of inspiration!" Alia listened closer, tuning out the hustle of the street around her, "That beauty greater than the highest of the Alvina, and brighter still than Syna's light, should be captured upon the humble stage," Alia trailed her way through the crowd, following the strong voice. "I pray, permit us to transport you back through time, let ancient stone breathe once more, and ruins of the past come to life if but for a moment. Let the stage become an ocean, upon which our humble vessel sails, one among a million yet strong against the wind." She could see the man now, standing tall against the crowd. He seemed to be trying to catch the crowd's attention, though the people bustling about were too busy in their own business to care. Alia nearly tripped over several small children, each holding hands to form a barrier between her and the actor. Alia patiently tapped her foot, waiting for the children to skip by. There was at least twenty of them, each holding the one before's hand. Alia could still here the actor, "Into the west where heroes died Rivers ran blue and blood ran red Warriors fell and widows sighed Sand and Time covering honored dead" Seven children... Eight... Nine... "A hundred years in a bell all told As war raged across the sea and land Over a single slight made hundredfold By hubris strong in passions fanned" Alia was losing her patience. Ten.. Eleven.. Twelve... "Can empires great in stage constrain? Could mighty years in Bells remain? Would humble words true art attain? Gods! Tread not on thine domain!" Thirteen.. Fourteen... Fifteen.. Alia saw her break, a taller child had let go of the train and created a gap in the barrier. Seizing her chance, Alia rushed through the gap just as the Actor finished the last words of his introduction. "A humble history, great and true Brought cross the years here to you." Alia reached the small clearing the man had used for his play, but in haste, tripped over a small clay statue, a pycon, actually, and had just enough time to hiss a swear before falling right on top of the actor, scattering papers everywhere.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 35, 513 AV

Jorin would say this about his job: it was never boring. One chime he was packing up to go hang more posters (oh joy), and next he was being bowled over by a young lady. Jorin grunted in surprise as the flyers went everywhere, scattering all over the ground as he tumbled backwards and onto the hard earth.

For a moment, Jorin flashed back to when he'd first met Kirsi; in his hurry to go to rehearsals he'd collided with her and scattered her papers everywhere. Fate, it seemed, had a sense of humor.

"You seem to be in a hurry," Jorin quipped with a slight grin, as he picked himself back up. The girl was slight, with fair skin and a mane of bright red hair that struck Jorin as unusual. He'd never seen anyone with red hair before, and briefly wondered where she came from to have such distinctive hair color.

Jorin bent down and began picking up the papers that were in his immediate vicinity, but a quick gust of wind carried off two or three into parts unknown. Jorin watched them fly away with almost amused interest.

He'd posted the majority in the most critical places anyway, and no amount of hurrying was going to retrieve the ones that had blown too far away. Having finished collecting the ones he could, Jorin stuffed them rather roughly into his backpack, then walked over and offered the girl a hand up.

"The name's Jorin Ertihan," he offered with a crooked smile, eyes twinkling. "I act at the Amphitheater, although today it looks like I'm just busking on the streets."

Jorin turned around to collect some of his paste which had also fallen down, brushing off as much of the dust as he could and stuffing it back into its container. "So! What has you in such a rush?"

[Alia Beaudouin]

35th of Fall, 513. Alia felt her face go as red as her hair. She had struck down the very man she had wished to ask for help. Rubbing her now-scraped knee, she turned her head and scowled at the small clay pycon that had caused the accident. She snapped her attention back to the man as he stood up and spoke, "You seem to be in a hurry." His voice was strong, and slightly humorous after what had happened. Now that she was near him, Alia could see the man didn't have black hair as she had thought when she was rushing through the crowd towards him, but rather a deep brown. She realized she hadn't responded to him when he spoke again, "The name's Jorin Ertihan." Alia turned her attention away from the top of his head and met his eyes, which was a hard thing to do from the ground. "I act at the Amphitheater, although today it would seem I'm just busking on the streets." Alia felt her mood lift, the stranger, Jorin, did work at the Amphitheater, which meant he could point her in the right direction! For a moment Jorin turned away from Alia to pick up his papers, and she noticed that several had already make a break for freedom on the wind. Before she had time to be sorry, Jorin spoke again. "So! What has you in such a rush?" Alia mumbled something, but not even she had any idea what she had said. Then she saw that Jorin had extended his hand to help her up. Alia took it gratefully. Standing up now, she could tell Jorin was quite a bit taller, and had at least two years on her. She found her mouth had lost the ability to form words, so she took a few breaths before attempting to speak. "I.. Ah.. My name is Alia... Beaudouin.. Yeah.. Alia Beaudouin." Alia could just imagine how stupid she sounded, and mentally kicked herself. "I.. I was wondering where the.. Ahm... Amphitheater was... You being an actor you should know where it is right? I was hoping to apply for a job because I can uh.. Act?" Great. She had gone from stammering to rambling. She mentally kicked herself again. She avoided the bemused stranger's eyes, knowing she had made a fool of herself. She kissed her pride goodbye.

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 35, 513 AV

Jorin nodded when the girl introduced herself. "Well it's very nice to meet you Alia," he grinned. She seemed nervous for some reason, and he wondered why. He wasn't intimidating, at least he didn't think he was intimidating. Maybe she just felt bad for bowling him over.

"I... I was wondering where the... Ahm.... Amphitheater was... You being an actor you should know where it is right? I was hoping to apply for a job because I can uh... Act?" the girl, Alia, stammered out. Jorin chuckled good-naturedly.

"All evidence to the contrary," he quipped with a playful wink. Then he laughed a bit and gave her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, that was mean," he apologized quickly, with a sheepish look. "The Amphitheater is actually just outside the city," he added, in answer to her earlier question.

"If you take a right just off the main gates when you exit the city, you should see a small grove of trees. That's the main path that the audience takes, but I can show you a shortcut that the stagehands and actors usually take to get to the backstage area." Jorin slung his backpack over his shoulder and indicated with his arm that Alia follow him. Pasting up posters was boring anyway, and besides he could always do it later.

As Jorin led Alia past some of the buildings, he told her about some of them.

"That there is the Windswept Condos," he commented, waving slightly to her right. "My mate and I live there. It's a very nice place! It's quiet and affordable and you get this neat little garden to take care of. We only bought our place a week or two ago, actually."

As they swung around the corner, the Kendoka Sasaran came into view, and Jorin indicated it with his hand. "And there's the Kendoka," he mentioned. "It's Riverfall's school for armed combat. If you want to become a citizen in this city you need to be at least fairly competent in some form of martial art or weapon." Jorin shrugged in a "what can you do?" sort of way.

"At least it's close to home," he sighed as they moved on. As they walked past Kyloe's Butcher Shop Jorin briefly mentioned it in passing, commenting on their meat as being excellent.

"And that's the Gilia Medical Center!" Jorin called out, indicating the imposing gray structure. "You ever get hurt, you come here. Both Rinya and I have been guests of this place, actually. Friendly staff, I suppose, but they kind of make you feel like you're under quarantine here." Jorin shrugged.

As they finally approached the gate, Jorin casually waved his right hand at the large arena to their right. "And that's the Gideon Arena. Lots of fights go on in there. If you're a fan of muscly sweaty guys duking it out for your entertainment pleasure, this is the place to go," Jorin explained with a grin.

As they made their way to the city gates, Jorin turned to Alia and commented, "You know, Alia, if you want to work at the Amphitheater, you're going to have to audition. Do you have any sort of monologue, or other scene that you've memorized?"

[Alia Beaudouin]

"Well its very nice to meet you Alia" Alia attempted to regain her composure and speak again, thinking over the many ways of responding to the man. She was usually much better at talking to strangers, but it seemed this man was different. She stumbled over her words even when she planned them out. After rambling out her semi-explaination of why she plowed him over, he chuckled and said something Alia found extremely Actor-Esqe, "All evidence to the contrary" Which made her feel just a bit stupid for not knowing the saying that Jorin seamlessly worked into every-day conversation. She wondered if that was how all actors talked. He spoke again, quicker this time, apologizing for whatever he had said. Alia felt her cheeks flush again. Jorin then launched into an explanation of where the Amphitheater, a right off the main gates, small grove of trees, shortcut to the backstage area... She realized Jorin had extended his arm, motioning for her to follow. She trailed behind him as he brought her on a tour of the city, how he lived at the Windswempt Condos, she wondered who his friend was, and thought of interrupting him to mention she already had an apartment when he seemed to start advertising it, but decided to let him keep going on. Next was the Kendoka, and Alia wondered if she was ever going to want to be a real citizen of Riverfall. With her lack of self-defense training, or offensive training, for that matter, she doubted she would qualify for citizenship for a while. Alia noted to herself to check out the butcher shop at some point just before Jorin launched into another explanation of another building, this time, one that she was probably going to want to pay attention to. Gilia Medical Center, it was called. Alia felt as if her brain had become a notepad with all the notes she was mentally writing. She wished she had brought a journal or something to write on. When Jorin mentioned how he and Rinya had both been guests before, she wondered first, who Rinya was, and then why they had been in there in the first place. Staring up at the gates of Riverfall, Alia nearly missed Jorin's wave to the arena nearby. "And that's the Gideon Arena." He commented, "Lots of fights go on in there. If you're a fan of muscly sweaty guys duking it out for your entertainment pleasure, this is the place to go." The idea of sitting in the stands staring at two muscled men fighting didn't really appeal to Alia that much, it seemed like a bit of a waste of time. With all the notes jumbled about in her head, Alia nearly missed Jorin's question, "You know, Alia, if you want to work at the Amphitheater, you're going to have to audition. Do you have any sort of monologue, or other scene that you've memorized?"Alia froze, the gravity of what she had come unprepared for startling her, fortunately, it made speaking to Jorin a bit easier. "Ah... Thats the problem. I only barely got recommended for the job at the Amphitheater.. Apparently I would be more fit to work at the White Swan I think it was..? No wait.." Alia paused, raking her brain. "White Crane. That was it. But anyway... No. I don't have any sort of script.. I've had a lot of trouble writing one, and I can't seem to find one that suits me."Alia looked up at the beautiful blue sky that was above the pair. She turned to Jorin, "Do you have any scripts I could borrow..? Just for the audition?" NOTEI seriously don't understand how you come up with your scripts Jorin. NOTE 2Sorry to anyone reading this who found it hard to read, posting format is acting up. A lot.

[Einarr]

Einarr found him self walking back towards the city's gates, his paws plopping onto the road bellow. He had spent most of the day so far running through out the forests hunting down his next meal, sadly all he ended up catching was small game which hardly filled his appetite. The pang of hunger still clung to his gut, attempting to put it out of his mind he ran his tongue over his teeth, and lips wiping away any traces of blood remaining. Perhaps Duce would have a morsel or two for him, but as far as Einarr knew Duce was busy for the day so he found him self with more time then he liked. As he drew closer to the gate some thing caught his eyes, the loveliest shade of red that reminded him of the cloak drawn around his neck and resting on his back. Einarr picked up his pace towards the couple ahead of him. A few of the visitors of the city took a few extra steps out of their path to avoid the wolf form of Einarr even if he was slightly clothed. Einarr sat down on the side of the road a few feet away from the red haired woman, and the perfectly average human next to her. His head tilted slightly and he studied them both. The woman's seemed to shift uncomfortably, and even from this distance he could smell her fear. The man on the other hand stood with a sense of confidence. Fearing little from the pair he stood back up and walked slowly towards them, making eye contact with the man trying to get a feel if he would offer him a challenge. He made his way up to them within arms distance then shifted his eyes over to the red headed stranger and leaned closer to her, and sniffed at her. Pausing for a moment, feeling the slight tension in the air Einarr gave her hand a small lick and sat down, his tail thumping on the ground.

[Alia Beaudouin]

Alia kept her stare on the magnificent gate of Riverfall, that was when it dawned on her, this was her life now. In Riverfall, inside these gates. She would be here for so many seasons to come. She was still caught up in her daydream, imagining what was in store for her in the future when she felt a something wet and rough touch her hand. She instinctively jolted her arm up and turned towards the source so quickly she nearly tripped over Jorin. Looking down, she saw a grey wolf sitting there, tongue out and tail thumping. She smiled and kneeled down, experimentally sticking her hand out for the animal to sniff. She sat like that for several seconds until she was sure the wolf was happy with her. Alia stroked the animal gently, noticing that his grey fur was unbelievably soft, and there was a certain human-like understanding in his eyes. Alia noticed that the wolf had a sort of cape tied around his neck. A cloak, perhaps? Alia wondered where the wolf had come from. She gave the grey wolf's soft fur one more stroke before whispering, "Whats your name, boy?"

[Jorin Ertihan]

Season of Fall, Day 35, 513 AV

OOC :

Sorry this took so long guys!

Alia -- technically, the way it works is you just come up with a scene from a "play". Like, literally just make it up out of thin air. It doesn't have to be good -- god knows mine wasn't -- it just needs to have a decent number of lines of dialogue, or in the case of a monologue, be of decent length.

Jorin could "lend" a script to her, but then I would have to make up the scene, and that may take me some time . I would recommend that you come up with one since then you have full control over it. Anyway! On with the story!

Jorin shrugged when Alia asked him about scripts. "Well, that really depends," he replied, as he continued to walk, "Most actors prefer to use scripts from plays they'd actually performed in. Really it's not the content that's important, it's the delivery."

Jorin shrugged. "I could give you a script, of course, but then you'd have to memorize it, and probably want to do some practice rehearsals before you go up on stage. I can help with that if you need it."

Jorin stopped as he noticed what looked to be a large... wolf? ... approach them. He was wary, but the wolf seemed to act in a most unusual fashion, trotting up to them like nothing was wrong. Jorin did notice the red cloak that was around the wolf's neck and resting on its back, an unusual accessory for a wild animal.

Having been with Rinya for as long as he had, Jorin knew that Kelvics occasionally preferred their animal form. Considering this wolf was not killed on-sight, he guessed it was a Kelvic. More so when its first act was to lick Alia's hand.

Alia, for her part, did not appear frightened or shocked to see the wolf, bending down to stroke him. Jorin raised an eyebrow. An unusual reaction. Most people would approach a clearly dangerous animal like wolves and tigers with caution. Even a Kelvic wolf still had a wolf's instincts, after all, and wolves were predators. He cocked his head to the side and regarded the two of them as Alia whispered, "What's your name, boy?".

"Friend of yours?" he asked curiously. It was the only explanation that she would be so nonchalant.

[Einarr]

Einarr cocked his head to the side as he felt Alias hand run across his fur, nudging her to scratch right behind his ears. His tail thumped against the ground sending particles of dust into the air. All the while his big golden eyes focused on her bright red hair. He always had some strange fascination with shades of red, if his choice of clothing didn't give it away. Einarr was in a state of bliss, momentarily unaware to the world until he felt her lean in, whispering for his name. With out a way to respond he moved forward, and gave her a small lick on the cheek before barking happily once. Only to be interrupted by the voice of the other stranger asking her if he knew him.

Einarr shifted his gaze to the man, and walked towards him locking eye contact. Seeming to issue some sort of challenge and to see who would look away first. Once it was settled Einarr looked around then back at the two strangers waiting for them to take the lead.