Party Plans and Interior Decoration

by **Sayana** on February 2nd, 2015, 10:45 pm

Winter 35, 514AV

Today was the day. Sayana hardly got any sleep the previous night but despite it, she was up bright and early that morning brimming with excitement. Normally she might have asked her squire friend Garland to help out with something as big and ambitious as this, but this time she wanted to surprise him. Today was the day she was going to redecorate her home.

Home. It had a funny connotation to it today. Like something that was actually memorable and a place worth living in. Usually she had just referred to it as her apartment, or her house when the technicality of it slipped her mind, or even simply “her place”. But over the last two seasons and a bit, it was starting to feel like more than just a dank hole in the wall and today she intended to make it physically much nicer than some hole in a wall.

A couple days ago she had scouted out various places that could supply furniture, cookware, and other household needs. She had learned that there was a carpentry shop in Mithryn Post that sold furniture but she had no desire to attempt to lug it all the way from there. Fortunately, most of the lugging was done for her, since she found a stall in the Bazaar that specialized in furniture (probably much of it coming from that carpentry shop at Mithryn Post). It was here that she asked if anyone would help her with the furniture for a laborer’s pay of 2 GM for the day. The stall keeper said his two sons would happily help out and they confirmed which day would be the big move, today.

The first step was definitely the furniture. Anything small could always be purchased on a separate day. Sayana bundled up in her coat and carefully loaded up her small packsack with gold mizas. Even though she had checked her counting for the prices of the furniture several times, she still put in extra gold coins in case she was short or if the prices had changed. They had better not. A deal’s a deal. But if it was only a small change then she might accept it. She clutched the sack tightly with her low hands and pulled the coat firmly over them with her mid hands sticking out through the two sleeves. Her highs, like usual, were crunched up in the coat but that was how they always were. But she was glad to keep her coins safely to her body.

The Bazaar was not a far walk, though she suspected that it might start to feel far after so many trips. She smiled at the sight of the crowded market filled with bright colours and hackers calling out their wares. She easily found her way to the furniture stall having been there a couple of times over the past few days. “As promised,” she said with a smile as she greeted the stall owner. She noticed a couple of fit young men testing out the strength of a small cart. Now that was a good idea. She gave another smile and blew a kiss in their direction. “My two heroes.” One blushed slightly and the other chuckled at the deliberate whimsical tone in her voice.

Back to business, Sayana turned to the man at the booth and pulled out her backpack of coins. She removed her gloves and slapped her hands together in a business like way. “Let’s run by my list one last time,” she said and he nodded in response. As she went through her list of items the stall keeper pointed to the physical object in question to confirm that he had what she wanted. “Two couches at 6gm each, one table at 3gm, three chairs at 1gm each, one cupboard at 4gm, one shelf set at 2gm, one dresser at 5gm, a chamber pot at 2sm, a washbasin at 5gm and lastly a rug that’s about ten pounds for 3gm.” As she went through the list, she carefully indicated the increasing price using her fingers and only once she reached thirty did she pause and restart the counting, noting that her total was now more than 30GM. “That’ll be 37gm and 2sm plus 4 more gm for the help. So 41gm and 2sm,” the Eypharian concluded at the end of the exercise.

She now carefully counted out the coins and went slowly so she wouldn’t get lost. The stall keeper checked her work carefully and formed little stacks of five coins as she went so he’d be well aware of how many coins she was giving him. As she topped it off with the last two silver mizas the deal was complete. “Oh, and there’s something else I plan to buy that I’ll need help moving. It’s one of those massive standing candles that can completely light up a room.” “A day’s work is a day’s work,” the stall keeper replied. “My boys will be thankful of the coin.”

“It’s time to flex some muscles,” Sayana said as she approached the two men with a grin. While they loaded one couch onto the cart-like device, Sayana hefted the rolled up rug. The trickiest parts were the stairs to get out from the 4th Tier, a few places where the snow hadn’t been properly cleared, and a couple of tight spots within the Maiden District where the halls twisted just a little too sharply. But the men managed it without complaint and the cart certainly helped. That was the start of a long morning and afternoon of work.

By the time all the furniture and that insane six-foot candle made it to Sayana’s apartment she was utterly exhausted. The last thing she wanted to do was go to work that evening. For a moment she lay motionless on her bed, trying to find the strength to get back up again. She thanked the two men heartily and gave them each a tip of 5sm. Now if she could only just fall asleep in her bed… But life wasn’t like that. With a groan, she stretched her tired muscles and prepared to leave for the Rearing Stallion.

by **Sayana** on February 2nd, 2015, 10:46 pm

Winter 36, 514AV

Sayana slept soundly that night and morning came too quickly. When she awoke she felt twice as achy as the previous day. Must hit harder on the second day. At least she was done the physical labour, or the majority of it. As she looked around her apartment there was furniture arrayed disorderly all over the place. She’d have to fix that up once she had a better idea of where she wanted things to go. Today she’d be purchasing many smaller items, but no less essential for making a home feel liveable.

Once again she got herself ready and set off for the Bazaar. Some of her items she could probably purchase at other places like the iron works for all her cutlery, but there was such diversity at the bazaar that it covered all her basics. First though, it would be helpful to have something to carry all this in. And thus she went to the stall that boasted its beautifully woven baskets. Even by the end of all this, a basket or two might be useful for holding kindling near the hearth.

And so began her long day of picking up this and that, all items that fit within a household and would allow her to cook at home. There was the cutlery, the everyday dishes, the cooking pots and pans, a pitcher, a kettle, an apron, a couple of fire tools, an axe, a couple of bars of soap, a warm blanket, some candles, some nails and a hammer… She had to make several trips to and from the bazaar even with all six hands loaded with new supplies. But it was easier today compared with the day before.

At each stall she was careful to check the prices. Even though she had a pretty large budget for all her purchases she didn’t want to unreasonably spend it all away. And for each stall she also carefully summed the prices to make sure her total matched the shop keeper’s total. It was trickier when she was buying the ceramic dishware. She had decided she would have dishes and cutlery for six friends, well five plus herself, but it made things challenging to add up when something like tankards cost 9gm. But by the end of the day she had gotten quite good at counting in sixes and it helped that she had six hands to count upon her fingers. Who knew that shopping could challenge one’s brain as much as it did one’s physical strength?

Sayana decided that she might as well pick up some basic seasonings, some dried food that would easily keep and some basic food rations in case of emergency. Now that she’d have a proper ‘home’ she might as well start living and cooking in it. Even though she didn’t yet have many skills in cooking, it wasn’t hard to spread some butter on a piece of bread and she’d ask the stall keeper of the herb and spice stall which ones he’d recommend.

At last she was back at home with all her new purchases. But by no means was she done. Her apartment looked a complete disaster with furniture chaotically set about and dishware and cutlery dumped upon the tables. But first things first. It was time to add some colour to her home. She took out the large brightly coloured pieces of cloth she had finally received from An Elegant Weave. Most were red but some were yellow, green, blue and even a vivid shade of purple. Although the walls were almost entirely made of stone, the ceiling had strong wooden beams running across and along the edges of room.

As Sayana thought about how best to incorporate the different sized pieces of cloth, she pulled up a chair, got the first length of fabric and climbed up onto the chair with a hammer and nails at the ready. With relative ease she held the cloth in place against the wooden beam, steadied the nail, and carefully hammered it into the wood. It didn’t even occur to her how much harder it would have been without her additional arms to hold the various implements and keep the cloth in place.

And so she brought colour to her humble home. Deep reds and purples hung in gentle waves along the ceiling. A couple of yellows hung perfectly flat against one wall giving the illusion of sunlight streaming through a curtained window. And the remaining reds, blues and greens were elegantly sweeped and draped upon the walls. She also began reorganizing her new furniture and sometimes used it to create an appealing look that went with the cloth. Lastly, she found homes for all the items she had purchased, namely the cupboard and shelves but also in her new dresser and next to the hearth.

She crashed on her couch for a few chimes. It was finally starting to feel like the home of an Eypharian. The home of Sayana.

by **Sayana** on February 2nd, 2015, 10:50 pm

Winter 60, 514 AV

The idea had come to her one day when she was passing by the bulletin board and saw a few notices. She was able to decipher a couple words but more importantly it gave her the idea that other people might actually make use of posters like these. After hearing about the full blown winter party at the White Swan, she was rather envious. Of course, she had planned to make her home more habitable for guests – which she had accomplished, now she wanted to actually host a large gathering of friends and make it memorable. Some friends, like Garland, she saw on a fairly regular basis but others like Devi she wasn’t entirely sure how to contact them. But someone like Devi was smart and could surely read the bulletin.

With that in mind Sayana set off for the writing store. It had some silly scholarly name that she quickly forgot but there were enough people around to give her directions. A quill, some parchment and some ink was all she needed. Soon she was back at home with the parchment open in front of her and the quill looking menacingly at her. “Petch,” she muttered under her breath. It had been years since she had written a single thing and even as a child she had despised the activity with a deep passion.

Start with a title, something, anything, as long as it’s catchy. She suddenly realized the perfect date for her planned party. She’d do a party for the new year. And it would give her plenty of time to prepare and get things organized. There, a New Year’s Party. She dipped her quill into the ink and carefully began forming the letters. “NU YEER PARTY.” Her penmanship was terrible and blobs of ink decorated her writing. And then she remembered a fancy symbol she had learned. With a smile she added an exclamation mark at the end of the title. There, title done.

What if her friends weren’t sure whether to come on the last day of winter or the first day of spring? The Eypharian frowned briefly and then started writing a pair of numbers followed by “Winter”. She was much better at remembering the numbers and how to write them and thus her “92” looked far tidier than the rest of her writing. As she continued with writing her message she found it hard to think in the written form and tended to skip words. Even when she read it back and noticed the errors, it was too late since it was already written in ink. As she sounded out the word “District”, all the little consonants got her too confused so she gave up and wrote “Block” instead.

It took her at least half a bell to complete the thing and the ink on the first few lines was practically dry by then. She was proud to have remembered so much despite how there were numerous ink spots and the lines were rather slanted.

“So, party on the 92nd with food, music, dancing and lots of good company,” she said to herself as she mentally thought about what else she’d need to do. She then realized that it might be a good idea to get a real cook to help her. She could always ask Remi, but on a night like that Remi was probably busy enough preparing food for the Stallion. So instead Sayana wrote one final line, “Have music or food or dance? Will pay.” She let out a long breath. It was done, and it looked beautiful. The straggly childish writing was plenty good for her even though others might think it sloppy.

She sat for a moment and admired her work. Now it was time to nail it to the bulletin board and hope that her friends would see it and join her for the celebration.

_____________________________________________________

NU YEER PARTEE!
92 - Winter

Cum to mi howse in Mayden ~~Dis~~Bloc

Lots ov food
Lots ov music
Dont get lost!
All frends can cum

~ Luv Sayana

Hav music or food or dance? Will pay
_____________________________________________________

by **Sayana** on February 2nd, 2015, 11:02 pm

Winter 92, 514 AV - Morning

Sayana rose early that morning. There was a still lot to do and she was too excited to sleep regardless. The previous evening she had bought a small 2 gallon keg of ale from Ser Kevith, as well as a pitcher of common wine and a bottle of fine wine. It took her two trips to get it home, since carrying 2 gallons of ale was no small task. The first thing she had to get done was pick up the rest of the fresh food needed for the party. Donning her winter gear Sayana set out with a couple of baskets and went first to the Rearing Stallion. She had asked Remi to bake a few loaves for her and the homely cook had outdone herself.

“Six loaves?” Sayana asked with surprise. But of course they were the cheapest item on her list and even if the bread went stale it could still be eaten. Sayana graciously accepted the cook’s hard work and relished in the amazing smells that came from the kitchen. It was well worth the twelve copper mizas.

Next she went to the butcher and by now it wasn’t so dark outside. She requested a small ham that was only about a pound and exchanged coins with the store keeper. Her next stop was the bazaar where she acquired both cheese and butter from a small food stall. Now although there was a fish stall in the bazaar, Sayana wanted to be sure that her fish was of good quality and fresh. On her way to the harbor she stopped off at her home and dropped off the food she had bought. The butcher suggested the meat stay cool so she put it in the washbasin with some snow on top. Then she was off to the harbor.

It was a nice day, still cold but the air was refreshing and it didn’t bother her as much as it used to. She was thankful she had the foresight in the fall to get warm winter clothes though it was probably more out of fear than foresight. The salty tang of the ocean announced that she was nearly at her destination. As she approached the harbor she looked out into the blue waters with hints of ice only at the edges where water and land met. There were a couple fishing boats out in the water but there didn’t appear to be any stalls or stores. As the Eypharian frowned a sign with a crab on it caught her eye. She stepped inside what appeared to be a very empty tavern (not many drink early in the morning) and shortly found the person in charge. So they had wine, kelp beer and… fish! Sayana soon found out that the tavern bought exclusively from the fishing boats in the harbor and that they had a few fresh ones to spare. She thanked the owner and supplied the 4gm for the two single-pound fish.

Finally back at home she had one more important task to do. Provide directions. She got out the quill, ink and parchment from her dresser and carefully creased the parchment before running her knife along it to cut through the thick material. Two sheets turned into eight and she figured that would be enough to guide someone through the twisty halls of the fortress. She carefully wrote out “PARTEE” on all the small pieces of parchment. Now she just had to draw an appropriate arrow on each of them depending on how they were positioned. Impatiently, she blew at the ink to help it dry and then set off down the halls with quill, ink and parchment in hand. She tried to cover two of the main entrances nearby and spaced the signs wide enough to cover a lot of area but close enough so people could follow the signs from one to the next.

_____________

PARTEE
------->
_____________

Enormous Receipt for Entire Thread :

by **Katelyn Marks** on February 11th, 2015, 7:07 pm

Due Rewards

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.”

― Philip Pullman

Sayana

Skills
➢ Planning +4
➢ Observation +3
➢ Mathematics +2
➢ Interior Decorating +2
➢ Socialization +1
➢ Endurance +2
➢ Organization +2
➢ Hostessing +1
➢ Writing +1
➢ Construction +1

Lores
➢ A New Home
➢ Making a House a Home
➢ Construction: Using a Hammer and Nails

Comments: This thread was adorable! It also covered quite a lot. I really enjoyed the read. I can't wait until Katelyn moves to the city she and Sayana can meet! Good job on keeping that ledger, too.

If you have any concerns or questions about your rewards please feel free to send me a message. Also, please edit your original grade request and mark it as graded. Thank you and enjoy!

Solo Party Plans and Interior Decoration