Will The Cold Away

by **Elann** on December 9th, 2015, 8:31 am

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Timestamp Winter 6, 515

Winter had come. The change of the colors meant a change in the temperature, or at least that's what people had told her. Already Elann had been cold, hovering next to her hearth at times. The beautiful colors of the surrounding landscape had begun to become deadened and grey. Leaves covered the ground in broken shambles from what few trees were inside the city, slowly being swept outward toward the gates with the foot traffic. She however went the opposite direction today. Deeper into the castle she traversed until coming to the familiar sight of her workplace, the Elegant Weave.

Elann had been a quiet person at work generally over the last few months. As time had begun to pass though, slowly she was learning people's names, the depths of their jobs, and they had begun to know her. Navia had said that she could come through the courtyard, but Elann loved to go through the shop, enjoying the change in fabrics, dresses, furs, blankets, and quilts over the various seasons. It really had taught her a lot about the field she was in. Really she was new to this whole world of design, fashion, and beautiful things. She was simply a rug maker. Now she was more. Her skills became valuable to Navia, taking a great burden off her shoulders and need for a weaver, keeping her from doing the job herself, but in reality she could have used another woman on top of Elann in the realm of weaving.

Elann's hands grasped the door handle, and with a familiar turn, she made her way inside, eager to see the faces of those she vaguely knew in passing. The cold crept in behind her and she quickly closed the door, finding the interior nice and warm. Chills went up her spine at the temperature change and underneath her long sleeved dress, her skin grew goosebumps as it tingled.

"Good morning," Elann voiced to the girls behind the counter and after a return greeting, she went about looking at the various dresses on display. Slowly she wandered from them and came to the furs. Her hand ran over the gentle hairs that felt coarse and harsh in some instances and like velveteen in some others. There were beautiful robes and fur-trimmed cowls for sale, all of which would be nice to keep her warm. Soon she would have enough saved to purchase her winter gear. Now that she had not been taking care of Noah her finances were on a rebound.

Eventually the few minutes she had to spare had come to pass and it was time to stop shopping and now start heading for the back. Before she left though, her eyes trailed over what was needed up front. It looked like long underwear, some of their rain gear, and socks were getting low. With a little wave to the service girls, she headed out the back, crossing the courtyard, and eventually came to the orangery. A series of good mornings met her as she made her way inside.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

by **Elann** on December 16th, 2015, 7:59 am

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It was another long workday in the orangery. Some of what they had to do was await Navia's instructions on what she wanted them to make, but some of it was just based on their own intuition and knowledge not to waste product. Elann settled into a chair at the large table that filled the workroom and took some of the prepared tea for them, pouring it into a cup. She could tell it had been sitting there for some time and took the top off the tea kettle to pour the liquid back inside. The group looked to her and she smirked.

"Too cold," she voiced shyly.

"Everything is too cold for you Elann," one of them jested towards her.

"I know." She said cutely as if it was a compliment and then moved to put the pot on the stove to warm it up. While there, her hands crept out to gain as much heat that the stove had to offer her. It had even begun to dwindle. A lot of the women inside the room would get so focused that it was until they were all nearly freezing that they realized the stove had almost gone out and that the cold was creeping back in through the resin glass.

"I will put some more wood in." she said as she moved to go back outside to the wood pile, grab some wood pieces and carry them in. She had never had to carry wood before moving to Syliras, so the fact she was now, showed how much even simple things had changed in her life. Elann set the wood down on the floor inside the orangery, having come back in, and closed the door behind her. Grabbing a couple of the pieces of wood in the doorway, she moved to insert them into the stove, carefully using the fabric of her long sleeve to grasp the handle. She had learned her lesson with heated metal last fall before coming to Syliras. It was why there was a tiny white scar on her hand now.

After inserting the wood, she left the stove open, moving to go grab some more until all of it was either next to the stove, or in it. By the time she was done, steam could be seen rising from the tea pot. Using the same sleeve, she took it off the stove and placed it back where it normally rested, repouring herself a cup.

"Well, what do we have for today? Did Navia leave anything for me?"

They shrugged in response. She sorted through the rough sketches for dresses and other needed sewing requests and eventually found one that had an "E" marked on it in the upper right. That meant her.

"Hmm okay...here we are."

Sipping the tea, she instantly felt warmer. The clouds above had threatened rain all day, and just as she started reading what she needed to do, the familiar patter of raindrops began to hit the windows and roof.

Elann figured it was time to get to work. She set down her tea and began to weave out the pattern fabrics for what looked like what would end up being a patchwork dress. She wouldn't do any of the sewing herself, but taking the threads from the woman making them and turning it into fabric, that was her duty today it seemed.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

by **Elann** on December 16th, 2015, 3:53 pm

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As the delicate rain began to patter down on the windows and the roof above them, it created a lulling sound that made many sleepy. With the eventual rotating of the mechanics the loom possessed, the heat of the stove kicking up in heat, spreading warmth into the room, and the dim light from having it being overcast, made a true challenge for some to want to stay awake. Some of the girls were so skilled at doing their work they didn't need to keep their eyes open, and just worked like normal, resting their eyes.

Fortunately for Elann, she had just woken up and was far from sleepy. In fact, before long, what little caffeine that was in the tea, began to hit her. A little burst of energy came on and she worked even faster. The blanket she was busy making was a simple thing. Really she just needed to make two sheets of dual colored fabric, half gray and half blue. The pattern set in the loom made it so the wool blanket would come out with gentle stripes, large and spread apart. It added to the warm look of the blanket. As she went along, the machine stopped working, making a little grinding sound.

"Ugh...not again." She voiced to herself silently as she leaned forward. Whoever had used the wooden contraption must have left some string in it, causing the eventual collapse of what was the making of the blanket. She took her foot off the petal and stood to look down into the inner workings. Like a paper jam in a printer, it wouldn't work with bunched up thread in the rotating wood on wood. Sure she could force it, and perhaps even dislodge it, but perhaps in doing so she could break the machine.

Sure enough, down in the bowels of the beast, there was a series of wooden pieces grating on each other, and between them, a few strands. Elann could have gone about complaining like some of her coworkers would have done, but instead, she kept the frustration that was growing inside. Already she could see the grey fibers that spoke to who had used the loom last. Melanie who sat behind her had made a grey blanket last night as she was leaving and it was clear that she had failed to clear all the thread out.

Still, Elann held her peace, using tact and discernment to determine that it was likely that she just forgot. It was no reason to get frustrated or angry over. With care, she reached down into the machine and began to yank the threads out with as much strength as she could muster. A ripping sound could be heard as some of it came out, but it wasn't all of it, and to her dreaded fear, it was just the ends.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

by **Elann** on December 16th, 2015, 5:23 pm

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Threaded fibers left her hand, falling through the opening in the middle of the mechanism to the floor. Swiftly they reached to grab another set of the fibers, but the ends were too short and her hands were too cold to accurately grab them. This inspired Elann to revisit her warm cup of tea. Moving to surround her hands around the mug, she could see that she had become the center of attention and tool that people were using to stay awake. As she looked at them, like a child caught doing something bad, they all giggled at her and she felt like she did something wrong.

"What?"

Elann didn't get the humor of why they were laughing. Unknown to her, as she bent down into the machine, her dress had hiked up a bit too high and caught in her pantyline, leaving a lump of fabric on her butt. At their refusal to answer, she glared from behind her tea cup playfully. It was hard to discern their faces and understand what was going through their mind. If she was more skilled at understanding the human mind in social situations like what she was facing, she'd be able to discern there was something wrong on her person, not with the situation; but she wasn't.

Their continual refusal to her repeated inquiry left her to her own devices at figuring out what was going on. She was not skilled at wearing dresses and especially not with fall clothing that was thicker and had more cloth. Every day of her life she had wore a tunic, super thin and breathable. Now that it had become winter, she was a bit more comfortable in wearing her fall clothes, but nothing had experienced her for this. Eventually, feeling warmed in her hands and core by the tea, she made her way over to the loom, leaving what little was left in her tea cup there on the table. Leaning in once more, she could hear the giggles and only then could assume it was something to do with her clothing.

In a fast paced grab, she shoved her skin flush with the wood, pinched the remaining cloth, and gave it a good tug. The piece came off and she tossed it down onto the floor. A sigh of relief came from the Benshira and she righted herself, looking behind her at the cloth bunched up. A smug smile passed over her face as she smoothed it out.

"Well now. Let's get back to work hmm?" A bit of sass coming from her, sending some of the girls into giggles. Elann seated herself at the loom again and gave it a push with her foot. The grinding sound had all but gone and sure enough it began working properly again.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

by **Elann** on December 16th, 2015, 5:47 pm

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Elann continued working on the blanket until it was nearly done. By then the fire had begun to diminish, and the cold once more trying to creep in. Rain continued to pour down on the outdoor building, keeping the area cool. No-one felt the cold creep in as quickly as Elann did, so by the time they began to feel anything, she was already up and filling wood into the stove. Throwing the remaining logs she had collected inside, she blew into the stove to get it growing hotter. The logs made a mess on the floor, and coupled with where she had thrown the other logs down and yanked the linen out of the loom, she had made quite a mess.

Before cleaning though, Elann when to open the door and bring in more wood from under the overhang so that they would have it inside with them. She often sacrificed herself like that in small ways for people, making herself cold for the sake of their warmth. When the wood got nearly too heavy for her, she came back inside, attempting to balance the logs all together. However with their sliding, she lost a couple small ones along the way, and by the time she made it into the doorway, the whole pile was structurally unsound. Quickly she made her way over to the stove and set them down near it instead of dumping them inside like what she previously did.

Eventually with all the logs in, she went back to close the door, shutting it and then looked about for the broom. It was in the corner, leaning into the wall with what looked like someone's coat hanging on it.

"I'm going to move this," she voiced looking over to the girls. It was just girls in there today. Nellis had time off as did the other fellow. One of them nodded and pointed, telling her where she could set it instead, and after doing so, Elann picked up the broom and began to sweep.

"It gets so dirty in here so quickly," she said, sweeping up her messes into one pile. She picked up the fibers of cloth once collected into her hand, and then began sweeping the dirt and bark particles out into the yard. Once done, Elann moved to set the broom back, close the door, and threw the fibers into the fire. Already the room was warming.

Finally, with distractions aside, Elann could get back to making the blanket. The fabric finally came out finished from the loom and she rolled it into the bolt for the sake of the seamstresses. At the end the fabric was tied and knotted so it couldn't be unraveling any time soon.

"Here you go," Elann said as she brought it to them. "This is for this design." She showed one of the seamstresses what the fabric would be used for and then went about watching her start to sew it up, learning what she was doing; even briefly getting to try it herself, albeit a short demo of how, but she had to start somewhere.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

by **Elias Caldera** on February 12th, 2016, 10:25 pm

Behold, Your Just Reward!

Elann

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Completed Will The Cold Away