Pressing in on the Cold

by **Elann** on December 9th, 2015, 8:32 am

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Timestamp Winter 29th, 515

It had yet to start snowing, but already Elann was freezing. She had begun to purchase warmer and warmer clothing from the girls in the store as the days went by. The group was beginning to warm to the Benshira now that her common was significantly better. Laughter and giggles filled the room at certain topics that seemed to come and go randomly. A lot of it was gossip related, something Elann didn't particularly feel like taking part in, but everything else she jumped on. Now that it had been getting even colder, the other girls who were more used to the weather even began to wear similar clothing to Elann, until they were all sitting in the orangery with the stove going constantly, near freezing.

It was during that time that Navia Druva, the Elegant Weave’s owner would continuously bring out hot tea for the girls should they need it, and Elann did. While tea had very little caffeine compared to the coffee that Elann was raised on, the amount Elann had begun to drink did make her a bit more talkative during the day. No more or less than anyone else though. As Elann worked at weaving a nice wool blanket with the loom, its patterns a beautiful hue of grey, white, and a dark maroon, she talked with her companions.

One of them asked her, "Elann, how have you been in your place at the Travelers Row?"

With a little look over her shoulder and her hair bounding after the turn, she stated with a cute smile, "It's been nice. We have enough wood for the winter I've been told, and the walls have been keeping me fairly warm. I made some lined curtains and put them and some blankets up against the windows to help keep the cold out, and my fire is going just about all the time now when I'm home...but I'm trying to conserve my wood. I had my landlord lend me some putty...?" she asked as if not knowing the name, yet was right on, "...so that we could fill in the cracks in the walls before it starts freezing and refreezing bad. It wasn't hard." The smile grew a little bit more.

"And what about Noah?"

"He's so much better now. His leg is just fine and he's actually much more happy now that he has been out exploring and flying around." She hadn't told them about the bond yet, not sure exactly if that was something she should tell people or not. Their wants for her went over her head, but her coworkers definitely wanted Elann to get together with Noah, even though they didn't know him. Romance was always a hot topic among the ladies, and the few men working with them had to put up with it. Elann looked back to her work, focusing on what she was doing with the loom. While she could probably could perform well with just not looking, this was not her blanket, and it needed to be perfect. That meant at the least an occasional glance.

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

by **Elann** on December 13th, 2015, 8:09 pm

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Her answer didn't fulfill the desires of the women around the table, and while their focus was on her, they were also focused on what they were doing while talking. Some were busy knitting, some crocheting, some sewing. Each one had a wide array of skills, even Navia.

"Do you ever consider him more than a friend?"

Elann raised an eyebrow, not even looking back at them immediately. The woman who was asking obviously enjoyed her relationship and so frequently asked others about their ongoing friendship. Elann and Nellis were the odd ones out. For that reason they often repeatedly got asked that question, as if something had changed from the last time she had asked. The question itself voiced in even a playful taunt normally made Elann feel drawn in to respond in her usual manner, however the recent bond between Noah and her did make her feel love for him, and with it a certain draw toward him as more than a friend.

Her hesitation in answering caused some of the girls to giggle and taunt her, speaking about how she had a crush on Noah now and various other silly statements.

"No!" she laughed, looking backwards at them, briefly stopping her loom. "I'm..." she stuttered, causing them to erupt in laughter again at her. Now beet red in the cheek, Elann dismissed them entirely and went to clacking her loom.

Navia came over and gave Elann a playful kiss on the cheek and with a merry voice said, "You're so cute when flustered!"

The loom began to work faster as she subconsciously let thoughts run through her head. Still, her heart was heavy from the letter that had recently come from her father, and now these thoughts of Noah troubled her internally. All too soon it faded though as the rhythmic clacking of the loom drove her thoughts almost into a self-hypnotic state.

"Oh come now, Elann. Do you really like him?"

The begging plea coming from the woman at the end of the table working on a dress, and all too easily the other girls chimed in, calling for more information. Elann had to handle this with tact, and not upset the other ladies.

"Maybe I do, Maybe I don't," she first voiced a bit playfully, not looking to them. "There are a lot of thoughts and emotions we are working through right now with what the letter from my father brought into play, and attraction is not one of those thoughts or emotions." She hung her head a little bit, still saddened inside at the loss of her whole tribe, severed from her. Now she was up here in Syliras, her own woman, but what did that mean? She still hadn't figured that out.

The gloomy subject quieted them down to low giggles until one person, that sounded like Nellis, said that he thought she sounded like she liked him; which of course started them all giggling and laughing, talking about some of the first emotions they had felt for their significant others and how well or horribly they were hit on by them.

Elann continued, focusing on work. The brilliant colors stood out on the blanket as she finished weaving it. The girls let out a breath of relief once the loom had stopped clacking and just enjoyed the silence that it brought now. With swift fingers, she detached it and ensured the knots were tied and it did not unravel.

"There we are," said Elann to the group. Navia and them congratulated her and then Elann went to pick up another job from the pile. This one was to make a series of hand towels for the store. Short jobs like it were nice, filling stock. She found that it meant that her hands could rest after a while, she could drink some tea and then continue on.

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

by **Elann** on December 15th, 2015, 9:59 am

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Before starting the towel project, Elann moved out of the orangery, over the grass courtyard, and into the store. She had learned that a lot of the orders that came in were a bit slower than what was actually on the shelves, so by viewing the shelves themselves, she could actually see what she needed to make correctly. Twisting the knob and giving it a pull, she entered into a bustling shop. People's eyes trained to her as she essentially came from the back, a place that people realized where all the fine garments were made. It gave her an elevated status over those in the store who were just selling to people, though Elann was oblivious to it.

Her smile grew at the attention of people toward her, wishing well to any who saw her. She stepped down into the store down the stone steps and went about checking the racks for various items she needed to make. The quilts were getting low, blankets too. Even the long underwear had begun to take a hit despite their efforts to keep it well stocked. Hand towels were actually doing somewhat fine still. While the order was in, she could probably have pushed it to the back of the cue at that point. Giving a smile to the staff, she headed back out to the back, closing the door behind her, and eventually traversing back into the orangery.

"How bad was it?" Navia asked.

"Long underwear and quilts are horribly empty. Blankets are needed very bad too. Should I put this on hold?"

Navia nodded in response and went herself to go check on the store. For how much underwear they had been making, she was shocked they were already out. It was a cold one already this winter, and no-one felt it more than Elann. Returning the order to the bottom of the pile, Elann went about setting up to make another blanket. She turned with a smile to Isla to see what she was doing. She was their furrier expert, and the one she would consult on this blanket idea.

"So Isla, I was thinking of having this blanket be larger and maybe have a fur trim? We have less of those than the other blankets."

"Alright then," she simply replied, continuing about her work.

Elann focused more intently on the weaving through the loom, glad she wasn't doing the whole process by hand. You could always get your knots tighter, but it took years to make a beautiful rug; less if you had some help. The clacking eventually began again as the loom started up. Slight groans could be heard from the girls, barely audible over the mechanized shifting of the linen press.

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

by **Elann** on December 15th, 2015, 10:30 am

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The process was a complex one, but one she had known all her life. She had improved so much at her trade skill since becoming a teenager. So much so that her own father began making her take over for him in some instances. Should he have had a son, he would have trained him a bit younger, but realizing his wife was barren, he did what he could with Elann. Now here she was, his only child, half a world away, disowned, and besides Noah, was all alone. It wasn't all bad though. Her friendship was blossoming with Noah, she had a place to stay, she was saving up for a residence within the castle for safety reasons, and she was able to keep her job.

The blanket came along as she pumped the loom with her foot, the swishing clack sound of it set her into a groove like a drummer holding a perfect beat. In her mind she sang as she worked, humming a little now and again to a song that naturally fit the beat of her loom. In that moment she was happy, pleased to have such company and work for her. It made her feel fulfilled.

The blanket began to form. Longer and longer it became until the last of her work to it had finished. Separating it from the prongs, she took it over to Isla.

"Okay, so I left you some space at the end here to bind into..." she paused, "Do you think I could watch you for a moment? Just to see how you do it?"

Isla nodded and said, "Mhmm. So I measure this out exactly, and I want to have this much, then double it for the lining, that way I can fold it over and tuck it in on itself." She showed an example and then continued to explain how she set up her measurements. Then in a surprise move, when Elann had nodded finally, understanding all of it to a point, she asked, "Do you want to give it a little go?"

"Will I ruin the blanket or fur at all?" Elann asked.

"No, I'll watch you, make sure you are going in at the right spots. Here, take this, and press hard to get it through the hide of the fur, then through the blanket and out the other side."

Elann took the tool an began to do some actual furrier work on the blanket. It of course would have been a nightmare without the expert behind her giving her step by step instruction. Still, it was a good start, and after a few ties, Elann nodded and stood up. "I'll leave the rest to you," she giggled and handed it over. It felt refreshing to try something new; especially in her field of study. Before she left though she asked, "So, when you get a fur, how do you make it like this? I mean, how do you tan it and get it ready to use?"

Isla went through the long process of explaining how to properly tack down the hide, and how you needed good cuts, removing it properly from the animal for the best optimization. Elann kept what she said in mind, but wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing it, even if she did get a fur. The explanation of course laid out what she should do, but actually doing it was something else.

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

by **Elann** on December 15th, 2015, 10:49 am

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Navia eventually returned and looked to Elann after checking the store, doing a bit of paperwork, and interacting with her customers.

"Yes, Elann, I'm going to have you make some blankets. Nevin, you get to work on some more underwear, and we'll see if we can't manage to get caught up on stock, maybe even make a surplus."

With a cute little nod to Navia who spoke to her, Elann left Isla and got to work on another blanket. This one would be a different color. It would be a patterned blanket with swirls of color looping through it. She set about the process of lining up the threads and stealing some from the woman who sat on the spinning wheel. Eventually, her loom was ready. It would take a bit more effort on her part, but it should take about the same time to make as the other blanket she figured.

The break in the rarely ceasing loom had been appreciated, and before Elann went about making the blanket, she decided it was time for tea. The cold seeped in through the glass of the orangery, and if not for their lovely stove, they'd all freeze to death inside the room. Elann poured the cup of tea and held onto it with her burning hands. Elann's body worked seemingly opposite. The extreme temperatures of the hot desert conditioned her that when it was hot outside, she became freezing cold on the surface of her skin, and when cold, she became blazing hot. It was very rare she was average in temperature, and if under a blanket when it was cold outside, she could easily reach what felt like feverish temperatures when one touched her skin. Still, beneath the realm of the surface of her skin, she was freezing cold. The heat of the tea mug penetrated deep into the core of her hands, sending waves of warmth into her body.

Slowly she shuffled over to the stove and ensured there was enough wood, that it was far from going out. The wood pile on the side of the orangery was large, covered, and ensured them a safe, nice, and warm winter. This was her first winter ever. At the most, in the desert when it was winter, the night air would be so freezing that you would need furs to keep you warm, but it was nothing like this. Nothing like what she had experienced even in the nights of fall. Now it was getting worse. Even there at work, she would have to bring her own blanket soon just to keep herself warm inside the room. After a short while though, the Benshiran began to feel better, warmer, more comfortable, and proceeded to get back to work. The familiar groans of the women sounded as her weaver's fingers began to string the loom properly and start it up, continuing her work with the it and filling the room with the resounding, clack!

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

by **Yisanareysin** on February 12th, 2016, 8:18 pm

The ssssssnake hassss your gradesssss...

Elann

Skills

Lores

Rewards & Retribution

N/A
Comments
Just a few things:
I didn't give mathematics points because the way Elann was taking stock seemed much more in line with the observation skill. I did give lores for measuring, but since your PC didn't do the measurements herself, I can't give points for that.
I'd like to see a little more detail in the actual weaving, because there were a few places where I couldn't give points for just briefly mentioning that she was weaving.
Also, I'm not certain how Elann knows what caffeine is in a fantasy setting. Aside from that, this was a nice job thread

Don't forget to delete your post in the grading queue, and if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me about your grade!

Completed Pressing in on the Cold