Closed Learning to Teach

[Ayatah]

57th Winter, 515AV

All strangeness aside, the past season had been a good one for Ayatah. She had met a wonderful man, Kuame had celebrated his sixth birthday, and work had been going well. The Winter Blaze at the start of the season was still on everyone’s lips as they excitedly compared their experiences and stories.

But the strangeness.

It was unavoidable, not to mention utterly puzzling. Though a statement had been made earlier about so called powers that were apparently now rife throughout the city, it had not exactly explained Ayatah’s situation. She now owned a collection of notes that had been left around her home in two distinct handwriting styles. The first, written crookedly and poorly, was in Myrian. These messages were hardly positive and usually referred to an unnamed Deyhan who the writer of the note seemed to dislike quite passionately. The second however was completely different. Written in a language Aya could not read, the letters were cursive and neat. The two were clearly written by two different people: but who were they?

The first time she had seen a note, Ayatah had been thrown into a flurry of panic. She had simply been snoozing in the living room, with Kuame tucked up in bed and a half-empty glass of wine sitting by her side. Then Ayatah had felt… a jolt. Something inside her had fallen back into place, like a joint popped back into its socket after being dislocated. But this sensation hadn’t been painful, just… strange. The first thing she saw was the glass of wine: now empty and the contents having been poured onto her chair (which, thankfully, had been leather). The note had placed beside the stain of wine, right on the armrest of the very chair she had been napping in.

Filthy little Deyhan drinking filthy little barbarian wine. Myri curse you, Myri shame you. Spit on your family and your tribe.

Clearly the note had been about her, but knowing who the letter had been for did not reveal who had written it, or indeed why. A robber? No: there had been no signs of a break-in, and a child of Myri would not steal from a fellow Myrian sibling. Aya had heard of people who drew odd pictures whilst half-asleep, or under hyponosis. Had this happened to her?

It wasn’t until the third letter that Ayatah had realised that there was not possible way for her to be writing it half-asleep. Sure, she was smart, but there was no way in Hai that she could write in a language she could barely say a word in. The second letter had been longer, filled with carefully written words and signed with an unfamiliar name at the bottom. That had been on the 33rd, Kuame’s birthday. The note had been left on the spare pillow of Ayatah’s bed, right beside her head. Whoever had written it could have killed her, but had instead left her a note and decorated her apartment for Kuame’s birthday. Thankfully, one of Kaume’s friend’s mother had spotted the note and accidently deciphered it:

“Oh, Aya. I almost spilt my wine on this note for Kuame. Where shall I put it?”

Why exactly Hannah Field, a housewife from Zeltiva, could read Arumenic, Aya hadn’t cared. But when asked, Hannah had kindly explained that the note briefly described the writer’s disappointment over what little effort had been made for Kuame’s birthday, and that they hoped he would like the shirt (who else knew that she had bought a white shirt for Kuame? Nobody, that’s who).

So something odd was going in in her life, but evernstranger, Ayatah was more intrigued than worried. Something instinctively told her that whoever was leaving her the notes was no foe, but a friend. A pair of bilingual ghosts, she suspected, who had an eye for decorations and a lack of appreciation for good wine.

Still, these thoughts typically left her mind when she was at work. Instead, Ayatah found herself strangely at peace among old things and bones. Every so often she would take on a student, either for a single meeting to guide them onto the righteous path of learning, or for an entire season to tutor them more closely. Today was one such day, though the Myrian was yet to learn whether the individual she would meet with today was a casual student or one dedicated to her teachings.

Either way, she was prepared for the lesson and had gathered a variety of objects to show him. Teaching was a passion second only to learning, and so Aya was eager to get going.

[Namorin Xalvratos]

Winter was well on its way in Riverfall. The cold year had frozen the waterfall and much of the harbor solid. It was an odd year but the Stormwarden had found it interesting to watch the incoming storm that had changed the face of his city. He felt a gentle breeze blowing by him and smiled at its touch. It was chilly but he could sense something more to it. He felt a sense of comfort feeling the presence of Zulrav. Namorin and Charlain had booth been to the tower of Zulrav this morning to homage to stormfather, but were now on their way to the other side of the city to visit the school of Earth and Life Science.

Namorin was on his way with Charlain to learn other peoples. Each had their own reasons for doing it but the agreement had been mutual. Namorin though back to not to many years ago when he had found himself shoved to the side and Charlain taking them directly to the library. It had been during the early years of Namorin’s apprenticeship, when he and Charlain had quarreled regularly over jewelry crafting. ’I still think it’s a waste of our talents.’ Charlain intruded upon the though. The memory also caught his attention as Namorin continued with it. Namorin had of course been to the Library, but never had wandered so far into it.

Charlain had picked up a history book. It had been about the Suvan peoples. With nothing better to do Namorin had also read the book and paid attention. Namorin could feel Charlain’s attention absolute riveted on the book, and even he had found the information fascinating all though much less so. Namorin had taken control again but didn’t move. He sat their reading much of the text. So it was that they would read various books in their spare time about other peoples.

’We could always leave Riverfall and actually see these peoples, make a name for ourselves and return heros.’ Charlain prompted again.

’No.’ Namorin replied back.

’Your nothing more than a mama’s boy. You think your tuff but you won’t even leave the city your so scared.’ the nastiness came out again. Namorin sighed and Charlain fumed. The continued towards their destination. It was the first time they had agreed to actually delve into their mutual anthropological interest and learn from someone else.

Namorin suddenly realized he had stepped into the school of Earth and Life Science. He paused trying to remember the directions, which Charlain promptly supplied. ’I am smarter then you remember.’ the other half said with a laugh in his tone. Namorin felt a rise of irritation but moved down the halls and kept it from showing on his face.

So it was that Namorin and Charlain walked into Ayatah office. They were both started by the young woman they saw sitting in the room. She was beautiful with her olive skin and rich black hair. Both of them felt themselves drawn to her, and before Namorin could stop him Charlain was smiling at her. Namorin, using the leverage that this was a professional visit took control. The smile on his expressive lips changed from a flirting smile to a smile of greeting.

“Greetings, are you Ayatah?” Namorin spoke even while having a conversation with Charlain.
‘Come on you blubbering idiot. I am the ladies man here.’

‘We are here to learn about other people.’

‘I know, and she would be an interesting person to learn more about.’ Charlain countered.

“I am Namorin and Charlain. We made an appointment to be educated more on other peoples of Mizahar.”

[Ayatah]

Only a short while ago, Ayatah had found the dual identity of the Akalak men a puzzle, an anomaly. Someone introducing themselves as Bob and Bill would have once made the Myrian assume they were a little loose in the head, or perhaps accompanied by an invisible friend. Even after introductions had been made, the half-Eypharian would subsequently fret over what to call the two-in-one man: Bob had been the first name said, but perhaps Bill was their preferred name, and hence had been the last one mentioned.

It wasn’t that Ayatah was moronic, or that she found the idea of two souls in one body a tricky thing to understand. Her social clumsiness was out of a desperate desire to be accepted in Riverfall. She wanted to become a member of the city, instead of a long-staying guest as she was now. And if she were to be accepted by the denizens of Riverfall, she needed to ensure that she followed social etiquette down to a tee.

Thankfully, she now felt no such confusion or social awkwardness. Ayatah simply accepted the nature of the big blue men, going for the first name they mentioned unless, of course, another title was offered. So when Namorin and Charlain introduced themselves at Ayatah’s office door, she stood up and introduced herself smoothly and with a smile:

“Yes, I am Ayatah. Please, take a sit.” After gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of her desk, and ensuring her guest had sat down, the half-Eypharian also took a seat. “Now, I must be honest with you, Namorin. I am limited in teaching what I know myself, obviously. But after the lesson, if there’s anything you’d like to know, I can certainly suggest some books for you to read.”

With introductions aside, Ayatah shifted in her seat and pulled several items out of the drawers under her desk. The first item was an intricate bracelet inlayed with several precious stones. The second item was a glass bird, its once elongated tail feather long broken off and now stumpy and sharp. Finally, the last object was a small knife, the hilt of which was made out of an equally small and fragile-looking bone.

“I always think the best way to learn about a group of people is to look at the things they produce. It gives hints as to what they, as a culture, do.” Ayatah left out that it was significantly easier to teach if there was some focal object or item to base her lesson on.

She started with the bracelet. “This is Eypharian made, from the deserts of Ekytol and more specifically from the city of Ahnatep.” The bangle was slid across her desk so her student could investigate it in more detail. It was unknown to Aya what career her student was in, and she hoped that the Akalak would be bored by the presentation of a bracelet. “The stones are Lapis, Amethyst and Emerald. See the inscription on the underside? That’s the name of the jewellery maker, Rhati re Bisret, and the year it was made, 41AV. So this a relatively old piece

The Eypharians of Ekytol are a proud people, and they strive for excellence in all they do. Both work and play are achieved to a high degree of success, and their breeding is no exception.” Now Ayatah rifled through her papers, pulling out a parchment piece that documented the extended family tree of a single Eypharian lineage. “This is the family of Rhati re Basret, the creator of that bracelet. It was made by his mother, and added to by his granddaughter who eventually donated these items to the School.” Reaching across the desk, Ayatah trailed a finger delicately along the family tree, pausing at the name Rhati re Basret. “See how Rhati’s name is underlined and written in larger text that his brother’s name, Talik’s? That’s because Rhati’s was born with six arms, whereas Talik was born with just four. Even though he was older, Talik was regarded as less special than Rhati and so inherited less wealth from their parents. Talik’s own family – apparently he had three daughters – is not even mentioned here. He simply doesn’t matter as much as he did not have the prized six arms.”

With that, Aya paused to allow her student to process in the information she had offered so far. Finally, she invited any questions Namorin might have.

[Namorin Xalvratos]

Namorin didn’t realize that the duel introduction could be off balancing to some especially those new to Riverfall. He had been raised around people who either were Akalak or dealt with the dark skinned race on a daily basis and because of that deal with two people talking to them out of one mouth. So it was that he took a seat without realizing he had made things a bit confusing.

Sitting down Ayatah now had both soul’s attention. His expression became focused his intense golden eyes became if possible even more intense as she gained total attention. His expression became focused as they looked at the items she had brought out. Namorin saw the bracelet first and the gems that had been imbedded into the band.

Charlain was surprised by the fact that the lesson was on the Eypharian. The race in general had a negative view in the city of Riverfall. Namorin was interested though. In his training he had the Eypharian race had been mentioned several times as people who loved beauty and the jewelry that he worked so hard on each day was one of the things they purchased and treasured.

As the bracelet was passed over Namorin would pick it up and notice the art design. He noticed as she spoke the presence of the Lapis, Amethyst and Emerald. He noticed the cut they used and the sizes of the stones. He made mental notes of these. He had learned that different cultures did their jewelry differently. Each wanted different aspects of the jewels to come out. Some wanted size, some wanted sparkle. Each culture was different and unique.

Namorin’s attention was returned back to the conversation as she explained about the artist. Rhati re Bisret. He set the bracelet down and looked at the chart. Coming from a race that was just desperate for another generation he found their focus on traits interesting and a little silly. If they had the population to do it though and it was so important to them then they could do that.

“Why are the six arms so important to them?” Namorin asked his intense gaze curious as it looked into the pretty woman’s face. “Does it make them better fighters or craftsmen.” frankly he wasn’t sure how someone could focus on six arms. As he looked at her he had titled his head a little to the side in question. Namorin’s face was open and honest and seemed to show his emotions and so far she had actually both souls interest still.