Ailtih followed silently behind the masters and other apprentices, not saying a word on the way but looking around her quite curiously: a lot of those she saw were new to her. Quickly though she had to forget about looking around if she wanted to avoid being stuck at the end of the crowd and drawing attention to herself.

Under Helza's frown and Iriz's glower, Ailtih rolled her eyes but didn't say anything: both because there was nothing she could say to make anything better, but also because doing so would undoubtedly go against Zez's instructions which she had no intention at all of disobeying, something she made perfectly clear by nodding emphatically.

When the Interlopers arrived, she considered them attentively, curiously studying everything about them both in themselves, but also in comparison to what she had seen in that underwater-thing she had found. Though of course she didn't go very far with that particularly since she couldn't get close.

The thing that grabbed her attention the most was certainly the things the Interlopers had on their shoulders: she had no idea what it did, but surely it did something. Though of course, even if she was curious, she wasn't going to be asking about it but maybe someone would find out and would tell her. As far as she was concerned, the only thing she could hope for was to avoid the Interlopers for a while - at least long enough to get an idea of what their reactions would be if they learned about what she had found. Thankfully, no one was going to ask the youngest apprentice to do anything in relation to the Interlopers and risk her from messing things up. Even if they for some reason needed some grounds to be swept, surely someone else would be chosen for it.

Though it could be interesting to learn what she could doing so... No, no, too risky for now. not that her opinion mattered all that much anyway: she would be the last one asked about her opinion...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 112):

The elders manage to keep the crowd from surging forward, but just barely.  Everyone wants to stick some bit of pottery or lyuqu carving under their nose and babble on about the craftsmanship.  The Interlopers say nothing, or at least nothing you can hear.  Their leader seems to be talking to the elders.

Master Hannu comes up to Zez and bends close to him, saying something you can't overhear due to the noise.  After a while, Zez nods and leans close to the three of you.

"Alright.  Seems like we're giving up on doing a formal presentation here.  Instead, Master Matah is going to invite some of the Interlopers to come to the compound.  We need to get ready for them."

He starts giving instructions.  He tells Iriz to start preparing tea and snacks.  Well.  Whatever other faults Iriz has, she is a good cook.  That makes sense.

He tells Helza to prepare the meeting chamber.  She doesn't balk or snap back how such work is beneath her.  Instead she nods, looking eager.  She does like to impress.

Zez turns to you.  "You and I are going to make sure the workshops are nice and tidy.  I'll handle Master Matah's, Master Hannu, and Master Olk.  You go to the other workshops.  Make sure they are swept and clean as possible. If there are any projects laid out, do not move them.  Just try to make it workshop as presentable as possible.

"Alright everyone?  Let's move."

The four of you fight against the crowd and scurry back to the compound as quickly as you can.  You follow Zez to the supply closet and grab the broom and brush he hands you.

You have to tidy Master Nazin, Yovo, and Korim's workshops.

Nazin tends to be fairly tidy for a potter.  She is also Helza's master and Helza does keep a tidy workspace.

Master Korim never tidies up during the work day. She just does it in one fell swoop at the end.  You would normally say her workshop is likely to be the messiest.

But you have to factor Master Yovo into the equation.  She is as unpredictable in her tidiness as she is in her creatvity.  Some days you've seen her shop neater than the kitchens.  Other days, it is like a refuse heap.  You have no idea what is in store for you.

You need to work fast here.

I will need to know the order you hit each workshop.  Thanks

“Alright.” Ailith nodded, agreeing to Zez's instructions. Or more likely, Matah's I structions that he relayed. She would have hoped not having to deal with the interlopers for the moment, worried that she was that they'd somehow notice something, but she wasn't about to draw attention to herself by refusing her tasks.

After taking a second to think about it, she headed to Master Yovo's workshop: she knew what to expect of the other two, how much time she'd need to deal with either of them - she had dealt with Master Korim's workshop enough times already to know pretty well how long it would take her - so she could plan for it. Master Yovo's however... She was hoping it'd be one of those days were it was as tidy as could be, but was expecting to find a complete mess.

She could only hope she'd have enough time to deal with Master Korim's workshop well enough before she was called away. She'd go take a look at Master Nazin's workshop in the end, just to be sure of course, thankfully she wasn't overly worried about it.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:18, Fri 18 Dec 2020.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 114):

Yovo's workshop has stacks of reeds piled up in front of it.  Of course it would.  Ozcow delivered them not an hour ago.  It seems like the door was locked and he could only pile them up outside.

You have to move them inside and stack them neatly into a corner before you can do anything else.  It wouldn't be back breaking work if you weren't already exhausted.  And it chews into your time.

Thankfully, there's not a lot else to do.  Seems Master Yovo wasn't up to much while you were away.

Master Korim...well.  You knew what to expect, didn't you?  There's clay all over the place.  All. Over.  The place.  It's almost soul crushing.

You dive into it, throwing clay back into the clay bin and then rushing to draw a bucket of water so you can wipe up the worst of the spills on the floor.

As you bring your bucket up from the well, you can see the compound gate swing open.  Master Matah is striding through, the leader of the Interlopers walking at his side.  Three other Interlopers are walking with the other masters.

You feel a hand on your shoulder.  Zez has snuck up behind you. "How goes it?"

He glances at the bucket and sighs.  "Right.  You had Master Korim's shop didn't you?

"I'll go check out Master Nazin and then come help you.  Don't try to do too much. If you can cover something up with a reed mat, do it.  I'll explain to Master Matah if it comes up."

As you think about it, there are three spots you could use his 'reed mat strategy' to hide.  You'd have to fetch the mats from storage if you go that route.  Or you could just try to scrub with the speed of a quolk. And as we all know, nothing is faster than a quolk.

While relieved that this had been one of the times that Master Yovo's shop had been tidy, Ailith had managed to forget about the stacks and underestimated Master Korim's disaster.

For a moment she considered Zez's suggestion, but quickly dismissed it with a shake of her head. “We can't, maybe they'll see through it.” She paused for a second, “Figuratively, but who's to say if it can't be litterally too... Just... Tell Master Matah to keep Master Korim's shop toward the end...”

Aftet that, without waiting for an answer, she went to scrub everything as fast as she could, hoping a quolk had nothing in her...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 116):

Zez chuckles but doesn't argue.  He nods and moves away.

A couple of the stained areas seem to want to put up a fight.  Of course they do.  Why wouldn't they.  You end up on your hands and knees, scrubbing like a lightning bolt, and manage to get the mess up.  Reaching for a towel, you sop up the muddy water and wring it into the bucket.

You have heard the sound of voices floating around from outside.  They seemed distant, from the direction of the meeting hall.  Master Matah must be providing the Interlopers with tea and breads.

At one point, you think you hear voices from outside, one of them being that shrill, tinny voice the Interloper leader made.  The other sounds like Master D'Osk.  They seem to pass by the workshop door but do not stop in front of it.  You push forward on your cleaning.

At last, you step back, leaning on the mop in your hands.  The floor is...well.  It may not sparkle. But it is clean.

As you turn to gather up the bucket and towels, you freeze.

The workshop window is open.  Leaning on the sill is one of the Interlopers.  Not the leader.  This one seems shorter.  Maybe just a few fingers under your own height.  It (he? she? it?) has skin the color of the pale side of the moon, but without any mars from craters.  It has two eyes, but they are whitish, with dots of green floating in their center and a smaller dot of black set in the middle of that.  It has...fur?  Hair?  Hair you think.  It is the same color as river silt from when the monsoons come later in the low years.

This one too has the odd bird sculpture sitting on its shoulder.

It has been watching you it seems.  It cocks its head to one side, leanign towards the strange bird.  It then opens it's mouth.  The bird seems to vibrate.  You hear two voices.  The one from the Interloper's mouth is a whisper.  You can't make out what sounds it makes.  A second voice comes from the bird.  It is the tinny, thin voice.

Greetings.  You work quickly do you not?

Completely frozen, Ailith watched the Interloper for a while. When she started moving again, it was only to open and close her mouth, obviously knowing she had to say something but not quite what. Finally shaking herself, she grumbled. “Still not fast enough apparently...” Glancing around, Ailith placed a hand on her mouth before relaxing a bit. She could at least be satisfied that while she had been seen, it had only happened when she had been done with her task but still...

Standing up, she nodded politely, “Greetings.” Her eyes went to the bird-thing, as she was obviously considering what it meant. It would have been really useful if she had had something like that the previous day. Too bad there was no way she could get one. Though even if she somehow managed to, she wouldn't be able to trust it to keep her secrets, so it was kind of a moot point anyway.

“Do you need anything?” She was about to ask something else when she heard a new noise. She briefly froze, then quickly gathered her things to leave: she had already been seen so it was a bit useless now, but she'd really prefer not standing there with a mop and a bucket when everyone entered Master Korim's workshop. Especially not the latter. Or Master Matah. “Uh, sorry I, uh, have to go.”

In reply to Ailith (msg # 118):

The Interloper makes a sound when you say you weren't fast enough.  It sounds like a Ha he ha sound.  But what it means, who knows?

They hold up a hand...well.  It looks like a hand.  Though the fingers are much stubbier than yours.  It's mouth moves and the bird says You can relax.  My SUPERIOR is meeting with your SUPERIOR.  All the others are with them.  I doubt they will be coming by soon.  If they do, I will tell them I bumped over something and you were cleaning it up.

The Interloper leans further inside, resting it's arms on the window sill and pushing it's head into the room.

You are one of the UNPROCESSED PRODUCTS correct?  For some reason, the bird's voice seems to hesitate and crackle during certain words.  The ones that make no sense on first hearing.

Superior?  Master?

Unprocessed Product?  That would be an odd way to refer to an apprentice.  Rude even.  But then the Interloper may not know better.

Or is the bird that doesn't know better?

I am Llewelyn.  What is your TERM OF REFERENCE?

Ailith blinked as she processed all of that, her eyes going from the Interloper to the bird on its shoulder, relaxing definitely not one of the things she wanted to do. Still, she didn't leave just yet. A bit uncertain, she answered. “Master Matah is not my superior...” She frowned... “He is...” She paused for a second, then shrugged, “Well, he is Master Matah. And even if I say I'm cleaning because of you, that won't help much...” Especially since the last thing she wanted was to draw attention to herself.

“And I'm not an 'Unprocessed Product'.” She frowned as she considered the bird-thing suspiciously. After a couple of seconds, she added, “I am an apprentice.” No one's at the moment, but that was not something she was going to volunteer. “And my name,” she paused once again, squinting, “Is Ailtih.”

“Look, I don't mind if you want to talk,” Though she could imagine a bunch of things she'd rather do than have an Interloper interested in her, “even if I'm not sure I have anything interesting to say, but... Can we do so somewhere else please?”

In reply to Ailith (msg # 120):

The Interloper's mouth seems to curve upwards at both ends.  Is that a good sign or a bad one?

"Sure," says the bird, which must be talking on the Interloper's behalf.  "You can show me around the compound if you do not have LABOR ASSIGNMENTS."

This Llewelyn waits outside the studio door.  "My apologies for my..."  The Interloper points at the bird.  "This is a device we use to talk to you.  We cannot speak your language easily.  So we have to use these to do so.  But we are still lacking some of your words.  You said your OFFICE was-"

The Interloper brings a hand up and rests it on the bird.  The Interloper opens their mouth and says, "Ahp-prin-tez?"

It takes it's hand off the bird.  "Did I say that correctly?"

“I don't have any other tasks no.” Not that Ailith was supposed to be talking to an Interloper, but she supposed that no one was going to complain if she did what the Interloper asked her to. As long as she didn't show things she wasn't supposed to show anyway. And if it allowed her to avoid the others it might be for the best.

When it repeated the term, she nodded, “Almost.” Slower she repeated “Apprentice. It's like... A pupil? A student? I'm learning...” She paused, then waved at the various workshops, “Well, a bit of everything for now.” And she was going to ace the "sweeping the grounds" and "drawing water from the well" parts of it, that was for sure. But that was probably not something to say either... “I'm not sure 'office' is the right term either though. Occupation or job should be better.”

As she emptied the bucket and stored it and the mop where they were supposed to go - having no intention to carry them everywhere - Ailith asked, “What about you? What's your position among... Among your people?” While having the Interloper talk about itself was definitely a safer bet than her doing the talking, Ailith had to admit that she was curious.

And Merry Christmas!

In reply to Ailith (msg # 122):

Llewelyn's head makes a nodding motion when you repeat the term.  He pulls out an odd kind of tablet, one no bigger than his palm, and puts his finger on it.  The tablet has a glass window like the ones you saw in that place.  This screen is lit with a number of small lights, some blue but most green.  Llewelyn taps on a few.

"Thank you," says the bird. "We still do not have an entire vocabulary for your people.  So sometimes the ORACLE uses the best word it can."

It follows you to the supply closet and listens to your explanation.  There is a pause at your last question.  Then the bird says for Llewelyn, "I am not one of the traders.  I am a APPRENTICE of sorts as well.  I am studying..."

Llewelyn points at you.  "Your people.  I follow the traders and try to learn more about your people.  So we can talk better."

Llewelyn waves a hand towards the compound.  "Do you like it here?  May I ask what you do? What you study?"

Ailith watched the tablet thing attentively. It didn't seem all that similar to the things she had seen under the river but maybe there were still a few things she could learn from it. “I see.” was all she commented about the Oracle. She was pretty sure Oracle wasn't the right word for it either, but she supposed it was as good a name as any so she didn't say anything about it.

“I'm studying...” She started to answer the question, paused briefly as she considered how best to answer that question, “Well, I'm the youngest apprentice so I'm helping a bit everywhere with everything that needs to be done really. It allows me to learn a bit of everything, decide what I want to do, that sort of things. And allow the Masters to decide which of them wants me as their apprentice. Not sure how long that'll last though. It's not the most fun things to do,” She shrugged, “but it'll get better at some point. Soon I hope.”

After a couple of seconds, she asked curiously. “Where do you come from? And how did you get here?”

In reply to Ailith (msg # 124):

Llewelyn seems to listen attentively.  Though, as it's body language isn't what you are used to, maybe you have that wrong.

"I came on the GREAT CITY."  It points a finger upwards towards the sky.  "We all came on a GREAT CITY that flys through the darkplacesbetweenpointsoflight."

That last bit is said so fast, it's like listening to a kojoji addict talk as fast as they can.

Llewelyn points to the distance now, towards the area their village landed beyond the hill.

"We rode down from it in a VILLAGE.  You must have seen it as we came near the village."

It glances around the courtyard.  "Do you do scrimshaw?  I know the Traders are interested in scrimshaw works.  Don't tell anyone I told you.  Consider it a gift for talking to me."

It nods.  "It was a pleasure to meet you.  I hope we can talk more tomorrow."

It gives you a short bow of it's head and then turns around, walking towards the hall.

You hear a noise behind you and Zez is walking up slowly.  He sighs. "I didn't hear much.  What did the Interloper say to you?"

Ailith turned her head this way and that way as she listened to Llewelyn's explanations, then blinked in surprise when the Interloper suddenly left.

She looked at Zez for a moment, blinking a bit stupidly, before she shook her head to clear her mind. “Uh, it wanted to know who I was and what I was doing. Studying. Working on? Apparently it's an apprentice too, learning how to talk to us and things like that.” She frowned. “I'm not sure how that works though since it's the Oracle - that bird thing on their shoulder - who does the talking...”

She frowned pensively for a second, then added “Anyway. I,” and she looked pointedly at Zez slightly pausing to be sure he had noted the emphasis, “believe that they might be interested in scrimshaw works.” If he hadn't appeared like that she'd have found another way to say it, but now, no matter how or when she did so, it'd be obvious to him where it had really come from so... At least he didn't know Llewelyn's name. “I don't know why though. Maybe it means something special in their culture?”

In reply to Ailith (msg # 126):

"Scrimshaw, huh?"  Zez glances after the Interloper and shakes his head.  "Anyway.  That's fine.  Good job.  Sorry you had to do all this right after getting back. If you want to sneak a plate of food out of the kitchen and go rest up, I'll take care of everything else."

He seems to think a moment and says, "So they call that thing on their shoulders an oracle?  Huh.  I didn't think they were religious."

Will let you decide if Ailith wants to do anything else tonight, and then I'll move us along. Thanks

Ailith nodded, then thanked Zez. “Thanks, I will.” As she began to head to the kitchen, she stopped to listen to Zez, then shook her head. “I don't think they are.”

She paused for a second, pensive, then shrugged, “Or at least, I don't think them calling it an Oracle has anything to do with religion. It's just... They don't know all of our worlds - like apprentice for example - so that bird-thing sort of...guesses - I suppose you could say - the right word. Oracle is sort of related to that concept and since they probably don't know a better word for it...”

“Or at least that how I think it went. I'll just, uh, go eat something and lie down.” She waved, “Take care.”

After that, Ailith went to the kitchen to get a plate of food, then went back to rest: she was tired and more importantly, while she was definitely curious, she didn't want to draw attention to herself. At least no more than she already had. And maybe, if she woke up early, she'd be able to run to the temple first thing in the morning. It'd probably be useless, but at least it would be done.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 128):

You sleep like a mountain sleeps:  deeply and for a very long time.  You wake slowly, mostly because some distant thought keeps telling you someone is shaking you.  Then you realize someone is.

Zez sits back on his haunches when you open your eyes.  He is frowning.  "Master Matah wants to see us.  Wash your face and dress quickly.  We need to hurry."

So much for sneaking off to the temple.

Zez is waiting outside your room when you step out.  He nods and turns, hurrying quickly across the compound to the family quarters.  He doesn't head into the main door...a door you've never gone through.  Instead, he turns to the left and walks around the side of the building.

This is a part of the compound you've not been to.  You knew there was a space beside the family's quarters, but you had no idea it was a garden.  And a large one at that.

Surrounded by a low fence, a garden of flowering cacti and qisella bushes stands like a small lake of plant life.  There is a central pond, and you can see fish swimming around in it.  They are too small for eating but colored so vibrantly, the thought of eating them is almost like a crime.  You have no idea what kind of fish these are.

At the far end of the garden is a small gazebo.  Zez motions with you to be quiet, and the two of you head for it.

Master Matah is seated on a cushion in the middle of the gazebo.  He has a small knife and is whittling the core of a qisella into a cylindrical shape.

Zez approaches the steps leading up to the gazebo.  You notice there are pillows spread along the step and Zez kneels on one, motioning for you to follow suit.

Matah glances up at the both of you, his eyes lingering on you for a while, before going back to his whittling.  "It is important to set a goal for your work each day," he says, studying the cut he just made.  "No matter what occurs, you should always strive your best to meet that goal each day.  Though some days..."  He sighs and sets down both the wood and the knife, "That is not possible.

"So.  You have had a busy couple of days Ailith.  Tell me what occured with the Interloper yesterday.  You did nothing wrong,"  he adds quickly.  "But the situation being what it is, I need to know what happened, no matter how innocent it was."

You do not need to provide dialouge unless you wish to.  Mostly, I need to know if there is anything you do not tell him.  Thanks.

While in most circumstances Ailith would have enjoyed the walk, those were definitely not most circumstances. Between what she had found in the river, the talk with Llewelyn in the evening and the fact that it simply was the first time she was called there... She worried quite a bit about what it meant.

When she was told she did nothing wrong she relaxed... Slightly. She licked her lips, then started to talk. “I was finishing tidying Master Korim's workshop when an Interloper appeared at the window. He... She... It?” She grimaced, clearly not too pleased to be unable to clearly define said Interloper, “wanted to talk.” after which she recounted the encounter as best she could.

The only hesitation she had was to talk about the advice regarding scrimshaw works. In the end, she still shared it, but it was clear she wasn't terribly happy to be put in that position. All the while, she was wondering if all of that had been some sort of test... But she couldn't figure what it would be about.

Only thing Ailith doesn't share is the name. For now at least: she figures it's the best chance she has to keep Matah satisfied without "betraying" Llewelyn's confidence.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 130):

Matah watches you as you relay the tale.  He doesn't make a noise and he doesn't twitch or move about.  You aren't really sure he blinks.

When you're done he nods once.  "Interesting.  Scrimshaw, huh?  I suppose that was his way of repaying you for not running away."

He sighs and picks up the root he was working on.  "The Interlopers seem to come in two varieties.  The traders.  Which are most of them.  But there are a few scholars among them.  They are studying our world.  And us.  Seems the Interloper you spoke with was one of these 'scholars'."

He makes a cut in the wood with a knife and studies it.  "I cut too deep on this pass.  See?  Everyone can make a mistake in cutting.  It is what you do about it that matters.

"Have you done scrimshaw work Ailith?  Go do one.  Bring it to me when you're done with it.  The two of you may go."

Zez blinks at Matah and bows.  He hurries the two of you out of the garden.

Glancing at you, he whispers, "Keep silent on him wanting to see your work.  The others will make your life hell if they find out about it."  He's quiet a moment and then adds, "Honestly.  I'm fairly jealous myself."

Ailith nodded to accept the task Matah had given her, obviously a bit surprised but not thinking too much about it. Something that changed when she heard what Zez had to say about it. “Really? Uh...”

She silently considered the question for a moment, then asked “You're sure?” She didn't seem all that convinced, “I mean, I understand what it could imply but...” She shook her head, “First, I don't really have any experience with scrimshaw, second... Sure, I've become quite good at drawing water from the well,” At least her arms didn't hurt anymore once that was done, “Cleaning the workshops and so on, but I haven't done anything worth noting by any of the masters, much less Master Matah...” In fact, while she had helped here and there, she hadn't been able to even start working on anything by herself.

Before Zez could answer, she asked à few more practical questions, “And... How am I supposed to work on this if I can't tell anyone? When will I find the time for it if I still have to do all the other stuff, to say nothing of the resources and tools? I can't really ask Master Olk for help after all...” Not only because she had never really interacted with him since he was served by Iriz... But also because Iriz would see it as an "attack" on her position and might want to sabotage her.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 132):

Zez exhales rather slowly and then stops, turning to look down at you.  "Really?  You have an opportunity that hasn't been afforded to any of the rest of us, and this is the best you can do?

"If Master Matah has asked you to carve a piece of scrimshaw, do you really think you can't use the tools and supplies in the storeroom?  And when did Master Matah say you could not approach Master Olk?  And if you're tired when you go to sleep at the fifth bell in your room, won't you be just as tired when you stay up late for one bell's worth of time in your room and work on your scrimshaw then?  When do you think I work on my own pieces?  And where do you think I work on them?  Have I been given a workshop?"

He shuts his eyes, sighs again, and slumps his shoulders.  He doesn't open them when he starts speaking again.  "Has anyone ever monitored you when you throw out the trash?  You know. All the bits of raw material that the masters have discarded?  Has anyone ever checked on your quarters to make sure your lamp is out and your in bed at fifth bell?

"Only part of the apprenticeship is teaching you techniques.  There are other skills masters have to learn.  Like resource procurement and time management.  Handling rivals.  And resourcefulness.  You're a very hard worker, yes.  But that's only part of it."

Ailith blinked, obviously a bit surprised by Zez's tone. Hadn't her questions been reasonable? Well, at least she thought so. Granted he made some good points too, but still… Sure, she could do all that. It was the "do it all" and "not say anything to anyone" that she had troubles with. Though on the other hand, he had said that she had to keep silent about Matah wanting to see her work, not on her working at all… She could always say it was her own idea. It wouldn't solve all her problems, but it would address most of them.

One of the problems she was going to have, was to find a way to handle Iriz one way or another - Matah or not, she wasn't going to be pleased at all if she learned that Ailith was working on scrimshaw - but she supposed she could talk to Olk whenever Iriz was otherwise occupied.

As for the time… Well, now that she was used to it, she probably could speed up her tasks at the end of the day: being tired all the time wasn't exactly something she enjoyed after all. But if she planned her days carefully, as much as she could anyway as it depended on the masters' needs, she might be able to manage. Especially if she kept a day or two free - or at least where she didn't work on her own project - to rest a bit. It might look like it'd slow her down, but being rested would probably lead to fewer mistakes…which meant less time spent, maybe a lot less than she'd have "lost".

Still, time would definitely be her biggest problem… and that was without even considering what she was going to do about the river-thing. It seemed obvious that she'd have to give up her desire to find someone to teach her more of the Temple's language, at least for the time being. It wasn't something she was happy with, not at all, but on the other hand… it meant that she was finally going forward with her studies, which was definitely something to celebrate. And in the end… once she officially had a master… surely she'd have a bit more free time, as little as it was. And maybe learning the Temple language wouldn't be all that hard or time consuming. It was definitely something she was going to look at, at least to get an idea.

All in all, it was almost a minute later before she finally nodded, “You're right I guess. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound ungrateful.”

After a brief moment spent to think about her plans - already having an idea on what she wanted to work on - and deciding that she would have to start by talking a bit with Olk, she asked the head apprentice, “Do you know at what time of the day Master Olk is the most available?” Some masters liked to start the day slow, others to do the hard stuff straight away, so it would be important to target the right time. “And… do you have any idea if Iriz will be…somewhere else than his workshop… at some point in the next couple of days?” She had to admit that she hadn't paid too much attention to the other apprentices agenda. She grimaced, “I know, you said handling rivals and all that but…” she shook her head, “She's going to think I want to steal Master Olk from her,” she snorted disdainfully, obviously not having any intention of the sort, “and I'd rather deal with that after I'm started, not before… Definitely not before…” Though of course she would have to at some point, especially if she had to talk semi-regularly with her master to ask for advice.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 134):

Zez chuckles dryly.  "And I'm sorry too.  Guess I'm feeling jealous and taking it out on you.  But that's my problem.  Not yours."

He opens his eyes and gives you a lopsided grin.  "Iriz will be...yes.  You are correct. She will be a bit of a thorn."  He seems to think a moment.  "You know...since scrimshaw is going to be such a commodity soon, we really should get an updated audit of our inventory of them.  Sounds like a good project for Iriz since she's Master Olk's apprentice.  I would imagine that, if I tell her about it at lunch, it would keep her in the warehouse for most of the afternoon.  Since she will be busy, if you could check with Master Olk during that time and ask if he needs anything swept up please.  Need to make sure he is not inconvienced.  Right?"

He shrugs.  "Consider it my apology.  Just make sure you take some bone and carving tools from the storeroom in the morning before lunch.  Let me know what you take and how much and I will log it as Master Matah's project.  Will that all help?"

“You don't need to apologize, it's alright.” Ailith took a moment to think about all of that. “I was thinking of picking something in the storeroom after I talked to Master Olk though. You know, ask him for advice on what to work with then pick, rather than the other way around.”

She frowned, pensive for a second, “On the other hand I could pick something that I think would work with what I have in mind, and then ask him for advice on how to proceed.” She tapped her lips for a few seconds as she considered the question, then nodded, “Yes, let's do that, it's fine. Thanks!”

After a moment, she added, “Oh and I don't think you have anything to be jealous of you know, first all of this might mean nothing - it'll be my first scrimshaw piece so it really doubt it will impress anyone - and second you're the head apprentice of the Hiyal after all, that's worth a lot!”