A New Day, A New Assistant (Desmodus)

[Aydyn Blair]

Early Morning on Aslanica
Second Cycle of Imperos
During the season of Summer, Era II

Two days after her arrival in Acumin, Aydyn woke from a long, restful sleep and recalled that she had made a promise. I'll come back the day after tomorrow, she had told Latherin, and she wasn't about to make him think from the start that she was a slacker. Far from slacker, Aydyn might have been termed by some as "over-achiever". Failure was not on Aydyn's things-to-do list, even if that failure was something so miniscule as not arriving to her new job on time.

Pushing aside the thin layer of covers that shielded her from the morning, Aydyn slid one foot, then another from beneath the covers and rested them on the wooden floor. Almost instantly a small, furry paw batted out from beneath the bed. Small claws skimmed Aydyn's bare feet and she yelped in surprise, a yelp that faded into a giggle as she slid out of bed to sit on the floor. She peered under the bed, eyes meeting with a pair of wide yellow eyes, slitted, that eyed Aydyn innocently, proclaiming "I didn't do it" with just a glance. Aydyn knew better.

Smiling, Aydyn reached under the bed and pulled out a squirming blue and white Medonian Solid who mewed in protest as Aydyn kissed her brow and ruffled the fur between her wings. "Rotten cat, it's too early for that," Aydyn teased and plopped the alicat onto her bed. Mosaia poked her ginger head out from under the bed shortly there after with an inquisitive meow. Picking up the second alicat for a quick pet and kiss, Aydyn realized that her alicats alone would distract her from arriving on time.

Setting the two alicats aside, she fed them with a promise of having playtime outdoors soon, and turned her mind towards getting herself ready for her first day of work. She pulled her knapsack out from under the bed and removed from it the various, and few, sets of clothing she carried with her. Two skirts and a pair of brown pants, with several blouses to go with them. She considered the skirts, figuring they looked more professional and woman-like than the pants, but the tasks that Latherin had described seemed more out-doorsy, which meant pants. She selected the trousers and the blouse, dressed, and ran her hands through the thick tresses of brown hair, of which she had decided to wear down for the day with a ribbon tied at her wrist in case she changed her mind.

Figuring she looked all right for the day, she headed down the stairs and out the front door of the tavern to head over to the Aedile's.

Aydyn was an early riser, a habit instilled in her from her childhood on the farm. Even off the farm this habit hadn't altered. She rose at dawn, fixed herself up, sometimes grabbed a meal, then headed off to wherever her destination of the day happened to be. Evenings were shaky, since she was often to bed at what she considered to be a "decent" hours, but early to others. This habit, however, seemed to come in handy for an office job such as that as an assistant aedile for she was rarely ever late to work.

She strode into the Aedile's office looking fresh and wide awake, ready for the day, and peered around for Latherin.

[Desmodus]

Latherin seemed to have come in just a few minutes before Aydyn, and was in the process of ensuring that things were in order when she walked in. When he first saw her he just stared and didn't say anything at first. Apparently, wearing her thick tresses of brown hair down had not been without an impact on the smoothness-with-the-ladies-impaired Aedile. Oh, hi!" he exclaimed with uncharacteristic brightness.

Then after a moment the Aedile seemed to remember himself, realized he was staring, and recovered his businesslike demeanor. Great, Latherin he reproached himself with silent sarcasm. A pretty girl shows up and here you gawk at her like you're some green farm-hand, instead of being *the* civilian authority of Acumin. Very impressive, Mr. Aedile.

"Serale, Miss Aydyn," Latherin said at last, managing a calmer, cooler tone than before, and suppressing the reproachful voice inside his head. "I am glad you decided to come. I wasn't sure if your enthusiasm for this job would survive a brightening in Acumin or not. And yet, here you are," he concluded somewhat lamely.

"I managed to find you a desk and a chair," he continued, recovering some degree of his confidence and purpose. He pointed towards Aydyn's right to a desk set perpendicular to and against the wall about fifteen feet in from the door.

The desk itself was actually made of the same vegetation as the walls of the building. In fact, the structure of the desk itself, looking like coarse green wickerwork, was actually grown out of that vegetation. Where its surface and legs met the floor and wall, it fused with and rooted into them. Hopefully, Aydyn would be content with the placement of her desk, as she was not going to be able to move it anytime soon. A large rectangular wooden tabletop, probably salvaged from an abandoned ruin, had been laid level across the top. In spite of the makeshift arrangement, her desk was actually surprisingly comfortable and well-crafted. The tabletop was quite level and stable, with small tough tendrils wrapped tightly around each corner, effectively clamping the added-on slab to the living, verdant frame. The vegetation underneath near the wall had even been woven into a suitable number of pigeonholes and shelves for whatever documents and supplies the young assistant might need.

The chair was a nice but simple chair of cherry-wood upholstered with wadded cotton cloth dyed burgundy. In fact, the chair bore a striking resemblance to the one the Aedile himself had been sitting in two brightenings ago, and none whatsoever to the somewhat less comfortable stool behind his desk now.

"I hope that this will satisfy you for now," the Aedile said. "Go ahead, have a seat, and let me know what you think. Then we can discuss what you will be doing the next few brightenings, and what you will need to know to be effective as my assistant." He said this last in a tone that he hoped would sound sharp and decisive as an effective boss should, and in that he succeeded perhaps a bit more than he had intended, managing to sound slightly forbidding as well. He winced inwardly as he heard his own voice issue from his mouth, and just hoped that his young assistant would not be put off too badly.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn was not given to understanding awkward stares and gaping, not even the admiring gazes of any men around her. Not that she didn't notice that sort of thing from time to time, it merely depended on the circumstances around her. In this particular instance, Aydyn was excited and even nervous about beginning her new job. Her mind was filled with worries that she wouldn't be able to perform her job to the best of her ability or perform to his expectations, but her head was also cluttered with the knowledge that this was a whole step up from her last assistant position in Demios. In Demios, she merely manned the desk and helped people with job requests and building purchases, really. Here, she was going to helping with the reconstruction of a whole community. She would be more of a help here than in Demios, she convinced herself. And that was even a little nerve-wrecking!

"Serale, Latherin!" she greeted him in turn, flushing a little and hesitating, uncertain if he preferred a more formal address. He did, after all, call her "Miss Aydyn". Too late. The more informal greeting had blurted out and could never be curled back into the safety of her mouth. "I'm still here, no worries. This place is lovely. It's nice to be around trees again." She redirected her attention to the desk that he pointed out and was rather astounded with the craftsmanship of the furniture piece. The houses were nothing like Aydyn had ever seen before and the furniture also was no different! She walked over towards it and gave it a closer inspection, taking note of the small shelves and holes that had been created for her. It looked so cozy. "Wow, this looks great. Just perfect!" Could a druid ask for a better location than this?

At his request, she sat herself down on the chair--one she didn't really notice to have been his since other things had cluttered her mind the day of her arrival. She ran her hands over the wood of the desk and shifted around on her chair, getting herself adjusted to its feel. "Really, this is perfect, thanks," came her final assessment with a cheerful, eager smile in his direction. Her smile was moderately refined when he shifted direction to the topic of what her jobs would be as his assistant.

"I hope I can do a good job. I really want to help out." She appeared very sincere and genuine and indeed she was. Aydyn was the sort to give to people who needed any help they could get if she was capable of it and she was desperately looking forward to start the work he needed her to do.

[Desmodus]

"Latherin" the Aedile thought when Aydyn greeted him, How informal. That's good; she's not stand-offish and will be comfortable to work with. He noticed, to his relief, that she did not seem to be annoyed or offended by his momentary lapse manners. It was also a great relief to him that Aydyn seemed to take to her new and rather unconventional desk right away. Not everybody would appreciate having a tangle of vines for a workspace.

At ease with Acumin's surroundings, eager to get started, friendly, easy to look at, and willing to work for the price, thought Latherin as he watched his new assistant look about his office approvingly with her bright, refreshing smile. This is too perfect. There has to be a downside. Perhaps she was incompetent. Perhaps that was the real reason she had left her job in Demios, or perhaps she was lying and had never even been an Assistant Aedile at all. There *had* to be a downside.

Nonsense, Latherin, the Aedile reproached himself. He should not doubt Carmelya's providence thus. Still, it seemed prudent to put a task to her right away that would test her skills, attitude, and familiarity with the job.

"Well, Aydyn," he said, careful to reciprocate her informality, "one thing we will require before we can really start to sell properties is to set up an orderly way of deciding on and listing what properties we wish to sell, and a way of tracking and accounting for the actual sales, issuing deeds, etc. Now, how would you set up a system for doing that? What components would you require? What documents would you need from others, and what documents or records would you create yourself? And yes, I'm afraid this is a bit of a test." He added this last sentence somewhat ruefully, as if he found the game of 'Stump the Assistant' somewhat distasteful. After all, the job offer had not demanded any prior experience. Nonetheless, he told himself, if she had really been an Assistant Aedile before, she would have some sense of what sort of records an Aedile's office kept track of, and how one managed them. How much she had managed to pick up from her previous job might give him some idea of how well she would learn this one.

Latherin sat down on his stool, trying with moderate success to look relaxed and authoritative, as he waited for the young woman's answer to his questions; he hoped she would answer them well.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn had not been extremely confident her first day as an assistant Aedile back in Demios, but over the course of a few months she had grown accustomed to the variety of different papers and filing systems that she had to keep track of. Aydyn was typically organized--not always, as anyone who got a good look at her knapsack could attest to--but her living spaces were usually kept in an orderly fashion. Some of this had been the influence of her job, others had been the influence of her childhood on the farm that demanded things to be arranged in an easy-to-find manner. That meant organization. So Aydyn approached these sort of situations quietly at first, trying to determine what sort of layout would be best. Quiet contemplation would shift to explanation and sometimes debate, which was not something Aydyn enjoyed.

Pursing her lips, Aydyn thought back to the system that they had employed at the office back in Demios. "Well...back in Demios we kept a ledger of all the vacant buildings and lots. When one filled up, we'd write sold next to the entry and the information about the buyer and the location would be written into a different ledger that listed occupied lots." She paused, hesitating, reviewing the information in her head. "Whenever a new lot came up that was unoccupied, it would be re-recorded into the vacant lots ledger." She hoped that made sense, that she had explained it properly and without confusion. "I guess deciding on properties would really have to deal with a lot of communication with the people that border the vacant areas, trying to decide where their land ends and where the empty land begins. I suppose you have that listed somewhere?" she asked hopefully, knowing that property lines were always defined differently depending on each individual.

"Anyway, to track the sales and issue deeds..." she trailed off, considering and weighing the options. "You'd have to have them sign any documents that are related to the sale. You could always have separate filing cubbies that hold deeds for shops or houses, occupied and unoccupied."

Aydyn paused again, struggling to remind herself of the questions that he had placed before her. There had been so many... "You asked me what documents I would need or make, right?" She did not look like she really needed an answer, just a nod or gesture of assurance before pushing onward. "You'd need their visas, of course, and the money that's being put down for the estate. You'd need to write up the deeds yourself, usually. If it's a business, depending on what it is, they'd need to obtain licenses to cover things like operating a business or serving liquor. What kind of licenses do you need people to buy here?" Here she stopped, genuinely curious and needing to know the answer. These things seemed to change from place to place.

[Desmodus]

Latherin watched and listened intently as Aydyn gave her answers. Several times, he nodded thoughtfully at what she said. Apparently, then, her downside would be that she was really a spy for Avanthar or something, as she was obviously knowledgeable, and apparently quite competent already. She was almost too good to be true.

"That is all quite well-answered, Aydyn," he said at last. "I am quite impressed. Your superior at Demios taught you well, apparently. The only comments I would add as far as tracking our operations is that we keep a journal that logs just about everything we do when somebody comes in; this is where we initially record the transactions. If there is any discrepancy or a question about whether or not something is correct in the ledger, we consult the journals. Journals are also a good way for us to keep track of what one of us does when the other is not away. So, for example, if I should issue somebody a deed and subsequently forget to update the ledger, and then somebody makes an inquiry to you while I am out, or disputes what is in the ledger, you can check my journals for the day in question to see if the transaction was recorded there. Always keep your journal religiously. As long as it is straight, just about any other recordkeeping issue can be fixed or cleared up."

Latherin reached down behind his desk and produced a large, worn book that had some dust on its cover, and a deep crease down its spine from repeated openings and closings. "This is the ledger of currently occupied properties in and around Acumin under our perview. It is up-to-date, which means, as you can see, that most of the names have been crossed out of it with notations recording the deaths of the previous owners."

A distinct note of both sadness and bitterness crept into the Aedile's voice as he said this, and to demonstrate he opened up the large old tome and turned it towards Aydyn so she could peruse it if she so desired. If she did, she would see that Latherin was right, and that for the most part the deaths had all occured within the same couple brightenings, in Kalendryas of Era X. All the annotations were written in the same hand, presumably Latherin's own; as she went down page after page of notes, the handwriting got noticeably worse in a few places, possibly from the scribe's fatigue, or from his upset at noting the same grim news over and over again for hundreds of townsfolk he had once known and called friends and neighbors, possibly even relatives or loved ones.

"As you astutely mentioned, Aydyn," Latherin continued, seemingly anxious to move on, "we also keep a second ledger of properties, documenting which ones are vacant and which ones are not." The man paused and sighed. "Such a system is predicated upon the majority of properties being in use, and only being unclaimed by exception. As you might expect, I rather unexpectedly found myself having to record practically every property in Acumin a second time in this ledger." He lowered his eyes for a moment, avoiding Aydyn's to stare at some invisible spot in the distance. "I am not sure if I have recorded all of the vacant properties correctly. I *think* I have, but I would appreciate a second pair of eyes to look over my work to make sure it is accurate." He raised his eyes again and looked at his young new assistant. "It isn't easy for me to go through that list very carefully. So I guess one of your first projects would be to go through the two ledgers and make sure that I have properly transferred information about the vacant properties from one to the other. I need the ledger of vacant properties to be up-to-date so that we can begin the work of filling them again properly."


Latherin now moved on to Aydyn's question about the granting of special licenses. He was glad for the question on several levels, one of which was that it got him off the subject of the ledgers, and of the horrible events they implicitly documented. It was also a good sign that his new assistant was paying attention, and that she had an alert and inquisitive mind.

"Ah, excellent question, Miss Aydyn. We don't have that many formal ordinances in place apart from the terms of our community's pact with Carmelya. Businesses are approved or not on a case-by-case basis. The druids review each proposed new business to make sure it does not violate the terms of the Promise, and I ensure that everything is legal and in the best economic interests of the town. We say yay or nay, and the deed is issued with the type of business the owner has permission to use it for specified. Any substantial change to the property's use requires our permission."

Latherin had resumed watching Aydyn intently, looking for indications that she understood what he was telling her. "Do you have any further questions at the moment? If not, then I will move on to some of the other functions of this office, and how I manage them."

[Aydyn Blair]

A pleased, but not self-satisfied, smile spread over Aydyn’s face as Latherin’s pleasure at her ability to correctly respond to his questions became apparent. She had been hoping to make a good impression on her first day and it seemed as if she already had. Hopefully she would not disappoint him from there on out. She nodded, absorbing his corrections and additions, trying to make a mental file for near future reference. The way he explained it all made sense, but hopefully it would continue to make sense when she actually implemented it.

With the book now out on the table, she inched forward on her chair a little to get a slightly closer view of the volume. The smile that she had previously sported slipped into an uncomfortable line between being unsure of how to respond to the change in Latherin’s bearing and also a sense of feeling very much like an outsider. These people had suffered and she had not. She would never know what it felt like to experience the amount of losses they had endured and hoped she would never have to. She tightened her lips as she reached out and touched the worn pages, turning a few pages and making note of each notation in the margin with a sharp pang in her chest. She had come just in time to witness the aftermath. It had not been long since they had endured all this, a fact that made Aydyn very aware of the fact that these people would be almost quite delicate to handle.

Thankful with the switch of topic, Aydyn looked up from the book and focused on her new boss. Occasionally, she glanced down at the book as she considered the appearance of the other ledger that was kept. It probably looked relatively similar to the one in front of her now and was probably not any more uplifting either. The small smile that flit over her face was understanding as he commented to her about needing a second pair of eyes to look over the list for him. She was a stranger and the pain that Latherin felt regarding the empty listings was nothing akin to the distance that Aydyn would feel when reading over the various lots.

Aydyn was also a good deal relieved to hear that the licensing was not so very complicated here. Those things always seemed to confuse her and the less documents and permission she needed to grant, the easier her job tended to be.

“No, I don’t believe I have any questions,” she piped up after a moment, drawing away from her attentive, listening stance and straightening in her chair. ”I’d be glad to start that project with the ledger for you whenever you want me to start.” But first things first, of course. “So…some other functions of the office?” She knew a good deal of what other things were typically done in an Aedile’s Office, but she was well aware that this very decimated town most likely had a vastly different set of priorities than Demios.

[Desmodus]

Latherin nodded approvingly as he listened to Aydyn. She seemed to know something already about the job, was a quick learner, and was inquisitive and interested in knowing more. For the first time in more than an Era, the Aedile found himself starting to believe that his job could become enjoyable again, rather than just being the wearing burden it had become. "Well, Aydyn," he answered, "the other major traditional function of the Aedile is the fostering and regulation of commerce. At the moment our economy is so primitive and so small that this really isn't that hard. We're lucky to get even a cartload of supplies in a cycle. Two carts in a cycle is a veritable flood of resources. We have no formal tolls and customs in place at the moment; the rangers search the goods of any would-be vendors who come to the barrier, search for obvious contraband, and then inform me generally of what has arrived and what it's for. I'm not really keeping any formal records or keeping count."

Latherin shrugged his stooped shoulders somewhat lamely at this admission. It occured to the Aedile that his new assistant was just as likely to be assessing his competence and professionalism. Now that he had established that she actually knew a thing or two about the job, he realized that *his* job performance was under scrutiny from a second set of knowing eyes. That was not something he particularly minded in principle, but it was a novel experience for him. He silenty vowed to himself to take his own office up a notch. Could it be that the boss was actually drawing inspiration from his fair young subordinate? At any rate, he continued: "With you here, I would like to change that. I would like to start keeping proper records of who brings what wares when, and how much of them. I want a system of tracking prices, etc. In other words, I would like to resume performing my job more like a regular Aedile.

"That does not have to happen all in one brightening, or even all in one cycle, but I would like to have something in place by, say, the end of the month. We don't have a lot of trade now, but if all goes as I intend and hope, that will change. And when it does, it would be better to have a system of records and procedures already in place to deal with them. Don't you agree, Aydyn?" The question was half-rhetorical, but he paused here an instant to see if Aydyn would actually respond to it. He was starting to take some interest in what she actually thought and had to say.

"Apart from myself, I would say that there are three individuals that it will be important to work with. One is Mila Ventrude, the innkeeper of the Sooty Cavern Tavern & Inn. You will meet her soon enough; I would encourage you to make a point of getting along with her. She is pretty much the hub of the business and social life of Acumin at the moment, and enlisting her cooperation will make your job easier by manifold.

"The second person you really need to know well and work with regularly is Jon Litate, the Master Ranger of our Ranger Hall. He is also pretty much the acting constable, bailiff, local military commander, and the head of customs. I shall be happy to introduce you to him.

"The third person you will be working with closely and often is the chief Druid and Carmelyan of Acumin, Master Druid Lehan Y'las. He plays a large role in monitoring economic changes in Acumin, due to his role as speaker for Carmelya; as I already mentioned to you, the pact our village has with our Goddess is the dominant political, cultural, and economic rule at the moment. I shall ensure that you are introduced to him as well.

"Perhaps yet another thing we could formalize is a sort of regular meeting of those principles to discuss what is going on in Acumin from our point of view. We generally do meet and discuss such things from time to time, but as the pace of new developments speed up, we should have an agreement in place for us to meet regularly, rather than just ad hoc. I shall coordinate that myself."

Latherin paused a moment to retrieve an earthenware flask from under his desk. He also pulled out a wooden cup and poured out a portion of light brownish liquid from the flask into it. He looked up at Aydyn. "There is just a little more to talk about this morning. But first, let us take a break for a moment. This is tea," he explained, indicating the jug, "which I drink cold this time of year rather than hot. I keep a flask chilled in the stream nearby. Would you like some, Aydyn?"

[Aydyn Blair]

One thing Aydyn had really had no hand in during her time in Demios was the relationship of the Aedile and commerce. It was perhaps her weakest area, a fact that made her a little nervous knowing that she would be having to confront this very avenue with the reconstruction of Acumin's floundering economy. Well, she was always open to new areas, hoping to smooth out her rough edges, and perhaps if she put as much focus and dedication into this as she could, she would be able to confront that problem in her life. Listening to his description of his particular relationship to the trade within the city, she was rather surprised to hear that he didn't keep records about these sort of things. It seemed rather...unprofessional, especially since he was beginning to focus his efforts in that area. She was about to ask why he didn't keep records and if he planned to do so in the future when he answered it for her. Well, what could she expect? Their village had recently been devastated. Was it really unreasonable that their records would be put on the back burner as they reconstructed their lives?

"I've gotten used to keeping everything neat and organized into records. Rosamund drilled the proper procedures into me and I think it would be...odd for me to work with a system that just kind of approached things on case-to-case sort of situation, you know?" She wasn't sure she had communicated that correctly, which showed clearly in a troubled face. "I would definitely like to help build some records and procedures, of course," she amended quickly, hoping that would explain everything if she had not been previously clear. "I understand things have been hectic, though, and will be hectic as you try to bring outsiders in." She smiled faintly, but optimistically. "We'll be able to make records as everything starts to settle down and the locals and the stranger get used to one another. You can't force too many things on people all at once, after all. So I understand a slow change." As a small community-girl herself, how could she not?

As Latherin listed the people she would need to get to know and be familiar with, Aydyn made a mental note of trying to remember their names as well as keeping straight which name went with which occupation. Mila was easy, seeing as she was the only woman on the list. Aydyn had also already met her at the inn and had, at a few moments, found her a little offensive with her dislike for Carmelya--Aydyn tried to be respectful of her irritation with the goddess--and easy to like at others. Aydyn understood the need to befriend this woman with Latherin explaining her importance. She'd doubtlessly be blacklisted from the locals if she couldn't get along with Mila! She'd have to make a point of overcoming Mila's bitterness towards the Goddess.

As for the other two, Aydyn figured it would be no hard task at all to talk and work with the Master Druid. They would have their craft in common, after all, and perhaps he would have plenty to teach her about their chosen path. That was one person she was particularly looking forward to meeting. The ranger, of course, she would be happy to meet, and hoped he would prove to be a pleasant person to interact with as well.

So far all of Latherin's ambitions sounded reasonable to Aydyn. A regular meeting was understandable and probably necessary in the organization and growth of the economy that was hopefully to come. Despite her initial nervous fear of failure, she found herself anxious and eager to get to work. However, at the mention of tea, Aydyn was willing to put work aside for a few more moments and indulge herself. "Tea would be excellent! I love tea. I've never had it cold before. That should be interesting, I think."

[Desmodus]

"Never had cold tea before? I suppose it's a regional thing." Latherin seemed genuinely to relax into the casual conversation about tea. He examined two cups to ensure that they were clean, then poured a slightly greenish brown liquid into each cup. "This isn't proper tea," he continued, "which as I imagine you already know isn't even produced much anywhere within the Empire. No, this is something of a local specialty. Quite good, though. The Druids know their herbs, and there are apparently a variety of tasty ones that grow in quantity in the nearby Dolwood." He handed Aydyn a cup. "I don't know if you take anything with it, but I should tell you that cream really doesn't work with cold tea like it does when it's served hot. It's quite good with sugar or honey, though, and some tart fruit like lemon or even lime really brings out the flavor nicely. Try it, let me know what you think."

The tea had a fresh, herbal taste, with a hint of something like spearmint in it. It was not a typical tea experience, but just the thing for refreshment on a hot summer day. Apart from any possible attachment she might have to having cream with her tea, the only thing Aydyn might find disappointing was the loss of aroma. The smell simply did not carry when it wasn't evaporating into the air with the steam that rose from a cup of hot tea.

"I have sugar that you can add to it as well, if you like," Latherin offered as he watched his young assistant to gauge her reaction to the strange drink. "Unfortunately, I don't have any lemon or lime available currently. It tastes good with honey, too, but you have to mix it in while the tea's still hot for that to really work. For whatever reason, honey just doesn't like to dissolve into cold tea. Most of it ends up settling at the bottom of your cup." Latherin grew quiet here and gazed contentedly off into the distance as he took a sip of his own tea; he genuinely liked the stuff, and for some reason it tasted even better when drunk with company.

After a few minutes of quiet tea drinking, the Aedile looked back at Aydyn, and she could catch a bit of seriousness and businesslike purpose in his eyes again. "So tell me, my new Assistant Aedile, what do you think about this...Acumin tea?" It was a friendly enough question, but Aydyn could sense in the way that the Aedile stressed the last two words that there was more to it than just whether she liked the taste, and that Latherin seemed to be interested in whether she would figure out what the something more was.

[Aydyn Blair]

Aydyn watched with her own natural curiosity as the Aedile prepared the tea he seemed to take a good deal of pride in. The aroma wasn't nearly as strong as tea or coffee that had been heated, this she definitely noticed as she sniffed, hopefully unnoticed, as the air between them. The greenish-brown liquid that she saw poured into each cup did not deter her much. After all, it didn't look too different from the hot tea she usually took into her system. When asked if she took anything with it, she looked somewhat stalled and unsure of what to say. Cream definitely didn't sound like it would go well with something that was chilled. Cream was, typically, warm and wouldn't that take away from the chill of the tea he had gone to lengths to cool? The suggestions he made for other ingredients made sense, and she could start to feel her mouth water with the possibilities. She would have to try making this tea herself...after she had gotten someone to teach her how to make it, that is.

Shifting the cup around in her hands, Aydyn took her time in putting the edge to her lips and, at first, taking a small sip. As curious as she was, it was a new drink to her and who wanted to take a big gulp of something if it ended up taking horrible? But, much to her surprise, it tasted a good deal better than she had anticipated. She licked her lips, took another sip, this one larger than the first. "This is really good, actually!" Her words betrayed her actual surprise at what she had been anticipating prior to taking a sip. "I'd love to learn how to make it myself. Although, I'm thinking the locals might be a little protective of their recipes." She tossed the Aedile a rather impish little grin. "Is that what they're calling the tea? Acumin tea? Or is that just your take on it?" She chuckled softly and looked down at the cup in her hands before taking a third and a fourth sip. "You should market this to the rest of the empire, though. I'm sure you'd have a lot of people interested in it."

[Desmodus]

Latherin watched and listened to Aydyn carefully, and smiled when she suggested that the tea should be marketed to the rest of the empire. "Why thank you," he said, clearly gratified by his new assistant's comments, though it was not clear whether it was because she was agreeing with him, or because she liked his tea. "I had considered that myself. With proper tea not grown in Alleria, there will be a demand for substitutes, and we have just the thing right here in Acumin."

The Aedile leaned back and cast a thoughtful look towards the leafy ceiling that overhung them both, his eyes taking on a distant cast as he sipped his own tea. "Yes, I shall have to have a talk with Lehan about harvesting the herbs more aggressively so that we can sell a surplus. Don't know how pleased he'll be by that, but I feel that it needs to be done." His mind seemed to return to the room, and to the charming young woman who was now his assistant.

"You seem to have a pretty good head for business, Aydyn, and that is just what Acumin needs these days." He stood up and straightened out his clothes, which were well-tended, but somewhat worn. "Your first task will be to acquaint yourself better with the village and the people in it. I can introduce you to Lehan and Jon Litate if you like. You may take the next couple of days to get more settled in, and to learn your way around. Then, after that, your next task will be to look over the vacant properties ledger I showed you earlier."

Latherin took a step towards the door. "If you will excuse me, I must go attend to some business with the Master Druid. You are welcome to come along, if you wish, or you may go to attend to your own errands." He managed a brigher-than-usual smile. " It is good to have you aboard, Miss Aydyn."