Aedile’s Office

[Skay Ravendi]

OOC: Skay is not working in the office from the month of Ioannes! I will post her retirement post later.

In the far southeastern section of the great plaza that is Frigid River's Town Square lay a large building, made of the same white marble as the plaza but sitting in a meticulously trimmed lawn of green grass. This building, shaped in the form a large dome and set with wide windows, was the domicilium, where the Aedile of Frigid River worked. A small dirt path led from the fringe where the marble ended and the grass began, leading to the black-inlaid door of the facility.

Inside the Domicilium, was much more spacious than it appeared from the outside. The dome structure of the building was internally broken into two floors. The lobby stretched to all the edges of the dome, forming the first floor. A walnut desk sat against the far wall, with a pretty young elven girl behind it, a receptionist of some sort. Built into the walls around the lobby were offices, in which scribes and secretaries could be seen and heard busily writing and storing all the records and receipts that this office generated and received daily.

The receptionist usually welcomed newcomers and beckoned them to come over. Unless, of course, an orc or some other unexpected guest dared to come in. She smiled warmly and her green eyes twinkled in delight as she greeted all light races. "Serale, are you here to see Grent...umm...I mean the Aedile? He’s very busy now and not in his office. Please go to our assistant Aedile, she will be able to help you just as much. Skay is over there.” Adara waved to the second door on the left, which unlike Grent’s office was on the first floor. ”Or if you are willing to wait a cycle or two, I can arrange a meeting with Grent.” Adara added smiling cheekily.

The door to which people were directed had a wooden sign on it ”Assistant Aedile’s Office” Unlike Grent’s office, this sign had no ‘knock before entering’, but as Skay noticed most people knocked either way. After the knock a voice from inside the office welcomed to come in and if there was no knocking, people would still see a draconess sitting behind a desk. Two serpentine yellow-green eyes quickly locking on them curious as to what the person might want. ”Serale. How may I help you?” She greeted everyone in a much the same voice and words, unless of course there was someone she knew or just something bizarre. However after saying that, the black scaled draconess with the golden front of her neck and two big wings folded behind her back, would simply wait for what a citizen might have to say.

The desk itself was of red shades and colours, and stood in front of the door. Next to it was an armchair for people who needed services. Skay’s chair was different, fitted for dracons and quite unsuitable for others. On the desk various things were placed, from paper and quills to a book on one or the other subject. Against the right wall leaned a large wooden bookcase, with many books and scrolls arranged in a haphazard manner on its shelves. Most of the books were about history, culture, geography and of course law and politics. A small dresser was set against the left wall of the room, where Skay usually changed her clothes to more formal ones which she wore at work. However they were similar to her common ones, only better taken care of, made from dark greens mainly. Flowers were sitting on the windowsill as well as on the desk, usually blossoming with red and yellow colours.

Usually on the desk or on the windowsill a wyvern was sitting, sometimes even hanging on his tail upside down somewhere if he had a good place to wrap his tail about. The wyvern's name was Faire, his leathery skin was blue and all in all he looked like a miniature dragon, with absolutely no legs or scales. Generally he was in all ways a hand-wyvern like others of its kind. Whenever someone entered the office the wyvern looked at them with curious eyes, but made no sounds or moves. That is of course if he was in the office with Skay in the first place and not flying somewhere over the city or the mountains.

[Keeva Kaldres]

Timestamp: Late Aperitus, Summer of Era XI in the Age of Darkening

It was on an early brightening that Skay's office was to be visited by the overwhelmingly jovial figure of a lutran. Garbed in little more than a swathe of reddish cloth as he bustled his way into the chamber proper, the creature only came to an abrupt halt upon reaching the frame of the draconess' desk itself. Considering the speed at which the being had been travelling, however, it was rather surprising that a collision had not occurred betwixt lutran and desk, but this brightening perhaps miracles were becoming somewhat more commonplace. Setting down a small package on the floor besides him, the figure dusted himself down as he sniffed the air, wrinkling his nose intermittantly as he did so. Excitable, gratuitously happy, erratic to the point of being quite annoying...the fellow was certainly a lutran through and through, and carried within the grip of one paw the rolled up form of a letter, held together with a red ribbon.

Beady orbs narrowing as he looked about him, free paw raised to his brow as he surveyed the immediate surroundings, the lutran seemed to dismiss the draconess almost as soon as he laid eyes on her. Faire, however, apparently warranted a lot more in the way of interest than Skay had, and it was to the hand wyvern that the lutran scampered up to first.

"Oh, oh, oh! I have a letter, I do! All the way from the High Tungress of Imperia herself, yup yup!"

Waving the letter about in front of Faire's scaled face, the lutran seemed more than a little dismayed when he did not receive much in the way of a vocal response in turn. Brow furrowing in a mixture of frustration and annoyance both, the lutran peered up at the wyvern then, his voice questioning and high-pitched as he made to speak.

"You don't talk much, do you? No, no, no...Not at all. Nope, not at all."

Evidently disappointed, the little lutran then decided it was probably best not to try indulging this silly creature in conversation any more. It was hardly worth his time if all the thing was going to do was stare at him and not be polite and respond. Instead, he placed the letter glumly on the surface of the desk before backing off, slumping to the ground in a show of rejection and regret as he mulled over what he should do next. He had been sent here to deliver the letter, and he had done that...but what now? Decisions, decisions, and the time it took the lutran to reach a mental conclusion would allow Skay to take the letter for herself and to read it, should she wish it. The parchment itself was fairly uninspiring, and the writing upon it was not as neat and precise as one might have expected from a personage such as Keeva Kaldres. Still, it was coherent, if in the loosest translation of the word, and read as follows:

Dearest Skay,

I hope everything is well with you...It's been some time since we last met, so I figured I'd try my hand at writing you a letter. I apologise profusely for the sorry excuse for writing- obviously it isn't one of my talents- but I hope you'll be able to understand enough of it to make sense of my scrawl.

Anyway, I'm not sure whether or not you know, but some time after our little 'adventure' in Archadoon I ended up travelling to the city of Imperia, where I was made Thane no less than a cycle into my stay. I'm not sure whether the people there were really desperate, or if they really saw something in me, but I suppose time will tell. It's a difficult position to be in...Imperia is the most corrupt city I've ever had the fortune to be in, and I don't see things improving much anytime soon.

That aside, however...How have you been? How is Frigid River? I admit I haven't been there before...sounds cold though. Perhaps I should arrange a visit when I get the time, although being Thane is a lot more work than I thought it would be. Then again, it does mean I get to live in a nice big house with lots of people looking up to me all the time. Not a bad thing, for someone vertically challenged.

Oh yes, one more thing...I apologise for the messenger, but it's hard to find people I can trust here in the city. He's quite harmless, though, I assure you- was even willing to work for fish rather than coin- and besides, he's rather cute in his own weird little way, isn't he? I sent him to Frigid River with a gift for you, which I'm sure you'll find to your tastes...Let's just hope that that magical claw of yours is still functional, eh?

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I'm sure I've taken enough of your time already as it is. You're more than welcome to come visit me any time you want; just give me a warning in advance so I can prepare, alright?

Looking forwards to hearing back from you,

~Keeva

[Skay Ravendi]

Skay watched the lutran after her greeting fell on deaf ears. Quite interesting a thing he was really. Somehow totally weird. Lutrans… she had seen but a scarce few of them through the 26 patterns. So now she watched him with as much curiosity as he the wyvern. It was a good thing that he came during the brightening when Skay was in her office and not one when she would have been quite hard to find. When he started speaking to Faire, Skay just smiled. What a tungress was Skay had no idea. Nor did she know what Imperia wanted here in Frigid River, especially in her office. Not to buy land surely? Well maybe the lutran would soon explain his reasonings to the wyvern and Skay would overhear them.

The wyvern on the other hand was asleep a few minutes ago and now woken by such a puny creature only watched it with sleepy eyes, head almost covered under one wing. ”No, indeed he does not talk much.” Skay answered, though she was sure that the creature did not need her answer at all. As he handed the letter, or rather placed it on her desk, Skay took it, opening and glancing back at the lutran. ”You may take a seat if you wish…” The draconess suggested pointing to the chair opposite of hers, next to the table. It had to be more comfortable than the ground, but well whatever, she did not know what was comfortable for lutrans. Maybe they lived in the ground… Maybe. She really had no idea.

Opening the letter Skay still had no idea from who it might be, since she had never seen Keeva’s writing, nor was she ever addressed as ‘Dearest Skay’. There was no name from who this was in the beginning either, so instantly two serpentine eyes darted to the bottom of the letter, where she caught the name – Keeva. By the winds it felt like an eternity since their last meeting, even if it was just a few months. If the lutran paid any kind of attention to the draconess, he could see her smile getting bigger and bigger as she read the letter. Thane… she did hear something about a new thane being elected in Imperia, but had never expected it to be the one Keeva Lesant Kaldres. A second thought darted into her mind… How did Keeva find out that she was here? A new thane was usually announced in the herald, but she was just an assistant aedile. Hmm… Would have to ask that.

When Skay finished reading the letter, her smile was still on her draconic face. Even if she had a huge desire to reread the letter a thousand more times, there was one more thing she needed to do before it. ”Tell me…” Great, she didn’t even know hid name. ”…lutran, could you take my response back to Keeva? I would pay you 30 crowns for it and if you need to rest before the journey I could pay for a night in a tavern. It’s the least I can do for your efforts after all.” She definitely would reply, if needed would send a new messenger, though hopefully this one would be good enough. And Keeva seemed to trust him, which was also good. ”She also mentions in the letter, that there is a package for me?” Sure, she had not seen the small creature put it on the floor and therefore would unwrap it only when the lutran would point it to her or give it more clearly.

[Keeva Kaldres]

The lutran had managed to curl up into a foetal position on the floor whilst Skay had been reading her letter from Imperia’s Thane, and its large, round eyes had already drifted shut in some semblance of sleep. Perhaps all that skittish running around and excitability really had gotten to him, after all, and for a moment or two it seemed as though the draconess’ words had fallen on very death ears. Subsequent to that short interlude, however, the lutran suddenly sprang up, sitting bolt upright on the surface of the floor below as he looked up to the assistant Aedile.

“Reply? Reply to the High Tungress of Imperia? Yupyup, I can do that! Certainly! Yes indeedy! Yep!”

Nodding forcefully to himself, it still seemed as though the lutran was choosing to hold his part of the conversation with Faire, rather than with Skay. Perhaps it was because he thought that the little wyvern was some kind of almighty, powerful dragon, and that the draconess was simply its servant, but then who really knew how lutrans’ minds worked?

To the assistant Aedile’s next question, the little fellow simply tilted his head to one side and frowned in a mild display of incomprehension.

“Package? There’s a package? Ah yes, there is! There is a package! Now, where did I put that…”

Groping around on the floor for a few moments, the lutran even looked
startled when he found the parcel lying on the ground not too far away from where he was standing now. Gripping it within the palms of two furred hands, the lutran stretched as he reached up to place the thing on Skay’s desk. Not elaborately wrapped at all, it simply comprised of a small box, within which was contained the draconess’ apparent gift. A bottle of rum, corked at the top and all ready to be brought before the wrath of Skay’s magical talon. Tied to the neck of the bottle was a small tag, on which was written “Lest we forget…”

“Do you have any fish? Do you? Do you?! All this work and talking has made me hungry…”

The lutran had already slumped back to the floor, although his eyes remained fixed upon the wyvern and draconess above, imploring and pleading as his heart wished only for the most blessed of foods.

[Skay Ravendi]

Great.” Was Skay’s answer both to the lutran being able to take her letter back to Keeva and finding her package. Funny little thing this lutran was and there… the draconess took the package, unwrapped it and… burst out laughing. A bottle of rum. Indeed. The draconess rolled it in her talons a few times. Ah… memories. Interesting memories to say the least. Ale. Castle. Ale. Sea. Ale. Rum. Dancing on a table. Ale. ”Lest we forget…” The draconess repeated what was written on the tag. Indeed. She would never forget that little adventure. Though she managed to forget the beginning and cause of it quite nicely on the second day, but that was all ale’s fault.

”…fish?” Skay’s thoughts returned back to the present when the lutran started asking for fish and almost jumping around in her office, if not on feet then on words. ”Errr…. No. But. There’s great fish in a tavern, here in Frigid River. So it’s settled then. Come back next brightening in the morning after enough sleep, I shall give you a letter and you’ll be able to go back home to your Tungress. As for today, I’ll give you ten crowns to fully rest in the tavern and have a delicious fish dinner. And another 30 crowns, tomorrow with the letter.” Taking 10 crowns out of her purse Skay handed them to the lutran. If he wished to leave right away or stay on the floor a bit longer, the draconess would not disturb him. She had something to do. To write back a letter!

Taking a piece of parchment, some ink and a brown-red feather Skay wrote a letter which started “Dearest Tungress of Tungressia” it took her a while to write it all out, possibly a few candlemarks with a few stops in between, then she had done that Skay sealed the letter and put it in her drawer. It was shopping time! Her work was over by the time she left and of to the market the draconess went. After candlemarks and candlemarks of browsing around, having no idea what to buy, Skay finally found something. A book. Indeed, just a book, but on something that Keeva might enjoy very much.

In the morning when and if the lutran returned, Skay had the letter and a package all ready to go on the journey back to Imperia. ”I hope you rested well my friend and that the fish was good. If not, then I bought you one in the market last brightening, the best of the kind they said.” Giving some sort of trout fish, which was folded in a separate cloth, letter and package to the lutran, Skay searched in her pockets for 30 crowns which she had promised. ”Have a safe trip and keep the things safe.” Skay wished to the lutran when he was all set and ready to go, which knowing his character might have taken a while.

[Keeva Kaldres]

The lutran did not choose to join in with Skay’s laughter; on the contrary, he had not a clue as to what exactly it was that the mad draconess was laughing about. She had a bottle in her hand…so what? It was hardly something that could be dubbed a source of hilarity, was it? Silly furless…the lutran was truly beginning to think that the woman could do with a nice shiny pelt to get her mind in gear. When she told him that she did not have any fish, the little fellow really did look quite disappointed, although he soon perked up as she began to speak of the tavern.

“Wonderful! Yep yep yep…I’ll go to the tavern and eat some fish and sleep and eat some more, and then come back here next brightening! Super!”

As soon as the draconess had handed him the money, the lutran dashed out of the office as fast as his tiny legs could carry him. There was a matter of fish to attend to, of course, and nothing in this world could possible be more important than that, right?

On the morrow, he would return, refreshed and chirpy as ever he was, and ready to deliver the assistant Aedile’s letter to the Lady Thane of Imperia. To Skay’s question he grinned, bearing pearly white teeth as he made to respond.

“Yep…All ready…Fish was good too yep!”

His eyes widened with delight as Skay handed him the package of trout, and the grin on his furry face even seemed to broaden further, given that such a thing was even possible.

“Oh…thank you, thank you! From the bottom of my lutran heart! And they will be safe, yep! You can count on me!”

Taking letter and package from the draconess’ hands, the walking, talking otter then bustled his way back out of the office, fully prepared for his trip back to the city of Imperia.

[Hoplites]

Timestamp: Five candlemarks after dawn, Brightening, a brightening during Optia.
Summer, Telath is in the Age of Darkening,
Era II of the Celestine Mandate,
Era IV of Julos' reign,
Era XI Post Fractum.

A rather disconcerting letter arrived upon the desk of Frigid River's Aedile Office upon a Summer's brightening, addressed to none other than the ebony-scaled Draconess, Skay herself...

Our dearest client, Miss Ravendi, serale.

We are writing to inform you of a small alteration with regards to the current revenue you are receiving per cycle through the Demiosian mines. We would like to reassure you that it is not something to become worried over.

It is with a small tinge of regret to announce to you, dear Miss Ravendi, that our mines are providing less yield of ores and gems, therefore resulting in a reduction in revenue. Due to this, it is the wisest move, in our best interests and in yours, to reduce the amount of Gold Crowns you receive per cycle in order to keep the mines running smoothly.

Therefore, with that motive in mind, we are happy to announce to you that in the interests of all our clienteles and us, your investment of 6,000 crowns which previously provided a per-cycle yield of 700 crowns shall now be reduced to the new figure of 240 crowns per cycle. We sincerely hope you understand that without the reduction, our mines could face total closure, in which you may lose all your investment altogether.

The Demiosian mines company wishes you the very best of brightenings, and hopes to be able to bring you news for the best interests of both of us in the near future.

Serale, yours sincerely,
- The Demiosian mines.

[Skay Ravendi]

Finding a letter in the morning on her desk came as a bit of a surprise. There rarely came letters and she certainly was not waiting for one. Still with curiousity, Skay sat back in her chair, behind the desk and opened up the later with her magic talon, ripping through the paper. She read it with a smile getting wider and wider. "Your dearest client indeed." She snickered practically at every word in that letter. Even if it spoke about her income being reduced more than twice, the draconess could not help but continue snickering. She found it extremely weird when she first invested in the mines and that they finally came to their minds was expected. That it took this long was still weird in her mind.

In fact she totally forgot about the mines till now. And now she was considering doing something else with them. They mined gems there and she needed gems not crowns now. Hmm... but sending gems through messengers was too dangerous. Hmm. Nah. The draconess decided to leave it be for now. Sometime later maybe, when she would start with all the Imbuements, then maybe she would go to the mines, though going to Demios was something she did not want to do, it was way too dangerous there. Giant Spiders, Wyverns, Zombies. Eeek. Yep. Not yet. She put the letter in her pocket.

Now that her income was lowered that much, she had to consider raising it elsewhere. The question was where. Frigid River was most unsuitable for this task. Maybe she should look for some other city? She was her for too long anyway... the whole summer in fact. Yes, indeed, maybe it was time to stand up and move. The question was where. So far, the draconess had no idea where she could go. Maybe one idea... Imperia, where her friend was. Yes, Imperia would be good. She wanted to see Keeva again. Wanted to see her very much. Maybe. Maybe...

[Charles Smith]

Cethor, messenger of the Archprelatess, nodded politely to the receptionist, then shook his head. "There will be no need to see this Grent person. I am here to see Skay." The Dorin's deep voice held a growl he could not help, but his smile was polite.

The messenger made his way to Skay's office and knocked once before opening the door. He then stepped in, his red-trimmed pink shirt and breeches and the emblem he wore: a pair of stylized roses crossed with an Allerian feather set between them, marking him as a messenger of the Archprelatess. He bowed once, then opened his satchel and set the sealed parchment on her desk.

"A message for you, Miss Ravendi, from my mistress, Her Holiness Aerienne Sarista." He then stood straight and waited for any questions or any responses she might give.

[Skay Ravendi]

The Month of Cryxatum in the Season of Summer,
of Era II of the Celestine Mandate (Current Pattern)
Era XI Post Fractum in the Age of the Darkening, the Mageocracy of Julos the Mad.
Paradigm Shift: Schism in the Church of the Faith

Skay listened to the dorin speak and her heart began to beat faster. The Archprelatess... but why? There was no reason for Aerienne to turn to her. If this was business with Frigid River then she was bound to send a messenger to the Thane or to the Aedile, not to the assistant aedile, which she was. But if it was not business with the town, then what was it? "Please take a seat, while I read this." The draconess offered to the dorin, pointing at the chair which stood nearby.

She took the sealed parchment, opened it and began to read. A few things were on her mind and the first one was if she could trust this dorin to be what he says he was. It was not hard to get those clothes and to pretend to be the messenger of Her Holiness. Nor was it hard to falsify a letter. Well, what was written in it might make the whole confusion a lot smaller. There was one more thought and a very disturbing one at that. How did Aerienne find her? Sure she was an assistant aedile, but that still had to go through tons and tons of searches. Unless... and that the draconess feared the most.

[Charles Smith]

The messenger sat with a creak of the chair as Skay opened the message. The letter was written in a flowing, spidery Elven script with golden ink.

"Serale Skay!

How have you been? We haven't talked in cycles, not since you returned home for Tirisfal. Did you know that Palacrisis went on to become Lord Thane of Taralon shortly after you left?

Did you ever become a Druidess, like you wanted?

You're probably wondering how I found you, aren't you? I promise you, I didn't go into your mind. That's why Cethor is there. I sent my mind across the Empire and found your mind, but I promised you that I would not invade your privacy again like that time in my manor, so I just found where you were and sent Cethor to bring you this message. I had wanted to talk to you, and to ask you something. Do you remember a pendant that I gave you to show the guards at the villa? It was a triangle made of platinum. If you still have it, could you please send it back with Cethor? I thought I'd gotten that back before.

But more importantly, please tell me how your life is going. I want to know how you've been and what your plans are. I know things are changing in the Empire. Do you still plan to wander, or have you found a place to permanently call home?

I hope to hear from you soon! Oh, and Fiabeth says serale too!

Best of luck, my friend!

Love, Aerienne."

The rose-and-feather seal was displayed beneath the last words, surrounded in golden trim.

[Skay Ravendi]

Skay read the letter her expression changing a few times. She did not know what to think. Was not sure of the whole thing and did not know what to answer. Then pendant though. It was all about the pendant. Her hand went slighly below her neck on the green shirt. She could feel the pendant underneath it, the draconess wore it practically every brightening after she got it. She did not know why nor how, but somehow the pendant made her feel better and safer. Almost as if it could really protect her from all the bad things. And maybe it did. After all she faced bigger danger than a few mortals put together. And now... Aerienne was asking to get it back.

"Could you come back in the morning? I shall have a response then." Skay asked the dorin after reading the letter at least three times. She was not ready to go in any compromises. "Here's 10 crowns. Go to the local tavern, eat and rest. I shall wait for you in the morning." The draconess practically squeezed ten crowns into the dorin's hand and shooed him out of her office in an as polite manner as possible. Only when he was gone the druidess slumped back in her chair and read the letter one more time. The thing that came out the strangest was that Aerienne seemed to consider her a friend, maybe even a good friend. It did not make sense to her though, she had seen the Archprelatess just for two brightenings and just a few candlemarks each. Shaking her head, Skay put the latter away till the evening, taking care of the usual business.

Picking up a quill and some paper Skay began, when the suns were already down.

"Dear Aerienne,

I am fine. Went through a lot of things which changed not only my appearance, but me as well. Druidism is probably the only thing that gives me joy these brightenings. If you knew just what is darkening my life, I'm afraid even for someone like you it would come as a frightening and a dark thing. But I am managing and this brightening the sun is shinning."

She stopped there. Some part wanted to tell just what was going on. Wanted to tell that she was now a draconess and not human, that she was never human, only lied to and kept in another form for so many times. Wanted to tell that she was in love with a vampire and that Adamon was in love with her. Wanted to tell just how much she feared being consumed with Aeternia. But she could not. Even if Aerienne considered Skay a friend, Skay was still uncertain of what she thought about Aerienne. Glancing once at the candle which burned unusually late in her office, Skay picked up the quill and continued.

"I did wondered how you found me, for I have never settled for long in one location. I don't know why, but no place seems to be good for 'home'. And even if I do, so far I can not change it. I am not worried about that though, I have still many patterns ahead of me and I know that everything will turn out fine in a millenium or two. As for the pendant, I shall give it to the messenger along with the letter. I am glad I had the chance to keep it this long and now I gladly return it to its rightful owner.

I hope you're well as well. I hear that many things happened in Diana... And most of all I hope you'll find a right path for the people and even more so for yourself. I send my hugs to Fiabeth and you, hoping that your residente still has those delicious cookies. May the Winds protect you!"

There Skay stopped again. She did not know how to sign the letter. Love Skay? It just did not sound like something she'd do, but then she did not want to sadded the Archprelatess either. Suddenly Skay put down the quill, put the letter in the drawer, went to the door, locked it and went home to sleep. The next morning the draconess returned rather early, took the letter out of the drawer, took the quill, put it into the ink bottle... She still had to sign. It was just the matter of staying real or being nice. A few minutes later, she was cribbled the ending on the letter.

"Love, Skay"

In the end the draconess decided that this was best and that even if she did not agree with most that Aerienne did, still could not forgive her for going into her mind, she considered at some deep part of her mind Archprelatess as a good person who if given the chance could become a great friend. It was only that the time was not yet. Then Skay folded the letter, sealed it and took off the pendant from her neck. It was the same as the brightening she received it, maybe with a few cells brushed on from her chest, too small to be visible though. The draconess put it in a small box, wrapped it with a green string, which looked very much like a vine, set it to the side of the table and went on with her business waiting for the dorin.

[Aerienne Sarista]

Cethor returned in the morning as requested, having spent a restful night at the tavern. His uniform was only slightly wrinkled from where he had folded it on a chair before he slept. He bowed politely. "Good brightening Miss Ravendi. Do you have a message to return to my mistress?"

OOC: Oops! Forgot to use my PC account instead of my GD account. Sorry.