Abestat Aquarium and Maritime Museum

[Aesha]

Located in the city's premier location for things of an educational nature, the Abestat Aquarium and Maritime Museum had been built just off-centre in the Synesi Plateia. The building was made of stone and a dark granite that was common among some of the richer buildings in the merchant city. The shape of it was rather boring, being a squat, rectangular shape. Outside the front entrance, a couple of benches had been placed in the grounds of the small garden the museum sported. Apart from the regular bushes and flower, the garden, had, appropriately, a big fish pond built into it, full of the more common types of fish like carp and goldfish.

Outside the entrance to the aquarium was a free-standing wooden sign, mounted onto to wrought iron feet. Engraved in the wood were the words:

Entrance Fee: 5 crowns
Guided Tour: 10 crowns

The oak door to the place had been propped open with a large brass door stopper, allowing people to freely move towards the check-in desk inside. It ran the whole length of the small lobby, with a hinged piece of wood about half way down the length of it that could be lifted up to allow paying visitors to pass through into the actual aquarium. A clerk was stood behind the counter ready to take payment from any interested people.

She was human, and plump in a jolly way. The strands of grey in her auburn coloured hair revealed her age though, but her greyish-blue eyes still sparkled with a merriment of youth. She wore a simple commoner's dress, a dark navy blue in colour, and depending on the weather, was often seen was a knitted brown shawl around her shoulders. She smiled whenever she saw a new visitor.

"Serale, welcome to the Abestat Aquarium and Maritime Museum. Are you interested in a guided tour, or just to wander around by yourself?"


Don't forget to timestamp your post! Lichen's Guide/The Kalendryan System/The Current Season

[Marc Zanthos]

[Timestamp: Carmelyana, 14th of Optia, Spring of Era X]

Marc looked up at the woman.

Serale . . I'd like to have a guided tour please. I'm interested in learning all the different types of seas creatures.

He held out ten crowns, waiting for her to take them.

[Marc Zanthos]

OOC: Is this thread still active?

[Aesha]

The woman on the desk took Marc's ten crowns with a smile, and handed him a little wooden disc, to show that he had paid for entry. She patted her hair absently before removing the wooden flap that seperated the museum from the outside world, and ushered Marc through before closing it behind her again.

"The guided tour it is then! Now, obviously I can't leave the front desk, so what you need to do, is just pop through that door there, and my husband, the tourguide, is waiting to show people around."

On the opposite side of the very plain reception area was a non-descriptive plain wooden door, which the lady pointed to. It was shut, currently, but was quite obviously the way Marc needed to go to get into the museum proper.

[Marc Zanthos]

OOC: Sorry for the short post . . . but I can't imagine what else to say.

Marc walked towards the door, and knocked on it.

[Aesha]

As soon as Marc knocked on the door, it was flung open buy a rather rotund and jolly looking man, dressed in simple shirt and breeches. He beamed a very toothy smile at Marc.

"Serale serale! Here for the tour, then? Well, come inside!"

The man moved out of the doorway, so mark could get through and enter the ante-chamber to the museum itself. Although the room had no exhibits, and was more a place for tour groups to gather, it had a number of sea-themed paintings on the wall. They were obviously not done by the greatest artist in the world, though, and were probably painted by a member of staff rather than a renowned painter.

The man ushered Marc into the room then clapped his hands together in an enthusiastic manner. He had a rather red nose, and his dark hair looked a little in need of a brush.

"Well well. Looks like you're the only tour goer for this sessions. Greetings! My name is Wilfred, and I'll be your tour guide today. Now, in the first room of the aquarium, we mainly deal with specimens found on the shoreline. So, this way, if you please..."

With an outstretched arm, he pointed to a door on the opposite side of the small room, then walked towards it, opened it, and waited for Marc to enter the first room of the aquarium. Numerous glass tanks had been set either in the walls or on stands in the middle of the room. The first tank Wilfred led Marc towards was on the left hand wall, and held a fake sand-dune scene that contained several grasses that were all bright orange at the tip, and worked their way into greenness at the bottom. The tour guide beamed into the tank with his ready smile.

"Now this, uh... I don't believe I caught your name? This is a grass found in sandy shoreline areas called Spinifex. It serves an important use in life too! Bet you can't guess what" he added, in a joking manner.

[Marc Zanthos]

Marc smiled at the enthusiasim of the man and followed him wherever neccesary.

My name, is Marc. But, I can't quite guess what that plant is for . . . eating maybe? No idea really . . . Marc trailed off and looked up at the man. But thats a very interesting plant, no doubt. Whats the orange stuff at the tops for?

[GM Mathieu]

The jolly man smiled as he winked at the man that was touring the Museum. "Why, it is beaten into pulp, to remove the weak tissues of the stem, and then woven into nets to capture the food for our humble city. There was a man that once tried making into a set of clothings, but he quickly learned that it was a horrible idea to try." Wilfred made a sour face, but it quickly returned to its cheery, corpulent shape. "I do not believe the orange stuff is suitable for much, other than adding color to the nets - to attract the fish better." Laughing, he continued on; a man who enjoyed his job to the fullest extent.

Gesturing to the next glass case nearby - his hands following the way he spoke; animatedly, with excitement. "What we have here," the case in question being a rather slender case - the glass having several roots pressing up against the front and back, showing the roots of this plant. It seemed to be a tough, sinewy plant; leaves crawling above the sands in which it was buried in, reaching to the opening of the case. "is a gourd-root. Shipwrecked sailors sometimes drink water from these plants, if times are hard for them. I have never tried them, perhaps you may tell me if you have had an experience like that?"

He looked at Marc with a sense of eagerness, always willing to hear stories concerning which his life revolved around - the Museum, and the life of the maritimes. The thick-set fingers clasped together excitedly, waiting to hear the man's stories, should he have any. It would be disappointing if he had nothing to say.

[Marc Zanthos]

Marc shook his head.

Sailor? No . . . I am more the on foot type of guy. Got in a fight once with a man though . . . erh, um,you don't want to here about that . . maybe we should contiune? Marc didn't want to bother some stranger with the story unless he really wanted to hear it.