[Scribes and Scholars] Elegant Scrawl

[Anora Eventide]

41st of Cryxatum, Summer, Era XIV PF

While her little entourage of dark elf guards generally kept mum, Anora heard a grumble or two as she paused in front of the shop's window, causing a jam of bodies on the thoroughfare.
Her gloved hand trailed over the glass window following the rows of bright plumes and cut quills. The linen fine parchment was a piece of art, in her opinion. Beautiful letters were a lady's habit and pleasure. Her appreciative gaze rested on the illuminated edges of one sheet full of emerald and lapis lazuli flourishes, blending and curling like rolling waves. Avrie would like a letter on such a thing, it recalled her sister's beloved marine motif.
Hopefully, it was not too dear as it was not her own coin she used. A sheet or two of good parchment would suffice if the bit of craftsmanship was too frivolous.

The shop was small, thankfully, allowing only a few bodies. Anora looked at her quiet retinue and purred with false disappointment, "Only one can fit, I'm afraid. The other nine will have to stand out here."
Not allowing time for much deliberation between them, she slipped into the store.

[Hanzi Ambarando]

From the hustle and bustle of the Vortexian streets, Hanzi, the young Air'riela gypsy followed Anora Eventide and her retinue. This was his first stop, Vortex, foretold on Miska Sticks by the old fortune teller back in the Kumpania. Vortex, it read.

"Find the daughters of Chumomisto..."

"Only one can fit, I'm afraid. The other nine will have to stand out here."

The Air'riela slipped by right behind the woman, he was sure this was the one. He had spent nearly 4 brightenings tracking down the lightness amongst the darkness. Countless nights on the streets, waiting, watching, listening, bribing for information. Hanzi found a break when the slaver that smuggled him into Vortex knew a fellow named Dimitri...

The door shut behind him and he continued to avoid eye contact. He took a lap in a loud thudding walk, engrossed with everything but Anora. He was merely a patron, a dirty one caked with the grime of the open road, not a gypsy with a purpose. His dark long hair was fastened into a ponytail with a piece of twine. His gray eyes darted around and took stock of the situation.

The coast was clear.

Time to figure out how clever he was. He walked over to Anora and whispered from behind her so only she could hear.

"Sastimos. Sar san miri rawnie?" He spoke in Aire, the tounge of the Air'riela. "Are you not the Chavi of Nicolesza Chumomisto?"

[Anora Eventide]

Anora was before the main counter, looking adoringly at the collection of illuminated books and paper covered in a lace of gold and blue ink. Another patron strode loudly about the space. His clay and earth crusted boots and sheen of traveler's dust caused Anora to gather her skirts closer about herself for fear of them being stomped on and mussed.

The low gypsy greeting in her ear was a surprise. Ever courteous, Anora responded, all politeness and nicety.
"Sastimos, me san Kushti, thank you."
She turned a little to see what manner of Air'riela addressed her. He did not look an Andoforo, but a full gypsy plucked from the very arms of the kumpania.

The touch of curiosity in Anora's eyes hardened into suspicion at the mention of her blood mother. Chumomisto, she had not heard the surname in eras, and preferred it that way.

"Arvah, Me san. Kon pooker? Another gypsy hoping to torment the lupunza? I have had enough of your cards and scrying."

In that moment, the designated, veiled dark elf finally slipped into the store, not even trying to be discreet about his short spear and small buckler. His obscured face looked from Anora to the man her sharp gaze pinned. Anora's mirthless tone stopped the guard mid-step.
"Shee kushti."
The unwelcome reminder of her heritage, and all the chaos it had already twisted into her life, disoriented the even-tempered woman a moment. Her tongue forgot to disentangle itself from the rapid gypsy language. She waved her hand at the dark elf and corrected her mistake.
"It is fine. He was just saying serale."
As expected, the guard didn't leave the store. Her attempts to dispel them had been fruitless up to this point, why should anything change now. At least she could confuse them by continuing in Aire. Her hands moved slowly at first, but they found a graceful rhythm, discreetly adding nuance to the language.
"You seem to know me, Sir, but who are you? Did the Seer from Primus send you? She will be pleased to know all her gray promises are lurching towards fruition."

[Hanzi Ambarando]

The gypsy eyed the dark elf and the spear with a little bit of nervousness. Hanzi could handle himself and was not scared of a fight, but he knew that the fellow had 8 friends outside. A gypsy, cornered, alone, would not stand much of a chance in the gaje's world outnumbered. As he heard Anora tell the elf to stand down and Hanzi's muscles relaxed. He smiled at the guard and bowed respectively.

"Jes," He replied in heavily accented common, his hands spreading far and wide to show he meant no harm. "Dis fine, I mean no harms."

He searched Anora's face for a resemblance to her mother, whom he knew well back in the Kumpania. Hanzi finally could see it, buried it was under all the gaje the woman possessed. It was funny to find anyone to speak the tounge in such a gaje place like Vortex. Andoforo's, such an interesting lot. Is this one that has turned her back on the people totally? Well, Hanzi would find that out soon.

He turned back to Anora and smiled widely and switched to Aire.

"My name is Hanzi Ambarando, a member of Nicoleza Chumomisto's kumpania. Her mother and my mother were very close friends." He explained.

"The Drabarni helped me, but did not send me. She merely described you and where you went. I came here at the request of your mother, Nicoleza Chumomisto." He said dramatically, with as much gravity as he muster. His hands were silent, his eyes looked around before lowering to the floor.

"It was one of her last wishes, for she is not amongst the travellers any longer."

[Anora Eventide]

Even if what the company brought was mostly unwelcome, Anora was painfully polite to new acquaintances. When given his name she answered with a shallow curtsey and a greeting friendlier than she felt.
"Didikai Ambarando, Miri nav Anora Eventide. Though I suspect you know that already."

The woman gave a slow nod of understanding as Hanzi related his connections to her birth mother. It was strange to think of Nicole living a full life when Anora had mentally hedged her in and swathed her in layers of fog. An absent mother who abandoned her was best not considered for serenity's sake.

Anora was about to release a caustic remark about the Drabarni's loose tongue regarding Anora's business and whereabouts, but the wind stole it from her mouth as Hanzi continued gravely. An inscrutable silence settled over the woman. She proceeded in an appallingly even tone considering the question she was posing, but there was a catch of reverent softness in the corners of her phrase.

"Do you mean she has left your kumpania, or the kumpania of the living?"

[Hanzi Ambarando]

"Arvah," Hanzi answered. "I know who you are- Anora Chumomisto." Hanzi used the mother's last name since the gypsy traces their family through the mother's side.

"...And to answer your question." Hanzi's olive skinned face lengthened and looked very sad indeed. "Nicolesza..." The gypsy removed his bright red scarf slowly from his neck, unwinding it with great care. "Shee muller'd..." Hanzi smacked his lips for a second and squeezed the scarf for an awkward second.

"Nicolesza took sick suddenly and violently, while on the road a cycle ago. Two brightenings and her skin was gray. The dawn I left she passed on."

"Find the daughters of Chumomisto Hanzi,' She asked of me. 'All of them- I would like to see them once again. All of my daughters Hanzi- Gitana, Anora and Avrie. Find them for me, help them find the truth, Hanzi Ambarando.'

"Anora, I need to find your sister Avrie as well. Your visit to the Drabarni was quite fortuitous- she was the second Vitsa of my Daj's Pena. I think your sister Gitana is with a Kumpania in the Dolwoods and I go there next."

It came out in a rush, Hanzi nearly stumbled overhimself as he gushed the story. His cheeks flushed and finally nodded at Anora with guarded optimism. The gypsy was still a little nervous about the reaction from Anora. Her cool exterior put the emotional gypsy a little on edge.

"If it pleases you, I will show you as well to the Kumpania along with your sisters. There is matters of inheritance I imagine, but I know nothing more than what your Daj asked me to do." Hanzi guessed since he was just the messenger and Nicolesza did not explain herself. Her wishes were known and Hanzi entrusted with the only the steps needed for the mission to progress. "Please believe me."

[Anora Eventide]

Before Anora could turn the thought of her mother over in her hands, it slowly fell between her fingers. The thought became a glass thing broken beyond mending, scattered helplessly at her feet. There was no Nicole, anymore. That niggling, brooding awareness lifted from her shoulder.

A touch of loss stirred momentarily in Anora, but it did not disturb the deeper channels of her consciousness. At least not yet, that may come in the quiet hours of evening, as she lay alone in bed. Or it would never come, perpetually glancing off an icy veneer.

The woman glanced down with the quiet of one taken from prayers.
"She is dead then? Avrie will be heartbroken, she had hoped to find her."
It was strange, even in a grief they might have shared her thoughts turned to the impact on her sister. Anora could bear this sorrow, she did not even taste it yet, but Avrie had desired to follow the red thread of her heritage.

When Hanzi mentioned another sibling Anora's head snapped up from its reverent bow.
"Sister, Gitana?" Anora's eyes widened for breath then narrowed, "My only sister is my twin, Avrie, who you will fortuitously find in Natura or the Dolwoods."
Anora's words were wormwood in her mouth, "She has gone searching for our gypsy 'familiya' in the surrounding areas."
Her eyes were relentlessly clear and a little sharp, "I have a family already, the Eventides. I need not find more."
Despite this hardening of heart towards her gypsy blood, Anora could not shirk the responsibilities of propriety. Her shoulders slumped a little as she released a long breath, weary with the thought of what she was about to agree to.
"But I will visit to attend to any rituals or business that needs to be done for Nicole. I will even visit her relations if it is appropriate. I will not be remiss in whatever duties are required of me during their loss."
Indeed, duty was Anora's form of goodness since kindness and pity did not flow easily from her. When she could not feel the proper gesture, she would perform it and hope that the emotions might follow. Sometimes they did, more frequently they were just a twinge. One had to be rooted in the deeper chambers of her heart to conjure something beyond a doting fancy or passing irritation.
Drawing herself up a bit Anora continued in a crisper tone.
"I will go to the kumpanis after you have spoken to my sister, Avrie. I do not wish to attend to things without her."

[Hanzi Ambarando]

Hanzi apprieciated the lupunza's rational mindset. Stick to the point.

"It was Nicolesza's wish that all her daughters say farewell." Hanzi reported truthfully. "However, my kumpania is north of here and the dolwoods and Natura is south. Baxtalo! I think Gitana is down there as well." Hanzi's life got a whole lot easier.

"If you wish to attend I can collect you on our way north." Hanzi engaged in the age old male gypsy pasttime- travel planning. "We can take the Western road and shave nearly half a day..." He muttered under his breath.

"Have you any questions for me? My mother told me to answer you honestly, to the best of my ability. Otherwise, I'll start heading south right away."

[Anora Eventide]

Anora folded her hands in front of her, resting them in her skirts.
"If she wished it, then I will not deflect her final obligations."

Unlike Nicole, who had left her obligations to be raised by her lover's jilted spouse.
Apart from this occasional twinge, Anora did not really think terribly ill of her mother's behavior towards her daughters. The initial indiscretion with a married man was a horribly foolish affair. Betrayal was the sin that resounded most sharply in Anora's innermost parts, and her mother had betrayed poor Vanessa most unkindly.
Though, what Nicole did after the fact was wise in Anora's eyes.

When contemplating such a thing, Anora removed the value of something as mystic and dear as the connection of a mother to the child she grew. The woman viewed her mother's decision as a reflection of some measure of good sense. They could be raised as bastards amidst a wild flock of poor gypsies or pretend to be daughters of a fine house in Daltina. The proper choice was more than obvious in Anora's mind.

When Hanzi suggested she join them as they moved north, the woman nodded slowly.
"Yes, that would suit me. It will be good to see Avrie. I have missed her."

When asked if she had any further inquiries, Anora's head lifted. Her bright eyes blinked rapidly as she summoned her thoughts.
"I have put Nicole from my thoughts for so long, I have ceased to wonder about her. Mayhaps some questions will come to me in time. Once I reacquaint her presence to my mind."
Anora paused a moment. Her mouth became a line and her look wholly contemplative.
"Can you tell me more about Nicole's other children? How old are they, what they enjoy, temperaments and the like."

Her passing reverie was banished as she looked to Hanzi.
"Also, do you require anything?" In a rare show of trust, especially towards a gypsy Anora offered the most valuable thing in her current possession.
"I have a horse you can borrow for the trip if you wish. In Har'oloth I walk more than ride."

[Hanzi Ambarando]

"Thank you, but no. I require nothing." Hanzi spoke in pretty solid common, albeit with a strong accent. He smiled, taking the chance for a little practice in the common tounge. Little was spoken in the Kumpania, so Hanzi spoke it when he could. "You are kind, but I will be fine." Hanzi made two fingers dance across the air, simulating a pair of running legs. "On my own. The Air'riela know how to get 'round, you know?"

Hanzi thought for awhile about Nicolesza's children.

"It's been a long time since I've seen them, couple seasons at least. Our kumpania's are close, my uncle is married to the Baro of the Kumpania of the Chumomisto.

"There's Jehan, there's Gitana, there's Everilda. Jehan is brave, Gitana is beautiful, and Everilda is beloved. They are all younger than you. I believe the oldest, Jehan is 17? Gitana's an era younger. Staying with their father Emiliano in the Dolwoods. Baxtalo! Avrie is so close to them!" Hanzi suddenly realized that Avrie and Gitana were both easily reachable, grouped together. So much better, Hanzi was afraid Avrie lived in Prime or some forsaken gaje city far away.

[Anora Eventide]

At Hanzi's gesture Anora made a quiet sound of understanding, assuming he spoke of the gypsy drifters who could discern the lines of the earth.
"Impressive."
Praise from Anora, was a rare thing. The lean phrase implied more admiration than one might guess.

The brief sketch of her supposed half-siblings was absorbed quietly, as if she was hearing an account of the morning clouds. The idea was still lumbering and clumsy in her orderly thoughs, so she did not allow it much quarter.

"Baxtalo indeed. Avrie is prone to wander, but she is enamored of Natura and the surrounding woods. She will be found there or the Dolwoods. Look for a Vardo."
When the conversation turned to Avrie, the imperious chill around Anora thawed a moment.
"If you find her, send her my love. And tell her I am looked after."

Anora continued, her voice became brusque again, but her words were gentler than her tone.
"It is good of you to keep your word to Nicole. Thank you for that. My sister will be glad to meet someone who shared an acquaintance with Nicole."

[Hanzi Ambarando]

"Think nothing of it." Hanzi replied humbly and quitely in common. "Is nothing. On the road all one has is their honor and their word." He held a fist against his chest and bowed slightly.

"I leave but return soon with sister."

He paused and sized Anora up. A tough donkey as his Daj would say. It would be interesting to know her better, to see what qualities of Nicolesza lives on in her. He thought. Tough yet refined in quality and character.

"Goodbye." Hanzi nodded one last time and tapped the ground with his walking cane. Ready to go.

He cocked his hat back at a rakish angle and twirled in place. Dust shook itself from the gypsy's clothes as he left Scribes and Scholars.