Year 411 Autumn's End
A journey dawns,
As the earth yawns,
A young woman learns,
As the whole world turns
After arriving in the town, the caravan consisting of Joura and Asherah and the three Yellow Feather Elders disbanded, and the two parties went their separate ways. Joura remained with his sister, intent on looking after her and confident the Credi Islanders could find their way around, as they headed further into the Kingdom's territory.
While Nahur had been sure it would not take long for Asherah's mission to be complete, Joura was the one estimating her progress. His first ever pupil in diplomacy was to be his precious younger sister... To be absolutely certain she got as much as possible from this visit, he decided internally to spend as much of the year here as necessary! Anything for family!
At first, Asherah was in awe by the city. She soaked up everything around her like a Dewdrinker (
OOC: Savannah plant). She was just too excited by her new surroundings to really pay any mind to her lessons, which left Joura spending most of his days as a glorified caretaker, ensuring Asherah did not get into any trouble.
The culture of Ghanbar was so different, and everything was much more robust! Asherah even saw the usage of a strange, unfamiliar metal (
OOC: Bronze), it seemed quite durable - but oh goodness, so expensive!
As Asherah possesses a vastly curious mind, and an explorer's heart, simply seeing and watching the city go by was the young woman's favorite part of this new time in her life. Hakirrash is a village, everybody knows everybody, so the idea that all these people can spend their whole lives going about 'their usual business' and never really know each other is positively fascinating to Asherah!
There were some discouraging parts though. It smelled bad, really bad. It was noisy, even in the night!
She missed the calming sounds of the ocean and the smell of the sea, opposed to the constant grumbling of beggars and the flatulence of oxen.
When Joura told her this was nothing compared to some places he had visited... Asherah became scared of the greater world for the first time.
Year 411 Dawn-of-Winter
I see so clear in hindsight,
The cause behind my plight,
Alas, time I cannot fight,
Thus, I must accept the night
Though the temperature was beginning to chill, Joura unfortunately had to leave Asherah by herself. Apparently, a message had come back from the Yellow Feather tribe, and they were pleading for assistance. Joura decided it was something he couldn't not help with, and so he told Asherah to buckle down in their lodgings and focus on completing the studies he had left her.
To assist her, Joura quickly found and hired an elderly woman named Raba Jamazi, who had experience in training scribes and knowledge of the area.
However, this turned out to be perhaps the worst thing to ever happen to Asherah. The old crone, who demanded to be addressed as Mistress Jamazi, immediately revealed herself to be an impatient and heartless hag. Every day, she would force Asherah to keep a strict schedule, even pushing to control her life outside of their study time. Asherah was to wake up when Raba said, eat when Raba said, and sleep when Raba said.
The intolerable narcissism of living in the same lodging as this woman was only beat out in terms of unbearableness by the time spent studying underneath her. The hired mentor did very little teaching, instead spending time quizzing Asherah on things she did not know, so that she could berate her for her failures. Even if Asherah correctly answered, she would just spit out another inane question designed to be confusing and misleading. There were no compliments, or indications of progress, just repeated cycles of complaints, insults and abuses.
Asherah dissociated for much of this period, but by the time she eventually returned to herself, she had somehow ran Raba dry of questions, indicating she 'knew the material'. Now, she was to begin her practical lessons.
By all that is sacred, when would Joura return?
Year 411 Midwinter
Through the trials, she matures
Coming of age, there are no cures
Angst and rage, these are lures
Growth and strength, if she endures
The worst part of being fully aware of her situation was that Asherah had started to deeply miss home, yearning for her old life.
Even though the clime was still frigid, Asherah was taken out each day and each night by Raba, where she would be brought to spectate meetings that Raba was a part of. Mostly, these were deals of her former students that the old hag had somehow wormed her way into like an invasive locust, but sometimes they were her own business.
Noticeably, Asherah was never allowed to even remotely participate in Raba's matters, but when it came to the affairs of her once-students, Raba was more than happy to put Asherah on the spot and let her brave the risk of crashing the whole damn thing.
A dreadful combination of factors were now bearing upon Asherah, be it the selfishness of some people (for the first time evident to her) or the realization that she lacks the natural knack for charismatic leadership and mercantile activities that so many in her family possess...
Regardless, these factors all combined to create a storm within her heart and mind. For one reason or another, Asherah began to emulate Raba's sinister and malicious negotiation style, where she would manipulate the person across from her into giving her what she wanted on their own accord.
Maybe it was out of desperation to succeed, or maybe she was unconsciously taking out her frustration on those around her, but this is the road that Asherah began to walk...
And she walked it quite well, indeed.
It would get to the point where Asherah could play the customer like a fiddle. Even Raba seemed somewhat satisfied with her growth, though if one looked deeper it was pride at her own work, rather than any acknowledgement or appreciation for Asherah's efforts.
If anybody were around to pay attention to Asherah in this time, they would notice that Asherah seemed to be becoming more and more numb. The truth was, she hated this. She didn't care how good at it she was, she hated the manipulations and the schemes. Most nights, she would cry herself to sleep as she clutched her hand-loom, the last reminder of home and her only comfort and reminder of who she truly was.
Yet, misfortune often comes all at once, and soon Asherah began to notice that the materials she brought were already getting low...
Year 411 Winter's End
Though sorrow may leave life gray
If you live long enough, I can all but say
Fortune will return to you, one day
When it does, for your soul I pray
It is often said that after a period of darkness, there comes a light of salvation. This always seems so obvious when looking back into the moments of life that bring suffering.
The case is the same for Asherah. Joura had promised to return, and he had. When he learned what Asherah had been through due to his actions...
Well, you see more sides of the people you love as you get older. Needless to say, Asherah had seen Joura at his most furious, on that day.
After barely restraining himself from throwing the frail Raba Jamazi out a second-story window, Joura spent hours profusely apologizing to his siter, and trying to comfort her. Had he known more about the woman's nature, he said, he would not have brought her to Asherah. These sentiments repeat many times, as Joura struggles to excise the sudden guilt and horror that has appeared in his heart.
Eventually, Joura comes back to himself, and he quickly realizes Asherah has been taught all the wrong things... or at least, things that are wrong for who she is...
The rest of the month is spent unlearning what she has learned. It is difficult and humiliating, but Asherah is happy to do it. Every trick she scraps, her heart feels lighter, and once she has started to forget the teachings of Raba, she begins to feel like herself once again.
Yet, nothing in life ever passes without leaving its mark, and Asherah is left with scars. Yet, Asherah is young, and Joura is wise beyond his years - together the two are able to use these scars to make Asherah a stronger, more resilient, and more convicted person - rather than a selfish one with more ways to use others.
Beyond her work on her self though, it comes to light that Asherah had inadvertently offended an important merchant, who had belatedly caught onto her manipulations. A prime example of how doing things the wrong way often fails to pay out.
With much effort from Joura, and a lot of expense coming from Hakirrash, the merchant decides to forgive Asherah and the village. It turns out the man was actually a long-time ally of Hakirrash, and he even had recognized Raba, who he held distaste for. These factors - and some pocket lining from Hakirrash - was enough to convince him this incident would not repeat itself.
Throughout this whole process, though, Asherah could not get the man's name, even when she directly met him to apologize and explain her circumstances. When she learned he had been working with Hakirrash for a long time, she asked Joura if he knew the man, and he said he did and so did she, but that if he told her, she would regret learning who it was.
Clearly, she had narrowly avoided offending not just a bigshot, but a bigshot who her family personally relied on...
A lot of names went through Asherah's head, names she used to overhear her father occasionally mentioning... Names that he spoke with appreciation.
If that man was any of those names... even apologizing ten times wouldn't have been enough!
Indeed, if Nahur feels appreciation for someone, it means they have done him a solid favor, and were also an amiable and honorable person. If anything, her father was a good judge of character.
Speaking of traits she shares with her father, Asherah quickly realized honesty was one of them.
With this knowledge, Asherah is able to identify why she had felt so uncomfortable in the skin of a deceitful merchant, and why it had brought her to hate herself. It went against her honest and genuine nature, which had been instilled in her from birth, and was a trait she shared with her whole family. It made her feel like a monster, something she never wants to become!
Having overcome the self-loathing, Asherah has forgiven herself, and the world is bright with opportunity once more.
... Quickly though, Asherah realizes another problem... that when she isn't stressed out to the point of breaking, and has enough willpower to reflect on how her studies make her feel... she realizes they are incredibly boring! Crap, she still has months of this! Ughhhhhh....!
Year 412 Dawn-of-Spring
"Everything that begins will end, and everything that ends will begin again"
- Unknown proto-Krissh philosopher (c. 50 AV)
With the originally-intended lessons now being delivered by Joura, he attempts to teach his sister concepts like mathematics, problem solving and cultural lessons. He is a far better teacher than Raba ever was, and Asherah realizes that she hadn't had a solid grasp on any of this, and instead had just gotten good at making it look like she understood... That is what a crappy teacher will do to a student, she supposes.
But soon, she has a grasp on her lessons (though they are still quite tedious and tiring, it is manageable and not accompanied by soul-crushing dread and shame)
Asherah also learns the creed followed by the Hakirrash merchants, something Raba never bothered to teach her. It would be strange if the old bag even knew what a 'creed' was!
Asherah repeated the following many times to the point of nausea, but even on the thousandth time, she felt the message still resonated with her:
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, will not deceive others; Even if their misunderstanding brings us more profit.
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, will not intimidate others; Even if their fear brings us more profit.
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, will not grovel to others; Even if discarding our pride brings us more profit.
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, will behave with dignity, to not bring shame to the Sha-hakir!
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, seek profit to live, but we do not live to seek profit!
- We, merchants of Hakirrash, acknowledge that following one's heart is more important than following one's coin pouch.
After memorizing that code to the point Asherah would swear up and down that she caught herself mumbling it in her sleep, Joura was satisfied that the unique attitude Hakirrash had towards trade had seeped into her bones.
Lessons let up for a short while, but Asherah could not enjoy them, as she realized she was finally out of materials for her hand-loom!
Asherah panics, attempting to find more, but iltimately fails. She couldn't find anything in Ghanbar with the same splendor as what was naturally available to her in Hakirrash! Asherah considers herself a great artist, and like all great artists (in her mind, at least), they can only work with the best of materials!
Joura sighed and rolled his eyes at his sister's antics, but did notice that a real layer of anxiety existed within this concern. Perhaps, that was something that influenced his actions shortly after this moment...
Year 412 Midspring
"Life is as full of greetings as it is farewells"
- Unknown proto-Krissh philosopher (c. 100 AV)
Joura once again needs to leave. This time, he has to return to Hakirrash for certain business. It is important enough that the call came directly from Nahur, so it cannot be refused or delayed.
Fortunately, he has a bit of time to work with, and so Joura devotes his full attention to finding a suitable mentor for Asherah.
Understandably, she is hesitant given her previous experience, but Joura ensures her that he will properly scout any potential teacher this time. As she is still unsure, he concedes that he will personally attend her first few lessons, even if he has to make the approaching caravan wait for him!
This is enough to at least have Asherah stop complaining, since he is going this far, but she is still a bit worried.
A couple people come to meet Asherah briefly, but she never sees them again, clearly Joura is being hyper-judicious because when she asks why that person never came back for a full lecture, Joura mumbles something about "Looked suspicious... Might be a Zajamur (
OOC: Flesh eating beast-man from Ghanbaran children's folklore)"
Asherah barely believed her ears, but when she went to shake him and ask him if he was seriously calling some random guy an obviously made-up creature from bedtime stories, Joura was already asleep... it was midday. Clearly, he had been working too hard.
Asherah felt a little bad, but the last bit of reassurance she needed was there. He was doing his best, and that was all she could ask, anyway.
Soon, a temporary mentor is found that Joura deems to be sufficiently approved by him.
The individual is a charismatic scholar of quite some years named Samir Rafis. He possesses a gentle countenance and a vast depth of knowledge. He is good in conversations, and admits to spending most of his free time drinking tea, woodcarving, or napping.
Apparently, he spent several years as a tutor-for-hire, but after getting fed up with nobles' brats, he decided to retire early. He is a bit dodgy about his youth, and simply says he was a swordsman.
Ultimately though, Joura finds him trustworthy, and if he inherited even 1% of Nahur's eye for character, he would be plenty reliable. Nahur could probably cold-read guilt from a gnat's eyebrows! Asherah is only 50% unsure that is impossible... the other 50% of her thinks if it's possible, he can definitely do it with his eyes and ears sealed shut.
The first few lessons that Joura sits through are extremely interesting, and Asherah finds herself more invested than ever in her studies. It is still quite boring, but Samir finds a way to draw her in with a mix of half-believable tales from his own personal life, and a number of exercises that leave Asherah surprised how solid a grasp this near-stranger has on her faculties and thought processes.
Eventually, the time comes and Joura has to leave. He promises he will be back before you know it, and kisses you on the head before rushing to the caravan, who he made wait for an extra hour as he sorted out the last things with Scholar Rafis.
The day Joura leaves was the most nervous one for Asherah, worried that Samir would show a new face now that he wasn't being watched, but to her surprise, he wasn't even slightly different. In fact, she had been willing to overlook it if he had gotten just a bit more casual or lax, since the person who was basically his employer was no longer looking over his shoulder... but nope, the level of professional dedication was quite inspiring to see.
Weeks pass as Asherah learns from the careful and compassionate scholar, who has lived in Kuracos for many years and is thus able to give a native's perspective on the cultural difference between Hakirrash and Ghanbaran society and culture.
This period has Asherah learning the quickest she has ever learned, and yet every day is relaxing and doesn't feel overly burdensome.
If anything, Scholar Rafis has an unbelievable insight into people, perhaps even rivalling Asherah's father. He always knows when she is getting tired, or getting used to the old material, and he matches her pace perfectly and wordlessly. To this point, most of the time studying is just her, while he sits nearby in a comfortable quiet.
Eventually, the time scheduled by Joura for Asherah's first practical lesson arrives. Asherah is to produce and sell a piece of art using her hand-loom, without any outside help. Of course, she has to use an old piece from the early months after she arrived, which is unfortunate because she is confident in making something that would sell better in Ghanbar, now that she knows more about the local flavors.
To accomplish this task, Asherah goes alone to the market. It takes most of a day for her to even be noticed, and her first customer arrives after four hours of her stewing in the warm and humid air. He quickly leaves after checking everything out though, leaving her taken aback before realizing this is actually how most people shop.
Eventually, the sun is about to set when another customer arrives. He haggles the price down by quite a bit (not more than Asherah was allowed to sell it for) before buying it and casually walking away without another word.
Returning to her lodging, Asherah realizes this is the first time she has made her own money. This only restores a tiny bit of the massive dissatisfaction she feels.
When she returns, Rafis has made dinner for her and hears her out. He consoles her and tells her selling in the market is arguably more difficult than going through more professional channels, simply because of the vast quantity of people who are competing with you.
Asherah definitely learned a lot from this experience, but it still sucked.
The lessons continue. Asherah is considered to have succeeded in this task, even if it was rather pathetic.
Year 412 Spring's End
"Every last aspect of creation, no matter it's insignificance or how adverse it is to the proclivities of man, contains such unspeakable, limitless beauty as to bring any man to tears"
- "Lei Yu" proto-Krissh philosopher widely considered the "Grandfather of Culture" and sometimes the "Brightness Ancestor"(c. 0 AV)
Joura returns as scheduled. But, it is a surprise that he has come back with a large shipment of stuff for Asherah to use in her loom work! She is extremely thankful, but he reminds her that she isn't meant to just play around, but to try and design works that will appeal to Ghanbaran design sensibilities.
Asherah is a bit deflated by this but she acknowledges that there is so much here that she wouldn't be able to spend it all in her free time anyway, so it may as well help her in her studies.
A few weeks later, the second task has come before Asherah. She must be placed in charge of a negotiation between Joura and the assistant to the chief Noble of Kuracos, the esteemed Nabob Hashem, Nabob of the 14th Diwan of Internal Commerce.
It was terrifying and challenging, and Asherah definitely slipped up quite a few times, but ultimately she succeeded and gained a lot of confidence from it, recognizing that she was getting better at this, and didn't need to sacrifice her personality to get through this.
That night, she cried again, but this time they were tears of relief.
At the end of the month, Asherah made an embarrassing mistake - accidentally insulting a customer quite gravely. She could have seen this coming, but she didn't - it was simply a series of small blunders that escalated until the man stormed out.
Ultimately, it wasn't a huge red mark, but it showed to all three of them that despite her improvements through major and consistent efforts, Asherah was not at all naturally good at this sort of thing, and had to strain her mind to keep up with it.
Year 412 Dawn-of-Summer
This space intentionally left blank
The lessons go on as Asherah prepares for her final task.
In the middle of the month, an extremely close call takes place, where Asherah grossly miscalculates some data, and almost misplaces several month's of trade income for Hakirrash, which would effectively destroy it as it would leave it unrecoverable.
Fortunately, Asherah immediately reported this to Joura when she noticed it, and only after he rushed out to take care of it did she begin to panic. Eventually, Joura returned and revealed he managed to re-route everything correctly.
Asherah manages to not cry, but Joura becomes physically ill from the sudden explosion of stress and is bedridden for two days.
While recovering, he tells her that mistake could have reverberating consequences and sent their village into desperation for at least four years, if not more.
He explains that do to his own inattention, he had failed to set up a secondary check on Asherah's work, and so this was at least partially his fault. He also says she did the right thing by immediately admitting to her mistake. He says if she had been too uncomfortable with him, this would have ended much, much worse.
Asherah learns the value of taking responsibility even when it is painful, and starts to truly understand why it is always more productive to work with people you trust.
It it still hard to believe that so much suffering could be caused by the slip of a brush.
At the end of the month, Samir Rafis surprises Asherah by saying farewell, revealing his contract ended months ago, but he stayed here to make sure she wasn't alone and was doing okay. He says he has business in Abarion, and so must be off.
It is a sad farewell but Asherah is deeply grateful for everything Samir has done for her, and Joura appreciates the man's commitment and promises he will always have a friend in the village of Hakirrash.
Year 412 Midsummer
Strange Tablet, unimaginably far from Kalatoria:
There are Four Five (?) Realms:
Zeroth: Those without power.
First: the Mortal Realm
S____d: the I_m____l Realm
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Asherah's third and final task is an astoundingly complex one... but one she has been prepared for as much as possible. This will be a true test of her abilities.
Asherah will be left in charge of a caravan for one week. During which, she will sell things around the city, and even in a short trip to the neighboring town of Benashter.
Her goal will be to turn a profit on her supplies, which are 50% made of her own choice pieces, and 50% basic goods bought by Joura.
Accompanying her will be three caravan members, three Ghanbarans around her age who know about the task. Two of them are merchant's children (their parents are friends with Nahur), the other is a young soldier who will be their guard.
Asherah is quickly introduced to her future companions, a 20-year old soldier named Kalen Haider, a 15-year old merchant's son named Yalik Medi, and a 17-year old merchant's daughter named Safrah Nasem.
Kalen is quiet, while Yalik is neurotic and Safrah is confident. They all seem like reasonable people, and the next few weeks are spent by Asherah to prepare for the journey with them (the two merchant's children have their own resources they need to turn a profit on)
Eventually the day comes, and Joura sends Asherah away with a hug and wishes for good fortune.
Day 1-3
The first couple days are spent selling off goods and finding lodging (none of the participants are allowed to use any of their previous connections, no matter what form they take)
Yalik and Asherah cooperate to determine which areas are most profitable to sell at.
Day 4
Asherah wakes up in the middle of the night to thieves robbing the wagons!
She screams and Kalen is alerted, rushing out and quickly chasing the thieves away.
Day 5
The caravan leaves for Bonashter, not having sold many of their nonperishable resources, and still having some perishable stock remaining (which is bad, obviously)
Day 6 - 8
The group talk about themselves and play games to pass the time on the road.
Yalik Medi tells how his father has been training him for this day for five years, so he is very nervous but eager to succeed.
He says his family (the Medi family) is actually a branch family of powerful merchants in Kuracos, who want to return to the good graces of the original Seyamedi family who work in Abarion.
Safrah Nasem annoyedly explains how she comes from a wealthy family but her mother sent her on this mission because she was a layabout with no skills, which Safrah denies, spending ten very uncomfortable minutes justifying to the rest of you that she takes her studies very seriously, and so what if she has made three tutors run away crying she doesn't really need to study because she's so smart anyway and also her father promised his daughters a fair share of his inheritance so honestly really
Once you've all patched up the bloody holes where your ears once were, Kaled gives a very brunt statement that he is 'hired protection' and doesn't really offer much. When Safrah pesters and prods him with questions, he gives plain and boring answers. You learn that he joined the Knightly Order five years ago at age 15, and is still in training. He joined because of poverty.
You don't get much else because Safrah gets bored and stops asking him questions, and the rest of you have too much tact to push the issue.
Day 9
You are all very lucky. Things were not looking good at all with how much stock you had left, but while travelling, Asherah's group encountered another caravan on the roads, and Asherah astutely observed they were low on basic supplies, and so made a suggestion that you offer them to buy yours at a discounted price. Safrah is unhappy with this, because she doesn't want to give discounts, and Yalik is hesitant, but acknowledges this is a lucky break and probably their last chance to sell any of this stuff which won't be fresh soon.
You all manage to sell most of your stuff, with only Yalik having anything left over, which he is forced to abandon on the road, since it will go bad before you arrive at the town. Safrah tries to argue him out of it, but he ultimately follows his gut and tosses it away. Safrah seems pissed.
At the end of today, the caravan arrives at Benashter.
Day 10 & 11
In Benashter, the caravan members put in as much effort as they can, and despite the town's lower average wealth, Asherah manages to market her stuff as 'folk art' which is technically true, which the people here consider quaint, and that helps her. Yalik doesn't find such an opportunity, as his high-end goods were farming equipment rather than art, and Benashter is not a farming town.
It takes him until Day 11 to track down the one person in town who may be willing to buy his stuff, but that person hasn't been seen all morning, and by the time your caravan has to leave, he is still nowhere to be seen.
Asherah returns to the caravan, greatly relieved but still waiting to crunch those final numbers and learn if she failed or not. Yalik returns dejected and downtrodden, clearly knowing he failed just by estimation. Safrah returns last, and reeks of booze, clearly having spent time in the town's pub.
She pouts a bunch that none of her stuff got sold, despite the fact she did almost no marketing... maybe she just expected for people to come and buy her things on their own? Eventually she settles down as the caravan heads back.
Day 12 to 14
The return trip is quiet except for the night of Day 13, where you wake up to the very end of a shocking incident. Apparently, Yalik and Safrah got in a physical altercation that got broken up by Kaled, who seems really angry at Safrah, and disappointed in Yalik.
In the morning of Day 14, you ask Kaled what happened, and he said Yalik attacked Safrah... he won't say anything else, and when you ask Safrah she says he must have gone crazy because his stuff didn't sell.... You decide not to ask Yalik, since he is basically fuming and hiding himself away even during mealtimes.
That was really surprising, but now you are kind of curious.
In the end of Day 14, you all return back to Kuracos, and immediately split up.
You feel kind of sour that nobody even says goodbye, but you guess to them this was just business.
As it turns out, Asherah made more of a profit than she thought. She thought she barely scratched even, but it turns out that some of her and Yalik's basic supplies had been swapped under her nose, so actually she made a lot less than she thought - which would have meant she lost money!
However, despite that, she had actually underestimated how much money she made on the artwork. She actually knew how much they sold for, but she didn't consider that the fact that she made the artwork would mean she could consider it's original "cost" in this experiment to be significantly lower since there would be little manpower cost.
With all this, Asherah is both stressed out and relieved simultaneously - because she realizes if she used her accounting method, it would have been a failure, but since the goods had different prices than she originally noted, she just barely makes a profit that could be called 'tolerable'
She has her suspicions Joura fudged the numbers for her, but he shoots that down right away and asks her rhetorically how he would be able to lie to their father when he is asked if he was totally honest with this final test? That clears Asherah's doubts, as Joura might be a charismatic person, but who in the world can lie to her father, that insightful fellow?
As Asherah is going through the finalized notes of the journey, she feels a pang of sympathy for Yalik, when she realizes he didn't even sell half his stuff, and that was the expensive half too.... That sympathy is squashed when she remembers he had attacked Safrah.
Safrah sure had been annoying, and a bit of a brat... but attacking a companion wasn't something you did. End of conversation.
However, something incredibly strange causes Asherah to pause... Safrah... hadn't done any accounting? What? You were sure you saw her working on stuff on several occassions? Had this been missed...
Remembering your past experiences, you go to Joura to figure this out.
And to Asherah's surprise - Joura is not surprised.
He sits her down and makes her promise not to freak out. When she does, now more nervous than ever, he reveals that Safrah actually had a different goal then Asherah or Yalik did. This is confusing, but then shocking when she understands it. Safrah Nasem was not learning to be a merchant on this expedition... in fact, Safrah Nasem was not even a daughter of a noble family... because 'Safrah Nasem' doesn't exist.
With your head spinning, Joura sends you away and you slip into bed, your mind racing.
That girl that had accompanied you had been a planted saboteur, designed to make the test more difficult. Her success condition was to ensure nobody made a profit, without being revealed. Joura had been reluctant to tell you what organization she belonged to, but he said not to worry about it, and that no problems would come from this...
A lot of things make more sense in hindsight now... Safrah hadn't been explicitly helpful, mostly just focused on her own goods... Safrah had tried to get Yalik to keep those spoiled goods... maybe hoping for an infestation to spread into the other goods? Or did she plant one? The fact that the one potential customer for Yalik wasn't even present... You swallow, hoping nothing bad had happened to that innocent man... it's worse because nobody had seen Safrah during that last day, except once when she supposedly came back from the pub... but its easy to act drunk, especially if 'Safrah' is who you think she is...
Wait.. those thieves back in the city...? Had that been 'Safrah' doing?
Also... the fight on the last day... Kaled was angry with Safrah, you clearly recal... but she had been the one attacked? Kaled also hadn't said anything much about the fight... had he known Safrah was a saboteur?
All of this is scary to think about... the fact you had someone who was basically a spy in training next to you for so long... everyone and their grandmother knew rumors of dark dealings in secret hushed corners, but... did those things really happen? This would be different from street crime... this is.... organized
Asherah shivers, and empties her mind.
Sleep takes her.
A few days after the final test ended, Joura has wrapped up everything he needed to, and he informs Asherah that a caravan is on the way to pick them both up...
Returning to Hakirrash feels so surreal now, having spent almost a year away from home... Her heart racing, Asherah places a hand on her chest to calm herself down... Looking in the mirror, Asherah realizes she has grown. Not just older, but it is in her posture. Her eyes. She is more mature, stronger and more experienced.
If her father's goal in all this was to have her learn for herself whether she wanted to live this kind of life or not... Well, he succeeded. She absolutely never wants to do this again! It had all been complete oxshi-
A knock on the door. "Hurry up, Asherah, the caravan is waiting!" It's Joura's voice! Crap, time to run!
As Asherah dashes out of her lodging, not even bothering to look back at the place that had been her home for eight months, she stops in awe.
Someone familiar is standing there.
Samir Rafis has returned to see her off!
The old scholar explains he couldn't help himself, and wanted to see her one more time, after she had finished everything she had to do. After some insightful questions on Asherah's part, she manages to force him to reveal that he had interrupted his business in Abarion to return here in time.
The fact that she made such a good friend makes Asherah feel warm inside. There had been bad people, and good people. Therefore, it hadn't all been worthless. Definitely not "complete oxshit"!
As you board the caravan, you overhear Joura and Rafis talking... your ears must be playing tricks, because you hear your once-mentor saying he has a son about your age before his words trail off... implying... something, and then Joura responds with a cryptic nonsequitor "I'll consider it"
A bunch of jolly laughter later, and Joura joins you in the carriage, averting his gaze.
The caravan begins to move, and soon night falls....
The next morning ,Asherah musters up the curage to earnestly ask, "Did I do well?"
Joura thinks for a long while before responding in the positive, saying he recognizes her effort and that she did very well... however he appends that ultimately he does not believe she is fit to be a merchant - and that it looks like she doesnt want to live like that anyway.
Asherah nods. This journey had been life-changing, but most things at this age were... at least she knew what she
didn't want to do in life, now....
But what was she going to do? She was basically an adult, at this point, and so she had to make herself useful to the village in some way...
Year 412 Summer's End
"Crap! I forgot my hand-loom!" - Asherah, age 17
It is a curious coincidence, that just as the familiar beachside dawns on the horizon, the last month has come to an end, and another has begun!
Returning home.... how will it go? Only the future knows!
(--> Hakirrash)
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:22, Wed 31 Jan.
