Her mother returns the hug, clearly happy to have her daughter back. Upon Asherah's making of conversation, she insists that things were fine, and though Asher and Mourn were a pain to handle she has plenty of ways to deal with them by herself.

She also gives a short explanation about Kiyana, telling how Asherah's old sister was actually scheduled to have her Union Ceremony a couple months ago, but she wanted to wait for the whole family to be back together.

Thankfully, her partner and his family were kind and understanding people, so they managed to push the date back. Kiyana will be back soon, since as soon as Nahur heard from Joura that Asherah was returning, he had already sent the information to Kiyana.

To fill the time between then and her Union Ceremony, Kiyana briefly left the village to undergo some additional training and rituals. She was already basically perfectly prepared to undergo the Ceremony, but Kiyana felt it would be rude to waste the additional time she had been allowed, so she went above and beyond.

Funnily enough, this means Kiyana has had more official preparations than even her mother had undergone back when she was decidedly courting Nahur, before he became Sha-hakir. Your mother seems amused by this, but it is actually quite a bombshell, considering it is open knowledge among your close family that your mother had gone through extensive pre-Medina customs, since she would be marrying into literally the highest station possible.

Tarisha was actually originally born in another village along the Southern Coast, but she rarely talks about it. It is generally tactless to speak overmuch about one's previous affiliation, once one is Unified into another family. Especially one as elevated as the family of a Sha.

Your mothers actual words are not this long, this is all mostly background context known by Asherah.

So, it is not a long pause after her brief description of Kiyana's activities before Asherah notices and remarks on her father's absence.

Her mother responds clearly, though Asherah can tell there is some sort of complex emotion behind her words. Her mother is too hard to read, though.

"Your father will return home shortly. He is av-... no, nevermind. Let's just say he is on business. He'll be back for dinner..."

With these words, Asherah realizes the emotion that her mother is concealing is displeasure. Nothing exterme, but significant enough to peak through her standard manners. This would mean it's close to being described as 'severe' if it can have such an impact, even if Tarisha's defenses are completely down since she is around her family right now.

Tarisha has some last words for her daughter, "...as will everyone else. Make sure, if you're going out, to be back before then, and no later" before this journey, Asherah may have taken her words to mean "don't stay out too late" but now she is mature enough to understand in this instance, Asherah is required to be here on time, or even earlier if possible. It also surprises Asherah - but only for a moment - that her mother clearly knows that she knows the difference. Perhaps is is true when they say that a parent can always read a child of theirs, like a book.

Throughout the whole discussion so far, if Asherah allowed it, her mother would try and brush her hair, hoping to calm her daughter down - who was clearly feeling the weight of her experiences now that she had returned to comfort and safety.

Regardless of her cooperation, what else does Asherah wish to talk about, or perhaps she has other activities she wants to do before dinner?

Asherah would take a seat as her mother began brushing her hair. This action greatly soothed her. Asherah didn’t know how exactly, she never liked brushing her hair; it would often give her a headache. This, though, didn’t and it felt like somebody was smoothing out her soul.

“Mother” Asherah would say with gentleness and mock exasperation. In it contained the statement ‘you can tell me’. If her mother didn’t catch her meaning or refused, Asherah would ask upfront. She was curious now and there wasn’t much that could stop her when she was curious.

Indeed, Asherah feels refreshed by the simple action of having her mother attend to her in such a way.

However, even with her insistence, Asherah's mother seems resolute that she should wait until dinner to hear it from her father directly. Asherah can tell her mother feels a bit bad about speaking negatively of her Memed, even though she managed to catch herself before saying what was on her mind.

When Asherah decides to directly ask upfront, her mother gives her a disapproving look. "Darling, I know you're relaxed now that you're back home, but please don't forget the manners you learned in Kuracos already... When I refuse to tell you something, it's for good reason. Besides, you'll be hearing it soon enough, so just be patient."

Perhaps for her daughter's benefit, Tarisha then adds, "It's worth nothing, anyway. I'm just griping. But, I do appreciate you trying to take care of your mother so... Even if you are many years too early to be worrying about such things. You're young, be selfish!"

Her tone is a lot lighter, and she seems sincere in everything she has said.

Asherah would immediately sit up straight and place a hand to her chest and bat her eyes in astonishment when her mother said be selfish. "Dear me, Mother! Pick one, Kuracos manners or self-fish?" Asherah would chuckle and shake her head. For this part she'd put on her best 'young woman' voice. "As the daughter of the Sha-Hakir it is my duty to be selfless in all my doings now that I have come of age. I must not be selfish so that my community and all who come after my prosper because of my choices; rather than suffer." Asherah would say in a stiff, yet almost soothing voice. She'd wait a momment, give her mother some time to react. Then burst into a squeal and a giggle fit. "I love you mom"

Asherah would stay and continue talking with her mother until her hair was brushed and they'd run out of things to say. If this happened before dinner Asherah would visit the tide pools quickly and say hello to her squishy darlings. Afterward she'd head home a few minutes before dinner.

"I love you too, and I'm so proud of you. I'm sure your father feels the same" her mother then insists Asherah stay quiet so she can focus on braiding her hair, though it's clear she is trying to hide how emotional she is at having her daughter back, and all grown up to boot.

Though visiting the tide pools was tempting, mother and daughter instead opt to spend a good chunk of quality time together.

Soon, dinner has arrived...

--

Asherah is sat at one end of the table, a place that is clearly meaningful.
The rest of her family (sans Kiyana, who won't return for some days yet) sits around her, now just waiting for Nahur to return.

Asher and Mourn were super excited when she returned, and Mourn even began bawling his eyes out. Fortunately, Asherah managed to calm them down through any number of her tricks. Asher has grown at least four inches taller since Asherah last saw him, and he seems less like a tiny child, and more like a young boy. Mourn is the same as she remembers, and seems to be getting on his brother Asher's nerves more than before...

Joura is present (and to Asherah, he seems a little sloshed), but mostly satisfied to just sit and watch with a smile as Asherah gets harassed by their two younger brothers. Obviously, the two of them have no reason to miss each other as Joura has been with Asherah for most of these last several months. Joura also greets his mother, who frowns when she smells alcohol on his breath, batting at him annoyedly to which he just shrugs and smiled bashfully. Clearly, he was out having fun as soon as he got back.

Oh- That reminds Asherah, she actually kept that clay jar Mourn had given her before she left. She had opened it once out of curiosity, but grimaced when she saw it contained that strange purple liquid the adults were all drinking when the Yellow F-

**CLANG** A bell goes off in Asherah's head. She realizes the nature of the liquid... alcohol! Had... had she really been so young when she left, that she hadn't even known what alcohol was? She obviously learned about that on her trip...

Wow. That really put things into perspective. What a strange, powerful feeling... Though perhaps it doesn't touch Asherah, or maybe it does.

Regardless of her thoughts on the matter, it is only a short time before Nahur enters. He pauses only for a moment as he looks at you, and you see a smile tug at the corner of his lips, but first he takes off his shoes, puts them away, washes his hands, and then comes to sit down.

Joura and your mother both roll their eyes at his actions, clearly lovingly exasperated at how he always performs such little rituals, without fail. He is definitely a discplined man, and some would say he is too much of one.

Finally, Nahur sits down opposite of you, and his eyes meet yours. The table is set.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎		Mother		‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎
Father	XXXXX	XXXXX	XXXXX	[[YOU]]
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎	Joura	Asher	Mourn	‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

---

In the end, Nahur is unable to keep a big, happy smile off his face, though you can sense some nervousness behind his eyes. Clearly, he's either unable to school his expression from you at the moment, or he's letting himself be free for just a moment.

His voice speaks up, it sounds the same as you remember it. "My dearest Asherah, tell me of your travels."

You are home.
This message was last edited by the GM at 00:07, Wed 07 Feb.

Asherah dwelled on the strange feeling, reveling in it. She would have to ask Joura about it later. Her father was iffy when it came to forth coming answers and Joura was sometimes as well, but now that he'd had a few drinks... it was significantly more possible. Asherah also wondered how mourn got his hands on the stuff. Did he even know what alcohol was? If so how? Or what did he think it was?

At first Asherah is wary. He barely smiled, which was still a lot, it just didn't feel enough to justify her. Asherah would at last feel her core unwind when he grinned at her. Asherah would begin excitedly talking about her travels. She did her best to tell them everything that happened as it did, except for the intentionally left out parts. She left out the part about the hag who name she refused to recall and simply said Joura accidentally picked some one who disagreed with the Hakirrash ways as her first mentor [which was still true]. She also left out that the girl's job was to stop them for her training. Asherah would of course tell her father or mother all this later upon asking, but she despised the idea of giving Asher and mourn night mares.

After re-counting everything Asherah suddenly felt nervous. "Soo that was how it went. I suppose-if I keep working at it, I could be a good merchant and help the village that way, but-" Asherah took a deep breath, hoping what she said had no repercussions. "I-I don't think being a merchant is the path for me. W-with all due respect!"

Nahur listens attentively to the story, an aura of pride radiating off of him, and his eyes filled with acknowledgement for his daughter.

He doesn't touch his food. Because of that, nobody else can either. Even Asher and Mourn hesitate to dig in, perhaps sensing the serious atmosphere, or perhaps just being conditioned to only eat once the head of house has started.

When she finishes her story, Nahur stands up from his seat. A wave of stillness goes through the people at the table, ending at Asherah.

He slowly moves towards her. Asherah feels incredibly tense. Why isn't he saying anyth-

Nahur lunges forward, hands outstretched -
- and grabs Asherah, embracing her in a tremendous hug!

"I'm proud of you. You've done well."
He is silent after that. Not saying anything else, but his few words mean so much.

Asherah knows in her heart, she has proven everything she has needed to, and for that reason, her father will not push her to live that life.

Still, it's hard to understand.
Why would you make someone learn to do something they hate, if you aren't going to demand they ever use it again?

What is next for Asherah?

OOC: I tried to capture the feeling of tension you get when waiting for an answer to a hopeful question, but I think Nahur came off a bit more aggressive than I was going for. Oh well, I'll just leave this note here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:13, Sat 10 Feb.

Asherah knew her father would never hurt her. He was a sound man that never gave into fits of anger, but that didn't stop Asherah from feeling nervous as he lounged for her-and gave her a big hug. Asherah would immediately relax, hugging her father back, burying her face into his chest as if she was nothing but a child again. After a moment he said the few words that sent her heart soaring. He was proud of her. This was rather confusing but Asherah decided to just savor the moment.

When they pulled apart Asherah would take a deep breath, a little more at ease but still afraid to ask questions of this kind."W-why father? I mean, I passed, but only barely... I thought you'd be upset." Asherah would ask, meeting his eyes. She needed to know this before bringing up the other, bigger question.

Nahur goes back to his seat, not lingering long in the hug. He seems even a bit embarrassed by his "outburst". He's not a particularly touchy-feely person, so it makes sense.

After sitting back down, and fastidiously reorganizing his cutlery, he calmly answers Asherah's question.
By this point, Asher and Mourn have been sent away by your mother, along with their meals.

"In truth, my daughter, I knew in my heart from the moment I sent you away that you would not exceed in this lifestyle, nor would you ever come to enjoy it"

He speaks back up quickly, as if preempting any interruptions, "The purpose of this journey, for your case, was not to test your mettle as a merchant, as a leader nor as a diplomat."

At this point, your mother returns and sits back down gracefully. Nahur waits until she is seated to continue his speech.

"I sent you away for two reasons. Firstly, so that you could mature into your own. Secondly, because it was my fated duty, from the moment of my birth."

Nahur repositions slightly, and takes a sip of his beverage before placing the clay mug back down onto the colorful, patterned tablecloth and speaking again. "One can scarcely avoid the incessant nature of time. It erodes everything about a person, in some cases revealing gemstone beneath, but in others leaving them dull and unfeeling..."

Continuing, your father goes on, "As you are young, there was little danger of you becoming truly jaded as such, especially as your brother was more than capable of preventing any of the greater threats from reaching you..."

He stops for a moment, before giving a dangerous glance at Joura, "Though, from what I've heard, he met partial failure in that endeavor." Joura shrinks back a little under his father's intensely unhappy gaze, sobering up in an instant.

Nahur's eyes linger for a moment before he clears his throat, and returns his expression to the familiar placidity of a calm ocean.

His words continue in his usual tone, once again implacable and unaffected by the world around him, "Regardless, I am slightly rambling. The essence of what I am trying to impart you, is that even if we both knew then and know now that the specific nature of your trial will not serve your future, it was of utmost importance that you underwent one, whatever it may be..."

Your father hesitates before eventually saying a bit more, "If this had been an attempt to find your true calling, obviously it would have been a different matter. But, simply put, this was so that you could build your foundation."

He leans forward slightly as he looks at you, and says his final piece, "Asherah, you are my beloved daughter. You are the second daughter of Nahur Hakirrash, Sha-hakir, Son of Omar, and Soul-Prince of The Twin Seas. Because I love you, I want your foundation to be solid. As solid as it can be. I want you to become not just unbreakable, but unshakeable. I am imperfect, I have flaws and faults, cracks that run down to my very core. So, I want you to inherit only my best qualities. It is my duty as a Lord, and my truest desire as a father"

With that he goes quiet, his eyes shut slightly in contemplation. Sweat pours down the sides of his face. Joura's head is bowed... perhaps in... respect? reverence? solemnity? It's hard to know. Your mother has a soft smile, but her face is slightly pale and her eyes waver slightly.

It is only then that you notice your hands are shaking. And they have been since he uttered his fourth title... one you have never heard before.

A part of you feels different, and it's hard to know why. You feel like you have been entrusted with something. Something invaluable.

The atmosphere has quieted down, but it seems there is still space for you to speak further, without discounting anything that has come before. If you so wish, or perhaps you'd rather retire for the night.

Asherah's eyes would light up despite her trembling, but due to the gravity of the situation she couldn't bring herself to interupt. Even some minutes afterwards she only got out a whisper "...soul-prince?" If her father was a soul-prince then who was king?! what were the twin seas? How are seas twins? Obviously if her father was a prince then she wasn't a princess but what did that make her? Would Joura become a or the soul-prince when he became Sha-hakir? or was this a sperate more special title? Did the village know about this?

Questions raced in her head. Asherah practically felt like she would burst with all of this. She desperately wanted to ask her father if the previous exchange meant she would get to live her dream of being a simple tailor or if there was another path she needed to explore. But all the aforementioned questions seemed like the most important. Even though he just wanted to know what lied ahead.

Her mumbled question is quickly glossed over by Nahur, who doesn't respond. It seems information on this won't be forthcoming. Somehow, it is so much like your father to drop such a mystery and then refuse to elaborate.

Regardless, Nahur speaks up after a short period to let your thoughts wander as above. As if reading your mind - or perhaps just your expression, he begins to speak on a topic important to you.

"As for what comes next... it's uncertain. There are countless paths one can take in life, and only a few of them I have laid out before you to choose from. You could, of course, pick anything else, but I hope you would consider the dignity of your family before making a choice."

Clearing his throat, Nahur seems slightly tired, and so he leans back and gestures to Joura.
Your brother immediately picks up on the cue and sits up, sharing a glance with his father before nodding and turning to you.

"Currently, we have prepared some opportunities for you. You could take over the position of managing textiles from mother, you could go on a lone journey to explore the world, you could accompany me on a voyage to the Credi Isles... or you could begin training to become a Medina"

Joura waits for a moment before saying in a strong voice, that is a little melancholic. "The choice is yours. The family will no longer guide you unless you come to us. For all intents and purposes, you are an adult member of Hakirrash."

Hakirrash doesn't really have any 'official' ceremony or rites of passage, but that doesn't celebrations or events are not sometimes organized over the matter of reaching adulthood. Your mother would probably be the person to talk to about this.


How will Asherah respond to these options as listed? Do any of them tickle her fancy, or are some particularly odious? Does she have other plans?

Asherah drew in a breath. She had thought finally being recognized as an adult would feel different, make her feel different. However, she felt the same. She felt... hollow. Exhausted. She was simply too tired for her mind to whir with the usual questions. Asherah did her best to stifle a yawn once her father finished.

Asherah would rub her eyes as Joura talked. Come on, I need to stay awake and get answers from Joura. Asherah would angrily think. Thankfully, or sadly I suppose, Asherah wasn't too tired to scrunch her face at the suggestion of Medina training. If there was any of the paths that she found odious, it was that one. She quickly smoothed out her face though and gave a weary grin. "I hope to take over the position of managing textiles from mother." Asherah would reply, excited but tired.

All three of Asherah's family members sitting around the table nod along, likely having predicted what choice she would decide to make.

Your mother speaks up now, "Of course, I'd be happy to take you as my apprentice!"

She stands up and walks over to where you're sitting, "Tomorrow morning, come visit me in my office in the building the outside workshop. I'll show you how I organize everything, and we'll make sure you don't have any gaps in your knowledge. You've just got back from a long journey though, so I'm sure you're ready to start helping out with this kind of work, at least."

Tarisha pats her daughter on the shoulder, "Now, it's been a long day for the family. Finish your meals and then go to bed, when you wake up you will feel refreshed."

With that your mother leaves to another room, probably having some work to do or just excusing her self to rest.

Asherah notices that her mother didn't explicitly say she would give Asherah the job... maybe she plans to hold onto it for some time? Asherah was never that invested in her mother's work, she remembers sitting on her lap as a small child as she looked through ledgers, though...

Well, these are all questions that are best asked after a good rest.

---

As the meals are finished, everyone goes their separate ways.

If Asherah has anything else to say to the meal, it may be dicussed here.

Joura finishes first and excuses himself to his room. He seems ready to drop. Nahur stays at the table for a while, staring off into nothing, clearly content with his own thoughts. He has always been a pensive person, so this is not an unusual sight.

If anything, it means he's relaxed enough to let his mind wander.

---

What else - if anything - will Asherah try to do as night falls? Or will she rest, and get up in the next morning?
(OOC - If you want to skip to morning, feel free to start off with any activities you want to do on that new day)
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:12, Sat 02 Mar.

Asherah would finish her meal and stumble over to Joura's door. He had looked as exhausted as her but maybe that meant he'd be more forthcoming? Plus if anybody was going to forgive her for falling asleep on the spot, it'd probably be him. Asherah would knock on the door softly. "Joura can we meet outside real quick?" She'd say this quietly, as not to disturb her father.

As much as Asherah wanted to sleep it sounded like she had a busy day tomorrow and she simply couldn't wait that long for answers. What had been that crash in he mind? what were the Twin seas? How could father be a prince and them never hear about it once?

She hears mumbling beyond the door.

If she puts in a few more attempts, or enters to physically wake Joura - she will eventually rouse her older brother.

Should she do so, she will be met with his haggard face saying, "Yes, yes... just... let me get cleaned up, a bit, alright?"

--

Following that, Joura will find Asherah outside of their home, by the calming shore, in the moonlit night. After about ten minutes.

It is dark, but she can already see he looks better. Though, he's still a little drunk, and more than a little tired.

"What's the deal, Asherah? It's late, you know!" he sounds mirthful, but his eyes twitch slightly with minor annoyance. Clearly, he was banking on getting some sleep.

Asherah would nod, rubbing eyes for the millionth time. "I know, I know. I actually want to sleep too but I need answers." Asherah would say, her voice not quite desperate. It was hard for her to fall asleep with out answers. "I know your probably not going to tell me how dad is a prince and what the twin seas are but I'm going to ask anyway. How is dad a prince and what are these 'two seas'? Also something weird happened tonight and I was hoping for an explanation." Asherah would relay to her brother what had happened with the wine and the loud clang noise. "I decided to wait till morning to question Asher though. Also please give me some answer or I will tell mom where you go to drink." Asherah would give Joura a mock glare after that last sentence.

She didn't see blackmail as bad. Asher and mourn had once caught Asherah picking flowers instead of doing her chores [which were no longer flower picking] and Asherah had no choice to give them her dessert. Between siblings, blackmail felt more like something inevitable thing that would come to pass then a crime.

After Asherah says her peace, Joura thinks for a moment - seemingly unfazed by the blackmail (likely, this has happened many times before, in various iterations) - before looking at her strangely.

"You heard a bell in your head? When you figured out that Asher had given you wine before you left? No, it was about the fact you realized you hadn't know what alcohol was last year?" He gives you a funny look which makes you feel a bit annoyed, "Dummy, that's called 'having a realization' - must have been a pretty big one if you imagined sound to accompany it!" he snorts a few times, somewhat good naturedly but also a bit offensively.

Continuing, he says, "Ha! That's pretty funny, actually. I wonder if father and mother know that Asher got his hands on that stuff! Man, he'd definitely get a smack! Haa... I wouldn't worry about it, though. He probably didn't know what it was when he gave it to you. Honestly, it's kind of funny. Asher's adorable, sometimes" with 'sometimes' being the key word. Perhaps, "agree to disagree"?

Clearing up Asherah's rather silly question, Joura's demeanor changes quite a bit as he lets out a soft sigh and speaks about her other question, which is a very serious one.

"I'm not sure what father has planned by telling you about that... It would be better to ask him, if you have to know. I don't know how much I can tell you."

He leaves it at that. It's clear that blackmailing him would be pointless, because this isn't the sort of thing he can tell you just because you pressure him. It's a serious matter, or so it seems. Whatever it is.

Also, it seems that Joura has heard a lot of things from Nahur, that Asherah has not been told... Does she feel jealous? Ashamed? Curious?

What else does Asherah wish to say or do, tonight or tomorrow morning?

Asherah felt a little stung when Joura laughed at her naivety. It had felt... different. She knew what having a realization felt like. It didn't have strange gong noises accompanying it.

Asherah would openly make a face at Joura when he said Asher was cute. Sweet sometimes? Definitely, but not cute.  Though she could imagine how others could see the little bugger as cute. So she kept her mouth shut.

Asherah would cross her arms and stop her foot. "Its not fair!" She'd practically growl under her breath. "I know people aren't telling me things and that'd be just fine if they didn't keep hinting at them all the time! Just tell me things or don't! its that simple!" Asherah clearly was directing this more at the at then at Joura. However since he was there, there was still a possibility he would take it personally. As Asherah said those words she'd start out sounding furious. But frankly she seemed more sorrowful then anything as she spoke.

She'd rub her eyes, hoping to hide the tears that had started forming in the corners of her eyes. "S-sorry Joura... I think I should head to bed." Asherah wouldn't make eye contact with Joura as she said this, and unless stopped, Asherah would head to bed.

Joura's face becomes stiff with Asherah's outburst. He doesn't react to her words, and he doesn't stop her as she leaves. Once she's gone, she hears a sigh as Joura's footsteps head back to his own room.

In her room, Asherah goes to bed. Confused, tired and upset.
Hopefully in the morning she will feel better.

---

As morning comes, Asherah wakes up and prepares herself for the day.
She has to meet her mother today, at the workshop.

---

In the workshop, Asherah realizes that it feels slightly alienating to be coming here for a different reason than usual.
Perhaps this is just part of growing up. Familiar things becoming unfamiliar, and unfamiliar things becoming familiar.

Regardless, she is soon waved at by her mother, indicating her daughter to come meet her in the separate room just outside the workshop.
Without looking back, Asherah follows Tarisha to her office.

---

Asherah looks around the place, feeling a bit nostalgic. Some of her oldest memories are in this room, being bounced on her mother's lap while the Sha-hakir's Medina did her work.

Of course, she's been here at least a few times since infancy, but ultimately this has always been her mother's space. Until now, at least.

It's strange to have a place so close to home be slightly unfamiliar... A flash of memory briefly skirts along Asherah's mind, of finding a strange chest and her father being quite angry-

But, the recollection quickly ends as Asherah is pulled back to the present by her mother's voice,
"Now, dear, how about you sit down in this spare chair, and help me figure this mess out" she gestures to her desk, which just at a glance seems to have a lot going on

"Show me what you've learned. If you need anything, ask. Let's get to work"

Without further ado, Tarisha sits down, grabs a piece of charcoal and a sheet of lapir, and begins to read.

OOC: Lapir is basically papyrus. Had a bit of trouble deciding what tech level to go with. Hopefully this doesn't contradict any of the settings I've already made for Hakirrash.

OOC: This was very short on my part. I didn't have much to directly respond to. Let me know if you want me to edit the post to continue in the morning, with you getting trained by your mother for your new job.

30/3/2024 - Edited
This message was last edited by the GM at 15:28, Sat 30 Mar.

Asherah would ponder on why she was reminded of the chest now. Hadn't she found it in her prents room...? Or maybe her father had just taken her there to scold her. Asherah, much to her disappointment, decided to push her thoughts away so she could focus on the task at hand. Still sitting with that feeling of unfamiliarity.

Asherah took a seat and began reading the Lapir. She made three piles with the papers, material requests, orders, and misc. She then organized the material request pile into urgent, not urgent, and unreasonable piles. Putting the urgent on top and the unreasonable on bottom. The Orders came next, she organized those into custom and bulk piles, Custom going on top. Lastly there was misc, papers with too much jargon for Asherah to understand or papers from ages ago [figuratively] and didn't seem pertinent now.

Asherah would then point to one papers with lots of jargon. "Mother what are these? It has a few too many words that are foreign to me."

As Asherah works, her mother occasionally glances over at her piles and nods with her organizational skills.

Eventually, Asherah has a question and Tarisha responds to her daughter,

"These ones? Oh, these are actually Caerish loan-words. This file is all about Kuracos' right to resell the dyes we trade to them, off to the Twin States. Abarion city is actually a co-correspondent here, since they have existing agreements with most of Ghanbar's cities. That's why they are so damn wealthy."

She flips through a few sheets of lapir before pointing to a page you hadn't seen yet. "Read this, instead. It has the same content, but properly translated to Ghanbaran. This wasn't done by us, but by the people who sent us these letters"

The day's work continues...

OOC: I'll leave it up to you how much to go on with this. If you want me to just skip to the next 'thing' we can do that too. Roleplaying doing our taxes is almost comedically boring - but I'm not entirely against it either, XD. I don't know if I've explicitly said it yet, but the next thing to happen soon is that Asherah is going to be sent to Abarion for some reason or another. Now that you're apprenticing, it's probably going to be a work related thing.

Asherah would nod and start checking the papers in the Misc pile for their translations. Even with the translations they were hard to understand, but she pushed through, making another pile for general trade. The bottom layer being existing trade agreements, the second for negotiations, and third [the top layer] for requests. Asherah would work with this much diligence and precision throughout the day. Overjoyed that she was, at last, back in heart element.

OOC:Yeah that'd be great if we could move to the next thing, I've got some hankering for adventure! And sorry this isn't terribly long, I couldn't think of much bc well taxes.

OOC: No problem lol

Asherah works diligently. It's not particularly interesting work, but she is just happy to be spending time with her family again, back in her hometown after a grueling journey.

She had changed in many ways in Kuracos (and later Benashter), but she is also quickly rediscovering her roots back in Hakirrash. Finally, she has hope for the future and is excited to face the coming days!

---

After all the work has finished, Asherah and her family have dinner. Perhaps a bit surprisingly, the dinner is totally normal. No mention of strange titles, or strange feelings. Just a calming, jovial dinner with her family. It feels like she never left.

Once dinner has finished, Asherah goes to sleep.

---

A couple weeks pass like this. Asherah spends time revisiting her old childhood haunts, and they are just as she remembers them. It has only been a year after all, and she hasn't particularly grown taller. Still, it helps her feel like her old self.

During these weeks, Kiyana returns. The happy reunion between sisters is quite short, as Kiyana is quickly taken away by Tarisha to prepare for her union ceremony.

Just several days later, the union ceremony is held. The customs have long been familiar to Asherah, but she also understands a lot more of the context of them, now that she is aware of how it is done in Ghanbar. Definitely, it's a much bigger occasion in her village. The man's family has come over from a local village, as well.

After the traditions pass, a party is held all across the village. This is owing to the fact that the Sha-hakir's eldest daughter has married. Kiyana's partner turns out to be a handsome young man from a nearby village. He is the second son of that village's Sha (leader).

Perhaps Asherah is disappointed or relieved to know that Kiyana will not be entirely absent from her life from here on out. It turns out, part of the deal between families was that the unified pair would spend time in both villages. This fits the man well, as he seems to enjoy traveling. Kiyana accepted this, seemingly because she has love in her heart for both families.

The morning after the party, the man leaves back to his village with his family. It will be a couple months before they return.
As they leave, Asherah catches a glimpse of the other village's Sha bowing and kissing the hand of her father. Nahur waves it off and pats the man's back. She feels like she has seen something she shouldn't have. The other Sha is clearly grateful to Nahur to the point of denigrating himself... Nahur seems a bit embarrassed, but not surprised... Is her father used to this kind of treatment?

From her understanding of regional politics, all Shas are roughly equal. Hakirrash is one of the more prominent villages sure, but not to such an extent. It's getting to the point where Asherah wanders if the War King Raz'Kubir himself would come and bow to her father!

That's definitely not possible, though... No way

Eventually, something out of the ordinary comes up. Joura has to leave for another expedition to the Credi Isles. Asherah has sailed with him before, but she has never been allowed to leave the boat. Joura says that if she wants, she can definitely visit the Isles for real with him next time. How exciting!

The reason she can't go with him this time, is her mother and father have a task for her. With their other mature children away, they need Asherah to head to Abarion to settle a trade dispute. They would go, but are both busy with their own thing. Her mother just tells her to think of it as part of her training to take over her work.

As if presuming Asherah may be curious how the family managed before their kids were old enough, Tarisha smiles and tells Asherah that actually she was away a lot when Asherah was younger - but Asherah just never noticed. She made sure of it.

Just before her journey, Asherah gets her mind turned upside down and inside out as her mother proceeds to recount several times where she was gone for months on end, and Asherah was kept in the dark. Apparently, the thing her father and mother used to do back then was whenever Tarisha had to leave, Nahur would simply keep Asherah busy for days on end, by directing her towards 'interesting' things...

Asherah may be a little embarrased by how easily she was tricked... but children are like that, aren't they?

Regardless, a caravan is soon prepared for her. Hopefully, Asherah doesn't feel as bad about leaving again - as this time she is free to return as soon as she finished her task - which should be a rather simple one. She won't be gone for more than a month, and most of that time will be spent travelling in all likelihood.

OOC: Feel free to make a post here with anything you want to respond to from what I've wrote. If you don't have anything to add, just LMK and I'll make a post in another thread for you to respond to!

Asherah quickly eased back into her lighthearted self as the weeks went by. Even getting in a few pranks that she was quite proud of. Only now she was mature enough to do it with an odd of air politeness and not pull anything on the day of her sister's unification ceremony. Asherah also took to her work like a bee to honey or an Ox to, I don't know, something that's a plant and fluffy? Ferns? Yeah we'll go with Ferns. Asherah took her work like an Ox to ferns. Feeling very chipper once more.

Asherah's sister's ceremony was unsurprisingly boring. Before hand, Asherah had grilled the man with questions and did her best to make it seem like she wasn't grilling him. Afterward, in private, Asherah told her sister that she approved of the man and hopped they would be happy together. Asherah was so happy she even took part in small talk with the other people there. While regretting this action and trying to get away from all the people she noticed the exchange between her father and the other Sha. At first, Asherah was curious, but then something twisted inside her. Asherah wasn't exactly one for anger, but all these secrets were getting her twisted in a knot.

One night Asherah awoke, bed drenched in sweat, panting. As great as Asherah had been lately, she still had nightmares about her time with that old woman. Asherah told herslef it hadn't been that bad, but that didn't stop the occasional nightmares. Tonight even had a few Zajamurs. Asherah decided to take a walk to give her bed some time to dry out, while climbing out her window she had idea. The chest. She remembered it being in her parents room... but she'd remembered it, in the room her mother began her training in. Maybe. Just, maybe-Asherah knew she was to leave for Abarion in a week, but she had to know now. Asherah would go to the room and search. Quietly, making sure to put back everything as it was, she'd do this for maybe an hour. If she didn't find anything, she would head back to bed.

Asherah did her best to behave herself during her sister's ceremony. She did well, in fact. However, it was draining on her - especially since she wanted to return to her old childish ways, now that she was comfortable at home.

Eventually, she decided to take a break from the small talk and investigation of Kiyana's new partner, who seems like an earnest young man.

However, when she comes across the strange show of subordination towards her father, she is reminded again about how many secrets are being kept from her... it feels like a knot in her chest. She fears she doesn't really know her own family.

---

One night, Asherah awakens from some nightmares about Raba Jamazi. She tells herself it could have been much worse, but that doesn't help her feel less traumatized by the whole ordeal.

At some point, her nightmares morph into scenes of herself being ripped apart and eaten by Zajamurs. She wakes up in a cold sweat, and decides she cannot keep sleeping if her mind is going to be this unsettled.

A thought strikes her at that moment, to go explore her mother's workshop, where memories of the chest in her father's room had come into her mind unbidden.

---

Asherah spends a half hour carefully looking through the workshop, but she doesn't find the chest. However, she finds many other things in this room, that is only half-familiar to her.

Many secret compartments are discovered within the room, hiding documents written in strange codes. She doesn't have time to decipher them, but she becomes a bit scared when she begins to think that maybe she shouldn't have disturbed these things.

She tries to put everything back exactly as she found it... But soon, fear grips her heart.
In her half-tired, half-manic state, she hadn't realized it... Her stomach feels like it's trying to escape her body. She might be sick.
The hidden compartments where she found the strange papers... each one of them have thin, almost invisible strings. But, they've been split by her intrusion. Leaving behind evidence of her passage.

In fact, as Asherah backs off, an immense feeling of paranoia grips her.  This whole office... She had though before it was a bit disorganized, but that it followed her mother's system.
But that was all a front. This entire room is an intricate trap, like a spider's web. A trap for any intruders.
Like herself.

Swallowing heavily, Asherah looks over to the piles of lapir she had herself organized just the other day. She hadn't realized until now, she had thought they were the same as she had left them when retiring to bed.
But they are not.
The corners of the lapir, separated into the same layers she had left them, have been turned. Asherah doesn't know if her mother turned the corners after her daughter left, or if she had made small, unnoticeable adjustments while they had worked - to the point Asherah hadn't even noticed things progressively moving towards that specific alignment...
Perhaps, it could be her looking into it too much... But the corners point towards all the secret entrances she has found.
... And the remaining pages point in other directions.... Asherah's heart is racing in apprehension as she traces a line from the corners to a random crate strewn about...

Her entire body tenses as she arrives at a random crate the lapir's edge had pointed to. She opens it up, and it is empty... She feels momentary relief, hoping it was all in her head.
But remembering the fact that there could be a secret compartment, Asherah's hand moves forward, looking for a false bottom.

...

She finds one.
Another secret compartment, containing more encoded sheets. Worse, another nigh-invisible string she has torn by opening the compartment.

...

Another half hour passes, and Asherah has found all the remaining secret compartments. Over two dozen encoded papers, and as many little threads she has broken, revealing her presence.

Furthermore, Asherah also discovers that the encoded pages are themselves bent in strange angles. They point in random directions, but they don't lead anywhere. Perhaps this is a secondary form of code?

...

Asherah does her best to put everything back as she found it.
She isn't confident that she's done even a remotely decent job.

It is way too likely that there is a third or even fourth layer of traps that she hasn't noticed... But still, she uses her shaking fingers to carefully re-tie the torn threads... She tries to place every piece of lapir in the same orientation, but she wasn't paying attention at first and wouldn't have thought to memorize such a small detail unless she had been specifically aware of it beforehand.

It's like going on a walk on the beach and talking about philosophy with someone for hours, and then they turn around and ask you how many times they made slight turns in their course. It's something you could potentially answer if you had been watching their footfalls, but if you were focused on the scenery and conversastion, you would have no idea!

...

As she backs out of the room, hoping even as it seems unlikely that she hasn't left any evidence of her intrusion.

Just as she is about to leave, her heart skips a beat and her breath catches.
Thump, thunk. Thump, thunk.
Heavy footfalls can be heard.
Approaching this building.

She thinks of hiding, but it's impossible. Even crouching under the desk wouldn't really obscure her.
Run away? Not possible, without causing a lot of noise.

Frozen by indecision, Asherah grows more and more tense as the sound approaches.
Thump, thunk.
Thump, thunk.
Thump, thunk.

...

Silence.

The footsteps have stopped. From her estimate, just outside the door.

In that moment, the door opens. Asherah holds back a cry of terror as -

...

Nobody.
It was just the wind.

She must have left the door open when she came in.

Ha. ha.

Definitely.

--------------

As Asherah returns to her room after re-shutting the door to her mother's office, she lays in bed, staring at the ceiling.

Nothing feels familiar.
She has had this feeling a number of times now.
But all these secrets... she's felt like she changed since returning home. But now, she wonders if the reason things feel so different is not because of her maturation, but because she is finally seeing things she could not see before.

It terrifies her.
This sense of unease, of the familiar becoming unfamiliar.

Just as her eyes are about to close, sleep taking her away from this terror...

"SOMEONE IS RIGHT THERE!!" Her thoughts are chaotic.
She had been half-asleep, but now she is wide awake. Her eyes are still shut tight, though.
She doesn't know how she knows. But someone is standing right beside her bed. She is absolutely sure of it. She can almost feel their breath, staring down at her. Their eyes boring into her own...

Unable to resist, she opens her eyes.

The familiar ceiling.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

Phew... she definitely needs to sleep.

Asherah gets up to grab a drink of water, before returning to bed.

And she hits her foot on something that cannot possibly be here.

A familiar chest, adorned with gold and sea-green inscriptions of dragons, swords and crowns.
It is open, and a blood-red light is pouring out.

Asherah's eyes roll back into her head and she faints on the spot.

---

---

The golden sunlight of the seaside village pours in through her windows' shutters.

Asherah stretches, waking up with a content expression.

She feels extremely rested. The last thing she remembers was having nightmares about Raba, and some Zajamurs.
Asherah also vaguely recalls getting up at some point to do something - probably just for a drink of water.

Looking around, Asherah wipes the sleep out of her eyes. Her floor is empty, as usual.
A tiny sense of incongruity fills a corner of her heart, but she barely notices it as she goes about her day.

Today, she has to head off to Abarion. She hopefully won't be away long before she can return.

Truly,
There is no place like home.