With luck, neither Iriz or Helza are around.  You stop the broom and lift the curtain that lines Master Korim's doorway.

The courtyard outside is clear.  Iriz and Helza must be at evening meal.

It seems like forever since you ate that meal with Zez.  But it's only been one cycle.  Only a third of the way through Low Season.  And what have you learned thus far?

First, you've learned how tired you can get.  The regular chores are enough to weary you.  But the assignments from the Masters have at times been excruciating.  And the sanding...

You never want to polish another jar in your life.  The 'shipment' Zez told you about turned out to be seven hundred jars.  Seven.  Hundred.  And you polished each and every one.  And then they came up with more jars.  How many has it been now?  You have simply lost count.

Then there was your strategy about the Masters.  Well.  You certainly have accumulated information about that is for sure.

There are seven Masters total.

Matah of course.  But you have not laid eyes on him except in passing since you've arrived.  Sometimes you think he's a ghost.

D'Osk, Matah's eldest daughter.  She makes musical instruments, mostly out of old plant fibers or the cured skins and wooden frameworks.  Besides Matah, she is the one you've seen the least of.  She doesn't like to be bothered and Zez seems responsible for her shop.  The couple of tasks she's given you have involved sorting types of wood.  What lesson you should have learned from it hasn't been evident.

Hannu has you help out quite a bit.  As he is a mason and does restoration work, his 'tasks' can be all day, back breaking affairs.  You've had to cart brick and bags of mortars to his various worksites around the village.  But he's probably been the one who has given you the most direct instruction.  Besides giving you lessons in leveling and surveying, he's taught you how to mix a number of adhesives.  It's turned out to be more complicated than you might have thought.

Korim is the other one you've helped out a lot.  She of the jars.  The many, many jars.  Korim is a potter.  Her critiques on your sanding and polishing have at times been blunt.  But you have to admit, it has been on point.  You can truly see a difference in your work just after this short a period of time.

Nazin is the other potter.  She's a nice enough woman.  Not as stern as Korim.  She's also the only Master here who is not a member of the Hiyal family.  She is a 'guest'.  That's all you really know.  Talk about her situation seems to be something that is not encouraged, although you've noticed the Hiyal treat her well.

You've certainly done a lot of polishing for Nazin.  But the problem with Nazin isn't Nazin.  It's the apprentice Helza.  Second only to Zez in senority, Helza is a young woamn with absolutely no doubts in her own abbilities.  None.  And she's been more than willing to tell you why you will never be as good as her.  Zez tells you to be patient.  He says Helza is very...as he puts it..."Overly sure of herself".  But she is flat out arrogant.

Still.  Helza is nothing compared to the third apprentice.  You made the fatal mistake of trying to get some task from Master Olk, the master carver and scrishaw worker of the family.

Iriz let you know in no uncertain terms that Master Olk was her master.  And hers alone.

It's obvious that Iriz has feelings for Olk. And that she is too inexperienced to figure out how to go about getting his attention.  But Olk is either ignoring her or too engrossed in his own work to notice.  It would be painful to watch if Iriz didn't tend to take out her frustrations on you whenever she can.

The last master is Master Yovo.  Yovo is...unique.  Her tasks tend to involve gathering the trash and discarded materials from the other masters and helping her sort them.  Yovo likes to use the left over material to create...well. Sometimes you aren't sure.  She made a breathtaking sculpture out of left over pottery clay, decorated with bits of discarded scrimshaw material.  And then she made a few piles of...you aren't sure what.  Apparently that is how it goes.  For every success she has, there are eight or nine failures.  But she does not confine herself to one craft.  And she seems to have a good grasp of several kinds of crafts.

I'll let you process that.  Let me know what Ailith thinks/has questions on.

As she thought back to the past cycle, Ailith paused her sweeping. She had been interested by D'Osk's work even though she regretted not really having learned much of anything. Not that being able to sort wood was completely useless, but... Well... On the other hand, she had to admit that her interest in that work laid more in the idea of crafting art that makes art itself rather than in making the instruments themselves. Though she wouldn't mind learning more about that at all of course. There again however... It likely had more to do with learning more about sound and acoustics than anything else...

Hannu... She was really ambivalent. She wasn't at all fond of all that carrying and carting stuff around, that was for sure, no matter what it did for her muscles. But he had taught her, a lot actually. Nothing extraordinary certainly, but things that could always be useful and for that she was really grateful. It had certainly been enough for her to regularly make sure he gave her some tasks. Even though she grumbled a lot about it, particularly when she was sore all over.

Korim and Nazin... If she never saw a jar ever again it would still be too soon. At that point, she could sand one in her sleep while blindfolded and with her hands bound. Not that she had much of anything against either masters, far from it: she wasn't particularly fond of Korim but she had to admit that she had been good for her, and she liked Nazin just fine. Helza was a problem of course, but for the most part she just ignored her. Which was likely part of the problem as Helza probably wanted everyone to recognize her genius, but Ailith was too young to see that. No, her biggest problem with pottery was that she found it...well...limited might be too strong of a word but...

Plus, while she didn't like Helza, it was nothing compared to what she thought of Iriz. Helza was a pain in the butt, but she didn't prevent her from working with Nazin. Which, granted, she might have been glad for considering... well... jars. But not only Iriz did so, she did it for a master from whom Ailith was quite interested in. Not so much that she'd force the issue - at least not yet - but she really resented not being able to learn anything from Olk. And the more time passed, the harder she found not doing anything about it. Well that and she didn't know what she could do of course...

And then there was Yovo, and Ailith was intrigued. There was definitely some genius there, to be able to create art from discarded materials, but considering that it was more miss than hit, it could also very well be pure luck. The fact that she was recognized by Matah was certainly a point in her favour but still... She wanted to see more. And the fact that she liked the generalist approach of Yovo was not innocent to her decision: she didn't know exactly what she wanted in the future but right now she didn't want to specialize in anything, she wanted to learn everything, and she really liked Yovo's approach.

The problem of course was that long term... She had to think about how she was going to sustain herself and her house no matter what it ended up being and while she could easily see herself reaching that goal studying with any other master, she wasn't so sure about Yovo. The only thing she was sure of was that it appealed to her.

Which was why she decided to focus a bit more on her: both to see if she'd really like it, to learn more about Yovo as a master, but also and maybe more importantly, to see if it could lead anywhere.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 22):


Thanks.  We will steer down those paths then.

The second evening bell sounds.

When the first bell sounds, the Masters generally close their shops.  The apprentices of course don't walk off at that time.  They have to finalize and clean anything as instructed.  So they usually show up to the dining hall about the time the Masters are finished eatting.

Except you.  With three halls to care for, you usually do not eat the evening meal until around the second bell.  You wonder what warm soup tastes like.

Well.  It may be cold again, but you are definitely hungry.  It was a long day of carting materials between workshops.  But at least it wasn't jars.

You just need to sweep up this pile of dirt into a dustpan and you are done.

"Wait a breath."  You stop as the curtain on Master Korim's shop is pushed aside and Master Yovo walks in.

Her mostly brown coloring has streaks of red mixed in, mostly around the tips of her fingers and back of her neck.  There aren't many who have spotting of such contrasting colors.  Perhaps that is why she is as she is.

She ignores you, staring at the pile of dirt.  Finally she crouches, sitting on her haunches and studies it.  After a breath or two, she reaches out and pinches up a bit of it, rubbing it between her fingers.

"Korim was firing pots today, wasn't she?"

She was.  You were busy sorting out a shipment of plasters for Master Hannu and so didn't have to sand.  But you know she was firing numerous pots today.  The majority of what you are sweeping up is probably grit from the sanding process.

Yovo looks up at you.  "What do you think we could do with this grit?"

Ailith inwardly groaned: she had nothing against Yovo obviously, but still, she could have picked a better moment to… To ask her a question about grit? Uh… While she didn't complain of course, her stomach did so for her.

For a moment, the young female looked doubtfully at the grit she had been about to throw away just moments before, with a marked desire to answer something along the lines of “giving nightmares about sanding pots to a poor apprentice”. Which had been pretty much the only upside of her day's work: no matter how boring sorting plasters was, it hadn't been sanding.

And speaking of sanding, had it been a process done before the pots went in the kiln, Ailith could have found at least an easy answer - maybe as some kind of glue or something… - but such was not the case: it was only done after the pot had been cooked and the clay became ceramic, to remove the last imperfections mostly at the bottom of the piece where there was no glaze. In fact, if it had been done after but on the glazed parts of the pots, she could also have found something to do with it, maybe to add touches of colour somewhere where other pigments wouldn't hold or simply because it gave another look. Which she was actually curious about now that she thought about it.

But for what was - at best - mostly ceramic powder… You certainly couldn't work directly with it. Sounding very doubtful, Ailith said “If you added some kind of binder, maybe water and clay, you could… I don't know, pour that into some kind of mold?” She didn't see what would be the point to use that over straight clay though… And since it was more powder than grains, it wasn't like you could use it for texture or whatever… “Or maybe as some sort of coating to protect whatever is under it?” But there again… what would be the point? She didn't see where varnish or glaze wouldn't work better.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 24):

Yovo nods absently as you speak.  She stares at the grit a moment longer, than sighs, standing up.  "You're right.  At least at the moment.  Sorry.  I'm stuck for an idea.  Shouldn't you hurry up?  You must be starving."

She watches you toss the last pile of trash away, frowning in thought as she does so.

"Now...if I had some emz stalks...Hmmm."

She wanders out of the workshop as you hang up the broom.

Emz reeds?  Those don't grow around here.  They are a tuber fungi that grow along routes of underground rivers.

There are probably a number of things that could be done with them.  But if there aren't any on hand, what can be done?

You make it to the dining hall as the cooks are starting to clean up.  One with a sympathetic nod hits you up some soup and another gives you a plate of fried chips.  You are so hungry, they could serve you gwan shit, and you might find it delicious.

Not really.

As you are consuming your plate, Zez pokes his head into the hall.  He walks over to you.

"How are you?"

You can tell he's got a chore for you.  He's got that look on his face he gets when he has to tell you to do something and doesn't want to, but that's his job as the head apprentice.

"So...have you ever harvested emz stalks before?"

He sits down across from you.

"Master Yovo wants to stock some emz stalks.  I told her there aren't any for sale.  But she's asking we go out and harvest some.  There's one place I can think of.  But it's several clicks away.  You would have to travel overnight.  And you'd have to hire someone from the village and a cart to go with you."

He shrugs.  "Sorry. You want me to arrange for someone?  Or you want to hire someone yourself?  There will be workers in the square tomorrow, and they can arrange a cart for you."

Ailith didn't groan when she heard about her new task. Not at all. Still, before she answered anything, she ate a bit more of her late dinner. She was less likely to say something she'd regret that way. Not quite done, but not really wanting to annoy Zez, she asked, “How can I do that overnight,” as if it couldn't wait for a day or two... She wanted to promise herself that if she ever became a master, she wouldn't do that kind of things... “and wait in the morning to hire someone and a cart?”

She squinted suspiciously. “Unless I'm supposed to hire someone to bring a cart tomorrow to where I'll have worked all night to harvest emz, which I'll add, I've never done before?” Tiredly, she rubbed her eyes. “You know, there are times where I'm really not sure if all of this is worth it at some point.” Especially considering that she'd bet that she would still be expected to take care of her normal tasks when she came back.

With a sigh, she finished her meal and stood up while grabbing her bowl and plate, “I suppose I'll go bother the cooks to get enough to eat to last until I'm back...” And she'd also have to find whatever tool was needed to harvest emz as she doubted a simple knife would work. A billhook should work well enough she supposed. “But yes, if you could hire someone, that'd be good, thanks.” It was a good thing she could trust Zez though: if it had been any of the other two apprentices, she would have had to do it herself. And she didn't want to think about what would happen when Zez graduated from Apprentice to Companion...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 26):

Zez blinks.  "What?  No.  I meant your trip would be overnight.  You don't have to leave until the morning.  But plan on camping at least one night.  There's no reason to walk or work at night.  It'd be dangerous."

He scratches his chin.  "Besides.  You must be exhausted.  No.  All I meant was just plan on the errand taking at least two days."

He cocks his head, looking at you quizzically.  "Are you alright?  You never struck me as some one who...Well. Never mind.  I'll arrange for a cart and drover.  They'll be outside the gate at the third morning bell.  I'll also get a map for you.

"Make sure you do gather whatever material you may need before you go to sleep tonight though.  Not just food.  You'll want to take two good machette and plenty of rope.  And make the worker help you in hauling the harvest back up to the cart.  Don't let him just sit there while you do all the work."

He smiles at you.  "Any questions?"

“Oh.” Ailith deflated, but very obviously of relief. She rubbed her eyes for a second. “Sorry, I'm more tired than I thought.” While she clearly hadn't looked forward to that whole affair, she seemed to gradually find the idea interesting. “Well, that's... a lot better...”

At least she wouldn't have to sweep any floor or get water from the well. It'd almost feel like holidays, even though she didn't know anything about emz. “A map would certainly help,” She nodded then briefly hesitated, “but if you don't mind... Could I come with you to recruit someone? I barely know anyone outside of the masters and apprentices,” some of which she'd rather not know for that matter... “and if he's working for me, it can't hurt if I do it myself. Well, sort of anyway.”

“And I'll try to get everything else as soon as I leave here.” She tilted her head to the side, then asked, “While I'm looking for emz, are there other things I could look for that could be useful?”

In reply to Ailith (msg # 28):

Zez chuckles.  "It's alright.  The way you've been working, you are entitled to a few heated words.

"Sure.  Let's go to the market in the morning.  It shouldn't take too long to find someone.  You should be able to get on your way before midday bell."

He considers and then sighs.  "If it were for one of the other masters...but it's for Yovo?  Who knows what she might find interesting.  Just keep your eyes open. If you see something you think she might be able to work with, and there's room in the cart, grab it."

Zez gives you the key to the storage shed and tells you to make a list of everything you take and let him see it.  Also to make sure to lock up the shed and bring the key directly back to him.

You know you'd need some good machettes and some rope for cutting and securing the emz.  Campling supplies as well.

You may assume the shed has any basic kind of crafting or camping supply.  Let me know if you want to take anything else besides what I listed above.

Thanks

“I will.” Ailith nodded when Zez suggested she pick anything she thought Yovo would find interesting if she could. She briefly worried about what would happen for the things she had guessed wrong about, but she supposed the worst that could happen would be for Yovo to tell her to make something with it… She'd have to make sure she had at least a few ideas then…

In the shed, after a brief hesitation, Ailith started by taking everything Zez had advised, and she made sure that the camping supplies included something to light the place where she'd find some emz since it was apparently under ground plus a towel: should she fall in the water for whatever reason she'd be glad to have it, religiously noting everything she took.

Once sure she had everything she knew she needed, she turned on herself, trying to decide what she might need, things that could help her take anything she thought Yovo could find interesting. In the end, she decided to take a bag or two as well as tools she'd need to extract rocks or crystals, plus a small box or two to protect something fragile.

She took a longer moment to think about it, but decided to stop there: she could likely take everything in there and still fall short of what she'd need the next day, so she might as well stop at things she had a reasonable chance of finding useful. After that, what happened… Well, she'd see the next day.

Satisfied - and after having made sure she had noted everything - Ailith closed the shed's door and went to sleep.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 30):

Zez is waiting for you at the main gate.  He nods, yanwing, and the two of you head towards the market square.

There's already activity even though its still dark out.  Merchants are setting up their stalls.  Some hunters are bringing in freshly caught govas and ozubeks.  One party even has a yursh strung up on a cart.

It looks like laborers are queueing up in one corner.  Zez sighs.  "I was hoping Dovel would be here.  But someone must have gotten him first.  Let me see."

He points at a woman with rather thick arms.  "Gola.  I thought she had married into another village.  Master Hannu hires her a lot. I do not know if she has any experience with overnight travel. But she can handle moving a lot of stuff."

He next indicates a tall, thin man with sinewy limbs.  "Adved.  Not the most trustworthy sort, but he will not want to anger Master Matah by abandoning or cheating an apprentice of the Hiyal.  He is a decent worker and I know he gets hired on by a lot of hunting parties.  So he does know how to travel outside.  Just be weary of what he says."

He glances over the rest and finally points out one more man.  A little heavyset, though it seems more muscle than fat.  "Ozcow.  He is what I think of as a good all-around fellow.  Pleasant to talk to, though he does like to talk.  But if he is available and I cannot find anyone who suits, I usually chose him.  He always does an adequate job, no matter the task."

Zez shrugs.  "You can talk to the others yourself if you like.  There are some I am not familiar with.  Just stay away from that one and that one.

"I will let you negotiate the fee.  I can authorize up to eight tokens total.

"The cart will usually run around three or four tokens.  Make the worker responsible for obtaining the cart.  They'll have more contacts to draw from and be able to get a better deal than you will.  They will ask for the tokens on the cart upfront.  It is a reasonable request.  No one rents a cart and animal on faith.

"Worker usually only gets one token for a day's work.  But it is an overnight trip outside the village.  So there is that to consider.  Try to keep the total to six or seven tokens total.

"Questions?"

Ailith listened attentively to everything Zez told her, particularly when he talked about the fee, even though she would have gladly spent the whole morning running around the market to see everything. Once again however, she could only hope that she would soon be free to use her days as she wanted. Or at least, have some freedom. “Six or seven tokens, uh…” And if she waited, she would have little choice and the price might go up. Which meant trouble if she didn't make the right choice straight away…

Still, it wasn't like she hesitated: she didn't want someone she'd have to be careful about all day long so not only Adved was out but she'd have to remember to try to avoid him in the future. Or at least, avoid to have to depend on him if she could afford to be picky. Which meant either Gola or Ozcow.

While she had nothing against the former, she decided to go for Ozcow: she wouldn't mind having someone to freely talk to after so many months being unable to. Plus, if he knew a bit of everything… Well, it'd go well with Master Yovo and he might be able to help her for things that didn't directly require moving the cart around. Before she left Zez's side, she smiled up to him. “Well, let's see how I do, thank you for your help.”

Then, she headed towards Ozcow in a straight line. When she drew close to the massive male, she looked impressed for a second then shook her head to focus on the present. “Good morning Ozcow. Master Yovo…” She paused, wondering if she had to add the 'Hiyal' after that… In the end, deciding that better safe than sorry, she continued, “Master Yovo Hiyal has asked me to harvest some emz. I'm told I should plan on an overnight trip, would you be available for this?”

She paused to let him answer her question - after all, while he was obviously available for the day didn't mean he didn't already have something planned the next day - then continued, “Great. I will let you procure the cart we're going to need if you don't mind, I'm sure you'd get much better results at this than I would.” Which wasn't all that difficult since she didn't even know where she'd be able to get one in the first place. “All around, I'm prepared to offer five tokens for this.”

Of course she didn't expect him to agree straight away: while not insulting, five tokens was the price for two days of work and some luck on the cart's cost and nothing else but she didn't want to let him think she had no idea of what she was doing which could push him into taking the price too high and leave her unable to change much of anything about it. Still, knowing what one was doing was one thing, being forceful another which was why she concluded with “Would that suit you?” She fully expected an increase of at least a token, in part for the night and possibly for the cart. For the seventh, she wouldn't disagree with it straight up, but would make it conditional to the results of their small trip, sort of an incentive.

After all, if Ozcow liked to talk, it wouldn't hurt at all if he talked about her as someone who knew what she was doing, who was reasonable and perfectly willing to sweeten pots in the right circumstances. It might not be all that useful, but it certainly wouldn't hurt.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 32):

Ozcow blinks rapidly and nods when you mention the Master.  "Yovo, huh?  She does like the odd jobs, does she not?

"Hmmm.  A trip out of the village?  Your timing is good young Ma'am.  My wife is very angry at me.  She should not be.  But you cannot tell her that.  So a little trip out of the village might be a good thing, right?"

He laughs.

"Five tokens including the cart?  Well. I would want a token for each day and...a half token for each night.  So if we come back tomorrow, two and a half for me.

"I do know some men with carts, yes.  But I have to ask:  how much emz are we going after?  Do I need to get a large cart and big animal?  Or will a smaller one do?"

You know emz is usually cut to the length of a leg and then bundled up, with about twenty to thirty to a bundle.  Zez shrugs when you ask how much Master Yovo wants or how much might be available.

"I have not been to that part of the underground river in several years.  So I do not know how much is available. I would say you would want at least four bundles.  But cut as much as you can."

You can give Ozcow a number of bundles you would like to obtain and let him judge the cart based on that.

Zez hands you a map showing the location of the underground river entrance.

"You will go a half day to the north, then veer to the west once you spot the Old Fammily Mountain range.  You will look for these hills here.  Travel along the eastern border of the hills until you spy a mountain with a large, blue rockface on one side.  At the bottom of the rockface is a cave.  There should be markers in the cave that will lead you to the shores of the river.  The emz will be along the bank.  I would guess you will spend today finding the place and setting up camp.  Cut what you can, but plan to cut most of it in the morning.  Head back no later than midday.  You do not want to camp again overnight.  That alright?"

“That she does.” Ailith nodded emphatically about Yovo liking odd jobs. But… maybe those were the best jobs. She blinked a couple of times when Ozcow mentioned his wife, deciding that she would have to avoid that subject… assuming he didn't spontaneously tell her all about it over the next couple of days of course…

Two and a half tokens for him was reasonable she supposed. Though there was the details of the cart to take into account obviously. But all in all, she should be able to stay well within Zez's preferred budget. She wasn't sure what to think about four bundles - besides making sure Ozcow knew about it and went about finding the necessary cart - but she'd see soon enough how troublesome that was.

After that, she listened attentively to the head apprentice's instructions. Finding the cave didn't sound all that complicated - especially with two pair of eyes - and as for the river if it was marked as it should be, she should be able to get to her destination easily enough. After that…

“No camping overnight, understood.” The young female nodded, but she looked pensive. She would have to try to get the emz as fast as possible - while making sure to not butcher the plants - to keep some time to look for other things that Yovo could help. Some things like stuff she could use with the potters' grit would be great - though she still had no idea what it could be - but anything else could be nice too: the blue rockface sounded interesting for example.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 34):

Just to make sure I didn't confuse poor Ailith, Zez is only talking about avoiding a second night of camping.  She will have to camp out at least one night.  Sorry if I confused you.  Thanks

Ozcow meets you at the gate to the village a little later than expected.  "Sorry," he says grinning.  "These beasties took some coralling," he says, nodding at the two k kels.  The dray animals just flick their tongues at you and watch you with a bored expression as you and Ozcow load the cart.

Setting out doesn't take long.  You realize the village is out of sight before you know it.  Part of the reason is Ozcow's very competent handling of the cart.  He seems very good at keeping the k kels on task.

The other part is the way Ozcow drones on.  He is a talker, no doubts there.  By the time you have spotted the hill line you are looking for, you know all about his children (two sons and four daughters), the reason for the fight with his wife (he ate the last of the pickled eggs without telling her.  It apparently is an ongoing issue they have fought about before), and why it is better to buy clothing made from green dyed materials as opposed to red dyed materials.

There were probably a couple of other topics of conversation in there.  He tends to jump topics.  It isn't always possible to keep up.

It is about an hour until dark when you find the rock cliff and soon spy some cave openings.  Ozcow starts to set up camp while you look into the closest couple.  It looks like two entrances to the same system.  Both have markings on the wall.

Both caves open onto a main passage which slopes down.  It will probably take about a half hour to head down it to the river.

You do have a torch.  So it is possible to head down to the river, either to start the cutting or just for a recon of the area.  Or you can leave it until the morning.

That's what I understood, no worries!

From time to time, at least at the beginning of the small trip, Ailith tried to orient Ozcow's pretty much incessant talk in directions she was more interested in: the villagers - she knew so few of them despite having spent so long there already, the village itself, but also the Interlopers. She had been so focused on her work that she had barely had the occasion to ask anyone about that. Now that she had someone as talkative as Ozcow on hand, she wasn't going to ignore the opportunity.

Once they had arrived at their destination, Ailith considered the mouths of the caves for a moment. On the one hand, she wasn't particularly eager to go inside and would much prefer to take advantage of the light to look around and see if there was anything that might catch her eyes. On the other, if for some reason there was a problem in the caves the sooner she knew about it, the sooner she'd be able to do something about it.

In the end, with a sigh - and fervently wishing someone would be accepted as the newest apprentice as soon as possible - Ailith took a torch and went inside to scout the emz fields: she couldn't really take the risk to mess things up after all.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:25, Wed 14 Oct 2020.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 36):

Ozcow is more than willing to talk.  He talks about some of the other families in the village.  A few of the other workers.  You make mental notes about the names and situations I'll feed you that information as it comes up

He doesn't know much about the Interlopers.  The Hiyal and elders met with them in an empty house at the edge of the village.  There was great pains taken to keep those not involved in the talks seperated from the Interlopers.  A woman named Qisa did wait on them, serving food during a meal break.  She stated they looked rather odd.  Like people with faded colors and skin way too smooth.  But they were polite.  Their voices came out of a small box they wore around their forearms.

Ozcow sets up camp while you descend.  The two caves both open onto a main tunnel that slopes downwards into the ground.  Soon, you can hear the lapping of the water as well as smell it.  The air gets pleasantly cool.

The tunnel levels out on a ledge.  The ledge juts out over the river, the dark water glinting dully from the light of your torch.

There is a small path to your right which leads down to a bank that runs along one side of the river.  Heading down it, you come to what used to be an old bridge.  The span has shattered in places.  Perhaps there was a quake at one point in time, though this area isn't known for them.  But as long as you pay attention, you can make it across.

On the other side of the bridge is a large open space, laying almost level with the river.  Water seeps over the side and floods the ground up to your ankles, making this area ferttile.

Emz stalks shoot up from the ground here.  Pale white wooden like tubes.  In the torch light, their joints softly gleam in a subtle rainbows.  The stalks secrete a thin sap which is fairly prismatic.  It is probably part of the reason Master Yovo wants to work with it.

Emz is sturdy once it has dried.  But the sap will also soak into the outer wood and stain it in interesting patterns.  It is impossible to foretell what color the wood will stain.  That is part of the charm of the material.  It is always a mystery how it will turn out.

As you take some measurements, trying to figure out how much you can cut, you hear a splashing sound.  It seems to be coming from the river, somewhere downstream from you.  It sounds like something large breaking the surface and then diving under, only to repeat the process.

There aren't any predators in the underground rivers you know of.  And even if there were, you shouldn't have much to fear.  But it is odd.

As far as Ailith was concerned, the trip was already a success: in those few hours she had learned more about the entire village than she had in the previous months spent cleaning shop or drawing water from the well. Or sanding things that shall not be named. Now, all she had to do was make sure Yovo had what she wanted, which would admittedly be the most difficult part of the trip.

At least when she saw the emz stalks she understood why the Master was interested in them. The colors were really intriguing and if it stuck that well to wood... For a moment she considered what it would give applied to ceramics as a glaze or maybe incorporated directly in the clay, somehow...

She was however drawn away from her thoughts by the sound of something splashing in the river. She froze for a moment, waiting to see of it had just been her imagination or if she had really heard something. When it happened again she had her answer, but one she wasn't sure she liked much as she had no idea what it could be. Probably not something dangerous, but... Cautiously, her torch held to the side so as to not blind herself, she advanced towards the river to try and see what was causing that noise.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 38):

The splash is coming between long intervals.  You count one breath.  Two breaths.  Three...

At the edge of the torchlight you can see the river's surface troubled.

Something rises up and then quickly submerges.  Your view isn't the best.  It's too far out in the river and not rising far enough above the surface.  But it looks like some kind of column, maybe as thick around as your leg.  It is dark colored, perhaps jet black.

As you count breaths again, it takes as long as you to start to draw a fourth one before it rises again.  You get a slightly better view.

Yes.  Some kind of column.  Black...metal maybe?  It is only rising about three hands above the water before quickly pulling itself black under.  But near the top, along one side, is a small circle that your torch light caused to glint.  Maybe it is glass of some kind.

The column goes back under the surface.

When she saw the column - or more precisely, when she realized that said column was definitely not an animal - Ailith froze: with an animal, she would have known how to react. Granted, she might not have been able to for one reason or another, but she would have known.

With that column-thing however, she had no idea. At some point though, it became obvious that whatever it was it wasn't going to bite her, so she started to cautiously approach to get a better view of it.

Once as close as she could get without stepping in the water, Ailith stopped to consider the thing: could it be something that Master Yovo had placed there before she asked her for some emz, knowing full well this would be the place she would go to?

It didn't make a lot of sense - she couldn't make head or tails of the purpose of such a test - but on the other hand… what else could it be? Going back for second or two, Ailith picked up a branch or a pebble or two and tried to poke the column with it: the noise it'd produce would likely at least tell her what it was made of.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 40):

The column is about twenty feet out into the river from the closest point on shore.  You aren't sure how deep the river is.  But you doubt you could wade over to it.  That is if you wanted to.

As you lean the torch closer, you feel pretty confident that the column, outside of the 'eye' in the top center, is some kind of metal.  But it seems to be fairly smooth.  You would need to inspect it closer, but whoever smithed it is a Master.  The lack of any kind of sign from a mold like a crease or seam seems unlike anything you have seen before.

Not that you have seen overly much finely wrought metals.  Smiths are a rare artisan.  Two villages pretty much hold the monopoly on them.

The 'eye' is even more interesting.  It is some kind of crystal obviously.  The way the torchlight catches it makes that obvious.  But it doesn't seem to be glass.

Yovo is a Master.  But this...this seems beyond her.  Or anyone at Hiyal.  Maybe Matah.

But who is raising the column up from under the water?  You can't tell.  Someone or something is making it rise at irregular intervals.

You find a few pebbles.  The first two miss.  So much for your targeting practice.  But you get a satisfying CHUK as the third one strikes the column right on the top.

The column whirls around, the 'eye' seeming to stare straight at you.

The column shakes a little.  It starts to sink.

As it does, light pours out of the eye.  Not a lot.  But a distinct blue glow emanates outwards.

As it submerges, you can see the blue dot under the surface of the water.

You should have a few breaths before it resurfaces.  Hopefully.

Ailith was really beginning to have doubts about this having anything to do with Yovo when she finally hit the column - which, granted, she had been trying to do - and elicited a reaction from it - which she had not been planning on. After a few seconds once more rooted on the ground while it…looked?… at her, she jumped back.

She didn't know what it was, much less what it was doing there, but she didn't want to be at the exact same spot the thing had…seen…her standing on. And being closer to the exit wouldn't hurt. Surely whatever it was it couldn't follow her right? Columns were not known as great predators after all. On the other hand, neither were they known as being made of metal. Or moving. Or…looking at people.

Maybe she ought to take a few more steps back just in case…

In reply to Ailith (msg # 42):

The column rises as you scamper back a little.

The 'eye' is a definite shade of blue.  Like an oil lamp with a shaded screen around the flame.

The column revolves, like it was looking around.  Then it starts to submerge again.

Except this time, the column starts to shake.  It rises before it goes all the way under, up a height it hasn't reached before.  It stays there, trembling at the top of its height.

The water around its base suddenly starts to roil.  A large splash rises up and then another, throwing droplets of water far enough to caress your cheek.

Then the column suddenly falls, shooting back under at its fastest rate yet.  Like someone had cut it's base out from under it.  The blue light is still visible below the water.  But its like a little dot.

The water stills after a while.  Its been twenty breaths and the column isn't reemerging.

Ailith jumped up when the column suddenly rose from the waters and quickly took a few more steps back. She stopped pretty soon though, as it became pretty clear that the things couldn't get on the ground.

When it disappeared, she watched from where she was for a moment. Then, she started to hesitate: should she go back and…and do whatever about it? Or… Or should she try to see what that was all about?

Alright, saying that she hesitated would be overstating it: it was more like she considered the option first and immediately rejected it. Instead, pushed by curiosity, she cautiously took a few steps forward to try and peer over the ledge into the waters and look for some kind of explanations into what exactly the thing was and what it was doing there exactly. Still, she picked a couple of pebbles on the way: it hadn't seemed to do much and probably wouldn't do anything, but Ailith felt better with something in hand.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 44):

The water of the underground river is clear and fresh for drinking.  But the rock and shadows of the cave override the transparency.  It's like staring into a rock wall.

That said, there is something down there.  A large area darker than the rest, with the blue dot right at the center.

The shape is very symmetrical.  It's more or less like a large barrel, though one about three carts long and two carts wide.  It isn't moving.  Other than the column, which at the moment is also not moving.