When One Door Closes...

[Andráska Venora]

"My two natures had memory in common."

• 36th of Vhalar, 716 Arc

• Lowtown was in shambles, with repairs needing to be done every time you turned. The clouds hung low in fat puffs, lightening flashing across the sky while distant thunder rolled. The threat of rain did little to help morale, but they did what they could. A number of knights had gone in to try and fix the mayhem left behind, to reassure the people, but Andras was beginning to feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people needing his help. One street in particular, Saltstreet, lacked doors altogether, along with other damages. Apparently a notice had also been placed by its residents, imploring interested parties to help in their replacement. Each doorway was covered by boards or sheets to keep out the winds and rain of Vhalar, but they still needed to be replaced, the destroyed doors piled up in a splintered mess at the end of the street.
  
  Dressed partially in his Iron Hand attire, Andras held a hand up to wave over a women with sad eyes and tan skin, “My name is Andráska Venora,” he began “I am a knight of the Iron Hand, sent by the king to help the people recover from the war,” he nodded towards the debris around them, “If you or your neighbors have a hammer and some nails, I’d be happy to do the best I can.”
  
  He looked over his shoulders at the only other knight being spared for the street and asked the woman, “Are these the destroyed doors?”
  
  She seemed relieved, and nodded, “Yessir. I believe someone has already arrived. We have a few supplies ready. It’s not much, but…” she sighed, eyes lowering to the ground and Andras patted her on the arm reassuringly.
  
  He wasn’t a carpenter, but he knew he couldn’t let this woman down. First the war, then shadow beasts with nothing between these people and all the things that lurked outside. He straightened, snapping his fingers to his comrade, “It’s going to rain. Take what’s left of the doors and start splitting them up for rations,” Wood resources had greatly diminished as consequences of last season, nothing should go to waste, “Half will go to the city, the rest will be divided among the owners for firewood. These people deserve a hot meal.”
  
  If the other knight was displeased with being given orders, he didn’t show signs of complaint, only nodding obediently, “Yes, m’lord.” These were the few exceptions Andráska naturally took over a leadership position, usually preferring to be left to the background.
  
  Andras nodded and offered a warm smile to the woman who did a double take at the title. She looked at Andráska a bit apprehensively, “The replacements are over here as well?”
  
  “Yessi-I mean, yes… m’lord,” she wasn’t quite sure what to call him, but hurried to escort him. As she lead the noble, Andras’s green eyes scanned the work load. A lean figure with long hair already seemed to be preoccupying himself with the repairs, and something about him was irritatingly familiar.
  
  András thanked the woman and began slipping on his leather gloves, “Need some help?” he moved to reach for one of the new doors and caught sight of the man’s face. He paused, staring for a moment. There was something about this man he recognized, and then beamed a charming smile, “Do we know each other?” András asked, scooping up a hammer and tapping his chin thoughtfully, “Wait, don’t tell me.” He bit his lip, thinking. Had they drank together? No… Unlikely he’d remember him at all if that was the case, “It’s…” he laughed, feeling it on the tip of his tongue, “You just look really familiar.”
  
  He extended his hand, introducing himself nonetheless, “Andráska Venora”.

[Nir'wei]

It wasn't just the occasional pass through Andaris that made the damage throughout Lowtown apparent... it was every single day. All the taverns, all the places he frequented, the marketplaces, the shops and stalls, they were all gone. Even the Lodge, which was supposed to be protected by the knights and the Skyriders, had been hit; after all, they were in Lowtown too, even if it was arguably around the edge. Every day he walked to work, he passed the families that struggled to rebuild their houses and their livelihoods. He passed houses missing doors, windows with their shutters torn open and glass smashed; shards littering the floors and making the young barefoot children that had so often roamed the streets in their playful antics afraid to even leave what remained of their homes. It was heartbreaking. Even without a home of his own, Nir'wei sympathized.

The last straw came as he walked back from yet another hard day cleaning up the Lodge, and stumbled across a familiar billboard. Normally, odd jobs, bounties, other offers would be placed for those wishing to make a little bit of extra cash and help the community - something that had always inspired Nir'wei. Now it was filled. Letters, requests, sometimes even begging scrawled into words were pinned up across it and overflowing onto the outer edges. Most had an offer of money in exchange for help rebuilding part of a house, or a small business, or something else of limited worth. Just one glance around confirmed that there were many more who needed help - but they could not even afford the money to pay someone else to help with the repairs. They relied on nothing but the good will of their fellow residents, and the occasional passing of Iron Hand soldiers repairing the occasional house or building. "Feh." Some good they were. Perhaps if they'd done their job properly, they wouldn't be marching through Lowtown trying to repair the damages they were responsible for in the first place. And yet they had the damn arrogance to associate themselves in any way with Moseke...

He grabbed the first note that he could see, one of the more recent ones, and ripped it down from the billboard. "Replace a door?" The writing was scrawly, likely written with only the ground to steady the thin paper. At first it didn't seem like they'd given the street name, but then as he looked closer, one word peeked out. "Saltstreet." Never heard of it; likely nowhere near his regular destinations. He pulled over a nearby man struggling with a heavy chunk of wood that had once been a supporting pillar; with some considerable effort he helped heaved it back upright, temporarily propping up a straw awning with singed outer edges. "S'cuse me, y'know where Saltstreet be?" It was an automatic response, for some reason, to imitate the Lowtown Andaris dialect whenever he was around - somewhat of a habit, although thankfully his horrible pronounciation went mostly unnoticed.

He wasn't given anything more than a point in the right direction... but honestly, it wasn't far until he found the house regardless. Plenty of houses were in various states of disrepair, but this house had clearly taken a beating. The door was ripped clean from its hinges and smashed into two unclean pieces, scattering splinters all over the street that a young woman was in the middle of cleaning up with a makeshift broom. "You put up this?" he asked as he approached, holding up the letter for her to see. She nodded. He knew he must not have looked like much - he never did, dressed in worn hemp caked in mud and offal from the Lodge stables; but offering his help at least seemed to put a bit of a smile on her face as she led him around the side of the house, where the pieces of door and other wood that'd been stripped from the side of her house all lay over the floor like a particularly confusing jigsaw puzzle. "I'll get right on it."

For a while there was silence. The two halves of the door seemed almost damaged beyond repair; several pieces and gaps were still missing whenever he tried to combine the two halves together, and even then, it didn't look like the broken doorway would accept the door if it were whole. Fixing the two halves together with some of the longer spare planks could at least work as a temporary solution if they could re-set the doorframe, but as he started his work, commotion started. "Hmm?" A young man, dressed in armour. Not the same as what he'd seen the Skyriders wear, and different again from the Sailors. A Moseke Knight, how fitting to work alongside a Sev'ryn. He thought little of it and shifted over to kneel a little further away, offering a space next to him for the man to work - but stopped and straightened his spine not a moment later. "Have we met before?" he parroted, questioning himself more than the knight. He didn't seem familiar, but then again, all he could see was his face. Wait... that face. Ignore the armour and there could be no doubt.

A smile cracked the corners of his mouth. "So, the journalist found himself a new way to get to the front lines, huh?" he joked with a bark of laughter. "Yes, I remember you... didn't notice you in the damn armour, though. You were chasing me and Elyna Burham after we investigated that Volareon." Although he'd disappeared and likely found a better story to write about not a few bits after they'd started at the gates, there was no mistaking that face, nor the incessantly charming attitude he seemed to throw out like confetti at a wedding. "Nice to know your name this time." He grabbed the hand and shook it firmly. "Nir'wei. Now grab that hammer and help me nail this board in."

[Faith Augustin]

There was such a lot to be done and not all of the people were willing, or able, to help. Faith, however, knew that she had a duty to help out as much as she possibly could in the aftermath of the war. After all, she carried with her a lot of guilt about the situation and, as much as she knew that as a slave she could have done very little different, she still worried at the events in her mind. Laying awake at night, she considered if a different word here or an alternative action there would have made a difference to the outcome. It might have, it might have, was what she kept coming back to and the young slave knew that, whilst she had made all her decisions the best she could in the time she was and with the information that she had, she felt that she had a responsibility and a duty to help.

And, Famula knew, Lowtown needed all the help it could get. It was in a dreadful state and Faith had been given permission to go and help So, she had started by going to the Bounty Board, where she had looked for what might be good there. Doors? Missing doors? That worked, she thought to herself, her skill in carpentry would be helpful there. She left the note, in case someone else might come across it, then went and did the chores she needed to do. Having done those she made her way to the address on the notice ~ Saltstreet. She had needed to visit Lowtown a number of times when she was owned by Jamal and, as luck would have it, Saltstreet was the street where she had been sent to deal with a dead body, some months ago now.

So, she made her way and she saw, to her surprise, that there were people already there. Faith's face betrayed the emotions that she felt at that sight, that knowledge that in the darkest times there were people who were willing to help. She felt, quite genuinely, that with the kind of community spirit being shown, there was a very real hope. So, she stepped forward and her sense of pleasure first doubled and then doubled again as she recognised the two of them.

"Good trial" she greeted them both in her usual soft voice and smiled at them in delight. "I am very pleased to see you both again. May I be of some help?" she asked, lifting a hammer with a smile "I have a long history of repairing things and am excellent at planning" she shot Nir'wei a wicked glance but then dropped a very polite (of course) curtsy to them both "Lord Venora, it is a pleasure to see you again. Ser Nir'wei, also. May I assist?" she asked with a genuine smile to the two men.

[Andráska Venora]

"My two natures had memory in common."

• 36th of Vhalar, 716 Arc

• ”Nir’wei! I remember now,” Andráska beamed good naturedly at the dark haired male in front of him, giving the hand a confident shake and releasing his hand. “To be honest, that day is…” he couldn’t remember it very well. After seeing the two, the memory was fuzzy. Had he been drinking that day? There had been a horse – Elyna’s horse… Wait, how was Elyna? The name seemed more familiar since that season, but the noble was sure they hadn’t met since, “Well, it’s kind of hard to remember,” Andras laughed, shaking the thoughts away with a simple shrug, “But you’re sure I was chasing at your heels?” he grinned, stepping away to gather up a handful of nails and picked up the hammer, balancing its handle in his grip experimentally, “You must have been good company”.
  
  Andráska knew he was no carpenter, but nailing something was pretty self-explanatory, right? Line up the little piece of metal, hit it into the wood, and avoid fingers. Easy. He eyed the work to imagine the best way to approach it, but just began to lower himself to his knees beside his new workmate who needed help with the board. He popped two of the nails between his lips, the rest sitting beside him. He plucked one from his mouth and lined it up. Carefully, with the hammer, he ghosted the hit a few times, gently tapping the head of nail and raised his arm to give a better blow when a shadow approached them.
  
  ”Good trial,” a familiar voice said, "I am very pleased to see you both again.” The noble born looked up to see the pale face and bright eyes of Faith – a slave to his cousin, and his mouth faltered open, the second nail falling from his lips and clinking against the board. Like an excited child, he scrambled from where he kneeled and jumped over the work to greet her, “Faith!” The last time he had seen her, she was asleep on a cot after getting jumped thanks to his bad decisions.
  
  With little care if she was a slave or free born, Andráska opened his arms wide and embraced her, “You’re alright! Oh, Faith, I was worried. I-“ Perhaps now was not the time for apologies, and so he hugged her again, twirling her a bit and setting her down, “I’m glad you’re safe, especially after the war,” a seriousness darkened his eyes, but he stepped back to reveal their comrade, “We were just getting started. You know Nir’wei?” he motioned between them, curious, and went to grab extra tools for the girl, “How did the two of you meet?”

[Nir'wei]

To see a familiar face helping out was great. Knowing that Andraska could hardly remember their last meeting... whether he just had poor memory or there was something else going on in the background... well, now he didn't know whether to laugh or feel rather concerned. He'd seemed pretty lucid last time. He looked pretty lucid today. Well, since there was no way of knowing, he shrugged it off with a laugh. "Yep, pretty sure. You were running and stumbling all over the place, begging to join us, oh, it was a spectacle to behold." Nir'wei raised his voice with a cheeky smile, knowing he'd catch the ears of the other knights apparently under his wing. A little good-natured ribbing, nothing more. "Honestly, though, I couldn't speak for myself," he admitted honestly with a hand on his heart, "so you'll have to work that one out for yourself. Who knows, by the time we've finished the door, you might actually find me tolerable!"

Not that it'd take very long, by the looks of things. True, Nir'wei had very little experience in the art of making doors. He couldn't speak for Andraska but he seemed pretty damn confident, nails in his mouth, hammering away like nobody's business. The two could have the door fixed and back up on its hinges in less than a break by the looks of things. "You work on the right, I'll work on the left." Where there weren't enough hammers to go around, Nir'wei picked up what looked like a particularly sturdy flat lump of wood and used that to gently tap the nails down into place, a few harder bashes locking it deep and secure. Down the line he went, one nail at a time, keeping roughly the same distance between each nail, quickly discarding the ones that bent or snapped...

Wait. "Faith?!" He'd absorbed himself so much into the task, it took a moment to actually realize who's voice he was hearing. Nir'wei turned - but Andraska already had his arms wrapped around her like he was bear-hugging her to death. Apparently they knew each-other. A similar revelation about Nir'wei and Faiths relationship followed. "Uhh, yeah." Honestly, their level of closeness was quite awkward to be around. Just how did... oh. Venora. It'd never clicked before. Faith, at some point during their first meeting, had mentioned that she was owned by the Venora family. Andraska's family. So they were so close because... oh. Cogs span. In his blank-eyed stare he almost missed that cheeky little glance in his direction, a light jab that brought a wry smile to his face. "Yes, of course, whatever you say, Lady Faith." Since they were all going to use ridiculous titles for names, he knew it was better to just play along in the game than spoil all the fun. Still... Faith's owner... or at least, one of her owners.

As she stepped up, Nir'wei scooted aside, opening up a space between the two men for Faith to work. Nails, spare pieces of wood and other things were scattered loosely all over the so-called 'construction site'. "Well, funnily enough, we met doing the same as we're doing here. My wagon broke. Faith was walking down the same path and, being the generous soul she is, offered to help. Granted, she nearly killed me-- err, that's a story for another time." He grinned wickedly in a way that shied his face from Andraska for a moment, before returning to normal and pretending like nothing out of the normal ever happened. "So, your turn now; how did you two meet, hmm?"

[Faith Augustin]

Lord Venora saw her and immediately wrapped her in a hug. Faith let out a squeal of surprise, although not of a bad kind and she laughed in delight. "Oh, Lord Venora it is good to see you! I have been worried about you, too, although Master told me that you were fine. Yes, I am fine, I worked as a medic during the battle. I am so pleased to see you" She hugged him back, a fervant and very heartfelt embrace that showed how fond she was of the young man. They had shared a strange adventure and he seemed rather different, she thought, more serious than he had been. But then there was also Nir'wei and Faith beamed a smile at her friend.

When she stepped out of the hug Lord Venora had wrapped her in, Faith turned and hugged her Sev'ryn friend with a brief, but very meant, embrace "Lady Faith is delighted to see you. How are you?" she asked, looking at him with a keen attention to his face. But then? "That is just one version of the story, and I assure you there are others!" She couldn't help but laugh at his teasing of her. They had immediately had that kind of relationship, where they teased and laughed together and Faith was very fond of him, it had to be said. But as to how she and Lord Venora met? Faith smiled and explained "It was when Master had first bought me and he loaned me to a number of his relatives for a trial or two, I think he wanted to show off that he had a new slave. Lord Venora here took me to a party and then defended me when some men tried to hurt me. He was very heroic", she meant it completely and nodded her head, firmly.

"So, doors?" She looked at the two of them and then nodded her head, taking the tools with a "Thank you, Lord Venora. Have either of you hung a door before?"

She hoped so. She hadn't!

[Andráska Venora]

"My two natures had memory in common."

• 36th of Vhalar, 716 Arc

• Andráska raised his eyebrow at the retelling of the stories, smiling and lowering his eyes, “Ah, yeah, something like that,” The memory of meeting Faith was a bit shameful for the noble, embarrassment or regret not commonly found on his strong features. He had broken his promise to not let anything bad happen to her, and hadn't even had a chance to apologize properly, “I'm sorry about that,” he interjected, his eyes shining with sincerity, “Those men treated you disrespectfully. I-” Andras' struggled to find the right words – the words she deserved.
  
  “You might have been born a slave, but no one deserves to be mistreated like that. Not because of something so stupid as status,” His fingers fidgeted with the nails in his hands, his thumb stroking the head of the metal. He brightened slightly at the change of subject, waving towards the door. How unpopular his opinion was among other nobles, and it occurred to him how he could sound. He had no idea what Nir'wei's opinion on slavery was, and could imagine the disdainful looks his grandmother would be giving him had she heard his viewpoint.
  
  Faith mentioned doors. “I have not,” he lifted a bare hand and wigged his fingers, “Carpentry virgin, if you will,” he smirked slightly, gaze flickering between the Sev'ryn and the slave, “Let's see, we have... hinges?” He looked around for the metal piece, imagining of every door he had dealt with up until this point.
  
  “What, we just attach these to the door, attack them to the doorway and hang it, right? Line it up, or...” Andras walked away to inspect one of the doorways in question, crouching to get a good look at he damage. The wood was... a bit splintered from whatever had ripped it off, but perhaps still manageable. “What do you think?”

[Nir'wei]

Perhaps if he wasn't so deeply engrossed in trying to not show the sudden awkwardness he felt for the situation, he might have picked up on some of the not-so-subtle hints of their conversation. Like how Faith referred to 'Lord Andraska' and 'Master' as two separate entities. It wouldn't have done much to raise Nir'weis spirits however; he was still very acutely aware that he was now in the presence of one of Faith's owners. As he cast glances back and forth over the both of them, it quickly became obvious that if there was any hostility between them both, it was very cleverly masked. Either that, or they really were friends - engaging in casual banter, name-calling, playful teasing. From the few conversations they'd shared regarding her owner, 'Master', whatever she wished to call the guy, he treated her fairly and she held very little, if any hostility at all towards him; he'd always thought this just meant that she wasn't abused and she lived comfortably. Not that she'd actually made friends with her captors. The people that literally owned her body. Although Andraska and Faith might have lifted their spirits in one-anothers company, Nir'wei felt almost horrified... but if this was how they were, so be it. It'd be horribly cruel, in public or in private, to protest or even bring up how alien their friendship seemed, if it made her happy and made it easier to cope with her situation.

"Oh, it certainly sounds like it," he agreed with Faith, adding a returning nod of his own. "It's, erm..." he paused, chewing his own words. "It's nice to know that there are those who still believe in the true value of life. Not the price tag that some people have stapled upon it." For a moment, he stared very plainly at Andraska, hoping the thinly-veiled message was understood.

Then, abruptly, the subject changed and he refused to drift back to the topic of Faith's past. "I think you already know the answer to that... only thing I can fix is a bloody wagon, and I only know that from watching you." His eyebrow raised unconsciously at the noble's lewd comment. "Well, perhaps I'm not as bad as that. Let's just say, limited experience." Glancing to the door and then to the door-arch, he hummed quietly. "I think that should work, yeah. The door might need a few bits of wood nailed to it as well, to make sure that it doesn't fall in half, but yeah, that's a quick job. Then get... hinges, hinges..." Lifting the edge of the door to search around for the little metal squares, scooping aside bits of debris, he quickly found one of them - a poxy little thing, a little bent but with metal so thin that Nir'wei had little trouble grabbing it in both hands and bending the edges back into shape. "Yeah. What do you think, Faith?"

[Faith Augustin]

Lord Venora seemed very unhappy with how things had turned out the evening where Master had loaned her to him and Faith really did not understand why. He had protected her most carefully, all things considered and with much more care than was necessary considering her value. His words though, caused a slight smile to lift her lips and Faith spoke, as she always did, truthfully in response to one of the family who owned her. "I believe, Lord Venora, that status is rather like beauty." She did not have any bad feeling about her status, never had and so she said it with a chipper smile on her face. "It is easy to dismiss when one has it and impossible to achieve if one does not." It was easy for someone with wealth and privilege to say that status did not matter, after all. She had no such illusion.

Still, Lord Venora's admittance to being a carpentry virgin and Nir'wei's assurance that he had not progressed beyond cart fixing, and she used both the term cart and fix very loosely, meant that she was probably the most experienced carpenter they had. "Well," the young slave said with a smile to them both. "Since I have attached hinges to doors, albeit coffin hinges and lids, I declare myself the most experienced. The trick is to measure." What they needed to do, she explained, was to make sure that the door fit snugly, but that it fit. It had to close, so the first thing to do was to measure the door and then the frame. She set Nir'wei to do that, measuring the width of the door in five equidistant intervals down the length of it. Then, Andraska was asked most politely to measure the width of the frame especially where the hinges had been.

Then, it was measure twice or three times and sand or chisel once she explained. "We want to put the hinges back where they were. So, we hold the door in place, and mark it with pencil here and here, where the old hinges were, that's right." With them holding it, she marked it. Then it was a case of attaching the hinges to the door, then holding it in place, she explained, whilst they attached the now-hinged door to the lintel of the frame. "But before we do that, we need to use these to just chisel away a small amount of wood, the same depth as the hinge, here, and here, so that the door will be flush." If the hinges were not fitted into the door itself, by nestling in the wood just a few millimeters, then it would leave a gap and measuring the door would have been pointless. There were three hinges and three of them so she would demonstrate on the middle one, which she knew was the most important but did not tell them, and ask if Lord Venora and Nir'wei might consider working on the ones either side.

Once they had chiseled out a small and carefully measured space for the hinge, they could put them in, make sure they were firmly in place and then they would be ready to actually hang the door.

She hoped.

Off Topic

OMG I thought we were waiting for Nir'wei!! I'm so sorry ILY both! <3 Kick me!!

[Neronin]

Review

Nir’wei

Knowledges:
1. Fieldcraft: Making use of all available materials.
2. Carpentry: Joining two halves of wood together.
3. Carpentry: Angling nails to provide a better seal.
4. Carpentry: Fitting complimentary pieces.
5. Carpentry: How to restore a shattered door.
6. Strength: Lift with your knees.
7. Fieldcraft: Repair before you replace.
8. Fieldcraft: Scavenge ideal pieces first.

Location: Lowtown: Saltstreet
PC: Andraska Venora: Member of the Iron Hand

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: Good Deed (+3) Gave extra because it is a time of crisis!
Devotion: None

Points: 15, Not for magic.

Faith

Knowledges:
Carpentry: Making use of all available materials.
Carpentry: Joining two halves of wood together.
Carpentry: Angling nails to provide a better seal.
Carpentry: Fitting complimentary pieces.
Carpentry: How to restore a shattered door

Location: Lowtown: Saltstreet

Loot: None
Injuries: None
Fame: Good Deed (+3) Gave extra because it is a time of crisis!
Devotion: +9 total to Famula (hiss >:}) Service without recompense +1, Maintain position as valuable servant/ slave +5, champion master’s ideals +3

Points: 15, Not for magic.

Andraska Venora

Note: Hey Andraska, just PM me when you have the Review request posted with a link and I will update this! Comments: Damn, nailing a door in with a piece of wood, that’s pretty resourceful Nir’wei I liked this thread a lot. It showed that all the people came together to try to help out in a time of need in Andaris. You’ve got Nir’wei, Faith, and Andraska who all come from different paths and join up here to help for their own reasons. I couldn’t find any grammar or spelling errors that stood out, you guys are all great writers (Duhhhhh)! I loved the prose and the insight into each character that you all provided. Thank you for the thread and please PM me with any questions or concerns