Arc 718, 6th of Ymiden
Back in Gunvorton once again, Rynata traced now familiar steps toward the busier district in town. A few townspeople halted their conversation and acknowledged her with either a nod or a friendly wave. Ever since she had met with Shania to secure her place in the developing trade port, word seemed to have gotten out about her. Now, she was less of a stranger and more of an accepted feature of the marketplace. Returning the greetings with a small tilt of her head, Rynata hurried on and disappeared down the street.
With papers in her hand, she had agreed to meet with a housing officer to see about settling a deal on the new property she was looking to purchase. Since she was not used to such grand shopping, it had been no small feat to scrounge up the papers and funds needed for such a thing. Even as she arrived at the agreed upon location, Rynata flipped through the documents in her hand one last time to double check if everything was in order.
The house she came to stand by was certainly a beautiful structure. If she had been worried that the advertisement for it was exgagerating its qualities, her fears were put to rest. With clean white walls, a manicured entrance, and bright windows, the building was quite the estate. Looking back, Rynata could see that the front of the house was across from was the edge of the Hope Street Marketplace. No doubt this location would ensure regular traffic and plenty of people watching opportunities.
As she considered whether or not a sign would be necessary to complete the look, the door of the house was opened from the inside. A smiling woman with her hair drawn back in an ornate clip stepped out and beckoned her up the front steps.
"Welcome! Ms. Ki'Oriq, I presume." The woman reached out and shook Rynata's free hand quite vigorously. "We've been informed that you were interested in purchasing this property. Is that correct?" she asked, gazing expectantly into her customer's Biqaj eyes. "I, Kieda, will be helping you through the process."
"Yes, well, I'd like to look around a little first." Rynata smiled lightly, doing her best not to be muddled by the housing officer's eager expression. With a house like this, one would think the agency didn't need to worry too much about the sale, and yet she could sense the other woman's desire to hand over the keys. "The exterior looks very nice, though. And I don't see a problem with the location, either," she added.
"Of course! We can start on the first floor, if you like. And you'll find that the building is excellently situated. Centralized but not so busy that traffic becomes a disturbance. Please, step right this way." Kieda opened the door and held it open for Rynata to step through.
Once inside, it was a surprise how spacious the front room was. The lack of furniture made the place look all the more airy. However, it wasn't a barren sort of space. Beautiful stairs occupied one corner of the room, and the high ceiling cutting through to the second floor teased the continuation of the stair's dark wood banister. Carefully crafted windows let in sifted light that fell across the polished floor. Walking the length of the room, Rynata turned around to where the officer was waiting by the door.
"As you can see, the interior is just as lovely as the front of the house," she said proudly. "The fireplace here," she said, waving her hand at a large one set into the wall, "will warm most of the ground level during cold seasons. Although I don't expect you'll have much use for it in the coming trials." Stepping over to a door on the far wall, Kieda opened it to a connected room and Rynata trailed after her, still craning her neck to get a look at the upper floor.
The next room and the one adjacent to it were equally empty but smaller than the first. Rynata thought that they would do well as offices and kept this in mind as she leaned close to one of the windows.
"You can see the garden from here?" she asked mostly to herself, eyes on the trimmed trees and the flowerbeds currently colored with light purple flowers.
"Yes." Kieda answered without missing a beat. "The view from the windows in these two rooms would be toward the back of the building where the garden is. From what we can tell, what the previous owners planted are mostly flowering plants and trees. There may be a need to replant some of the flowers in the long term, but for now the garden is in good shape. We can go walk through it later, if you like."
Ushered out into the hall and popping into the dining room, Rynata watched Kieda show off the cozy kitchen and attached pantry. She would need to stick furniture and culinary ingredients in here to make the place seem lived in, but Rynata could sense a good start. Convincing her guide to take her upstairs, the two of them ascended the stairs in the hall to the upper level. This floor seemed mostly to be designed for bedrooms. The winding hall that turned out of sight toward the second set of stairs was lined with similar looking doors. Putting her hand on one of them, Rynata pushed it open to a generously sized room. There was just the one window, and a sleepy air seemed to hang around the doorway.
Walking down the hall, Rynata observed what seemed like one master bedroom and four guest rooms. They were all quite similar in size, though the main bedroom was marked with a circular reading space of sorts set along the wall to the house. Pausing there by the windows, Rynata clicked the heel of her boot thoughtfully against the floor. It was strange to think this building could be hers. A structure on land that could also serve as home. Until now, home was the Blue Wave or the Gilded Siren. Both ships. Though she still couldn't imagine spending an extended period of time in the grand building other than as a place to work, perhaps she would be pleasantly surprised.
"Thank you. Shall we go back down stairs again?" she asked Kieda who had been hovering over her shoulder.
"Yes, but there is a third floor of sorts if you would like to take a look at that." she said. "It will only take a moment," she added, leading the way to the end of the hall.
"Oh?"
Rynata kept close to the other woman's heels and followed her to a short flight of stairs that she had missed before. Going up the steps, she could understand why Kieda had prefaced her tour with the phrase, 'of sorts'. The third floor landing was just one wide room. Something between an attic and a bedroom. However, since it was a little out of the way, Rynata supposed it would do as a storage, unless anyone in the future wanted the high perch of a room. There was a ceiling window opening out onto the roof, and no doubt the stars would make for good company on clear nights.
"This room was meant to serve as the last bedroom, and from my understanding, it was given to the youngest child of the family before." Kieda explained and led the traipse back to the ground level and out into the garden via the back door by the kitchens.
A cool breeze from the storm picking up in the distance ruffled the greenery in the garden as Kieda led her through the garden path lined with flowerbeds and shrubbery. It took a good stroll to get around it, but one never got bored of taking in the various colors and delicate twists of thin tree branches. The most notable tree was one planted slightly off to the side of the house. Rynata was no expert but from the cascading, rich purple flowers, it looked to be a wisteria. Stakes had been set up to help guide the branches in an alluring cascade over a section of the garden.
Standing in awe of the place, for a moment, Rynata forgot that Kieda was still looking to make a sale.
"So, what do you think of the place, Ms. Ki'Oriq," the housing officer asked. For the first time, her voice wavered just a little.
"I think it's perfect," Rynata smiled, presenting the stack of documents to the woman. "It's almost too much, but hopefully I can manage it."
Kieda's face instantly broke into a beaming smile and she relieved her customer of the papers. "If you will follow me back inside, we can take care of the transfer and paper work," she said striding off to once again hold the door for Rynata.
The Biqaj in question massaged her temples at all the work ahead of her, but smiled helplessly and followed her enthusiastic housing officer. At least now she would have a firm foothold for her trading business.
Back in Gunvorton once again, Rynata traced now familiar steps toward the busier district in town. A few townspeople halted their conversation and acknowledged her with either a nod or a friendly wave. Ever since she had met with Shania to secure her place in the developing trade port, word seemed to have gotten out about her. Now, she was less of a stranger and more of an accepted feature of the marketplace. Returning the greetings with a small tilt of her head, Rynata hurried on and disappeared down the street.
With papers in her hand, she had agreed to meet with a housing officer to see about settling a deal on the new property she was looking to purchase. Since she was not used to such grand shopping, it had been no small feat to scrounge up the papers and funds needed for such a thing. Even as she arrived at the agreed upon location, Rynata flipped through the documents in her hand one last time to double check if everything was in order.
The house she came to stand by was certainly a beautiful structure. If she had been worried that the advertisement for it was exgagerating its qualities, her fears were put to rest. With clean white walls, a manicured entrance, and bright windows, the building was quite the estate. Looking back, Rynata could see that the front of the house was across from was the edge of the Hope Street Marketplace. No doubt this location would ensure regular traffic and plenty of people watching opportunities.
As she considered whether or not a sign would be necessary to complete the look, the door of the house was opened from the inside. A smiling woman with her hair drawn back in an ornate clip stepped out and beckoned her up the front steps.
"Welcome! Ms. Ki'Oriq, I presume." The woman reached out and shook Rynata's free hand quite vigorously. "We've been informed that you were interested in purchasing this property. Is that correct?" she asked, gazing expectantly into her customer's Biqaj eyes. "I, Kieda, will be helping you through the process."
"Yes, well, I'd like to look around a little first." Rynata smiled lightly, doing her best not to be muddled by the housing officer's eager expression. With a house like this, one would think the agency didn't need to worry too much about the sale, and yet she could sense the other woman's desire to hand over the keys. "The exterior looks very nice, though. And I don't see a problem with the location, either," she added.
"Of course! We can start on the first floor, if you like. And you'll find that the building is excellently situated. Centralized but not so busy that traffic becomes a disturbance. Please, step right this way." Kieda opened the door and held it open for Rynata to step through.
Once inside, it was a surprise how spacious the front room was. The lack of furniture made the place look all the more airy. However, it wasn't a barren sort of space. Beautiful stairs occupied one corner of the room, and the high ceiling cutting through to the second floor teased the continuation of the stair's dark wood banister. Carefully crafted windows let in sifted light that fell across the polished floor. Walking the length of the room, Rynata turned around to where the officer was waiting by the door.
"As you can see, the interior is just as lovely as the front of the house," she said proudly. "The fireplace here," she said, waving her hand at a large one set into the wall, "will warm most of the ground level during cold seasons. Although I don't expect you'll have much use for it in the coming trials." Stepping over to a door on the far wall, Kieda opened it to a connected room and Rynata trailed after her, still craning her neck to get a look at the upper floor.
The next room and the one adjacent to it were equally empty but smaller than the first. Rynata thought that they would do well as offices and kept this in mind as she leaned close to one of the windows.
"You can see the garden from here?" she asked mostly to herself, eyes on the trimmed trees and the flowerbeds currently colored with light purple flowers.
"Yes." Kieda answered without missing a beat. "The view from the windows in these two rooms would be toward the back of the building where the garden is. From what we can tell, what the previous owners planted are mostly flowering plants and trees. There may be a need to replant some of the flowers in the long term, but for now the garden is in good shape. We can go walk through it later, if you like."
Ushered out into the hall and popping into the dining room, Rynata watched Kieda show off the cozy kitchen and attached pantry. She would need to stick furniture and culinary ingredients in here to make the place seem lived in, but Rynata could sense a good start. Convincing her guide to take her upstairs, the two of them ascended the stairs in the hall to the upper level. This floor seemed mostly to be designed for bedrooms. The winding hall that turned out of sight toward the second set of stairs was lined with similar looking doors. Putting her hand on one of them, Rynata pushed it open to a generously sized room. There was just the one window, and a sleepy air seemed to hang around the doorway.
Walking down the hall, Rynata observed what seemed like one master bedroom and four guest rooms. They were all quite similar in size, though the main bedroom was marked with a circular reading space of sorts set along the wall to the house. Pausing there by the windows, Rynata clicked the heel of her boot thoughtfully against the floor. It was strange to think this building could be hers. A structure on land that could also serve as home. Until now, home was the Blue Wave or the Gilded Siren. Both ships. Though she still couldn't imagine spending an extended period of time in the grand building other than as a place to work, perhaps she would be pleasantly surprised.
"Thank you. Shall we go back down stairs again?" she asked Kieda who had been hovering over her shoulder.
"Yes, but there is a third floor of sorts if you would like to take a look at that." she said. "It will only take a moment," she added, leading the way to the end of the hall.
"Oh?"
Rynata kept close to the other woman's heels and followed her to a short flight of stairs that she had missed before. Going up the steps, she could understand why Kieda had prefaced her tour with the phrase, 'of sorts'. The third floor landing was just one wide room. Something between an attic and a bedroom. However, since it was a little out of the way, Rynata supposed it would do as a storage, unless anyone in the future wanted the high perch of a room. There was a ceiling window opening out onto the roof, and no doubt the stars would make for good company on clear nights.
"This room was meant to serve as the last bedroom, and from my understanding, it was given to the youngest child of the family before." Kieda explained and led the traipse back to the ground level and out into the garden via the back door by the kitchens.
A cool breeze from the storm picking up in the distance ruffled the greenery in the garden as Kieda led her through the garden path lined with flowerbeds and shrubbery. It took a good stroll to get around it, but one never got bored of taking in the various colors and delicate twists of thin tree branches. The most notable tree was one planted slightly off to the side of the house. Rynata was no expert but from the cascading, rich purple flowers, it looked to be a wisteria. Stakes had been set up to help guide the branches in an alluring cascade over a section of the garden.
Standing in awe of the place, for a moment, Rynata forgot that Kieda was still looking to make a sale.
"So, what do you think of the place, Ms. Ki'Oriq," the housing officer asked. For the first time, her voice wavered just a little.
"I think it's perfect," Rynata smiled, presenting the stack of documents to the woman. "It's almost too much, but hopefully I can manage it."
Kieda's face instantly broke into a beaming smile and she relieved her customer of the papers. "If you will follow me back inside, we can take care of the transfer and paper work," she said striding off to once again hold the door for Rynata.
The Biqaj in question massaged her temples at all the work ahead of her, but smiled helplessly and followed her enthusiastic housing officer. At least now she would have a firm foothold for her trading business.
