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'15th of Roalis, the Dives. Aodh Elzo pays a call on Ava Weaver.'

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A large forest in Central Anaxas, the once-thriving mostly human town of Dorhaven is recovering from a bombing in 2719 at its edge.

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Aodh Elzo
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Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:43 pm

15th Roalis, mid morning



Firebrand nodded, Silk was right. Jon Serro, the shadow at the head of the Resistance in the city.
He was puzzling out how to get a meeting, when the bell on the shop door tinkled. Aodh's body braced and when Ava shot him the tek signal for ‘galdor’ his hands formed into gnarled hard knuckled fists, ready to fight.

As Ava left the back room Aodh ran through his options in a split second. It sounded like the galdor customer wanted the back room, he muttered to himself ‘Shit’.

His house breaking instincts kicked in, Aodh moved silently over to the curtain at the back of the room.
Aodh slipped behind the curtain, there was a flight of stairs and one down, no back door ‘shit, ah well’ he muttered again and crouched on the second step down and waited, alert and listening.



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Ava Weaver
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Tue Aug 27, 2019 8:57 pm

Mid-Morning, 15th Roalis, 2719
Woven Delights, The Painted Ladies
One heartbeat; another. Ava smiled and nodded. “Of course, madam,” she promised, thoughts racing behind a smooth veneer. There were several exits from the room that did not lead through the shop, but she did not think Aodh knew of either the stairs that led up to her room or the secret locked door tucked beneath a curtain panel off to the side.

She would, Ava thought, try to give him a few moments to figure it out. Otherwise, she would make her excuses, but it might well cost her a sale to bring a galdor into a room with a wick. Ava didn’t like the idea of gambling on this woman; she was nearly certain it would not go well.

“Perhaps we might look at a few colors together first?” Ava suggested, smiling. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, it would be very helpful to have some guidance.”

“I shall give you guidance,” the galdor said sharply, “when I am seated with some samples to look at.”

“Of course, madam,” Ava curtsied again. She stepped back to the door, slowly, one careful step at a time. “This way, please,” She stepped through the door, glancing through the room - no sign of Aodh, she thought, with a dizzying rush of relief - and held the door open from the inside, smiling smoothly.

The galdor stepped into the back room, sniffed audibly, and sat on one of the couches. She crossed her legs at the ankle, raised her eyebrows at Ava, and said, “Well? Shall I wait all day?”

“My apologies, madam,” Ava said smoothly. She retreated from the room, a careful, deliberate walk which was not quite backwards, but meant she never turned her back on the galdor either. 

Outside, Ava studied the rows of fabrics. Vibrant but not bright. The galdor had reddish-blonde hair; violet was not, Ava thought, a bad color on her. She selected a pale summery green, first, and then a sharper yellow-orange. As her third choice, Ava selected a magenta. All three were rich, expensive silks. She carried them into the back room, and tried not to look at Aodh’s case sitting next to the counter.

“May I show you these, madam?” Ava asked with a smile. She started with the green, smoothing it out over the table.

“Good lady, no!” The galdor gasped. “Do you want me to blend into the grass? This is hideous.”

Ava folded the silk back up, carefully setting the roll aside. “My apologies, madam. Would you care to tell me more about the occasion?”

The galdor just glared at her.

Ava nodded. She set out the second fabric, the yellow-orange.

“No,” the galdor said. “Absolutely not. Absolutely not! I said not bright! This is far too yellow - It will pick up the yellow tones in my hair. Good lady, I had actually heard you were good at this!”

“My mistake, madam,” Ava said, deliberately letting her smile flicker and fade, her gaze lowering. “Perhaps I had better not - I’m not sure about this last one,” she lowered her gaze, setting one hand on the roll. “Allow me to just -“

“Show it to me,” the woman snapped, imperious.

“Of course, madam,” Ava folded the yellow-orange up, and set it off to the side. She lifted the magenta, and spread it out on the table, smoothing it.

The woman’s lips pressed together. “Naturally, you would be unsure about the best of them,” she snapped.

“You like this one better?” Ava asked, softly timid.

“Well of course!” The galdor reached out, tracing the darker pink with her hand. “I suppose the quality is not too poor?”

“No madam,” Ava promised. “It is Anaxas-made silk.”

“Good,” the woman exhaled. “I am sick of this fashion of going with the Mugrobi silks. Everyone makes such a fuss over the quality, but I find them unbearably hot in the sun! You would think Mugrobis could at least make something wearable outdoors.”

Ava nodded, murmured something soothing about how terrible it was.

“Well,” the galdori exhaled. “Bring me a few more like this - you must have brighter and darker shades, yes? And please be quick! I must have the dress all ready before Blackthorn’s party.”

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Aodh Elzo
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Wed Aug 28, 2019 6:23 pm

15th Roalis, mid morning
From where he crouched in the dark, silent and still Aodh could hear the slow approach of Ava and the galdor customer and listen.

The more the galdor spoke the angrier Aodh got, his jaw creaked as it clenched.

What gave this jumped up jent bitch the right to talk to a person like this? What gave any of them the right? Nothing but birth, one day, one day the boot would be on the other throat.

Unearned privilege and superiority, these were the pillars of this corrupt society. That and the broken backs of the poor who held it up with bloody hands.

Aodh had rose to his full height, an anger burnt in his eyes.
He could deal with this when it was directed at him, avert the eyes, fake respect, doff your cap and call um sir or madam and thank um for whatever abuse they threw at you.
Aodh let out a slow quiet breath, counting down from ten inside his head and returned to his crouch. Not yet, not today…
'Blackthorn's party.'
At this his ears pricked up and he grinned wolfishly in the dark.
'Well well well' Aodh thought to himself, 'here's providence'.

He settled back to listen, and see what else could be learned
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Ava Weaver
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Thu Aug 29, 2019 11:36 am

Mid-Morning, 15th Roalis, 2719
Woven Delights, The Painted Ladies
Ava felt the tension of the moment somewhere deep inside. Not a flicker of it showed on her face, but she had to fight the impulse to ask, and fight hard. There were times when the overlapping layers of her self did conflict one another, when she had to make choices. More than once, of late, she had stared those choices down and brought herself to bear against them, pitted all that she in an effort to conquer them.

This was not one of those times. Ava’s breathing did not flutter or catch; her smile stayed smooth on her face. She could find the thin seam where she was stitched together, and slide smoothly along it, careful step by careful step.

“Of course, madam,” Ava’s voice held the bright pleasure of a shopkeeper with an enthusiastic client, one who sees the light of a sale at the end of the tunnel. She rose and hurried from the room, dress swishing neatly around her. She carried the two rejected fabrics with her, careful to remove them from the galdor’s sight.

There was no time for a deep breath outside, no time to calm and gather herself. Ava could, and did, think perfectly well while gathering fabrics. She crossed to the shelf of silks where pink bled into purple, and traced her fingers over the silks, eyes fixed firmly on the fabrics. Anaxi-made, she told herself, and briefly lost the battle against her smile.

Ava returned to the back room with another armful of fabrics and a too-eager smile. “Perhaps one of these will suit, madam?” She knelt, and carefully folded up the magenta, setting it to the side of the table - not hiding it, but rather glad to let it be a point of comparison.

“I thought this might look rather well,” Ava offered, smiling, as she spread out a paler pink.

“Too... girlish,” the galdor shuddered. “No, the magenta is much better.”

“Yes madam,” Ava agreed. “You’re right - it is much more dignified.”

“Yes,” the galdor agreed, an obvious tone of ‘of course’ in her voice.

Ava let the comparisons and conversation draw out, slow and careful. Once or twice she nearly flinched back, here or there, when a carefully chosen phrase felt too bold, too incautious; but what seemed blatant to her never seemed to cause the faintest flicker of constraint across the galdor’s face.

By the time they were measuring out lengths of the magenta fabric - the original one, as Ava had known it would be for some time - the galdor was chatty, conversational, if never without the edge of condescension.

“And Blackstone has invited all these jumped-up merchants, if you can believe it,” the galdor sniffled. “Good lady, it’s one thing to have to put up with all these politicians during the rainy season - one hardly knows the families of half of these incumbents - and now, just when Roalis is upon us and we ought to have a break from such nonsense, Blackthorn decides to throw a party for merchants.”

Ava murmured something inconsequential, a careful phrase that agreed without presuming to know. Neither of them cared about it.

Aodh would have plenty of other gossip to sift through by the time Ava finished the transaction, the promissory note signed by the galdor and the name of her tailor tucked away, all in the back room.

Ava led her out through the front and smiled as she left, letting the door close behind her, the chosen silk on the counter at the back of the front room. Ava gave the back door a gentle ‘all clear’ rap, and took out her weights and silk shears, pulling the length of the magenta fabric across the counter, eyes flicking over the fabric as she counted and measured.

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Aodh Elzo
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Thu Aug 29, 2019 7:23 pm

15th Roalis, mid morning

The words floated over Aodh where he waited in the dark eyes closed. He could almost see them, relevant phrases picked out in soft gold in his mind's eye.

There was still a lot to work through, still work to be done but yes, here was providence indeed. If Aodh had been the praying sort he'd of offered a prayer of thanks. Instead he touched the small silver harp pendant he wore around his neck on a leather cord.

When the all clear came Aodh dragged himself from his revelry and stood and stretched the stiffness from his limbs and back. As he walked out from behind the curtain he had to blink a few times for his eyes to adjust to the light, as he came into the shop proper he gave Ava a broad smile.

"Now how's that for a bit of luck? So our man Blackthorn is throwing a party for some merchant pals?"

Aodh rubbed the his pointed beard in thought.

"To curry favour an' shore up his shaky prospects you reckon?"

He leaned against a rack of material, still smiling slightly as he watched Ava.
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Ava Weaver
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Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:50 pm

Mid-Morning, 15th Roalis, 2719
Woven Delights, The Painted Ladies
Ava pulled the fabric carefully taut against the counter, and stretched the measuring tape out one last time. She lined her long straight edge, carefully, and held the silk in place with a graceful hand as the other reached to set the first of her weights on the far end of it.

Ava glanced up from her work and grinned back at Aodh, broadly and properly. “Couldn’t have been better,” Ava’s eyes glittered in the shop’s soft light.

Her hands never lifted from the silk, holding it carefully and precisely in place. Neither had she tried to do anything new while looking away; only once she had turned her gaze fully back to the silk did Ava began to work again, careful and precise in the placement of her weights. Silk always needed careful delicate handling; the magenta was so exception, as tricky as it was lovely.

Ava set the last of her weights down, gently, and lifted her hands from the silk. There was a moment of tension in the air, and her eyes skimmed the fabric, as if waiting for it to shift - but it held, and there was no mistaking the faint flicker of self-satisfaction across her face as Ava turned to Aodh.

“It could be a sort of...” Ava frowned faintly, deliberately, letting Aodh see that she was thoughtful - letting him see that she was unsure. “A kind of trade, if he is inviting merchants into society in exchange for a loan. I don’t think so, though,” Ava looked back down at the silk.

Ava picked up the shears. She checked the measurements one last time - checked the weights too - and began to cut, slow and careful and precise, what looked like the whole of her attention focused on the delicate fabric.

But - even as one hand held her steady and the other worked the shears slowly, steadily through the fabric, Ava spoke again.

“I think it’s more likely he is trying to show how financially stable he is,” Ava said, thoughtful. “Doubling down, I reckon,” she held still for a moment, peeked at Aodh, his accent slipping between her words, and raised her eyebrows with a faint grin. It lasted as she turned back to the fabric, the smooth motions of her hands picking back up where they had left off.

“There must be something he wants, very badly,” Ava finished her cut, the last strands of fabric sliding apart. She set the shears aside and picked up the weights, one by one. The fabric pooled and curled without them, sliding freely against the table. Ava folded up the rest of the roll, set it down against the ground, and tucked the cutting and measurement implements away.

Only then did she bundle up the fabric, carefully rolling it up, smoothing out even the faintest creases. She set it down on the counter, one black-lacquered hand resting next to it, and turned fully back to Aodh. “My guess is that he means to borrow money - substantial money - from one of these merchants he’s invited, and that there’s something about the deal he doesn’t want known.”

Ava grinned at Aodh, Silk sparkling in her eyes. “Very promising,” she murmured.

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Aodh Elzo
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Sat Aug 31, 2019 6:58 pm

15th Roalis, mid morning
Aodh stepped forward to watch Ava work, the craftsman in him always enjoyed watching others work, the way she handled the cloth was more like art than craft.

He pondered on what Ava’s word then held up a finger.

“Hang on now, what was the name of the gent escorting her to the party… Cav.. something... Cavendish!”

Aodh started to pace the shop, brow furrowed as he tried to remember something. He turned to Ava.

“Now, I swear I’ve seen the name on a sign, some place up town.”

He gave a laugh and clicked his fingers.

"Wo chet! A bank, a bloody banking house! Cavendish and Associates Bank and Counting House, something like that. Now I don’t reckon it’d be the old man himself, likely a son or other, but still.”

Firebrand smiles broadly at Silk.

"That certainly plays into what you were saying, aye very promising indeed! Now what next you reckon?"
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Ava Weaver
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Sun Sep 01, 2019 7:13 pm

Mid-Morning, 15th Roalis, 2719
Woven Delights, The Painted Ladies
Ava watched Aodh pace back and forth, his boots clicking against the floor of the shop. She held still and thoughtful behind the counter, her hands gently resting one atop the other, still now that her work had finished. She did not interrupt as the wick paced; whether or not she recognized the name Cavendish, she said nothing, and made no attempt to speed him down the path of his thoughts.

Shadows passed outside, distant figures hurrying past the open windows. In the morning sunlight, glints of shifting were visible through the display of fabrics, a sense of movement, of vivid life,

“Yes,” Ava said, thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed. It’s the sort of thing that would impress a younger one, isn’t it?” She grinned at Aodh. “Sparkle, not substance.” She smoothed her hands against the counter, glancing around the shop, letting herself take it in, feeling a soft pulse of gratitude for the kinship of like minds, for the opportunity to do more than just sell fabrics. Even that she enjoyed – and she did enjoy it, even with more difficult customers – but that enjoyment was nothing, nothing at all, compared to the deep, life-affirming joy of what it was that she and Aodh discussed.

A better world, Ava promised herself. If not in this life, then – whether for the next generation or for their own future selves, she could not say; she did not know what she believed, other than that the future should be better than the now.

“It’s an opportunity,” Ava said, thoughtful, looking back at Aodh. “It seems to me, from what we’ve said – what we’ve learned, so far – that your presence there is… almost a gift,” Silk grinned at Firebrand. “Assuming he’s all right with it,” there was still no need to mention who he was, “I would – it seems to me that there’s much that we can still learn, but if you can find something to take hold of…” she grinned, slowly, “well. Perhaps Mr. Blackthorn’s connections could be of use, and not just these merchants they seem to so disdain.”

There was a pause between them, a brief silence – not of awkwardness, but of understanding. Maybe, Ava thought, of hope.

The bell tinkled at the door, their brief moment of peace over once more; a customer, a human this time, but no less deserving of caution and attention both.

“I’m very glad you came by today, Mr. Elzo,” Ava said, leaning forward slightly against the counter, her grin becoming a smile without the slightest hesitation. Nothing in her demeanor gave even the slightest hint that there had ever been a moment of conversation that could not be overheard, that anything had been said that could not be said in front of the entire city of Vienda. “Thank you for the brushes. I hope to hear about those new ones soon enough - later in the week, perhaps?” Ava turned to the new customer, the last of the glint in her eye gone, her friendly, welcoming smile in place once more.

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Aodh Elzo
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Mon Sep 02, 2019 12:23 pm

15th Roalis, mid morning


As Ava spoke Aodh nodded, it made a lot of sense, maybe it would be better to use Blackthorn as a resource, a tool for the Resistance. Rather then disrupt the party or simply burn the place to the ground.

That could come later.

After all if there was to be a better future then it would take hard and bloody work now to make it happen.

Ava was right, they would still need to run it past Sarro and there was still work to be done.

It was a gift indeed, Aodh had a good feeling about this.

The two stood together in silence, Firebrand thought an understanding past between them then. Though they were both from very different backgrounds, they were bound by a common goal and a hope for a better future.

He was about to say as much when a customer came in, and like that his mask came back down and he was Aodh the humble wick tradesman again.


"Aye Miss Weaver, twas a pleasure as always. I hope the brushes serve you well."

Aodh pulled the cap from his pocket, bowed deeply to Ava as he returned it to his head and smiled broadly. Then he went over to where he had left his sample case, carefully took the brushes from it and in one smooth movement closed it and returned it to his shoulder.

"Aye, I'll stop round later in the week maybe. Good day Miss Weaver"


With that he turned to leave, he touched the brim of his cap to the customer on his way out of the shop.

Outside Aodh took the pipe from his waistcoat put it in his mouth and lit it. As he walked down the street he hummed an old gkacha as he went.

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