• Memory • Taking Notice (Graded)

[Sei'rue]

1st Vhalar, 711

Her first task for the trial was to scrub all of the dishes that had been used to make the first meals of the trial. Meals rather than one meal because the masters and their family did not eat the same kinds of food that the slaves ate. It was a daunting task for one small girl, but she was an obedient slave. It was her place to obey, and obey she did.

As she picked up the scrub brush, and started to tackle the first pot, the taskmaster ordered her to stop. Startled, she froze in place, the brush still in her hand. Another slave child came up beside her. The young boy was an arc or so younger than she herself was. She had worked with him a few times in the past, and in her experience, he was a good, strong worker. He held out his hand, silently telling her to give him the scrub brush. She hesitated until the taskmaster ordered her to do just that.

The taskmaster ordered her to come with him, and she scrambled to obey. He led her to a room in the section of the ship where the masters' family's rooms were. It was a part of the ship she had never been to until now. She tried to memorize the way there in case she would be expected to go there again in the future.

"I don't know why Orik has requested that you work for him totrial, but I'll warn you now; he's a very demanding man. He expects the best work out of any slave that serves him directly at all times. Failure to meet his expectations will first earn you punishment from him directly. And when he is finished with you, you will face more punishment from me for making me look bad in his eyes. Do you understand?"

She shuddered as she nodded. The task master knocked on the door. When they were told to come in, he led her into the room. Master Orik was sitting at his desk. When they entered, he stared at her directly for several trills. She could feel his eyes regarding her even as she stared at the floor, and tried not to show how frightened she was.

"Leave the girl with me, and get back to work."

The taskmaster nodded once. Then he was gone, and she was alone with Master Orik.

"So you're the girl who impressed Yvithia so much that you earned her mark when you were just four arcs old."

She shivered with fear. She knew that the masters knew that she had been marked, of course. The evidence of Yvithia's blessing was on her face for all to see. And the punishment for daring so much as to try and learn how to read while she was working was one of the strongest memories she had at that time. But it was so seldom mentioned that it was easy for her to forget that anyone knew about it. She was simply one slave among many. Mark or not, there was nothing special about her.

Master Orik chuckled at her obvious fear.

"I heard the taskmaster telling you that he didn't know why I was interested in you enough to ask him to assign you to work for me totrial. That mark of yours is why. Yvithia is only interested in those who are intelligent and who show a thirst for gaining knowledge. Intelligence is a good thing in a slave. Well. In some slaves, anyway. An intelligent slave can be used for more than just manual labor, and that means that an intelligent slave is worth more than one who is not. So. We will see just how intelligent you are, and if you can be of any use to me. Come here."

She scrambled to obey.

[Sei'rue]

1st Vhalar, 711

Master Orik had her sit in a chair that he pulled up to the desk. There were several piles of books on the desk, and he picked one of them up and flipped through it for a few bits before closing it and setting it down in another pile. He did this a few times before he chose one and put it in front of her. Once he had done this, he set a notebook and a pen beside it.

"Can you write as well as read?" he asked.

She nodded. Would she be punished for daring to learn how to write the way she had for teaching herself how to read?

"Good. I want you to read this book. As you read it, you are going to take notes on it. Write down anything that you think is important for someone else to know about what you are reading. If you have any questions, or thoughts about what you are reading, write those down as well. That is how a scholar, or someone who is researching something takes note on the subject of their research."

He looked at her. Her eyes were fixed on the desk, but she could feel him standing right next to her as he spoke. And in the pause, she could almost feel him staring at her. She flinched a bit.

"Consider this a test of sorts. If you fail to meet my expectations, you will be featured in tonight's dinner entertainment. But if you pass...well, if you pass, there will be more such tests in your future."

She shivered. Tests were never a good thing in her experience. Passing them rarely ever meant anything good, and failing them never did. One would always lead to earning a punishment, and the other could lead to punishment just as easily as the other. But it wasn't her place to say such things, so she remained silently staring at the desk in front of her.

"Do you have any questions?"

She shook her head, eyes wide as she continued to stare at the desk. Questions were dangerous. Every slave knew that, even one as young as her. A slave's place was to obey, not to question. A slave who questioned things was a disobedient slave. And disobedient slaves were punished.

"Good. If I were you, I'd get started. I will be here working on my own research if you do find something you need to ask me about as you are taking notes on that book. You have the rest of the trial to read the entire book, and give me your notes on its contents."

With that, Master Orik moved towards the bookcase along the far wall, and began looking at the books that were shelved there. She stared at the book she was supposed to read for a few trills. Books were valuable things. Delicate things. Things that had to be handled with great care. Slaves were not to touch them without permission, but she had just been ordered to read this one and take notes about its contents, so permission was given. That didn't make her any less apprehensive though. She had seen slaves whipped brutally for accidentally dropping a pile of books that they were carrying, or for knocking a book off the top of a pile that they were dusting.

Still. An order was an order, and she had been given hers. She carefully opened the book to reveal the first page, and began to read.

Immortals are very powerful beings. Unlike mortals, they will never die of old age. Nor do they have the weaknesses and frailties that mortals do.

She paused to consider what she was reading. She had...when she had thought of Immortals at all, had assumed them to be gods. But this book did not say that. Not in so many words, at least. Did that mean that they were not gods? And did it really matter either way? "Very powerful," "immortal," and "not having the weaknesses of mortals" sounded like gods to her no matter what name was used for them.

After thinking about it for a few bits, she took notes on what she had just read. Rather than copying it down word for word, she used simple phrases, writing that the Immortals were very powerful beings, that they were immortal, and that they did not have the weaknesses that mortals did. Then she frowned, and consulted the book once more. It didn't say that the Immortals were immortal. The book said that they wouldn't die of old age. Was there a difference? As she thought about it, the word immortal suggested that they couldn't be killed. But the book didn't say that exactly. So she crossed out the word immortal, and wrote that they wouldn't die of old age. For questions, since Master Orik had specifically ordered her to write some down if she had some, she wrote "Are "very powerful beings" the same as gods?" And after a few trills, she added "If not, what is the difference?"

When she looked over her notes, she frowned. She could write, yes, but her quickly written words were not easy to read, even for her. Especially with the scribbled out word. So she started over. This time, she was careful to write as clearly as she could. If she was taking notes on something that someone else was going to read, it was important that they could actually read them. As she did this, she realized something. Writing itself was easy. Sort of. If you knew how to do it. But writing notes for someone else was a lot harder. And as she looked over the notes she had taken a second time, she realized something else. In the task of taking notes on this book for one of the masters, she had learned something about the Immortals. Something she had never known before. That meant that it was possible to learn something while taking notes for someone else if you actually read what you were taking notes on, and you paid attention to what you were reading.

Once she was satisfied that her new set of notes was more readable than the first, she went back to her task.

[Sei'rue]

1st Vhalar, 711

She read through the rest of the introduction to the book, and took some notes on what she read. It was somewhat vague on information, and she could understand why. The book was talking about what Immortals were. It had never once occurred to her that that was something that people might be able to know about. Immortals were Immortals. And that was it. Then again, a lot of things didn't occur to her. It wasn't her place to think. Not unless she was given a task that required her to think about how to do it. And even then, any thinking involved was focused on how best to complete the task she was given.

She was wasting time thinking about it. So she focused on the task she had been ordered to do once more. Once the introduction was over, the book got into the individual Immortals themselves. The forces, or Domains they had control over, names they were known by, places they had been seen in Idalos...all kinds of things like that. It was fascinating to her, and it was very easy for her to get so absorbed in what she was reading that she forgot to take notes on it. When she remembered, she would then have to go back and reread what she had just read so she could take notes about it. She also had to remember to write slowly and carefully so that Master Orik would be able to read what she had written.

Breaks passed in what felt like trills as she focused exclusively on what she was doing. It wasn't until she finished reading the entire book that she realized that Master Orik had come over to watch her once more.

"You're cutting it rather close. Have you finished?"

She nodded. Then she offered him the notebook she had written her notes in. He read through them carefully.

"It's not as through as my own notes would have been. And you missed several key points. If you were a scholar, I would call you a disgrace. A complete and utter failure." he said at last.

She shuddered.

"But you are not a scholar. You are a slave, and you are a child at that. And for someone who has never done anything like this before, it is a decent attempt."

She held her breath. Did that mean that she would not be punished for her failure?

"Overall, I would say that you passed this little test. In the future, there will be trials when you are assigned to work for me on occasion. When that happens, the taskmaster will have you report to me directly."

She nodded.

"You are dismissed. The ship's galley should be preparing dinner right about now. Go see if they need an extra set of hands to help."

She nodded again. Then she ran off to obey the order she had just been given.

[Doran]

Sei'rue:

Knowledge:
Skill Knowledges

Research: how to take notes on something you are researching
Writing: writing is easy, writing clearly is hard
Writing: when taking notes for others, clean handwriting is needed
Writing: if you read what you're taking notes on, you can learn something
Writing: x 2

Non Skill Knowledges

Immortals: are very powerful beings
Immortals: will never die of old age
Immortals: don't have the weaknesses and frailties that mortals do

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: See below.
Points: 10

- - -

Comments: Poor Sei’rue! She’s just turned nine the cycle before, and it seems as if she has to work quite hard. You described the life of a young slave quite well in my opinion. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for your PC. Her fear of the taskmaster as well as Master Orik is obvious!

I couldn’t help but wonder what “dinner entertainment” was. Do the masters make the slave children fight?

I found the topic that Master Orik told Sei'rue to research quite fascinating, and I appreciate that you included Sei’rue’s thoughts on what she was reading. That’s something that I always find interesting!

Sei’rue didn’t really give me the impression of being a little girl though. She doesn't act like one, and she isn't really being treated like one either. I already noticed it in a previous thread that I reviewed, but it was especially obvious here. You can’t really tell how young she is. The way that she went about her research (not simply copying what she read, but paraphrasing it, double-checking things and correcting them) and her thought processes reminds me of someone that is approximately twice her age.

If I hadn’t checked your CS and taken a close look at things in general, I would have assumed that I was dealing with some who was at least sixteen or so, if not old enough to enter university. I also find it unrealistic that she was able to read an entire, complex sounding book in one go, at her age, and with 0 Discipline and Endurance, and take notes on top of it. You are overplaying your PC’s skills and her cognition. Please keep in mind that she’s a little girl!

When I checked your CS, I also noticed that Master Orik is only 16 in this thread. Considering that, I find it a little strange that the taskmaster calls him “a very demanding man”. Furthermore, a 16-year-old Half-Biqaj is not likely to be a “Master” in Athart. If he’s not from Athart and doesn’t contribute to the slave economy, he’s likely to eventually get enslaved himself. Please consider the lore of Athart when you write there!

In general, Master Orik gives me the impression of someone much older!

Furthermore, I would have added “Discipline” to the list of skills used in the review request as Sei’rue was obviously nervous and spent breaks reading that book (Endurance could also have played a part in the latter), and maybe “Etiquette” as you mentioned that it wasn’t her place to say certain things and that she stayed silent.

Finally, I wasn’t entirely sure about your last named Writing knowledge. I guess it works though.

That being said, enjoy your rewards, and let me know if you have any questions!