• Location • The Office of the Citizen's Committee

[Rosamond]

Date: 2 Ymiden 716

When Rosamond arrived to The Office of The Citizen’s Committee she left her mute errand boy outside, with orders to hold the horse and keep an eye on the dog. The she continued, saw the three doors to housing, employment and advicem and settled for advice. This was where Ettore Lorca had told her to go and show the secret letter of recommendation if she ever found herself in greater need of support in Etzos. She had kept the letter hidden ever since she had received it and taken great care to not let the seal be damaged by even the tiniest of marks. So exactly what was written in it wasn’t known to her, but she trusted it would be something useful, as it was Ettore who had given it to her.

She entered an unexpectedly messy office and found herself facing a harried and confused man who looked to have lived longer than most people did. She guessed this could be chalked up to the living conditions in Etzos, this wealthy and safe city. The man seems like living evidence of how safe it was.

His greeting was a bit confused. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't see you come in. Just grab a chair...oh, umm...well just set those charts on the floor...if you can find a spot. But don't lose them! I need them for uh...who?...oh yes, the young lady three visitors ago."

He sighed heavily but then he caught himself. ,"Oh dear, I never asked you your name...or, for that matter, gave you mine." He rose hesitantly from his desk, made an effort to stabilize a stack of papers near the closest edge, to avoid a domino-effect of toppling paperwork, and extended his hand.

"I am Marlin Tagley, the Guidance Coordinator." He allows a sheepish grin, "I don't imagine I look terribly coordinated right now, eh? Well, it's only because I handle everything other than Housing and Employment. That's why this mess is of such varied components." He laughs with genuine mirth.

"So now, what is your name? And what can I help you with?"

Rosamond hesitated a little bit to be honest. Was this man really something to rely on? Maybe Ettore Lorca had been away from Etzos for so many years that he had no idea how Tagley was today? But she couldn’t afford to not take this chance. She told him a man named Ettore Lorca had told her to turn to him. She was looking for general advice about the city and also get his opinions on what could be a suitable job for a woman skilled in thing such as research and investigations.

Then she handed him the letter
OOC: The letter is described in the last post of the linked thread.

[Maltruism]

Rosamond (guidance)

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Upon taking the sealed letter from the young woman, Mr. Tagley's flighty demeanor became more rigid and serious. Upon investigating the blank seal, he cast an unexpectedly penetrating gaze at his customer. "Ettore gave you this?" he asked, his eyes focused entirely on their counterparts within Rosamond's face. "Do you know what it contains?

He watched her for a moment. She was obviously hesitant to answer. He'd expected no less. He asked again, slowly rising as he did. She still said nothing as he stalked around the side of the desk. Then a slight smile broke the frosty expression. He simply moved past her and checked outside the door, locking it as he reclosed it.

He turned back to her, "You may want to work on claiming ignorance more convincingly and innocently. If you wanted to act as if you really knew nothing, the silent act is really rather counter-productive." He raised a hand to stop her rebuttal, "No, no, it's alright, miss Bruac. I actually was already informed of your arrival. I would have known if you'd broken this seal. But I'm not going to explain how. Trust me though, there is something written on this page. And there is someone that will want to see it. Now was there more you wanted besides delivering this?"

He resumed his rather goofy and distracted act as the young lady filled in the gaps of her job search and knowledge of the city. But it was now obvious that Mr. Tagley was a well-connected man that knew far more and caught more details than he let on. He handed her a small thumbtack. The head was typical metal-grey, but the shaft was red. "Stick that into the underside of your shoe, where it won't click as you walk. That replaces the letter. You won't need it anymore. I don't know if Mr. Lorca told you what I would do with the letter when you gave it to me. If this is not what you expected, I'm sorry. Things change, and we can not always inform our...foreign agents." He gave her a pointed look, with an unspoken instruction to never repeat those words.

"Come back tomorrow at tenth break. I believe I will have a job for you. See ME though, not our kindly Mr. Mead. He's a competent official, and arranging employment is his function. But he's not the one to see about this job."

[Rosamond]

Date: 2 Ymiden 716, right after Rosamond's first meeting with Tagley

Feeling a bit confused but still hopeful after the meeting with Marlin Tagley, Rosamond put the mysterious odd little item beneath her left shoe as she had been told, and went to arrange the housing she needed.

At first there was lots of gesturing and for a few trills Rosamond wondered if the housing lady spoke with signs instead of words. But this soon seemed to be a misunderstanding. Perhaps it was due to the confusion she had felt after meeting Tagley. Relieved, she told the woman what she was looking for. (But she made a mental note to remember the idea of sign language. It could actually be a way to communicate with her mute errand boy Sandro. When she got time for it she was going to try out the idea).

At first she had been planning to rent housing and look around in the city before she decided where she would live. But during the journey she had gained a dog, a horse and the boy. It seemed like it would be better to buy something permanent. The money could be a problem, but her discussion with Marlin Tagley had made her hope she would soon have a job.

"I would like to buy permanent housing" she told the woman. "Adobe. And in the ...Eastern Civilian Outer Housing. Preferably a separate cottage". Assuming the signing from the woman meant there were several cottages that met her requirements and these would cost approximately 250 gn, she proceeded to try to haggle about the price. The woman just stared at her blankly.

Grudgingly, Rosamond deposited 250 golden nels and saw her monies shrink to what seemed like next to nothing. She knew she would need to make it clear to Sandro that while he could sleep under her roof if he was a nice and helpful boy, it was best to not imagine that she would be able to provide for him beyond occasional tips for running errands.

The lady informed her she could pick the cottage she liked best, move in today and then come back tomorrow and complete the contract. Rosamond was going back anyways, for her next meeting with Tagley, so she was fine with this procedure.

She received what additional information the woman gave her, and answered what additional questions she had to answer. Then then she went out to pick up her animals and the errand boy, so they could go and have a look at the available cottages.

Date: 3 Ymiden 716

FINALIZING THE HOUSING ARRANGEMENTS
Rosamond went back to The Office of the Citizen’s Committee next day as agreed. She was alone this time.
First she went to settle the housing arrangements, and get the final paperwork done. She hoped it would be a quick fix, although she couldn’t be sure. There could be things she had misunderstood.

THE SECOND MEETING WITH TAGLEY
Rosamond knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Not a sound! Anxiety flooded her. What if she had misunderstood Tagley’s words, or something had happened to him, or there was something else that made her hopes of quickly finding a job via contacts come to nothing ... then she would be in dire straits indeed, as she had already bought the cottage ...

She opened the door and stepped in. It seemed like the only sensible thing to do.

OOC : Assumed a lot here, in case it was too much I can edit. I'm also going to change the ledger from rent to buy it this is ok.

[Dmitri]

Walking his way towards the stone building, the Office of Citizen Committee, Dmitri was halted in his tracks by someone standing in front of the open doorway, facing the inner compounds of the Office. At first he thought someone was simply blocking the path inadvertently but when he came closer to tap him lightly on the shoulder and ask him to move aside, he saw several people inside, divided into 3 lines in front of 3 doors. Each door had a sign hanging above it, stating respectively they served as entry points for Housing, Guidance and Employment. Fortunately for Dmitri the row standing in front of Employment was a lot shorter than the others; Tapping the man out with a light hand on the shoulder, a smile and a quick nod in the direction of the Employment line, Dmitri moved up to stand behind the sole person waiting outside its open doors.

The woman in front of him seemed slightly nervous for some reason, making Dmitri wonder what type of person the bureaucrat in charge of employment would be like. As she shifted from resting on one foot to the other and fidgeting with her hands holding a piece of parchment, she turned and looked directly in Dmitri's eyes. She had a young face and it quickly became apparent that Dmitri had mistaken nervousness for eagerness as she smiled brightly at him and exclaimed it was her first time applying for a job, that she was SO excited and was hoping she would get the job she wanted. Dmitri smiled politely back before asking her if it was procedure they weren't allowed to handpick the job they wanted themselves?

"Oh no no no, from what I gathered, the jobs handed out are in relation to the jobs available and needed in the city, and linked to your areas of expertise! You can't just go willy-nilly about this, which sorta makes sense don't you think? It's not because 90 out of 100 people want to be a lawyer, politician or doctor that Etzos needs or even allows that. Life's not like that, haha."

This girl, even though she came across as a youngster still wet behind the ears, Dmitri had to admit there was a lot of truth in what she just said and that she seemed to have a good understanding of how Etzos works, maybe she was a local. "That's very true, and wise! I'm Dmitri, I just arrived recently y'see, I have yet to fully understand Etzos and how everything works!"

"Nice to meet you Dmitri, I'm Eliza, if you ever need a tourguide or answer, feel free to ask away if we meet again." She shot him another sweet smile before darting off into the room as the official seemed to be done with the man before her. Dmitri had hoped to hear that response from her, seemed luck was on his side today...He could always use more eyes, ears and minds of local origin to dig deeper into Etzos and all there is to know about this bustling city!

As soon as he heard squees of joy and thankyouthankyouthankyou's from inside the room, Dmitri smiled, there was little else to tell her as she skipped past him outside than a: Congratulations! She almost seemed like she was holding back from hugging him in her overzealous joy when she just settled on waving her arms around like a happy penguin on drugs before skipping off outside the building, at the same time Dmitri knocked politely on the door and poked his head in to see a man nodding at him from behind a desk.

"Thank you." Dmitri walked towards the man and shook his stretched out, welcoming hand before waiting to be allowed to take a seat. Dmitri still hadn't placed the man completely and there was no harm in playing it safe and be polite, there was always the chance he was a powerhungry Alpha who enjoyed being in control more than anything, his mind's eye shot him flashes of his mentor Alexis Vasily as he thought about that possibility. When the man waved his hand in the direction of the chair, Dmitri smiled and took a seat, hearing the man introducing himself as Peter Mead and give a quick summary of what he's here for and what he needs from Dmitri to help him out with employment.

"Well Peter, I'm Dmitri and only recently arrived in Etzos as my master's apprentice Gem Appraiser; Unfortunately that carreer path is no longer an option for me as I realized it simply does not interest me enough to spend most my days staring at shiny gems and wonder about their monetary value. You see, my real interest and expertise lies in using my mind. I like to think I have a fairly intelligent, tactical mind and I especially know my way around finding out the truth. I plan on staying in Etzos, so I figured why not combine both these factors and give something in return to this vibrant city by making it my profession to help investigate crimes, murders, mysteries, anything that might occur here and where I can offer a helping hand.

Does there happen to be a job position for me in this path?"

[Maltruism]

DMITRI (Employment)

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Mr. Mead sat back in his plush chair, his brow furrowed and his fingers steepled before pursed lips. "The last time someone asked for a more intellectual vocation, they ended up vanishing without a trace. Turned out they were a user of arcane skills. Frankly, I say 'Good Riddance' to such as them." His eyes bored into the young man's face before him, looking for a reaction indicating some sort of offended sensibilities. He'd been instructed that any time he had such an impression from a prospect, he was to inform Mr. Tagley in the neighboring office. He did not know what process was initiated by the relaying of such information, but he made it his business not to make it his business.

In truth, Peter Mead had no real animosity towards arcanists. Power was power, and it was primarily in the intent of the user to establish good or evil. There were a few exceptions to this rule, 'necromancy' chief among them. And even this sphere of arcana was something he'd only heard of, mostly from those from whom he got his orders. But it was part of those same orders that bid him to try to get a reaction from any who he suspected might dabble in the arcane.

But if anything, this young man before him seemed to share his 'Good Riddance' attitude, though he could not be positive. There's seemed to be a bit of a flare of eager agreement, but it had been stifled so quickly he could hardly confirm it. But it did give him the notion of perhaps sending this young man down the same "path" - to use the young man's own words - that he'd sent that arcanist the arc before.

He covered his thoughts with a noncommittal shrug. "Anyway, I'm of the belief that our good Mr. Garrett Langley, of 'Imp Pressions' can use some help. He's the printer in town. Now, understand, I don't actually have a contract for employment service from him, but he tends to have some turnaround in the capacity I have in mind. This is NOT to aid him in the set-up of type, or the running his impressing machine. No, I'm thinking he was lamenting his lack of...uh...what did he call it?...'witness reportmen'?...'investigationers'?....something like that. I'll let him offer that detail If you're interested."

Mr. Mead stood, to indicate that this was really the only option he had to offer. "Also, this is not to say that Mr. Langley prints a daily informative. For the most part, he does design work for flyers and such. But he does love to put his opinions on current topics down on flyers as well, and scatter them about town to raise awareness of things. He's actually a fairly influential man in Etzos. But this does not make people appreciate being made to look corrupt or foolish. If he hires you, I'm sure he'll have a warning of his own to give you, on that subject. Here's an interview permit. There's no particular time slot. Good Luck."

Unless Dmitri had something else to say, this interview was over. The next one would be with Mr. Garrett Langley of 'Imp Pressions'.

[Nightshade Eld]

Arc 716, 10th of Saun

Nightshade had been wandering around for some time. She was too much of a coward to actually go very far into the city or spend too much time there. For most of her life since she got away from those blasted nobles she had spent her time hovering around outside of the city but never really going in for long. She hunted and sold furs to take care of herself and her little set up outside of town was pretty nice. No way was she ever thinking about buying a place inside of the city. She couldn't. Too many people and an over abundance of caution led to this decision. However she was becoming increasingly aware of the fact she couldn't keep going the way she was barely having much money to survive off of little lone save. She had dreams and ambitions that she wanted to follow. She wanted to do something with her life, make the world different. Not so much leave her mark, but leave something good to be remembered for at least for a time. She didn't want to be alone anymore. It was true she was cautious of people and avoided most but that didn't change the fact she needed somebody.

Currently she was walking down the streets of Etzos her course set for The Office of the Citizen's Committee. Not for a house. What she needed was a job, a steady one that she could eventually start to set aside money from and hopefully save up enough for her dream. A guild dedicated to those who wanted to explore the world and help others. Or better yet and order of knights who didn't follow a king, instead they traveled the land trying to help those in need. The world was a dark place, someone needed to watch out for the little people. Night wasn't so much a follower of equal rights, instead she believed in equal chance. That everyone should be able to make something of themselves. Fairness was not giving everyone the same amount of money or power. There was always going to be people to abuse that money or power, but everyone deserved the chance to get money and power if they worked hard enough.

But at the time that was still a pipe dream. After all she could feel the venomous glares of those who couldn't, no, wouldn't understand her or what she was. After all just about everyone hated the Avriel and being half of one didn't help her case. She walked with enough purpose that some people would ignore her and forget she existed. But there were those who saw the bulges underneath her cloak which were her wings or noticed the feathers of her legs and instantly turned any thoughts of her into ones of hate. It was a terrible thing, Night wasn't a bad creature not by a long shot. She tried her best to suppress most of her Avriel like urges and did her best to be kind. But people can be cruel. It was a fact she knew all to well. She felt better not having her wings out, she covered them as well as her feather covered legs with her cloak whenever she went into a city. And that almost seemed to put a couple people here and they at ease. They could at least treat her with a little less animosity and it did help that she was half human. But some were just horrible and the glares she could feel against her skin like flames were the perfect example of how intolerant some could be.

Eventually she finally came to The office of the Citizen's Committe. She took the door to the right. Slowly slipping inside she looked about. She happily shook Peter's hand, glad that someone could at least give her the benefit of the doubt. "A pleasure," she replied with a small smile. "I would like to do something where I can put my skills in battle to use and possibly hone them. I need to make a lot of money for what I have in mind so if at all possible it would be nice to have multiple jobs that wouldn't conflict with each other. As I implied earlier I'm good with a sword, Scimitar specifically," she pushed her cloak away slightly to show off Red Brand who more often than not sat on her hip unnoticed. People were usually more focused on her wings instead of the sword. "I've got a bit of an education and a novice understanding of flight. If at all possible I would like the licencing to do Mercenary and Bounty Hunter work. If I can do both that would be the best case senario but my main focus is on Mercenary work," she explained. When going over her abilities her voice had a touch of pride and arrogance, but it didn't necessarily come off as rude. At least no where as rude as the common Avriel might of spoken.

[Maltruism]

Nightshade Eld (Employment)

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Mr. Mead leaned forward, his chin finding itself resting upon his right thumb and forefinger, as his eyes wandered through memories of who might be looking for martial-related work. "Well..." he began somewhat distractedly, "...there's no problem getting you a 'TJL'. Uh...that's the license you're talking about. The Bounty Board itself is over by the arena." He waved vaguely with his right hand, not offering much in the way of clarity as to the Crescent Arena's location.

He grimaced slightly, "But that's spotty work, and you never know for sure if someone else considers themselves to have "claimed" it. I get people all the time coming in to protest that I "promised" them some job off the board. Most likely someone beat them to it, but never actually stated to the contractor that they were taking it. So there ends up being two or three mercs going after the same target. It's led to an ugly scene or two right here in this office."
He shook his head, his eyes again viewing past events.

His brow furrowed briefly, as his focus again returned to the present. "But your flight ability...what is it? There's something that's right at the tip of my recall. I mean, the army could certainly use someone that can provide aerial recon, but I don't know if that's exactly what you want." his gaze wandered the posted documents and paintings, maps and charts, lists and thank you notes. he suddenly sat up a bit straighter.

"Excuse me just a moment," he said as he got to his feet. "I'll be right back." He went out the door, turning to his right, and closed it behind him. He was gone a few bits before he returned. He sat back down as he set a document on the table between himself and his avriel customer. "Okay, so there's the license; already signed by Marlin...uh..Mr. Tagley next door. You will be free to accept any of the tasks listed on the Bounty Board, as well as any mercenary work asked by merchants or vendors you may run into just by good luck."

He leaned back in the chair, his eyes now entirely focused on his guest, "But checking with him, I found what it was I was thinking of. That map on the wall reminded me." He pointed to the geographical map of the surrounding lands, "There are a number of inaccuracies in it. There is a cartographer her in Etzos. Zefleran Folorie. He runs...uh...the uh...Smarter Charts! That's it. I know he'd love to have someone that can fly to reach high elevations without having to climb. He knows he needs a redo on his Etzos charts. I can set up an interview if you'd like. Otherwise, it'll be pretty hit and miss other than the army. THAT I can guarantee."

[Nightshade Eld]

Nightshade perked up. She knew mercenary work could be dangerous and a little on the unsteady side. Its only benefit was that is could be paired with another job. She was completely open to suggestions to that other job. The more money she could pull in quickly the better. She would like to avoid the army for any morale problems it could potentially cause. She took the TJL while she continued to listen to his idea.

Night wasn't quite the best yet when it came to her aerial ability. She was ready and willing to practice however and job doing such might be a good benefit to her. "Alright. It's worth a shot," she said with a confident smile at the mention of an interview. She wasn't even entirely sure how things worked around here and she didn't want to step onto any toes. Getting into a fight with another merc or some sort of law force would be the wrong way to start off life here. She was hopefully of gaining a good reputation and maybe not getting so many nasty glares. Helping map out the area just might be a good, safe start for her. "I'll take that interview," she said with a small nod.

[Kulbreck]

Office of the Citizen’s Committee

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It was still early enough in the day that Kulbreck decided to look for the Office of the Citizen’s Commitee. An odd name, he thought. An office for a committee of citizens. The guard indicated he would find employment and housing there. He supposed citizens ran those offices and he would soon find out. He asked a passerby where he would find the office and was directed to the center of the city.
“It’s a big round building with a big sign on it,” said a helpful merchant. “You can’t miss it.”
Several dozen paces and a few bits later he found himself before the offices of the OCC. Kulbreck often shortened long names and lists down to short, memorable units - initials, numbers and such; a habit he learned when Blacksmithing as a slave - so the Office of the Citizen’s Committee became the O.C.C. to him.
Opening the large wooden door revealed a small, sparcely decorated table-and-chair-filled room with three office doors on the far wall; the Employment office door conveniently located to his right. He decided to start there. “You can’t very well have a residence if you can’t pay the bills first, now can you? So, work, it is,” he thought. He would seek the Housing office afterwards, and if need be, Guidance after that.
Kulbreck opened the door to see an older gentleman finishing a handshake with a winged woman. An Avriel, no doubt.
“Oh, pardon me,” Kulbreck said retreating.
“No, no. Please come in. We are finished here.” The gentleman made his final goodbyes to his client who past Kulbreck and exited the office with a nod. He guided Kulbreck to a chair extending his hand in greeting.
“Welcome to Etzos, my friend. My name is Peter Mead. I assume you are here for employment, as is everyone who sees me,” he smiled. “What sort of employment are you hoping to find?”
“Thank you, Mr. Mead.” Kulbreck shook his hand and seated himself. My name is Kulbreck Gedain. I was... I am a Blacksmith... a good one... you can ask anyone... back in Nashaki... where I’m from... they’ll tell you,” he stammered.
He berated himself internally for his nervousness. He was no longer a slave to beg favors. He was a free man, now. An artisan of good skill. There was nothing to be nervous about.

[Kulbreck]

The Housing Office

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Having concluded his business with Mr. Mead, Kulbeck turned his attention to the housing office. He knocked once and stepped inside. A young black-haired woman sat at her desk fussing over paperwork. She mumbled for him to close the door behind him and be seated. He did as she bade and waited quietly for her to finish. He studied her and her office while he waited. It was not a large office but it was very organized with several floor-to-ceiling shelves holding large tomes and parchments. One large window behind her desk was the only illumination for the office. The sunlight shined off her severely pinned black hair. She turned suddenly and reached behind her to bring another tome to her desk. She spoke as she did this.
“Welcome to the Housing office. My name is Kelleen Mora. Will you be seeking temporary or permanent residence, Mr... ?" she said rapidly. She opened her book and hovered her quill pen over it waiting for him to answer before looking at him. "Mr...?" she repeated.
“Gedain,” he blurted finally catching on. “Kulbreck Gedain is my name. Permanent. Yes, permanent... residence... please... Miss.”
“Ugh,” he thought to himself. “Why am I being so nervous here? This is a new land, a new life for me. Take it as such.” He cleared his throat and watched her write in the book, waiting for her to provide him the information he needed.