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 Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:10 pm
Akhetnnami's House Akhetnnami lives alone, but she's never home long enough to notice. Akhetnnami is, in many respects, the classic workaholic. She simply has the advantage of loving what she does.
Her house reflects this - she, out of all three council members, lives the closest to the Hall. The rooms inside her house are decorated sparsely but elegantly - some might call it minimalism. There's one thing wrong, though. The entire building seems unlived in. At times, it feels more like a series of showrooms than a house.
The building itself is one story, surrounded by a low wall and paved courtyard. There's nothing particularly eye-catching - no tile maze, no wondrous garden.
Akhetnnami is rarely home to deal with visitors. Current Apprentice :: Shandar
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Posted: Sat Apr 08, 2006 2:20 pm
For once, Akhetnnami was home. This didn't mean she wasn't working, however. She was reviewing prediction figures for the economy and sighing inwardly. Nobody seemed to trust the outside world enough to want to trade with the humans. Briseatn and her League were a subversive force, fighting against all the changes Akhetnnami strove for.
She'd figure this out.
Now, though, her mind was slightly distracted. Her apprentice, Shandar, would arrive soon. She wondered what it would be like, having a "child" to care for. Well, if Kanesakht could handle it... so could she.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 4:05 pm
It had been a long journey. Far too long. Shandar felt a mess, the longest he'd gone without a proper grooming before was two hours. After 14 hours on a plane he felt disgusting. Still he had to be thankful for small graces. A few days by boat would have been much worse. He shuddered at tha throught.
Well, here he was the Desert city. Dusty, crumbling and not particularly pretty, but those things he could put up with. He wasn't here for the scenery.
Approaching the house he would admit to being a little nervous, it was important to make a good impression. That last thing he wanted was to be shipped back to Barton before he had a chance to proove himself.
Licking a paw he smoothed it over his fur and scales in a vain attempt to make himself presentable. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door.
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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 8:51 pm
The door (the only real door in the house, as a note) swung open without anybody's touch from the inside. Akhetnnami was nowhere to be seen. She was in the "living room," head still burried in figures.
"Come on back," she called out, voice relatively quiet and possibly hard to hear. "Close the door after you."
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:03 pm
Shandar hesitated a little on the doorstep. Doors weren't supposed to open by themself were they? Swishing his tail he shrugged and strolled on in.
It was pleasantly cool inside the sparsely furnished house. It was perfect. Shandar paused to glance around a little. The woman who lived here obviously had taste. Shandar smiled. The whole journey he had been having nightmares about living in some rundown hovel, he was rather relieved to discover things were quite opposite.
Coming to the end of the entrance he paused...his admiration for the decor had completely wiped his mind of the soft voice he had heard as he entered.
He looked around. There was a room to his left and the option to go straight on. Shandar looked between the two. Raising an eyebrow and picking a random number he decided on left and entered the room.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 7:31 pm
Luckily, he'd picked the right room. Akhetnnami glanced up as Shandar entered the room. "You must be Shandar. I'm Akhetnnami, you're mentor. Would you like to go over house rules now, or are you too tired to comprehend them?"
My, she was rather to the point, wasn't she?
The front door closed with an audible thud in the other room.
"If you're tired, then I have work to do. Your bedroom is in the back of the house - you'll recognize it by the basket I've prepared for you, and by the fact that the curtain is drawn back."
Even with Aubrianna's lessons, Akhetnnami was slightly hard to understand. Time would accustom Shandar to the real, conversational language. Until then, one or two words or constructions would probably slip by him, and he would need to err on the side of simplicity.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:04 pm
Shandar grinned, pleased with himself as he had managed to pick the right room. So here was his mentor. A rather well presented white woman with some very shiny jewelry.
He blinked as she started speaking, barely managing to catch the conjunctions and joining words. Her introduction, 'house rules...or...tired' stood out allowing him to make a judgement about what she was saying.
Heh, rules. He'd leave the explaination of those as long as possible. It seemed that was his choice. To hear the rules or to sleep.
"Uh...thank you." He managed bowing his head slightly. "I'll sleep."
"When ..." He searched for the right verb in his mind. "Do I get up?"
So far things weren't too bad. She was concise, to the point. Not the annoying fussy kind. He would have been on the first plane back if that had been the case.
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Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 8:34 pm
"Either when you wake up yourself or when I decide to wake you up. It will be around the city's 'dawn,' however. I have to be at the Council Hall rather early." This wasn't entirely true, technically, but Akhetnnami required certain things of herself.
"I suggest you go to sleep as soon as possible. So, off you go." She waved a hand, immediately going back to her papers, shuffling them around.
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:59 pm
Shandar raised an eyebrow. Someone needed to learn to relax. Too tired to make a smart comment he swished his tail and headed for the back of the house.
Finding the drawn curtain and the basket he immediatly settled down to sleep. After his exhausting trip it didn't take long to come to him.
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Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2006 7:26 am
It was all too soon when Akhetnnami opened the curtain, prodding him awake with a few sharp bursts of cold air.
"Breakfast time, and then we have a few things to attend to before I get back to work. There are some people you need to meet. Get up, follow me."
She leaned against the doorframe, waiting, tapping one foot beneath the hem of her long, white skirt, similarly matched with a white shawl/cowl-like top.
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 4:41 pm
Shandar blinked at the rude awakening. What? Was she crazy? Get up, follow her, immediatly? His tail twitching in annoyance, Shandar stood. This was all highly irregular, he liked at least an hour to wash and another hour to preen before he even thought about venturing out into public.
Giving Akhetnnami a cold glare he stepped out of the basket and followed her in silence. He knew it was best to follow the rules at first, bide his time. Even if it did mean losing a little in the area of personal hygiene.
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:12 pm
Leading him into the kitchen, Akhetnnami gestured to one of two bowls of... rather unappetizing oatmeal-like-stuff. "Breakfast. It's not what you're used to, I expect, but keep in mind that we live underground here - we don't have the opportunity to get all of your lovely... 'caramels' and the like.
"You'll get nicer food, on occasion, but by and large this will be all that's plausible to buy. Even for the higher-ups here in the city. So, I'd advise you to get used to it."
She sat down in front of her bowl, picking up a spoon and taking a few careful bites. Shandar's bowl had lower sides, and his chair was higher, allowing him access. Thoughtful, that.
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Posted: Tue Apr 18, 2006 5:23 pm
Shandar nodded and too a bite of the oatmeal. It was disgusting. He hated anything that was tastless and boring and this porridge seemed to be the definition of both words.
Grimacing, he ate in silence trying to remember the bits of Dumyr tongue he had learned in Barton. He also wondered what he sould say to make conversation. Akhetnnami seemed to be a no nonsense kind of woman.
"Who do you want me to meet?" He asked. Rather pleased with himself for having constructed a full sentence.
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Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 4:27 am
Somehow, Akhetnnami seemed to be able to eat the bland porridge without difficulty.
"Three shop owners. They'll be integral to your life as an apprentice. I also need to buy a few items for our binding ritual in a few days."
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Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2006 4:40 pm
Shandar nodded and continued to eat the porridge. This was all very exciting. Binding rituals he wondered absently if they were the same kind of binding rituals that Amarante performed. He doubted it somehow. He couldn't see why Akhetnnami would want to bind herself.
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