Welcome to Gaia! ::

The shopkeeper smiled at Miyuki. "I see. Perhaps I can help you with that. Would you like me to show you around a bit?"

It was, after all, a rather large shop compared to most jewelry shops that Miyuki had been in, and he was well aware that newcomers could easily become overwhelmed by it all.


Earendil nodded and directed Lin over to where the woman was sitting behind the desk. She seemed to be very deep in her work, poring over one text or another before adding something to the paper she was writing on, but when Lin and Earendil approached her, she looked up at them and smiled, laying her quill down on the table.

"Good morning," she greeted them in a soft voice. "I am Amanya, keeper of the library. May I help you?"

The man began at the displays near the door and walked Miyuki through them. The first section was earrings; the second, earring and necklace sets; the third, necklaces alone; the fourth, bracelets and anklets; the fifth, a smaller section of ear cuffs; the sixth, a large selection of hair ornaments, clips and pins; and there was also a small selection of arm cuffs.

A second room hosted more types of items: cloak clasps, broaches, rings, and headwear such as circlets and more.

In each section there were designs taken from nature, animals, geometric shapes, celtic designs, and more. They were made of gold, silver, brass, some of baser metals; some were plain, others inlaid with jewels or other precious stones.

"Each piece is unique," the jeweler explained as he showed them to Miyuki. "My wife comes up with the ideas, and I make them as I'm able. Some take longer than others, but I do what I can."



The librarian blinked at Lin for a moment, and then an amused smile slowly crossed her face.

"Well," she murmured, her eyes sparkling, "it does sound as though you need some help. Let me tell you about the library to begin with."

She rose and came out from behind the desk, and despite the cold outside, beneath her dark green robes, she was barefoot.

"Our library is as old as the city itself," she began, tucking her hands into the sleeves of her robe. "When the first people of mixed marriages came together in their desire to live in peace, they brought with them their knowledge of their respective homelands. Afraid to lose what they had, wishing to pass it on to future generations, when some of them knew that they would not be around to teach them, especially as many of them were mortal humans, they recorded their knowledge in books. The originals have long since fallen apart, but they have been re-recorded several times, so we still retain them."

The man chuckled softly at that question. "Sometimes I wonder if she just dreams of things that she would like to wear, herself," he grinned. "And to be honest, it all looks good on her. But she also spends quite a bit of time just ... looking. Doodling. Imagining. I would imagine that she also gets ideas from people, though of that I can't be certain."

He rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully. "I think it also helps that she's never seen something she didn't like," he mused. "Flowers, birds ... insects. She can find the beauty in anything."


Amanya looked around. "Well, I think there are probably about ... twelve languages in here. Perhaps more. Some of them are old languages, unused anywhere that we are aware of. But those are books that very few have interest in anyways. I would say that approximately half of the books here are written in the Common Tongue, since it is the only language here that everyone speaks."

The jeweler chuckled softly. "Well, when it comes to her personal doodles, she does tend to do the rarer animals .... but of course she realizes that jewelry cannot all be the same, if it is to be sold. People like things to be unique to them. That is why I will not do two of the same piece, unless requested by the person who first bought it to replace a lost or damaged piece."


Amanya nodded and brought Lin and Earendil over to one of the taller bookcases. She pulled a newer-looking book, leather bound, off the shelf, and passed it to Lin.

"Here you are," she told them, smiling.

Earendil looked at the book over Lin's shoulder. The cover had runes painted on it in silver ink, but he didn't recognize a single one of them. He hoped that wasn't a sign of what was inside it as well ...

The jeweler smiled widely and bowed his head respectfully to Miyuki. "You are very welcome," he told her warmly. "I do hope you enjoy your stay in our city. I look forward to having you back in my shop sometime as well."

He glanced over at another customer who was trying to get his attention, and bowed to Miyuki again. "I'm afraid I must leave you now. Please, feel free to continue to look around."


The runes inside the book were the same as the runes on the outside of the book, and Earendil shook his head slowly. No, they were not going to be able to read the books here - not on their own anyways.

He looked at Lin. "Now what?" he asked her quietly.

The leather smith was only a few shops up the street from the jeweler's, though its sign was less noticeable. It had nothing sticking out from its building, but had only the name of the shop painted in white runes, outlined in black, on the shop window. Of course, the runes were not any that Miyuki would have known, but there were also leather goods on display in the front window.


"What are the languages that you do know?" Amanya asked Lin and Earendil. "It may be easier to know that way if there will be anything here that you can read."

"Common Tongue, High Elven, Common Elvish, and the Ancient Tongue," Earendil replied, "though they might go by different names here."

Amanya nodded thoughtfully. "That is entirely possible ... could you say something in each of the tongues? Then I can see. I know all of the languages here, so if one of these languages is common I could tell you."

Inside the leather shop was just as large as the jeweler's shop, and there seemed to be nearly as much on display. Light and heavy clothing, footwear, headwear, gloves, arm guards, bags, purses, pouches and more, there seemed to be just about every leather good that was possible.

There shop keeper was behind the counter, and had Kaito been there he might have made a quip about a surfer dude: the man looked very human and had blond hair and tanned skin. He was not alone: speaking to him and seeming very interested in the subject at hand was Jess. River was browsing the shop, her hands clasped behind her back. From the way she ignored the bell above the door, it seemed they might have been in there a while.



Amanya shook her head. "Common Tongue and Ancient Tongue, yes," she murmured, "but I do not recognize either of the elvish tongues that you speak. If you like, we could see if the Ancient Tongue books are in runes that you can read."

Earendil held up one hand. "Thanks, but it's all right," he told her with a rueful smile. "We know of no written forms for Ancient Tongue, so it would not be one that we know. It might be better for us simply to search for someone who can tell us the history orally instead."

The woman smiled warmly. "Well, that is also part of my job," she said, implying her willingness to aid them.