Lore and Oatmeal

Museum Library of Umbar

The front room of the Museum-Library is a large rug-covered room. A large built-in desk lines one wall--behind this desk sits a scholar or librarian. She seems to be deep in thought whilst studying an old scroll. Behind her rows of books and piles of scrolls lay on tables and shelves. A large and ornate crystal case harbours some evidently valuable artifacts.

***

Flickering lamp light is caught and refracted against Yildirim\'s face as he gazes into the artifact cases. He makes a face, hands running down the edges. He glances towards a reading table, recently pulled books formed into piles sitting, awaiting a reader. He taps the top of the case with his hands and turns, strolling near the table, but avoiding it all the same.

A library, a place for books, but apparently not in the estimation of Jugartha, who quietly has found himself a seat by the window overlooking a scene of vaguely urban landscape, an alleyway, the mostly dead corpse of a beggar but at least he had the presence of mind not to make a terrible smell, so the outsider, the stranger, can affect his hungers status with a small bowl of toasted oats rolled with honey and spices. A spoon lightly clutched in his palm, lifting the meal to his lips so he might quietly eat in peace. His table cleared of everything lest he accidentally spilt upon.

Su\'ad peruses the rows of books in the library, reading the spines of some when they have titles, but skipping others in entire sections. The scrolls she seems loathe to even touching. The Corsair Captain seems to...pace like a beast in a cage, unable to settle on a book. She finds one on beasts of the sea, pulling out that one and skimming through it sections at a time.

A tall woman strides into the quiet room her gaze restlessly taking in the room as if assessing the things and people held therein - the instincts of a Corsair, not a scholar. She looks visibly startled and quite a bit uncomfortable when she espies the new Squire of Farside, Yildirim. However, first sparing Su\'ad a glance and nod of her head, she approaches the young man. \"Yildirim,\" she says a bit too loudly for the room. Azradi smiles then and adds: \"I thought you were leaving this all behind you.\"

.

Caught off guard, he spins to face Azradi\'s awkwardly, \"Az...!,\" Yildirim stops himself, lowering his voice, \"Captain.\"

He glances to the table, \"Ah... this is for you, not for me,\" then steps towards it, \"I have gathered a few books of history and lore to aid your speech.\" Adding quickly at the end, \"And a few for my own studies, yes. Come and see.\"

Shifting his chair, the stranger leans back up against the wall and slowly lifts up one leg to lay across the table, the bowl held in his palm as he spoons more of his meal into his mouth, catching the overflow at the corner of his mouth and shoveling it back between his lips. Watching, listening in on conversations that are no directed to him, but at least using his first nights in Umbar to learn, to study and perhaps to understand.

\"Yes, yes, the speech,\" Azradi replies quickly, glancing swiftly to the stack of books. A look of alarm crosses her features then. \"You think I need to study for this?\"

She glances again at Su\'ad and beckons the woman over. \"How difficult will this be? I thought I\'d just say a few things, people will get mad and...\" the Corsair looks suspiciously at the man eating his dinner and lowers her voice, \"...we will accomplish what we set out to accomplish.\"

\"Study? It may be useful,\" Yildirim says, grimly, \"If your task is to have one of your family speak in public, perhaps I thought you would want to use his style of speech, and he is a man of history and of words.\"

\"But... Charisma goes further than words often. It is not my plan, but I figured I would look for some points of interest for you in any case.\"

As Su\'ad approaches the others of Farside, her path takes her by the table of scrolls and books gathered around the stranger in the Library. She pauses at the table to glance at a few of the titles, then answers Azradi, \"If you know the history and the arguments by heart, then there is no need for study, I would say. But if you falter in your speech and seem uncertain, then the crowd will doubt your knowledge. I wouldn\'t try to get them mad, just speak the truth and sway the minds of the masses. Ajnabi\'s people /will/ see you as a threat.\"

Su\'ad glances down at the scrolls and books again and then looks at Jugartha. \"Pardon, Sir, what are these titles?\"

Picking a piece of undercooked oat from between his teeth, lips pulled back in a snarl as the longer fingernail on his little finger of his left hand rubs with a high pitched squeak between his front teeth, a slurping whistling inhalation as he fights with the obtrusive victual. The storyline having long gone absent, and with no clear idea as to what is being discussed, he foregoes his studious appreciation of others to alleviate the discomfort of his dental work. Dropping his hand, his tongue working at the lodged food as he mumbles \"No idea. They\'re not mine.\" pointing his toe towards the scrolls \"Grab all you want.\"

\"My brother is the scholar in the family,\" Azradi admits with a heavy sigh. Hooking her booted foot around the leg of a chair, she pulls it out from the table and sits. \"I know the arguments, but my history of Umbar might be a bit wanting. I am most acquainted with the histories of Farside and Seaward but know little of the other Towers - perhaps learning something of Black will inspire new arguments for our case.\"

\"Oh good.\" Su\'ad says, immediately taking one scroll with enough interest to suggest that she\'d had her eye on it, but was trying not to let it show, yet with such nonchalance to imply that she was merely taking it to support a false fascination in them. \"Thank you. Who are you then, Sir?\" she asks, not yet ready to move along, and looking over the man\'s garb with interest, her eyes resting at the neck, chest, and waist especially.

With a glance to Su\'ad, Yildirim offers, \"I think she is investigating the quality of the patrons. That one has a look of informant to him. I don\'t remember him coming in.\"

Then a bit louder, continues, \'I have not found such a volume. I suspect you must enter the Tower to gain knowledge of its secrets.\'

Finally, Jugartha manages to clear his teeth with a firm sucking sound, then as he runs his tongue over his lips inside of his mouth. Dropping his booted feet to the ground, legs slightly parted, pulled back beneath his seat as if preparing to spring up and leave at the most inane reasons. \"I\'m nobody really.\" he offers with a smile on his lips as he spoons up another bite of his meal. \"I think I was once called something else, but I think I\'m just ...\" he pauses and shaking his head spoons another mouthful, speaking around the food he mumbles \".uga.tha\" swallowing he offers again \"Jugartha.\"

\"I suspect anAzulada are not welcome at Black at the moment,\" replies Azradi with a snort. \"Or, more likely, we are quite welcome but not as honored guests.\"

She looks at Jugartha speculatively, \"Mmmm. Alright,\" she looks back at Yildirim, \"what have you prepared for me?\"

\"You.../think/ you were once called something else?\" Su\'ad asks, putting the scroll back down on the table and pulling up a stool with a deft hook of her booted toe. It protests loudly and musically as it is dragged along the floor, the wood being bone-dry. She squints her eyes just a bit and takes her seat on that stool, resting both elbows heavily on the table and leaning far forward. \"That would suggest that you do not know.\"

\"Ah, about that,\" he begins, scratching the back of his head, \"I have not yet finished a list for you. Or have I started it. But,\" he motions to the books, \"I did take down the books. Just... I just haven\'t been able to focus my mind to it yet.\"

\"Have you picked a date yet?\"

A shake of his head, the halo of soft hair that surmounts his skull swaying in the opposite direction, giving those with weak stomachs a sense of movement, seasickness. Jugartha just offers up a smile, though the noise was enough to start him halfway to his feet. Settling back down to finish off the last of his meal and casting the bowl aside with a negligent flip. \"I\'ve always known who I was it was everyone else who just wasn\'t sure. And since you have my name, I think I will have to insist on yours. Unless you\'d like me to refer to you in unflattering epithets to any who might ask after you, eh?\"

\"Tomorrow,\" the Corsair Captain responds, \"The lieutenant assures me he will be ready by then.\"

Azradi grimaces when she speaks of the Master Assassin. \"I think we should convene at midday the market will be the most crowded at that hour.\"

A snippet of conversation catches her attention and the Corsair woman winks at Jurgatha and calls out, \"I would like to hear these potential epithets, first. Make him tell them before giving up your name, my friend.\"

Su\'ad is amused, and laughs hard and quickly at the threat of replacing unkind epithets for her name, and almost as quickly she is done. But Azradi\'s words reach her ears just as she is ready to respond, and she changes her mind. Mouth twisted in bemusement, eyes dancing with mischief, she says, \"Yes, do tell us cruel Jugartha, what names would you assign me, should a man pay to know what you\'ve seen?\"

\"Let me gather and return those we will not be using. I will return shortly. If not, then at the Tower,\" Yildirim says with a nod, turning to the table as he begins to pick through for the unneeded volumes. Filling his arms, he strides into the stacks to return them.

A tilt of his head, long fingers reaching up to stroke at his jaw, elegant fingers, the fingers of a nobleman, at least one body part seeming well cultured and tended, and apart from the one nail that has been shaved into a claw, the other nails are neatly trimmed and carefully tended, not a sailor for there is none of the customary scarring or thickening of the joints. \"Well, I could speak of beauty, but I suspect everyone would know I was lying. I could speak of kindness, but you\'ve just shattered that illusion.\" snapping the spoon out of the bowl and wiping it off on the leg of his pant and leaning back, seemingly totally at ease despite his proximity to an easy point of egress. \"So I think I will just refer to you as the exceptionally rude harridan who wouldn\'t know the difference between her nose and the hind end of a dyspeptic sow. Perhaps with the aroma of a beached whale with the charm to match? Or shall I just speak then of your manners? I am sure you are the equal of all the other goats in your herd.\"

Looking relieved the boy has left and with him the scrolls, Azradi turns in her chair and offers the man a wry grin, \"You should have stopped at kindness,\" she says. \"But I suppose a man who brings his dinner into a place of lore knows a thing or two about rudeness.\"

Some of the insults actually make Su\'ad wince a little. \"I see. Well, such possible responses would leave me quite anonymous, I feel, to whomever might employ your aid...as some, no, most of your descriptions rely on your sole opinion.\" She sits back from the table now. \"But I suppose I did ask, did I not? And now an answer is in order. She looks down at the table, fingering some scratches as she considers what she will say. \"I think I was once called something else, but I think today you can call me Su\'ad, Corsair Captain of Farside.\" She cocks her head. \"And have you any honorary for your name? \"Jugartha\" simply /demands/ a title.\"

A shrug of his shoulders as he looks with a laugh at the other person. \"Oh dear, and I was so hoping to make a good impression.\" sticking out his tongue he winks and Jugartha pockets the spoon beneath his robes, slipping it into a sheath with the formality of a warrior sliding his scimitar back into the scabbard. \"And honestly woman, you ask me to insult you without knowing who you are. Trust me, within a year I am sure I can better castigate you. Perhaps I might even garner the knowledge necessary to cause physical pain with my words. But we all must have aspirations, no?\" a smile then as he places his fist over his heart, the soft rattle of metal, something is of steel beneath his robes over his heart as he inclines his head \"No longer. When I ventured to the city, I left behind my past, my reputation and my position. No doubt, in time, with effort you might uncover the sordid details, but with your features I don\'t know you\'d much enjoy your time amongst the dust. So call me, if you must, Jugartha, no titles, no position and no real direction.\"

\"And so you are not sworn to any Tower, Jurgatha of the Present?\" asks Azradi, twisting her chair around a bit so that she might better face the two. \"And no profession?\"

\"I lived a few years in the desert, with my father\'s family.\" Su\'ad says her voice now softer, and her eyes with a faraway look. But that ends quickly enough, and with some pain in her countenance. But for once she is silent, letting Azradi do more of the speaking.

A shrug of his shoulders as he stands up, towering over the seated woman at his table and wandering back to the window to check on the dying homeless man, though the shadows of the city at night have obscured his body, save for the outline of his slumped body. \"No Lord of Umbar has suffered my allegiance. Though I did as a youth serve Black, but that was before the whole tribal invasion. Who knows since.\" he turns back and with a merry glint on his face, a smile on his lips as he stalks back to his chair, leaning over the back and peering closely at the two remaining denizens of the library. \"I have had many professions in my life, but I don\'t think any of them apply, consider me a blank slate to be molded by my environs. And if you\'ve been baked by the desert sun, then perhaps you could survive the dust. But we never were that pleasant to strangers to the dust too often abused by the stronger.\"

Su\'ad seems unfazed by the seeming challenge of the man. But something else tickles the back of her brain. \"How old are you then, Sir?\"

Azradi, stranger to the Dust and descendent of those who likely subjugated them millennia ago says, \"There is only one Tower Lord in Umbar today and that is the Lord of Farside, Alphros. He is both fair and ambitious - a man wishing to start anew could choose no better Tower than his.\"

She rises from her seat.

Looking affronted, and mockingly he bows \"You wound me madam. A lady never asks a gentleman his age.\" he winks one eye, still playful in his own way as he steps over the chair and slumps back down, as everyone else rises, he sinks, as if to balance the difference in heights. \"No one is really very sure. My mother knew who my father was. Beyond that, it\'s all sort of extraneous details, isn\'t it? I\'ve lived long enough to develop a smart mouth and a stupid mind.\" the contents of his dinner bowl have started to harden, crusty and sticking, requiring a great deal of cleaning later \"I would suspect I am probably at least 3 decades old, does it matter?\" his eyes playfully regarding Azradi \"I\'m not trying to seduce the man, if I wanted a bedmate, I\'d choose someone with better hips then this Alphros of yours. Though I might hold off until I see his bosoms.\"

Su\'ad\'s eyes slide to Azradi as she speaks, and she takes a deep breath and says sighingly, \"Ahhhhh...what she means to say is that if you are in need of money...not that you don\'t look like the independent type,\" she eyes his pocket where the spoon is kept, \"I\'m betting that you could come to Farside and for an honest day\'s work and pay, with a possible future if you prove...talented.\"

Looking amused, Azradi grins at the man. \"If he were a woman, I imagine he would look much like me he is my brother. Alas, I do not think you are his type.\"

\"The laws of Umbar state every man and woman must behold to a Tower. Come to the Tower if you would like, as my friend has stated, a good day\'s work, pay and a meal - the rest can be decided later.\"

A tilt of his head, his white teeth flashing so bright in comparison to his dark flesh. His eyes wide with mirth. \"So many options, this truly is the land where a lowly Tzingose might truly sup on plates of gold and honey.\" he shakes his head \"If I find a job, then the better for it, but if I must leave the city after a brief sojourn because none will employ. Perhaps I should take up banditry. It\'s an old and noble profession.\" patting the back of Su\'ad\'s hand \"Tell your Lord that if he wants, I will meet with him, see what he can offer. Though I hear that some towers are empty, and I\'ve already been the servant and the slave. I think I\'d like to try my hand and ruling.\" he is obviously joking, though perhaps a grain of truth to his words.

Su\'ad arches a brow as Jugartha pats her hand, his words causing what pleasantness etched on her face to slip away. \"Ah. A jest. And what tower would please you, my Lord, if you were a Lord?\"

\"They are empty now,\" Azradi says, her gray eyes glittering, \"But lords will soon rise to fill their thrones - who knows?\"

\"Come to the Market tomorrow at midday - it will be very instructional, I assure you.\"

\"I find myself no longer interested in lore, Su\'ad,\" she says, glancing at the other Corsair, \"I think will return to Farside and think on what I will say tomorrow.\"

Another shrug as Jugartha grabs the bowl and stands up, towering over any nearby, lanky in a way that indicates that he has been tall all his life and has grown used to having limbs of greater length and strength then is the norm. \"Obviously Desert. I would think that Harbour would be entirely inappropriate for me. I\'ve only been on ship once, and could no more lay claim to expertise as a sailor then I could freely walk the streets of Pelargir amongst the pale skins.\" letting his sleeves fall low, obscuring his hands. \"I should have asked sooner about whatever you are preparing for, but I suppose I will, and if I meet your Lord. Perhaps I will speak to him. Since you two speak so highly of him, he must in some way warrant such devotion. Though to insinuate I know anything would be to claim I have a plan. I don\'t, it gets in the way of action.\"

Su\'ad smirks a little. \"Well, you might as well know now.\" She turns her head to Azradi and jerks it toward Jugartha. \"Tell him of Lord Alphros\' claim.\"

\"We are descended from the son of King Tarannon Falastur of Gondor and his Queen Beruthiel, whom he cruelly cast off - not knowing she was carrying his only child,\" Azradi says, almost casually. \"My brother claims the throne of Gondor.\"

Almost laughing aloud, Jugartha seems about to scoff at the words of the sister spoken. His mouth opens as if to reply but, almost forcing himself to be silent he stows the crusty bowl back beneath his robes for transport out of the library. \"It seems, ambitious.\" he says hesitantly, and then shaking his head \"And I am guessing that the pale skins didn\'t agree? Or will their lands once more be ruled by this most ancient of cities?\" he asks, stalking around the table, his energy levels seeming to only grow greater with this enforced stay indoors. \"So I should refer to this one,\" pointing at Azradi \"As Princess? And that would make you....?\" a shake of his head \"It all seems a little off.\"

\"The Gondorians chose war,\" Azradi replies, \"So that his how he will gain his throne. But not all of the Northerners have dismissed his claim…more will follow.\"

\"But first he will restore the ancient order of Tower Lords in Umbar.\" The Corsair\'s lips twitch slightly, \"And here, I am no Princess.\"

\"As I said, Farside is a good place with a man looking for a new start. Now, if you both will excuse me, I must begin my own preparations for tomorrow.\"

\"Oh yes! Call her Princess!\" Su\'ad answers immediately, and gleefully, a teasing look of sheer, cruel joy upon her face. \"If Lord Alphros were to rule Gondor...\" she imagines what it might be like, her face turning both serene and devilish at the same time. \"Well, the Corsairs would grow soft. But we could find new shores further north, no doubt.\"

Moving to the door and pulling it open and bowing low \"Thank you princess, I do hope you will grace us with your presence anon. I am sure I am not alone in stating our devastation at your departure. The light has surely gone out of my life as you are about to go out of this door.\" stepping away, and thumping at his belly once, twice and then \"BURP!\" and looking at Su\'ad. So you\'ve sold me Farside here and there, what of the others?\"

Shooting a dark look at Su\'ad, the Corsair crosses the room to where Jugartha holds open the door. She levels the same dark look upon him and nearly growls. But she says nothing, merely pulling the hood of her burnoose up and covering the lower portion of her face with a veil before passing beyond into the streets of Umbar.

fini