A lesson in greeting

_-\' Gardens of Farside \'-_

The southern side of the Tower is home to the green, lush gardens of Farside. Paths snake out in all directions, leading you past ancient trees that seem as old as the tower itself and bushes and flowers that seem to be more recent additions. Scattered throughout this verdant maze are water fountains and benches where one may forget their earthly cares and contemplate in peace. High up in the trees, songbirds bring sweet music to this place. Occasionally, one is lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them and see a flash of scarlet or blue up in the trees.

Closest to the amethyst tower is an area for vegetables and herbs, some of them extremely rare and foreign, followed by an orchard filled with every type of fruit and nut tree imaginable. No doubt this part of the gardens is extremely useful to the kitchen staff and healers, a fact confirmed by the small doorway embedded in the tower wall that leads directly to the kitchens.

A number of windows look down upon the gardens, taking advantage of the wonderful and pleasant view.

The sky is clear and the sunlight shines brightly. The late morning autumn air is hot around you.

Obvious exits:

North

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[+TIME] Middle-earth time is:

Late Morning on Sterday, Day 15 of October.

Execute the +TIMEFRAME command for year information.

Real time is: 09:29:04 MDT on Mon Apr 27 2009.

IC year: 3046

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[Nelladel(#7905)] The autumn air on this late morning is stifling hot, with ony a few stray clouds passing by the occasionally block the sun for a moment or two of respite. Only a few people are in the gardens this morning, seeking out the shade of the taller trees. One such is Nelladel, unmistakably Alphros\' special \'guest,\' with her creamy pale skin and fancy blue gown. Her dark head is bent over her work, a pad of paper that rests in her lap. The sole sound in this area of the garden besides the whine of flies is the scratching of Nella\'s charcoal across the paper as she draws something that looks like a city scene.

Into the gardens comes a thin youth, quick of movement and gaze, for his eyes dart this way and that as though he sought someone in particular. As his focus sharpens on Nelladel he lets out a long, faintly irritated-sounding sigh, and steps toward her. There is a satchel slung over one shoulder, and it bumps against his side as he walks he is in no hurry.

Once he nears the artist he clears his throat and asks stuffily in the Common speech, \"You are the woman known as Nelladel?\" Dark eyes narrow as he tries to make out the contents of her sketch.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella looks up at the sound of quick footsteps hurrying in her direction. Startled grey eyes take in the appearence of the thin young man, and she frowns faintly when he asks her name. \"Yes, I am. But you may call me Nella, please.\" She starts to smile, finally, as she observes, \"You speak Common! Not many here do, so no one can understand me.\" The scene she had been drawing on her lap becomes more visible, too, of a market square centered around a fountain in Minas Tirith, to any who would know it, in which an elderly shopkeeper is shaking her fist. It seems likely drawn from a memory.

[Alimah(#24218)]

Along one of the garden paths that approaches the pair comes the Corsair Alimah, walking slowly as if enjoying the day. One shoulder is bandaged. \"Nelladel,\" she greets the woman as she is near enough. \"And...?\" The question is posed to Barzhil.

\"I suppose I had better,\" the scribe answers, as though he were making some great concession. Carefully he sits down facing her, keeping a good arm\'s lengths away, and sniffs. \"You are in Umbar now. Perhaps you could try to draw this Tower?\" He gestures upward to the bulk of Farside. \"And its wondrous gardens - or is that beyond your ablility? Now, we will begin with greetings. One says-\"

It is at that point that Alimah arrives, and hastily the young scribe springs back up. \"A fine morning to you, friend.\" He gives a slight bow from the waist, before switching back to the common. \"Barzhil bin Hilam. A scribe. You are one of those tasked with .. ah, looking after this woman?\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nella\'s jaw drops in surprise. \"Beyond -my- ability?\" She makes a rough, frustrated noise in her throat, but says nothing more of it, not wanting to insult the only tutor she\'s been given to educate her in Haradaic. She takes a deep breath and exhales. \"Greetings,\" Nella says tersely, \"Sure.\" Then she spots the approaching Alimah, and smiles in recognition. \"Alimah!\" Her eyes narrow. \"Your shoulder...what happened? Are you alright?\" There\'s some genuine concern mixed with her curiosity.

[Alimah(#24218)]

\"Barzhil bin Hilam, a pleasure to meet you,\" Alimah answers in Haradaic. She glances to the northern woman, then nods. \"I am a Corsair and sworn to the Farside Tower, so yes, party of my duties involve ensuring her safety. Though I think there is no danger in her learning our tongue, no? Other than that we will no longer be able to speak behind her back.\"

Smiling, she nods now to Nelladel, switching to Westron. \"It is of no consequence,\" she answers, gesturing to her shoulder. Still, she sits now, and moves slowly and carefully, then as an afterthought, tells Barzhil, \"I am Alimah.\"

Barzhil regards Nelladel steadily for a moment, then lets out a long-suffering sigh. \"Can you repeat for me the greeting I used to your .. ahem, friend, Alimah here? Were you even listening?\" Clearly Nelladel\'s \'tutor\' has been chosen for his fluency in speaking and scribing in the Common tongue as well as Haradaic, and not for any early signs of teaching ability. \"Only when you have mastered that will we move on to more complex topics, such as the names for body parts.\"

To Alimah he answers with a swift burst of Haradaic. \"I really do not foresee much danger of that. The girl seems to have no more mind than a butterfly. And I will be teaching her the basics only - with an emphasis on those words she will need to express and understand loyalty to the Eye.\" He gives a tight little smile to his fellow Farsider.

.. before he, too, sits down again.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nelladel still looks terribly curious about Alimah\'s shoulder, but she says nothing more about it, knowing this guard of hers well enough to surmise that she wouldn\'t appreciate questions. When Barzhil asks her to repeat the greeting, she simply stares at him, openmouthed, clearly proving him right. She blinks several times, then scowls darkly at the scholar. She turns toward Alimah, her back to Barzhil now, and repeats the greeting, each syllable correct but awkward, sometimes stumbling or with pauses. Yet she gets through the entire phrase. \"There,\" she says in Common again, eyes flashing at her teacher. She crosses her arms over her chest. \"You are trying to make me look stupid?\" she accuses.

[<#24218>] \" Perhaps a butterfly is an apt analogy,\" Alimah says, one eyebrow raised as the northern woman succeeds in repeating the greeting. \" For she did migrate from north to south, and settled here, on the flower of Farside, so to speak. And perhaps you are right that she is stupid--after all, what wonam of Gondor would risk her neck to come here, to her enemy and then, of all things, ask to swear allegiance in a land where most will want to kill her, Farside protection or not? So, you tell me, Barzhil: Is it stupidity? A true passion for the cause of Lord Alphros? A will of iron? A combination of all?\"

\'I do not think he is trying to make you look stupid, personally,\' she tells the Gondorian. \'But you must prove to him you can learn.\'

\"I did not think you required help in that,\" Barzhil answers Nelladel smoothly, a dryness in his light tenor. \"But- you do seem to have memorized something, at least,\" he concedes. \"My apologies.\" He gives a nod of the head in Nelladel\'s direction. \"A fair start, though you will need to work on the pronunciation: listen.\" He repeats the phrase again, this time rather more slowly and with somewhat more patience. \"There are also alternative greetings - like this one. \'Blessings of the Eye be on you.\'\"

He leaves a pause long enough to show that he has finished, then turns to Alimah. \"Ah, but how long will our butterfly stay? Our Lord Alphros would be most displeased should she try to flutter away.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"Of course I can prove this. At home, I was a scholar. Although I suppose this is home now?\" Nella says, the last almost a question, to Alimah. Then she does turn again so she can see both of the people who sit with her. She repeats the greeting more slowly, as Barzhil has done. Then she tries this new greeting, not too shoddily, but certainly still with errors in pronunciation, \'Blessings of the Eye be on you.\' She must have been paying more attention to spoken Haradaic here than she let on, for she is able to ask, \'What is..the Eye?\' This is asked to both man and woman, looking between them. In Common now, she adds, \"No one has ever told me.\"

[Alimah(#24218)]

\'Only your home for a while, I think, Nelldel. As for the Eye..your people call it the Enemy, but like many things about us, they are mistaken. The Eye is simply our protector.\'

\"Better,\" is Barzhil\'s faint praise as he nods at Nelladel\'s second attempt. \"And it is \'Bles-sings\'.\"

At Alimah\'s explanation he lets out a neutral, \"Hmm,\" steepling his fingers.

He does not seem at all surprised by Nelladel\'s question - in fact, it garners a second approving nod. He lets Alimah supply the first answer, then takes up where she has left off: \"The Eye is ... the power that shapes men and women\'s lives. The power that raises up the highest Lord, or humbles the lowest beggar. Very soon a member of the Citadel or of Black Tower will explain these things to you in more detail.\" This time, the thin young\'s smile is almost indulgent.

[Nelladel(#7905)] Nelladel smiles at Alimah, the naive girl confessing, \"I feel sometimes that I could use a protector here, beyond what guards the Lord Alphros has graciously granted me. You\'ve seen the looks I get from people in the city. I was not liked at home either, but they hated me for my actions rather than my looks.\" She shakes her head, then looks at Barzhil, surprised at being praised for her attempts. \"Bles-sings,\" she dutifully repeats in Haradaic. \"I would like to know more. No one has ever explained to me before. How does one commune with this power?\" she wonders. Suddenly, she remembers something, \"Some of my guards have said that the Lady Azradi has forbidden me to visit the Black Tower, but I do not know why and neither do they. Am I unfit to know everything about the Eye? Is that it?\" Now Nella looks concerned.

[Alimah(#24218)]

\"It was but the simplest of explanations,\" Alimah frowns at Barzhil. \"I am trying not to scare the poor woman--after all, she has been indoctrinated with all sorts of notions in her homeland about the terrible things of the Eye. Nonsense, of course, but one has to tread carefully.\"

\'I think,\' she continues to Nelladel, \'that the Captain wishes to make certain that you receive the proper introduction to the Black Tower. Some of its members are rather zealous, and Captain Azradi wishes to spare you any prejudices they may have against you. Or at least that is my guess. You will have to ask her yourself.\"

Barzhil clears his throat suddenly - could he be secretly wondering the same thing Nelladel has voiced aloud? But then he interposes smoothly, \"I am sure that our Lord\'s sister merely wishes to make sure of your safety. As you have said, Umbar is not accustomed to .. ah, visitors such as yourself. In respect of which, perhaps a veil might be suitable and decent attire?\" He coughs gently. \"As it happens, I am working for a client in Black Tower at present. I shall mention your wishes I am sure one of their members could arrange to visit Farside.\"

To Alimah he nods, then responds in swift Haradaic. \"Indeed, I agree wholly! Which is why the issues should be explained fully to her by a trained teacher rather than by ourselves. Correct religious instruction is paramount.\"

[Nelladel(#7905)] \"Captain Azradi is very thoughtful. She and her brother are very kind to me,\" Nella agrees with Alimah, \"That is likely something she would think of, to keep my safety. I hadn\'t considered it.\" She nods to Barzhil. \"You are right, sir- I should wear the veil more often that I have had brought to me.\" Then she smiles at the young scribe. \"You would speak to them on my behalf? I would be deeply appreciative,\" Nella says at once. \"I will anticipate a visitor sometime in the future.\"