"If the harness needs any care or maintenance, you could take it to the end of the stables and place it along with the others you find there...near the forge," nodded Kersan, his head angling towards the far end of the line of pins, the same end where Aubrey had found her equipment. "We keep our saddles in one of the pins there, though there are exceptions. Some of our animals have staddles specifically for them...or i should say suitable only to them...and for those we'll store the saddle closer to their pen. Priscilla isn't one of those animals, so you might return it to the tacking corral. I will walk with you..."
Kersan rose and pushed the stool back in place before he motioned ahead towards the far end of the stabling. "So tell me of feed, Aubrey. How would you feed Priscilla? Or more specifically, what would you feed her? There are many different philosophies in regards to the proper feed for an animal, and with the kind of workout she receives, Priscilla's diet is perhaps more important than most."
The Horses Hooves (Samheen 25th, MT)
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Last edited by Grant on Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
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Placing the bridle and saddle into the corral, Aubrey pondered Kersan's question. Priscilla was not the build for a carriage horse, nor did that make sense for the tack she was wearing... They were in the wrong area for plough horses... And then she remembered the heavy amount of sweat on Priscilla's body, indicating strenuous activity, and the light saddle. She's a runner, of course, Thought Aubrey, falling into step with Master Kersan. "Well, sir, hay is always an important staple of a horse's diet," She replied quietly, most of her caution falling away, as it usually did when she was talking about the care of horses, "But unless I am mistaken, Priscilla's diet involves running of some sort?" She continued, "If that's the case, then it is my opinion that her diet should be supplemented with grains, maybe oats or corn? So she'll be energized the next day. She's a beautiful horse, if you don't mind my saying- it would be a shame to see a creature so fine have a breakdown because she is run too hard with not enough energy."
Last edited by Guest on Sun Nov 27, 2005 11:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"She is indeed a delightful runner, and a lovely one at that," smiled Kersan, very pleased with his animal and suddenly revealing a very real weakness in the man. And it was no real weakness, in truth, but the aged adhiel was quite susceptible to flattery of his animals more than flattery to his person, and the quality and care of his horses was as much a practice of pride for him as it might have been a sound business decision. His stables were reputed to be the best in the Citadel for just this reason...the healthiest, liveliest animals to be found...and he wouldn't hesitate for anything at all to bolster, reinforce, and protect this reputation.
"That sounds ideal, in fact," smiled the adhiel. "While hay is a very easy fodder to provide...it's cheap and plentiful...it can give such an animal horrible difficulties and lingering lethargy. Priscilla requires something more in her diet, as do many of our riding palfrey. The coach animals must do a lot of standing, so for them I try to pad them nicely with a hay, but I'd never do as much for any of our runners. Ah, here we are..."
The table that held the tools necessary for the task of maintaining the animals was certainly organized and extensive, but it was hardly lovely to look at. No doubt it was straightened every so often, but it undoubtedly never stayed in perfect order for long, not with the sheer volume of animals maintained at the Horse's Hooves. The pen nearby held a number of saddle stands, though only perhaps half of them held anything upon them at all, and a small force was placed at the very back corner of the stables, a cold-forge in practice....though it did have a fire kiln in the event that it should be needed, a furnace that might require marks...maybe even a full tide...to get up to temperature properly.
"Just place the saddle there and we'll go fetch her dinner," offered Kersan, turning his attention back to the woman in particular. No family, no employer, no connections...just a history she'd rather forget. Well, it was all a one...but such a life seemed perhaps hopeful at best. And just what do you hope for, Aubrey? You can care for horses...and no doubt you'll meet your share of unusual people here...but surely you won't find everything you seek among them. "Come, come, let's go gather up some grains. We do have corn, which is a treat...it's devilishly hard to keep an effective store of the stuff on hand. In the meantime, may I inquire where you're staying in the city? Where you live, that is?"
"That sounds ideal, in fact," smiled the adhiel. "While hay is a very easy fodder to provide...it's cheap and plentiful...it can give such an animal horrible difficulties and lingering lethargy. Priscilla requires something more in her diet, as do many of our riding palfrey. The coach animals must do a lot of standing, so for them I try to pad them nicely with a hay, but I'd never do as much for any of our runners. Ah, here we are..."
The table that held the tools necessary for the task of maintaining the animals was certainly organized and extensive, but it was hardly lovely to look at. No doubt it was straightened every so often, but it undoubtedly never stayed in perfect order for long, not with the sheer volume of animals maintained at the Horse's Hooves. The pen nearby held a number of saddle stands, though only perhaps half of them held anything upon them at all, and a small force was placed at the very back corner of the stables, a cold-forge in practice....though it did have a fire kiln in the event that it should be needed, a furnace that might require marks...maybe even a full tide...to get up to temperature properly.
"Just place the saddle there and we'll go fetch her dinner," offered Kersan, turning his attention back to the woman in particular. No family, no employer, no connections...just a history she'd rather forget. Well, it was all a one...but such a life seemed perhaps hopeful at best. And just what do you hope for, Aubrey? You can care for horses...and no doubt you'll meet your share of unusual people here...but surely you won't find everything you seek among them. "Come, come, let's go gather up some grains. We do have corn, which is a treat...it's devilishly hard to keep an effective store of the stuff on hand. In the meantime, may I inquire where you're staying in the city? Where you live, that is?"
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
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Guest
"Actually, sir," said Aubrey, wading through a tangle of saddles and placing her own slight burden on a stand, "I haven't been living anywhere in particular since the stables closed. Mostly I've been trading a day of work for a crust and a roof over my head until I could find another job." Helping fishermen sort the good fish from the bad, although the smell made her retch. Assisting an apothecary with truly vile tasks, including handling plants that had given her a rash all up her hands and wrists for the next week. Scraping out a lot of chamberpots and doing other unpleasant tasks for the well-off who were too highborn and blessedly clean to perform the tasks themselves. No job was too low, no meal too miserly. Aubrey did whatever she was commanded silently and without complaint, avoiding confrontation and socialization like the expert that she was. But hopefully that would end. Once she had a steady flow of income, Aubrey was looking to find herself a new home. It may be tiny, it may be seedy, but it would be the first really permanent settlement she would have in nearly a month. Aubrey, had she been vaguely resembling outgoing, would have told the kindly Kersan some of this, but Aubrey kept all of these non-equestrian thoughts behind her pale eyes. She then, with some difficulty, manuevered her way out of the chaotic corral, waiting for Kersan to show her where to find Priscilla's meal.
"Well, that should be rectified," responded Kersan. "We don't have any real lodgings here, but until you arrange yourself properly perhaps you might visit the Burpin Dragon? They run a very respectable operation there, and you might enjoy some safety while you find a more permanent place," he offered, leading Aubrey out of the northern stable building entirely and moving to the western building, which was central to the open plaza of the complex.
This was the building lined with the large wagon doors, instantly recognizable to Aubrey as a coach house, and a very massive one at that. Behind each set of broad, double doors would be a carriage, though the northern-most door...the one on the far right end as she faced it...was left open and held not a carriage, but a wagon. Walking into here, she could see a line of polished, lovely carriages stretching off to her left through the length of the building and a large, raised platform to her right, a platform that was not high...only perhaps a few feet at most...but clearly designed to keep grains and meals off the ground itself.
Kersan stomped his way up the pair of worn steps, all the while chatting away aimlessly. "There are, of course, tenements to be had all over the Citadel. If you'd like, I can have Rhen arrange a referral or an introduction at a decent one, and Rhen has a very sharp eye for that kind of thing. Oh, she might seem rather devious and deceptive, but she has a golden heart and she'll help you in any way you need," he added, pacing along the wooden platform where several stacks of dried goods were stored in burlap bags.
Motioning to these, he grimaced. "She purchases and keeps us in supply...Rhen, that is...but it isn't always as easy as it seems. Corn, for example, is strangely expensive these days, though thankfully wheat grains and oats are still plentiful. I think our current supply originates from Amun Rah. Our supplies are so damned uncertain that you might find yourself forced to improvise on occasion. I suppose that's the rigors of living on an island, I guess, and very little of the Citadel...the island, that is...has been allocated for farming. You can always talk to Rhen to arrange for any purchases for the stables, of course. Rhen is...amazingly resourceful when it comes to negotiating with merchants."
The platform...more a dais, perhaps...was only perhaps six feet deep, but it was quite wide, running the width of the building and including several piles of bagged staples. Aubrey had seen better ways to store and arrange feed...Kersan's operation seemed perhaps almost sloppy and disorganized...but then he also dealt in far more volume than the average stabling, so it was likely that the complex jumble of material before her was a necessary evil due to his large operation. A tall stack of wooden buckets rested against the far wall, with a few broken ones cast aside casually, and one bucket was upturned to hold a pair of tin scoops within it. "Go right ahead, dear, and collect Priscilla's dinner, if you will. I think the corn is here...not the best corn we've had, but it is corn...and I believe this is the grain...no, this stack would be oats. That means the grains are there. I've no idea what's in those far bags..."
This was the building lined with the large wagon doors, instantly recognizable to Aubrey as a coach house, and a very massive one at that. Behind each set of broad, double doors would be a carriage, though the northern-most door...the one on the far right end as she faced it...was left open and held not a carriage, but a wagon. Walking into here, she could see a line of polished, lovely carriages stretching off to her left through the length of the building and a large, raised platform to her right, a platform that was not high...only perhaps a few feet at most...but clearly designed to keep grains and meals off the ground itself.
Kersan stomped his way up the pair of worn steps, all the while chatting away aimlessly. "There are, of course, tenements to be had all over the Citadel. If you'd like, I can have Rhen arrange a referral or an introduction at a decent one, and Rhen has a very sharp eye for that kind of thing. Oh, she might seem rather devious and deceptive, but she has a golden heart and she'll help you in any way you need," he added, pacing along the wooden platform where several stacks of dried goods were stored in burlap bags.
Motioning to these, he grimaced. "She purchases and keeps us in supply...Rhen, that is...but it isn't always as easy as it seems. Corn, for example, is strangely expensive these days, though thankfully wheat grains and oats are still plentiful. I think our current supply originates from Amun Rah. Our supplies are so damned uncertain that you might find yourself forced to improvise on occasion. I suppose that's the rigors of living on an island, I guess, and very little of the Citadel...the island, that is...has been allocated for farming. You can always talk to Rhen to arrange for any purchases for the stables, of course. Rhen is...amazingly resourceful when it comes to negotiating with merchants."
The platform...more a dais, perhaps...was only perhaps six feet deep, but it was quite wide, running the width of the building and including several piles of bagged staples. Aubrey had seen better ways to store and arrange feed...Kersan's operation seemed perhaps almost sloppy and disorganized...but then he also dealt in far more volume than the average stabling, so it was likely that the complex jumble of material before her was a necessary evil due to his large operation. A tall stack of wooden buckets rested against the far wall, with a few broken ones cast aside casually, and one bucket was upturned to hold a pair of tin scoops within it. "Go right ahead, dear, and collect Priscilla's dinner, if you will. I think the corn is here...not the best corn we've had, but it is corn...and I believe this is the grain...no, this stack would be oats. That means the grains are there. I've no idea what's in those far bags..."
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
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Guest
Aubrey took up a bucket and a scoop, her mind whirling with thoughts and plans. She would go and visit the Burpin' Dragon; dislike taverns though she did, it would be a temporary solution to her homelessness. And she should probably ask Rhen about tenements, as Master Kersan had suggested- Aubrey mentally resolved to do that as well, as soon as she had got up the courage and energy to go and complete the task. Looking people in the eye, smiling, speaking clearly- these were things that were as exhausting to the reticent girl as physical strain- perhaps sometimes more so. Aubrey returned her mind to Priscilla's meal. <p> A few scoops of corn- not too much, it will give her stomach pains- and wasn't there already hay in her manger? Aubrey was fairly certain there had been. Horses were browsers- they ate continually through the day, if you let them- and so they usually were supplied with hay constantly, unless they were overweight. <p> Aubrey added a small scoop of oats to Priscilla's feed, for good measure, and replaced the scoop in the upturned bucket. Then, padding down the steps and off of the dais, she walked purposefully away, back towards Priscilla's stall and placed the grains in the feeder. <p> Backing out of the stall again, Aubrey looked up, startled. She had been so preoccupied with her own thoughts and Priscilla that she had completely forgotten about Master Kersan! She quickly retraced her steps to the dais, empty bucket in hand, and bowed slightly. "I'm sorry, sir. Priscilla has been fed. Is there anything else you would like me to do?"
Kersan hadn't noticed at first when Aubrey had fallen into her customary task of caring for the horse, having grown somewhat curious about what might be in the far stack of burlap bags. He had moved over to inspect them leaving her to gather up and manage Priscilla as she wished.
Indeed, the hay was not stored with the grains, being far more excessive in it's space requirements. It was delivered in bales to porches in the stables themselves, hay that was the typical grass hay Aubrey had seen used so often in the Citadel, the only valuable product of the island's rolling meadows beyond the walls and certainly plentiful enough to be shifted very frequently indeed. While the Citadel's grass hay was perhaps not ideal for a horse compared to the golden grasses of Kislovan or the Western Kingdoms, it was certainly suitable and was generally the only kind available to any of the Citadel residents.
When Aubrey located Kersan again, he was still in the coach house though he had moved down the building a ways where he spoke to Rhen, the adhiel woman leaning casually against the tongue of one of the carriages as she spoke.
"...I've got it ready to go if we should send it."
"I can't imagine why we wouldn't," responded Kersan to her, his expression thoughtful. "Though it seems odd they would send someone for it. Ah...tell the gentleman that it isn't ready, and we'll compile our manifest and send it along by post as soon as it is. We'll do our part, anyway, and make sure it finds the right desk..."
Indeed, the hay was not stored with the grains, being far more excessive in it's space requirements. It was delivered in bales to porches in the stables themselves, hay that was the typical grass hay Aubrey had seen used so often in the Citadel, the only valuable product of the island's rolling meadows beyond the walls and certainly plentiful enough to be shifted very frequently indeed. While the Citadel's grass hay was perhaps not ideal for a horse compared to the golden grasses of Kislovan or the Western Kingdoms, it was certainly suitable and was generally the only kind available to any of the Citadel residents.
When Aubrey located Kersan again, he was still in the coach house though he had moved down the building a ways where he spoke to Rhen, the adhiel woman leaning casually against the tongue of one of the carriages as she spoke.
"...I've got it ready to go if we should send it."
"I can't imagine why we wouldn't," responded Kersan to her, his expression thoughtful. "Though it seems odd they would send someone for it. Ah...tell the gentleman that it isn't ready, and we'll compile our manifest and send it along by post as soon as it is. We'll do our part, anyway, and make sure it finds the right desk..."
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
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Guest
Aubrey could not hear what Rhen and Kersan were saying. She hung back at a polite distance, picking up a word or two from Rhen's sentence but nothing more. Wordlessly, she turned around and replaced the bucket on one of the wobbly stacks on the grain dais. Then, pasting a thin, papery smile on her face, she returned to Master Kersan, bowing to both him and Rhen. "My apologies if I am interrupting, sir. If there is anything else you would like me to do....? Any other horses you'd like me to care for?" Her goal in mind was to get down to the Burpin' Dragon as soon as she could. Except for daytime booze-hounds, inns were generally quiet and unoccupied during the da. This meant that Aubrey could settle herself without much uncomfortable interaction, something she dearly wished to avoid.
They both turned and acknowledged her nearby...their conversation had been private, but not private from Aubrey...something she noticed but could never understand why, perhaps in the way they made no attempt to hide it from her specifically. Rhen smiled at her, a broad, lovely smile, before she turned to Kersan and murmured such that they both could hear. "I'll do it. Do you...want to know anything else from him?"
"No, no, just...get rid of him," responded the Master quickly, a thoughtful expression pasted over his aged face...one that never changed or relieved itself even after Rhen nodded and left the coach house, his mind clearly troubled by something. Turning, he regarded Aubrey closely, noticeably shaking off the lingering traces of concern that she could only just detect from him.
"Ah...no thanks, Aubrey, I think you'll need a proper schedule before I would set you to task, a schedule that would give you plenty of time to let each animal grow comfortable with you," he said, with no further trace of concern upon him after his third word. "You'll have perhaps six animals to which you must directly attend for daily care, which is not many initially, but you'll also need to work the stables...keep the hay fresh and cycled...as well as working them to keep them in good humors. If you think you can handle that, I'll start you at two coronets per week, or a bit better than three lance per day. Also, if you need a letter of introduction for any proper tenement or residence, like I said, just inquire with Rhen and she'll arrange it," he said, having clearly accepted Aubrey's employment with his statement.
"No, no, just...get rid of him," responded the Master quickly, a thoughtful expression pasted over his aged face...one that never changed or relieved itself even after Rhen nodded and left the coach house, his mind clearly troubled by something. Turning, he regarded Aubrey closely, noticeably shaking off the lingering traces of concern that she could only just detect from him.
"Ah...no thanks, Aubrey, I think you'll need a proper schedule before I would set you to task, a schedule that would give you plenty of time to let each animal grow comfortable with you," he said, with no further trace of concern upon him after his third word. "You'll have perhaps six animals to which you must directly attend for daily care, which is not many initially, but you'll also need to work the stables...keep the hay fresh and cycled...as well as working them to keep them in good humors. If you think you can handle that, I'll start you at two coronets per week, or a bit better than three lance per day. Also, if you need a letter of introduction for any proper tenement or residence, like I said, just inquire with Rhen and she'll arrange it," he said, having clearly accepted Aubrey's employment with his statement.
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
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Guest
Aubrey's heart gave an enormous bound of joy as Kersan spoke. His implication that she had been hired was clear enough in his words for even the socially reticent girl to read. She bowed again, this time a real, true smile illuminating her thin features and chasing away the shadows of fear that hung perpetually behind her gray eyes. <p> "Thank you very much, sir! I would be glad to care for whatever animals you assign me." Her dismissal for the day was implied, and Aubrey decided in a startlingly light-hearted mood to make haste for the Burpin' Dragon. She had decided to place her limited trust in her employer, with the reassurance that she would have a paying job the next day. She would speak to Rhen the following day about a real, permanent settlement, and feeling rather unusually confident and happy, Aubrey exited the Horses' Hooves. <p> OOC: I am unsure whether to join the existing BD thread for Sam. 25 MT, as I understand that Morningtide lasts three hours or so, or start another thread at Trade Tide. Please let me know what you prefer! 
(OOC: Oh, definitely! It might not be perfectly time linear, but it's close enough for thread work...and it's worthwhile since there are lots of other peeps around to properly torment Aubrey with social interaction! 
)
~Fin! Priscilla says "Pppppppppt! Sent fer sklz."
-Grantly
)
~Fin! Priscilla says "Pppppppppt! Sent fer sklz."
-Grantly
Maeve: It starts with ambition
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant
Meridiuz: It ends with Grant