Aniseed: Settling in at Wing Keep

[aralli]

Aniseed watches her colleagues' faces closely as they perform the rite to take a handful of rookies flying through the sky. It looks challenging, but there's a real sense of victory when they land. At Wing Keep, everyone is discussing how difficult or easy they found the task, and Aniseed feels a tiny twinge of jealousy.

Guard me, my Lady, she thinks to herself, and cheerfully congratulates the others.

Everyone is being sorted into rooms and barracks, so there are bags and bundles of possessions strewn around the common room. As Aniseed is wearing her armour and carrying her sword, her bag is relatively small and easily slung over one shoulder. She gets her room assignment and heads upstairs.

Still sharing a room, huh? she thinks to herself with rueful amusement. There are two narrow beds in the dormitory, one on either side of a south-east facing window, with wooden chests at the base of each and a small stand for armour and weapons. A table with a jug and bowl is near the door. Blankets and a pillow are neatly stacked on each mattress, suggesting her roommate hasn't turned up yet. Aniseed picks the bed the sun will fall on first and places her bag on it.

The room is high enough up that she can't hear the common room. Aniseed belatedly remembers what unexpected moments of peace are meant to be used for, and crosses her hands over each other, palms up.

"Thank You for the roof over my head. Thank You for all I receive," she murmurs. "With faith, I serve."

That done, she sets about disarming and de-armouring herself. Not knowing if her roommate will need the stand, she hangs her sword from a peg still in its scabbard, placing her cloak next to it.

The greaves and bracers are removed and tucked inside each other, and placed in the chest with the neatly folded suede jerkin. She untangles the various bags and loops from her belt, and rescues a small black book before they all go into the chest as well. Her dagger is hung up with the sword.

There aren't many more possessions to go into the chest; Aniseed unpacks two changes of civilian clothing, her nightdress, and a pair of boots.

Putting the book reverently on the table, she makes her bed with suitable military precision - then slumps down onto it and closes her eyes, boots dangling over the end.

She is woken up by someone trying very hard to be quiet. Unfortunately, chainmail doesn't help you with being stealthy. Aniseed hops off her bed and helps rescue the woman who's got her long plaits caught between the links: between them they untangle things, and Aniseed sticks the mailcoat onto the stand. It seems she'll be sharing her room with the half-orc paladin ... what was her name again?

"Paladin Roskin, right?" she asks, stepping back to let her get her greaves off.

"I'm called Glamoria," the girl says cheerfully. "You're Warden Teasel."

"Call me Aniseed," she suggests, as they're off-duty. Glamoria looks pleased.

"You don't mind living with me, do you?" she asks. "Some people don't like half-orcs. They throw things at me."

"I won't let anyone throw anything at you," Aniseed says automatically. "It'll be nice to have you around."

Glamoria smiles her toothy grin, and Aniseed sits back down on her bed to watch the paladin unpack. She has a pile of books, several changes of clothes, a pink blanket and a stuffed toy pony that is, for some reason, purple. Most of this is squeezed into the chest, but the pony gets pride of place on the pillow once the bed is made and the blanket spread out.

During this process, Aniseed learns about Glamoria's life. She was found in a fish barrel as an infant, and raised by a bookseller. Her father lives in Perch. Glamoria follows Justice in the shape of Epona, a horse, and food at her monastery wasn't very nice, because they put in nutrients instead of flavour.

In return, Aniseed shares that she's from a village down south and follows Justice in all Her forms, but doesn't give much more; Glamoria's more than happy to do the talking. She's awfully youthful and optimistic for a greenskin (Aniseed's main experience with that kind has been grumpy sergeants during basic training), and Aniseed decides she likes that. When Glamoria asks her if they're now friends, she agrees without hesitation.

"C'mon, friend," Aniseed says, getting to her feet and tucking in her shirt. "Let's go find the mess."

"To ... tidy it up?"

With a smile, Aniseed shakes her head. "No ... military term for the dining hall. Let's go get some food."

Eating is much more appealing to the paladin than tidying things, so they head out and down the stairs together.