tushanshu_logs | Book Business

Even if several people that had lent money towards the cause, including someone Victor was very close to, he and the other people he was working with continued to gather juulan. It took longer than he would have liked but donations, salvage work, and jobs in the city paid off. And once he had enough, Victor contacted Lieuen to see how they could go about translating the book.

They both agreed that doing the whole thing in one sitting wasn't the best plan. It was agreed that they'd meet weekly and translate in chunks with Victor paying based on how much they got done in each setting. The first appointment was Friday morning and Victor's being led to where Lieuen's waiting for him. Bag with the book in one hand, he's got a small backpack with juulan in it with him too.

"Good morning," he greets when finally seeing The Hazelwood Merchant. "Thanks for seeing me so early."

Lieuen smiles, ever pleasant and welcoming. His skin today bears a green tinge, in honour of his client, and his attire is loose-fitting. Comfortable, as one might say, for the task at hand may take much time.

"Early, late; there is no such thing to a businessman," he greets with the smoothest shrug of his shoulders. Lieuen gestures to a desk set up, with two comfortable chairs laid out for them. A paned-lantern rests on the desk, though the steady glow suggests a lightsource far more consistent than oil or candle.

"Would you have tea? Or..." His voice trails off as he summons the recollection. "Soda? Pop?" He squints, raising a hand in a light gesture, fingers flicking to and fro. "That little bubbly concoction. I'm afraid I don't quite have the name down pat."

The green tinge has Victor arching a brow slightly but he doesn't comment. He finds it a little amusing and flattering. The lantern gets a curious glance, Vic wondering if there's more to it than meets the eye.

He blinks at the offer for drinks and then laughs a little. "Technically, both work. Where I'm from at least, it just depends on what region of the country or even the world you're in. There's other names for it too. It's one of those little funny things people argue about sometimes. I'll just have some water though, please."

"Water it shall be!" Lieuen claps his hands together and one of his retainers approaches with a tray upon which a pitcher of water and a glass are set. "But I do find it curious that your people would argue about a word. It matters little to a humble kedan as to how we refer to something, so long as all use that term. It's vexing that one would have multiple terms..."

He trails off with a shrug and moves to one of the chairs, taking a seat. "Ah, a conundrum for later," he concedes. "When there are fewer profitable alternatives with which to spend our time, yes?"

Victor glances back as the retainer approaches. He gives a quick thanks as the water is set down and then shrugs Lieuen's way. "Just something that comes from different people coming from different places," he says as he moves to take a seat as well.

He nods to the question though. Setting down one bag, he picks up the one containing the book and carefully takes it out before setting it down. Next out of the bag comes some materials for Vic to write with, the teen intending to write down what Lieuen translates. "Right. About how much do you think we'll get through today?" he asks, stretching a little.

Lieuen eyes the appearance of the book with some interest, breaking his gaze from it just long enough to pull a pair of fine white gloves out of his pocket. As with before, his hands shrink down to fit the gloves, lending him additional capacity for delicacy when it comes time to handle the delicate pages.

"It all depends, my dear sir," he says, lifting the book and repositioning it to be set before him on the desk. "This is very old writing and even my knowledge is somewhat, ah... damaged, but we shall see!"

He runs his finger along the spine, finding the creases from the presumably many times the book had been opened in its past. Careful to guide the material to meet these old marks of wear, he opens the front cover and scans the text.

"Damaged?" Victor's curious about that particular choice of word. Shifting to get a little more comfortable, Victor watches Lieuen and the book. He'd treated it with the same care when he'd opened it other places.

Shifting to get a little more comfortable, he gets ready to start writing when the first page is read.

"Hm?" Lieuen is already focused on the writing and only half hears the echo of his comment. It takes him a moment to decipher what he'd heard, at which point he waves it off. "A mere trifle, nothing to dwell upon."

And then he lapses into silence for a few minutes, reading down the sheet. Twice he stops to stand and walk over to a shelf of books, taking a reference text down to verify something before he returns.

"This material is all very technical," he reports upon his second return to the table. "Formal introductions, what have you." Lieuen again waves his hand, a dismissive gesture to the contents. "I see some names, such as Yvlei, and titles of some sort. The subject--" Here he pauses again, double-checking the material. "It's reading as 'Study Transient Medical - Past Tracings & Forward' ...this one is difficult." He taps a word. "With this grammar and structure, it's quite... hm. 'Thinkings' I suppose, is the most literal translation. How curious. The title structure is indicative of a very old system and literal translations are, as you can hear, rather strange. I'd hazard a guess as it being some sort of medical history and predictions for something of a transient nature."

Victor frowns a moment but he lets it go. It's something to worry about another time. Taking a breath, he goes back to focusing on the writing as well. He watches Lieuen, making quick mental notes on which books he takes off the shelf. There's a nod when the merchant reports it's technical writing. He was guessing it would be that much just from where they found it and some of the graphs and such in the book.

"Yvlei? Could you tell me what names and titles are in there, please?" he asks, figuring those will be useful. He frowns as he writes this all down. "That does sound like a good guess. We'll probably find out if you're right the more we read."

Lieuen scans the page twice more, his gaze jumping from mark to mark as he takes them in yet again. His memory is not eidetic, taking some effort to retain the knowledge that he possesses, but his persistence makes up for any apparent flaws therein.

"Ah, yes. Here--" And a gentle tap of the page as he identifies where the list begins. "--are the names. Yvlei, Todik, Gnutoh, and Dvyry. Hm, no. That last one appears to be a shared title of theirs. Doctor, it appears, and there is a reference again to something medical. The physicians of their day, I suspect, and it's a joint study of sort." He pauses. "Shall I repeat any of those names?"

Victor writes each name down carefully, glancing up at where Lieuen taps. He nods to the correction, adding a little note so he remembers that.

"So three doctors were writing this book," Victor nods, a little reminded of the X-Club back home. "No thanks. I got them," he says, tapping his own page and offering a smile.

A knowing nod and a trivial thought occurs to him -- will a different businesskedan and a different Foreigner be interpreting the strange text that Victor is writing down some five hundred years hence?

"Ah, one quick question, good sir," he begs the clarification with pleasant ease, "but do you want this word for word? Or shall I simply summarise what these pages hold?"

Victor perks up when the question is mentioned, nodding slightly to indication he's listening. He frowns in thought at what's asked though. Silently, he weighs the options. "Let's go with a summary and I'll ask about anything that needs expanding on?"

Lieuen accepts these terms and gestures for an aid to bring refreshments for his client as he begins to focus simply on reading ten or so pages. Now and again, he gets up and checks a reference book for the particularly difficult passages as he encounters them. It takes him upwards of an hour to finish his first read, and then a second before he is comfortable with setting the book very gently to the side and addressing Victor directly.

"These pages are profiles, I believe," he says with a gesture to the book. "There are five new names which appear and they are Qi, Julyt, Ropsrch, Bysaliat, and Achavielle. The first three are associated with the female pronoun, the fourth the male, and Achavielle does not have a meaningful classification to tradition." He pauses, thoughtful. "It is almost as though it's a construct of sorts." A shake of his head to dismiss further ruminations on that. "The information all relates to basic medical details, such as height and weight. The comments made by Doctors Yvlei, Todik, and Gnutoh conclude that they are healthy specimens of their race. I found some references to arrival dates and suchnot, but most were present for some time before this compilation was made. It's all very fascinating, thought quite dry to a non-medical sort of kedan." Of which he, alas, is not. Milyn would, no doubt, find this quite fascinating instead, but his acquaintance is not present.

As the time ticks by, Vic does grow a little bored. It's hard not to but he fights the temptation to scribble anything on the paper or anything like that. He knows that most of his classmates wouldn't be as patient. He does slouch a bit in his chair though, waiting and watching. Once Lieuen addresses him, he perks up.

Everything is once again written down, a frown crossing Victor's features at some of this news. "Does it happen to say what race they all might be? And what those arrival dates are?"

This causes Lieuen to doublecheck the pages, seeking out the clarifications which the Foreigners seeks. "We kedan don't quite know the same sort of calendar that your kind do," he murmurs apologetically as he fetches a parchment and completes some calculations -- first from the time scale noted in the book that he translates into his own and, from that, into one that may be understood. "Three centuries and one half more, it seems."

As to the remainder, a quick glance back confirms his recollection of the translation. "Alas, they are merely marked as... different. The word they use is strange. Perhaps their way of saying 'Foreigner' back then."

"It's alright, calendar differences are to be expected with the whole different worlds thing," Victor replies. He watches the calculations patiently and his eyebrows arch up at the results. "Well...that's a pretty long time," he says, writing this down as well.

Victor nods at that. "I see," he murmurs, underlining that note. "Thanks."

"Would you have me continue?" A pleasant query. Lieuen knows it is quite trying to to watch once research and translate and knows it polite to offer him a break.

"Sure," Victor smiled. "I'm alright to keep going if you are."

A nod, then a pause as he considers his schedule. "Can we agree on five more pages, good sir?" he offers. "For I regrettably do have some later engagements to prepare for. However, I do wish to advise that if you were to leave the book here, I could perhaps have a translation readied before our next meeting?" All to save him this sitting around mess and all.

"That actually sounds perfect," Victor replies. He brought enough money with him for only a little bit more than that. "Five is great with me," he confirms. At that suggestion he takes a breath. "Sorry to say but I've got to bring it back with me. One of my friends is really interested in seeing what the ancient language looks like and I promised them a look at the book," he says.

"As you wish," is said with a polite duck of his head. Lieuen may possess much influence in the ranks of the kedan, but it is not something that he wields amidst the Foreigners. They are a delicate bunch, better treated politely and like the excellent clientele that they are. And their juulan is quite good, giving him reward beyond mere information in this exchange. "Please make yourself comfortable while I translate."

Though these five pages go quite a bit more smoothly, being that they are comprised mostly of anatomical sketches of the five subjects that are key to this study. There are some remarks noted alongside them, such as that Qi is an average specimen of her race and Bysaliat is quite -- large? Formidable? It is some blend therein and it takes Lieuen a few extra minutes to sort that out before he links the hulking figure sketched on the page with the concept of some strange, Foreigner bodybuilder of sorts. All the while, he works with interest and is ready to share what he has learned within an hour.

"These pages are simply anatomical studies of the participants," he says, slowly turning the pages and indicating the drawings made a very long time ago. "Qi is squat according to your Foreigner standards," he continues, gesturing to the sketch of a short, female figure similar to Victor in appearance -- humanoid, but sharing certain lizard-like traits, "while Julyt is quite tall." This comes with a finger pointing to a very tall humanoid with what appeared to be down feathers in place of hair. "Ropsrch reminds me somewhat of the Alderwood's kind," he muses, gesturing to an averagely built woman with cropped hair and a softer expression than most associate with Evandau. "Bysaliat is quite large," he adds and the sheet itself is evident of that, a large hulking man taking up nearly every margin as the doctor attempted to capture his anatomical structure to some degree of scale to the others. He had very long hair and a profile sketch showed it knotted in a bun at the back of his neck. "Lastly, there is Achavielle," Lieuen finished, allowing the paper to speak for itself. Achavielle's diagram is comparatively difficult to make sense of, with a combination of appendages culminating in a strange, sinewy ball near to the ground.

As he finishes, Lieuen carefully lays his hand down upon the book, smiling congenially at Victor. "Fascinating, do you not think?"

Victor nods quickly, shifting a little into a more comfortable position. He waits patiently, glancing at the sketches. The one called Qi has him vaguely uncomfortable thanks to visual similarities but he shakes it off.

As Lieuen starts sharing, Vic starts taking notes again. Ropsrch gets a little bit more interest just because of the comment about Evandau even if Victor's pretty sure they aren't the same race. It's just for if any of the people he's working with think the opposite. When shown Achavielle's diagram, Victor just blinks. It looked sort of like a Limbo creature.

"Yes, it is pretty interesting," he agreed, setting his pen down.

Lieuen nods, ever congenial, and smiles at the agreement. "Quite a bit of information to digest, I understand," he adds. "And, alas, all that I can provide today, so if you would not mind payment for these fifteen pages, we can wrap up."

"Of course," Victor replies with a smile, packing up his notes. He slides them into his bag and takes out another smaller bag from within. From this one he takes out small stacks of juulan tied together like he'd seen various merchants do. It's all carefully counted out and then the agreed upon price is offered to Lieuen.

"I believe this should do it."

Once the money is on the table, so to speak, Lieuen is all too pleased to raise his hand from the book and carefully push it towards Victor, accepting the juulan in turn. "Quite. It has been a pleasure."

Victor smiles and packs the book back up carefully. Once everything is all packed up and ready to go, he offers a hand to shake. "It has. Until next time."

"Take care, good sir, of yourself and that exquisite tome," Lieuen states as he meets the gesture, offering a firm handshake to finish the deal. It's a curious ritual that the Foreigners seem to enjoy and one that he has been happy to incorporate into his business routine.

"I will. You take care too," Victor offers. After the handshake, he picks up his bags and heads for the exit. Once outside, he camos up and heads back home invisibly.

Visitations to the settlements of Bresilyk are well underway, with Lieuen having made quite a few forays himself. Today, however, he has dispatched runners to attend the auctions for him as it is time to meet once more with the Foreigner Victor.

The desk is not clear this time, instead spread with a variety of small gems and trinkets he has thus far amassed. Lieuen's form is all of two feet tall this morning, loaning him the scale for the delicate work of assessing the gems and working on the smallest gears of the trinkets. Yet, there remains a small stack of books on the corner of the desk, proof that he is ready to meet his commitment to translate.

Victor hadn't been among those visiting Bresilyk, not going outside much at all in the cold weather. He wasn't going to miss this appointment though. Arriving bundled up, he's got the book secured under his coats. He made sure to bring along a couple things to work on while waiting for translations too.

He's unbuttoning one of his coats as he enters the room but stops when he doesn't seen Lieuen at first. He blinked when he finally spots the Kedan, not expecting the size change.

"Uh, hi."

The kedan rises from his work, standing upon the chair and stepping up onto the desk -- wearing white, padded socks to keep it clean -- as he raises a hand in greeting. "May you be having a happy Harvest Haul!" he greets, adopting the mainlanders' expression with a cheer that falters into curious concern as to the layers. "Does the temperature here bother you, good sir?"

Victor may find the sight a little strange but he's got no comments on it. He'd seen stranger and didn't want to be rude anyway. The greeting got a blink out of him, Victor having not heard it before. He needed a moment to think if he missed any turtle-holidays but was shaken out of his thoughts by the question. "Yeah, I'm not a fan of the cold at all. Here or back where I'm from."

"How alarming!" And his tone does sound quite alarmed. "I shall have a few stoked-coal heaters brought in at once." This comes with a snap of his small hands and a wave to the attendant, who nods and retreats to obtain them. "That way we may work in comfort."

Victor was slightly surprised by how alarmed the merchant sounded. "Uh, sure. Thanks. As long as the heat won't make you uncomfortable," he said, not used to that kind of reaction.

Lieuen smiles, back to the wide and gracious persona he so favours. "Physical comfort can be attained with but a few changes to the body," he says, quite willing to speak of the kedan abilities, They are, after all, natural to he.

"Okay," Victor replies, rubbing the back of his neck. Once the heaters arrive, he'll take off some of the winter gear. "I wasn't sure if that's how your shapeshifting worked."

"Curious. You have encountered shapeshifters that could not truly reshap themselves?" Lieuen asks it in passing as he steps down off the desk once more, carefully clearing away the gems and trinkets on his desk to make space for the book.

Victor nods, unbuttoning his coat. "There were some that could only change appearances and others that shifted through different means or only into specific things. There are all kinds of different abilities where I come from and even people with similar powers may not have them end up working the same way."

"How strange," is a reflection and he takes out a journal, making a note of this information. Lieuen is a purveyor of many things more than mere mercantile pursuits and these details shall serve him well.

"We kedan are rather more consistent than that, I must say. It creates some stability within the race and allows us to teach our offspring how best to thrive."

"It makes sense since the kedan are one species with one source of power," Victor remarks as he takes out the bag containing the book and his own notes.

"So you guys teach shapeshifting in kedan schools here or is it just something for families to teach in house?" he's a little curious.

"We teach and learn it much like talking," he explains jovially, holding his hands out for the book. "I myself mastered three forms before my first word. My parents were quite distraught that I may choose only to speak in shapes because of it."

Victor pauses to give a quiet little laugh before moving to take a seat and carefully hand over the book. "Well, that does seem like it would be reason to be distraught."

The tome is heavy in his hands, but not impossibly so. He lays it on the table and carefully opens it to where they left off, pausing a moment to peruse the page before. "Do you?" he comments offhand, distracted by the knowledge these pages promise to him. "Curious. Speaking as a more limited race, how do your non verbal kin convey their thoughts?"

"I just imagine parents might be a little concerned if their kid couldn't communicate the same way they and the majority of other kids would," Victor explains. "Well those that don't have any special powers or technology have sign language. It's a language made of various hand gestures."

"Ah, indeed." Another curiosity of these Foreigners, who do so obsess over communication and the written word. Rarely has he seen a group as hungry for knowledge as he and Milyn are. "And do you know this sign language? I would be quite interested in learning it."

Lieuen begins in on the book as he speaks, scanning first over the page and then starting to read it in-depth, ready to pick up any of his reference materials in order to sort out troubling points.

"No, I'm sorry. There might be some others here that know it but I haven't asked around," Victor replies. He is curious about if anyone on the turtle knows sign language now himself.

He gets his notes ready to start writing as well.

"I would be most willing to pay for such lessons," Lieuen comments as he begins and there is promise of some wealth in such an education. Pity Victor lacks it, for he may have brokered a discount for this translation, but Lieuen shall not speak further to that. It is, after all, in his best interests to continue in a vein that sees his revenues rise.

The base profiles are easily run through once more, his familiarity with these particular words still strong in his mind from their last session. Lizardlike Qi, feathery Julyt, hulking Bysaliat, strange Ropsrch, and strikingly normal Achavielle in comparison. Briefly, he wonders what each were like, but he continues into the new material in search of what answers it may hold.

One hour passes as he works, and then another. Coal-stoked heating pans are brought in and exchanged for his guest's comfort. Food and beverages are similarly made available, set upon a table at the side, and all the while Lieuen focuses intently on the tome.

They are nearing their third hour before he leans back, stretching his neck upwards in such a way that sounds a dozen or more cracks. "Interesting," he murmurs, turning the book slowly towards Victor.

"This portion addresses Achavielle primarily," he explains, showing the first page of the section to be a series of profile sketches of the woman. "There is reference to her being the Ashwood -- ah, alas, the title itself has been struck from each mention, though I was able to make out its honourary prefix with some effort." He turns the page, displaying anatomical sketches of the subject, quite detailed and unabashed. "It appears she volunteered to provide this project with a baseline of sorts to measure the other subjects by. Her history is simple enough, though has been heavily censored. She served in the old military and fought in many, many campaigns under the generals that came before Ironwood and Alderwood, though she served under he as well. She was fit and a mere six hundred years old when she undertook this responsibility, but little remarkable distinguishes. I presume this is why she bears such value as a baseline." Lieuen turns another page carefully, then pushes the tome gently towards Victor. "Do you have questions of particular section from what I have just explained?"

"If I hear anyone knows, I'll ask them to come talk to you," Victor remarks. Of course he can't promise anyone that may offer lessons will offer them for free. He might even encourage them to charge.

As the hour passes, Victor remains quiet. While waiting for Lieuen to translate pages, Victor checks through some of his own work related notes to pass the time. Just notes on places he's worked in the city and little summaries of the jobs done. The coal heaters are very much appreciated and let Victor shed a layer or two of winter gear.

The cracking draws the mutant's attention upwards and he closes the notes he's working on to focus on taking new ones on the translation. He looks curiously at what Lieuen shows him, quickly taking notes on it all. He makes sure to write down all of it, adding a note to try to find out more about the Ashwood title if possible. "So she was just exceptionally average?" he murmurs. "No, I think I've got everything about this one."

Book Business

Oct 25th

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sorry about the delay; should be back on track now

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sorry; this got buried under other notifs like a sad, forgotten christmas gift :c

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