tushanshu_logs | Book Business

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.

Book Business

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