The Water's Wake

Writers: Miriah, Yvonne
Date Posted: 30th July 2017

Characters: Humari, Taril
Description: The tsunami leaves Humari a new job.
Location: Sunstone Seahold
Date: month 12, day 23 of Turn 8
Notes: Mentioned: Yriadha (in passing)

Humari

Everything was a mess.

Taril stared at the pile of ledgers on his muddy desk in despair. Shipping schedules were a mess, with ships being thrown off course by the storm and broken piers greeted their arrival in port. And there was nowhere to store the goods when they arrived. For some things, like bricks or tiles, that was fine. They could be piled up next to his warehouse before being loaded onto a different ship, sold to the Hold or Seacraft Hall for repairs, or carried overland by strong-backed beasts. But things like oranges, fabrics, furniture and grains... they needed a warehouse. And Taril's was a wreck.

The building's walls were intact, but the storm had damaged the roof, the earthquakes had rattled everything onto the floor, and the tsunami had thrown water and muck up the hill toward the Hold. Most of the crates in his warehouse were waterlogged, the doors were battered or outright broken, and there was a thick layer of stinking, sticky mud covering everything. The goods he'd carefully bartered for, the light cotton and and dried fruits, spices and salt... all ruined. Wasted marks. His office was a half-cleaned wreck, with mud up the walls and the drawers to his records hanging open and stinking of the sea. Three quarters of his records were destroyed, including damage to his lending book - he didn't even know precisely what was owed to him by the deadbeats who hung around the docks and gambled.

**A mess.** He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, letting the enormity of the situation wash over him. There was so much to do, and he was only one man...

Dodger cheeped at him from his perch on the back of his chair. The little firelizard nudged the back of his neck with his nose, disturbed by the despair rolling off his human.

Taril reached back to scratch Dodger's eyeridges. "What am I to do?" he muttered.

Dodger chirped again and leaned into his touch. Taril sighed, stood, and stared at the ledgers on his desk. **Unless...**

Twenty minutes later, the merchant had made his way up the hill back to Sunstone Seahold with a large, muddy leather satchel thrown over his shoulders. Inside were the ledgers -- or most of them, anyway. The majority of the intact ones. He felt a small spark of pleasure as he tracked mud through the halls to the apartment he shared with his wife, hoping that the Headwoman would at least _see_ the mess even if she wasn't the one scrubbing it up afterward. He paused to knock briefly, then pushed the door open. "Humari? Are you here?"

She was, but she looked just about as clean as he. She had been conscripted to help with the cleaning of the Hold, just as many others had; her skirts were smeared with grime, there was dirt smeared on her nose, and hair was escaping the careful braid she had made. She looked up as he entered. "I'm home." She glanced over him and her hands went to her hips. "Don't move. I just finished mopping." Hurrying forward, she took his bundle and scooted over a chair for him to sit on.

She wiped her arm over her brow, pushing the errant strands away while she held out the muddy satchel away from them both. "What's this?"

"Ledgers and manifests. Or what's left of them, after the water swamped my office." Taril bent to unlace his boot. "How busy are you?"

Her nose wrinkled as she took the satchel over to the basin area. "Well, with all the clean up, I've stayed busy, but there's a lot of help. Why?"

"I need your help. I need to deal with the cleanup, rebuilding, _and_ ships coming into port with goods, but I also need to fix my accounting." The merchant stood and picked up his crutch again. "You're good with numbers and I need someone who can puzzle out any entries where the ink has bled. Feel up to helping me re-scribe my ledgers?"

She turned to look at Taril, eyes widening. "You'd let me do that for you? You wouldn't mind if I started helping?"

"I need someone I _trust_ to do a good job. Can you do that?"

That he trusted her to do something so important to him...Her eyes warmed and her face filled with a sudden pride. "Yes. I can do that. Definitely." Her chin lifted and the smile that spread on her face was visibly pleased.

"Good." He reached out to brush the back of his hand against her cheek. That smile looked good on her. "Start with the least damaged ledger. I've got one spare, blank book stored away, but we'll have to source another three from somewhere. I trust you can find something."

She rubbed her cheek against his hand, her proud smile never faltering. "I'll start as soon as I can. I can get some ledgers from the harpers, I think. They might have some available. " She paused and turned her head to kiss his hand. "Thank you."

Taril smirked a bit at that. "Don't thank me until after you've seen the ledgers."

Last updated on the August 23rd 2017

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The Water's Wake