Leto Karme
Jewelcraft Extraordinaire
Looking for an Assistant (Private, Krait please) Timestamp: 1st of Cryxatum, in the Season of Spring, Era XIX It was that time, Leto felt that he needed an assistant to help him out with his work in the shop. Perhaps even an apprentice he could train, and have look after the shop in his absence. He planned on opening up a second shop, and if doing that meant that he needed someone to look after the shop while he was at the second shop for a time, then he would have to do just that. So, on the outside of the door to his store in Secyclion, he put up a sign that read as follows:
Hopefully he'd get some young man or woman that could assist him with what all needed to be done with the shop, but then again, who knows who'd have an interest in jewelcrafting, and be able to take on all of the responsibilities that Leto had when he was away tending to the other store. He only made about 90 crowns per cycle in his shop, so hopefully setting the price at a third, he'd make more than 90 crowns per cycle, so that when it came time to pay off the gang he'd invested in, and pay his assistant, he'd be able to come off with a decent amount of money for himself, to continue saving up money, as opposed to losing it... |
"Chairete!" came a cheery voice as a presence entered the jewel store, eagerly announcing his arrival (the voice being definitively masculine). And surprise surprise, Leto would find himself coming face to face with none other than the two Kondonyanis hoods who were beginning to turn into regular faces in his shop, considering it was they who came every start of the season to collect the 'protection fee'. The greeter was the blonde boy, the 'smiley' one so to speak, one who seem to aspire to do 'service with a smile' as his work philosophy (and he would have been considered charming if it weren't for his intimidating tattoos and the knuckle duster hanging from his neck). His partner was that same dark haired boy, who was quite the opposite when it comes to facial expressions. "We heard you are looking for an assistant, so we've decided to drop by to come and assist you... as in to help you look for an assistant, not assist your shop," he managed to crack a joke. "You know you are free too approach us for this kind of help. If you ever need anything don't hesitate to find us, as I said before, we take very good care of our clients... especially those who never forfeit their payment schedule, yes?" he beamed, his tone ever warm and friendly, keeping well hidden the dangerous honey coated venom that laced those words from inexperienced ears. "So happens, our partners have brought in a shipment of fresh 'assistants', very fresh, just off the boat last darkening. Come! Come with us to have a first hand look at them and see which one might suit your taste. Since you are good client, we help you get good price!" he beckoned to Leto. |
As Leto looked up at the people whom just arrived within his shop, he saw it was the two boys from the Kondonyanis again. Great, just great, what do they want? he thought, but his facial expression didn't change from it's cheery nature as he walked over to greet them. "Chairete!" he said to start off with, and then his smile broadened as they began to say what they were here for. The joke made Leto a bit uneasy as well as the insinuation that followed, but he tried not to let it phase him. "A shipment?" he asked briefly as he looked towards them. They must mean slaves, he thought. "I could take a look I guess and see if any of them fit just right for the shop," he said, and then proceeded to follow them, after closing up his shop so that it didn't get robbed whilst he was away. Hopefully he'd be able to free some of the slaves, as he didn't believe in slavery, especially after he was kidnapped and taken captive by the Sons of Medeo. But he'd probably have to pay a hefty price to free some of the slaves, hopefully not one that was his life, but a monetary expense no doubt.... |
The journey was a short one for it was not the pirate's cove they were taking him to, the usual place where such activities normally took place, but to a warehouse down the nearest pier. After the pirates had seized control over the Neos Megalis and the Arthro Galanos, they were no longer relegated to that tiny zone to conduct their business. The warehouse was a simple two story open structure, covering ample enough space to house the numerous crates, barrels, and goods from the elements. Men who look like sailors and dock workers scurried to and fro while guards (not of the uniformed persuasion) stood sentinel, keeping an eye out for... not actually thieves and crooks this time (for they were the thieves and crooks), but mostly to prevent and break fights which happens so frequently among lawless men. The boys led him to an area where Leto was greeted with the ugly sight of many miserable half naked souls locked in chains, made to huddle in groups. There was no bidding going on, not yet. Instead the slavers were busy in the process of 'cataloguing' their goods to be auctioned later. When the Kondonyanis duo told him he was getting them 'fresh', they had really meant it. The slaves were divided into two groups so it seems; categorized and not. Those of the former were kept in a large pen, where they were dragged out one by one to be stripped and inspected, interrogated and lastly stamped with a brand and a colored marking on their torso, then led to their respective groups according to their mark. "Red for fighters, blue for pleasure, and yellow for menial work," the blonde boy explained, just as the sound of scuffle interrupted them. A male slave had tried to escape, but was captured easily, and even then he resisted valiantly, before finally being subdued. Promptly he was marked as a red and dragged to the 'red corner'. The next slave on the other hand, a lovely girl with porcelain skin was immediately marked blue without any further inspection needed. Cataloguing wasn't so formal a procedure despite how it looked like. But there was a certain 'stereotype' so to speak if Leto was to observe the three groups. The Red group were mostly men who looked strong and hardy, the Blue group were mostly beautiful women and good looking young men, while the old, unattractive, and frail were lumped into the Yellow group. Now where could one skilled in jewelcrafting be found among the three groups? |
As Leto was taken through to a cargo area, where he saw the slaves being divided and ranked, he got a sick feeling within his stomach, but managed to resist the urge to turn around and run out of there. Even if I could rescue one poor soul, make a deal for them to work for me, and then release them after a season's time, that will be good enough to sooth my conscience from actually purchasing them, he thought, and then listened to the boy's explanation of the coloring scheme. Leto nodded, and then said, "We'll start with the yellow group, and then move onto the blue if I can't find any for the menial work in my shop in the yellow group... any that suit my needs that is." And so he walked over with the boys, if they decided to join him or not, to the yellow group, in order to inspect the slaves that happened to be within it, so as to chose one that might suit his needs. Half of him was hoping that none of the old and decripit people in that group suited his needs so he could move onto the blue group, and find a decent looking young man to work in his shop, even if he had to teach him how to jewelcraft, the artisan was more than willing to do so, so long as he didn't have to deal with an elderly male or female that happened to be within the yellow group. But he was willing to give them each all a chance to escape somewhat, after earning their freedom that is. So, to the yellow group it was. Upon arriving at the yellow group, as he began to inspect each of them, he would ask the group, "Does anyone here have any jewelcrafting experience?" It was a simple question, but it would allow him to sort out his potential candidates for who actually happened to work well and suit the needs he had for an assistant within his shop... |
Huddling in their corner, the slaves all looked up fearfully at Leto at first, thinking that he was yet another of those cruel slavers here to torment them further. But when he asked about who knew jewelcrafting, they all began to look at each other. One woman, who appeared to be in her late forties or early fifties, her face worn down by life's exhaustion and time, spoke up, "I used to assist pearl divers in polishing the pearls." Immediately another voice spoke up, this one belonging to an elderly man, "My son was a jewelcrafter and I helped to mind his store." And yet another voice interjected, "I work the trade m'lord!" and then suddenly everyone began announcing their 'skills' in jewelcrafting or at least having some ties of sort with some 'jewelcrafter'! The murmur of eager volunteers rose in a crescendo of desperate pleas, each trying to offer themselves to Leto. They had been quick to catch on that he was a potential 'buyer', and from their perspective, seeing a soft spoken, gentle looking young man with kindness in his eyes, was an opportunity to seize, for who knows what cruel fate may further torment them at the auction later, where they might meet sadists for masters. And it was not just the Yellow Group that were crying out to him but the Blue Group too. Among the many shouts was a "Me, effendi! Work for good gem maker!" from a Nairu boy, with smooth bronze skin and regal features. Another was a young female elf, "Please kind sir! I have no skills, but I am willing to learn," she pleaded. Only the Red Group showed no response for they were men with huge pride and could not tolerate pleading for their life. They would rather fight for their freedom, and as slaves were likely to end up as gladiators, body guards, or even directly recruited by the pirates and other militant groups. The slavers, annoyed by the disturbance, marched to Leto and barked, "You're causing a ruckus! Pick one quickly, and go!" |
"Yes sir!" said Leto, his eyes narrowing towards the man, and then turning back towards the pleading crowd. The young man couldn't save them all, but at least he could give one a chance for freedom, and a job to make some sort of money for at least a season. Looking towards the female elf that said she was willing to learn, the man nodded, and motioned for her to come forth. "If you are willing to learn and work for a season at least, I'll take you in and teach you my trade," he spoke to her as soon as she came forward once he motioned towards her. Turning back towards the Slaver that had approached him, he asked, "How much for this one?" He'd teach her how to work in his shop, and assist him with the jewelcrafting that needed to be done. She'd work the desk, taking orders, and learning much about jewelcrafting, as much as Leto could teach her. And she'd mind the store when he went away on his business trips, holding the bigger orders for when he got back. That's what the young man had in mind anyways. As much as he wanted a beautiful boy to work in his shop, he knew he'd likely get distracted by it, and not be able to complete any work that needs to happen, thus his choice of the young female elf... |
Upon making his decision, the slaver pulled the elf girl out of the group, shushing the others with a crack of his whip. "Five thousand crowns," the slaver grinned. "This one's pretty," he caressed her soft angular features, "An elf," he pinched a pointed ear, making the poor girl flinch, "A virgin," he said lewdly, as he reached out to rip her flimsy dress off her shoulder to expose a breast, "... and unbroken still," he fondled her. The elf girl gasped and immediately tried to struggle, but was easily overpowered. "You will have fun with this one. We have a team of experts categorizing our product. And those from the Blue group have been carefully selected to ensure premium pleasure," the slaver winked. If Leto had not seen the so called 'team of experts' in action already, he was about to witness them again. Behind a young blond youth was next in line to be dragged for inspection. He was stripped and prodded, while being interrogated. "Your name pretty boy?" one of the slavers barked. "Ma... Marius... sir." "Age?" "Eight... eighteen summers sir... as written in my vis... visa sir, please sir... please let me go, I am an Aelyrian citizen!" A slaver confiscated a piece of paper from the boy's clothes. "Signed from the Aedile of Medonia," he laughed and had the document given to an underling to be kept somewhere. Despite the boy's protest, a brand was cruelly stamped onto his chest, before he was clapped in chains and prepared to be sent to the Blue group. "Speaking which, you can also buy a visa here, if you're looking for extras," the Kondoyanis boy grinned at Leto before excitedly heading over to a corner with his partner to ogle at the beautiful slaves destined for a life in the pleasure dens, or a mistresses/master's bedroom or harem. |
"Not really looking for any extra Visas right now," stated Leto blandly, as his attention was drawn towards the boy that happened to be getting checked over for certain attributes that would lend him towards the blue group. Shaking his head slightly, he wished he could save them all, but alas, he didn't have enough money for that. Just this one slave. "Five thousand you say?" he asked, rhetorically. "Will bank notes do for that?" If they indeed would do, Leto would make sure to have them paid so that he could take on his new assistant back to his shop. He'd make living arrangements for her there, and start to train her to look after the shop for him. Hopefully his kindness would pay off, and he wouldn't have to go chasing after her every time she tried to escape, if she indeed did try to escape from him. "I will teach you about jewelcrafting, and in return, you can have a place to live at my shop," he'd tell her, once they were on their way back to the jewelcrafting shop. "In return i'll pay you 30 crowns per cycle, food, a place to live, you have three days off a week to do what you wish, and at the end of the season we'll get you a new visa, and you'll have earned your freedom from me," the last bit said in a hushed tone until they got away from the Kondonyanis boys. They probably didn't care what he did with his slave once it was purchased, but the young man was sure they might not look too kindly upon him if he was only going to release her at a later date... |
The slaver looked at Leto when he gladly took the offer without even bothering to haggle. One of the Kondonyanis boys laughed and spoke in Eunesian, that if translated, stated something about how Leto was a 'stupid foreigner' you can cheat money from. Five thousand crowns for a mere girl was really expensive. She wouldn't cost more then one thousand on the market. Leto received no objections, and assuming there were no further complications on Leto's side, the girl was promptly given to him, while the five thousand crowns was deducted from Leto's expense. A rope was tied around the girl's neck, with its end given to Leto like a leash, so there was no worries of her running away. She had nothing else but the dress, that was now torn and exposing a teat. Her brown hair was dirty, and her hazel eyes were dulled with tears. She was short, standing only five feet two. When she heard Leto's offer, her eyes lit up unable to believe her good fortune. Since they're back in their shop, there was no worry about the Kondonyanis boys since they didn't return to the shop. Also, they probably didn't care. What a master does to his property is no business of theirs. If he wanted to make her into a... Toy, no one will lift a finger. If he wanted to free her, so be it.
|
Before they headed back to the jewelry shop, Leto would take her and buy her an inexpensive dress, so that she would look at least presentable working for him in the jewelry shop. Then, they'd finally return to the shop. And Leto would waist no time in starting to teach her what was needed to be taught for the process of basic jewelcrafting. "First, we shall go over the gems," said Leto. "There are four basic things you need to learn about gems, these are cut, color, clarity and carat." Taking out a piece of quartz for her to see, he'd set it down on the workbench in front of them. "Now, Cut, is how the gem is cut. This gem is raw, so it has no cuts in it at all. Color is the color of the gem. See how this quartz, which is what this gem is called, happens to be a milky clear color?" he asked, to see if she understood what exactly he was talking about. "The process of specifying gems, and learning about the four C's is how we categorize them. Next is Clarity. That is how many blemishes or inclusions a gem has. That is to say, if it has markings in it that will lower it's value. This quartz has only one or two blemishes, but we can check for more utilizing a jeweler's loupe," said Leto as he took it out and showed it to her. "This loupe will magnify the gem by several times in order to allow us to see markings or blemishes and inclusions upon the gem," said Leto. "Finally we have Carat. Carat is the weight of the gem. It is equal to one fifth of a gram. Thus, having a gem that weights three carats is far more valuable than one that weighs one carat. Simply because the gem is bigger. This is also the easiest one to measure as all we need to do is utilize a scale to figure out which is the proper weight for the gem. Now, do you understand everything i've explained to you thus far? Do you have any questions?" asked Leto as he looked towards her, and patiently awaited a response from her on the evaluation of gems... |
The slave girl obediently listened to what her new Master was trying to teach her. "Yes Master. No Master," Slave Girl said once Master was done. Despite the slavers claim that she was not broken, she behaved as if so. She had a demure voice and kept looking at her toes, never daring to look Leto in the eye, and only spoke when spoken too. And despite her claim that she understood and had no question, Leto would find out she wasn't that fast a learner and will need repeated lessons and instructions for the next following cycle, before she finally 'got it'. The same could be said for any further lessons. Leto would most likely have to repeat them sometime soon. And the more information he crammed to her, the more she either muddled them up or downright forgot. |
As much as Leto tried teaching her, it seemed that some things she just didn't get. Thus, he decided to try repetition as a means to make her remember the things he was trying to teach her. Going over it with her over and over again, every day during their free time, while he was crafting jewelry for customers, paying attention to his details in that, but at the same time, going over the information with her, to get her to understand it as much as she possibly could. Finally, if she managed to remember that, he'd move onto forge safety, maintenance, and how exactly to operate it. Teaching her to light it carefully so that she wouldn't burn herself, showing her how to fan the forge to increase it's heat, as well as how to clean it when they were done using it and it wasn't hot anymore. He knew that she's make mistakes, but he hoped that she'd have enough sense to not blow her face off whilst working with the forge. If anything, he'd have her assist him by starting up the forge each day and keeping it running for him, so that he didn't have to keep it running himself all day long while dealing with customers, and their orders. Finally, he'd teach her a cabochon cut, and how to do it, given he'd need those for certain projects that he was doing. He'd also teach her how to polish stones utilizing the stone tumbling device, what was the fine grain, the coarse grains, and how to utilize them to tumble stones, and polish them once they were finished. That was about the last thing that he'd teach her, aside from the basic gemstones, their names, and how hard they happened to be. Working with her diligently, he'd work to teach her everything he knew about basic jewelcrafting, repeating it over and over again, so as to have her try to understand what exactly he was talking about, so that she would be at least proficient in something by the time he released her from his service at the end of the season... |
Several cycles later Progress had been slow at first, and Leto truly needed to be around his apprentice to ensure she did not make mistakes or ended up doing something horrific such as burning off her face indeed, or worst accidentally burning down his shop! But sooner or later, she showed more and more competency, and finally, after nearly a cycle or two, Leto would feel more secure leaving her alone to handle the less technical and more simpler aspect of his trade. Her talent was more at shop keeping rather than jewelcrafting. Though by then she could make simple ornaments and perform easy tasks such as polishing the gems, she was better at helping the young jewelcrafter mind his store, record the finances, and tend the customers. All in all she proved to be a valuable asset indeed, a good purchase one might say, though experienced slave owners would often rebuke Leto for having "paid too much", and not "utilized enough" considering her pretty doe-like face and submissive qualities that would have been excellent in bed. End of Season... "Master Karme," she entered Leto's room one brightening. "You wanted to see me?" she asked. |
"Ah, there you are Sarai'el," said Leto, having just been sitting upon his bed, contemplating what he was to say to her. "I... I have a proposition for you," he then began, having finally decided on what to say after a few moments. "Remember when I first bought you, and told you that I'd release you towards the end of the season?" asked Leto, his sapphire hued eyes looking towards her. "Well, the plan is still to release you and obtain your own Visa, but i'd also like to offer you a job working at the store with me, permanently. The choice is yours to choose, if you'd like to stick around with me, or head off on your own. I can at least guarantee though, while you're with me, there's almost zero chance of the slavers taking you again, as you'd be under mine, and the Lady Teppeny's protection..." he stated then, watching her intently. "Like I said, the choice is yours to choose, i'd love for you to continue working in the shop though, as you've become a valuable asset to the store. But, let us head down towards the Aedile's and talk as we walk about if you're interested in working permanently at the store with me..." he said, and then stood up, walked over towards her, and motioning for her to walk beside him, as they began to head towards the Aedile's office to get her a brand new Imperial Visa, so that she'd be an Aelyrian Citizen again... |