Despite it's length, Sylos' journey west from southern Tarabon to reach Amador had been largely uneventful. While troubled times made travel dangerous, he had taught himself to emulate the movements of veteran soldiers, making himself appear a good deal more dangerous than most bandits would care for, and long practice in traveling made it easy for him to avoid conflicts that did arise.

 

He had come to Amador many times with his older brothers, sent on business ventures by their father, who had long seen Amadicia as one of the best regions to trade with, sense the Children of the Light kept strict order there. Now, five years after he had left home to explore the world and three years from his last visit, he wondered for a moment if his father had changed his mind.

 

One could hardly stop in Amador without seeing the Fortess of Light- and even if such were possible, Sylos would never have let his brothers get away with it. He had little difficulty finding his way to the street in front of the great fortress, and he paused there for a moment. Gathering his thoughts and pushing aside memories of his family that would only make him homesick, he walked up to the entrance and entered the heart of the Children's power.

 

Seeing numerous Children milling about, he waited until he spied one who didn't look particularly busy, not wanting to offend anyone he might end up spending a great deal of time with. When he did, he walked over to them, his stride nothing near the threatening movements he undertook on the road. "Excuse me, sir- could you tell me where I might find the head clerk?" He asked, assuming that the bureaucracy would handle the recruitment-voluntary, at least- here as it did in the army of every land he had visited.

 

The soldier didn't seem surprised by the request, and Sylos quickly committed to memory his instructions on how to find the head clerk's office, already beginning to map in his head the Fortress. Following the directions, he presently came to the door he had been told to look for, and knocked sharply, thinking briefly that if he had been given the wrong directions this was liable to become embarrassing.

Roudal sighed. His stomach has been making noises all morning, but he refused to eat and sent his pack of useless assistants to go have breakfast as he remained in the office, rather pouty. Fat. She called me Fat! The bloody woman should look in the mirror before judging me for a crime she already committed. Roudal still felt the sting of his wife's words as she merely mentioned the other day that he was flabby in the stomach area. And gave a few, not so subtle hints, that he might want to fix the problem. "Suddenly it's a problem!", he grumbled. "20 years of marriage and suddenly, out of the bloody blue, the woman notices that. It's not like I was a stick when we first got married. Cursed woman...".

 

A knock on the door interrupted Roudal's whinnying. "Enter", he grunted, deciding he would be rejoiced at the newcomer simply for NOT being his wife. Oh, yes, it was a day of celebration. A day where he avoided his wife, her shadow, her name. Even his daughters, because they had a creepy resemblance to her. It was a day where he would feel love towards all that are not her. All that are not related to her. All that are innocent of the insensitivity that was her. After hurting Roudal's gentle soul, he half thought her to be a darkfriend. Or at least hoped she was.

 

A young man planted himself in front of his desk. "Do you think my uniform make me look fat?", Roudal asked, half whispering. The young man blinked. Roudal took a hold of himself and coughed. "You're here to be enlisted? GOOD! Full name, age and place of origin. And be quick about it!". Roudal avoided his eyes, hoping the boy didn't notice the slip or didn't think much of it. He tried his best to keep his stomach from making noises, but it was hopeless. Maybe just an apple...

 

 

 

Roudal

Head Clerk

Shipped off to the Biggest Loser ^_^

At the sharp call of 'enter' from within, Sylos stepped through the door to be greeted by an organized but rather empty office, with only one man- who he presumed to be the head clerk- sitting at a desk and looking caught between misery at some unknown event and joy at someone to distract him from it. Sylos walked over to the desk, standing at attention in front of it, his eyes darting rapidly about the room and taking in everything. He had a fairly good idea of the layout of the Fortress from his trip down to this office, but he had always believed that thoroughness was the best way to avoid pitfalls.

 

"Do you think my uniform makes me look fat?," The man whispered, and Sylos was briefly caught off guard, though he showed little sign of it, simply blinking. The head clerk seemed to get ahold of himself immediately, however. "You're here to be enlisted? GOOD! Full name, age and place of origin. And be quick about it!".

 

"Sylos Durian, twenty-four, of north-western Altara, and no, Sir, that uniform does not make you look fat!" Sylos said, saluting sharply and speaking with the bored tone and rhythm of a man repeating something he had said far too often, even to the last of his words. The salute had been intended as mockery, but he gave no outward sign that it was anything but sincere. If the clerk was as suspicious as he seemed right now, Sylos knew he would have a hard time keeping himself from terrorizing him for entertainment.

 

"Incidentally, I believe the mess hall is almost entirely empty if you were waiting for the crowd to clear out." He added, risking a touch of informality.

"Sylos Durian, twenty-four, of north-western Altara, and no, Sir, that uniform does not make you look fat! Incidentally, I believe the mess hall is almost entirely empty if you were waiting for the crowd to clear out." Rouldal's eyes widened at first. He heard after all. Bloody hell. However, after Sylos' second comment, Roudal's eyes slowly started to narrow, until all that could be seen were tiny slits.

 

"Think you're smart, do you? Think you're funny? oh, really, You are. You're just hilarious. I'd be laughing right now if I wasn't talking. But I am talking, so tough luck. You want to mess with me, boy? do you? DO YOU?!?! that's right. You don't. You don't want to mess with the big bad Head Clerk. Know why? Because this one bites. Yeah. Still got teeth. Real ones, mind. Got some cavities, but nothing big. I keep them white and shiny. That's one thing the wife can't complain about."  Roudal drove his fist into his desk, adding a new crack to it.

 

He lost himself in thought for a moment and then gave Sylos a casual look. "Well, what are you waiting for? get yourself to Emanuella's office. Yes. You. Go. NOW!". Roudal shook his head as the new recruit left his office. He was clearly a nut case, that one.  >.>

 

 

 

Roudal

Head Clerk

 

Sylos gave the Head Clerk a mocking bow, and this time didn't bother to hide his insincerity. He grinned as he turned to head out, wondering if there was anything particularly terrible the head clerk could do to him.

 

"Of course sir. I'll get right out of your way. You must be extremely busy with those very fine teeth of yours. Since you're so busy, I'll stop by the mess for you on my way and tell them to send you something that won't cause to much damage to your incisors." He said, stepping out the door and into the hallway, fighting back a laugh with extreme effort.

 

He briefly considered actually stopping by the mess hall, but since he wasn't officially one of the Children yet he wasn't sure he'd be able to pull it off. He'd have to do it later, and make sure to tack a note onto it to remind the Head Clerk of their encounter. Once more politely stopping one of the children, he asked the way to Emanuella's office, and after recieving directions set off.

 

Stopping outside the door of yet another bureaucratic office, he knocked sharply, hoping as he waited that this next encounter would be at least half as entertaining as the first.

Emanuella flipped through some letters that were left on her desk from recruits who were requesting a solution to a problem or a change of room for one reason or another. Most of them seemed reasonable requests, but some made no sense what so ever. She especially rolled her eyes at a specific room change request that revolved around the roommate smelling funny. She filed it under the rejected requests, while she continued to look over the rest of the stack.

 

A knock on the door made Emanuella's eyes climb up from the papers. "Enter." A young man came in. Emanuella smiled and gestured with her hand for him to sit down. "I'm assuming you've been sent by Roudal?". The young man, nodded and gave her his name. "Good. I'm Emanuella, the Quartermaster. Feel free to ignore everything that Roudal told you, and I mean everything. He tends to have a certain approach that might give you the wrong idea of how things are ran here."

 

"The Fortress is going to be your home from now on. The first days are always the hardest. You need to find yourself within these walls and get familiar with your surrounding. But it will improve in time, no doubt." Emanuella flipped thorough her room assigning book. "Looks like you will be sharing a room with Zari and Byron. Room number 57."

 

Emanuella closed the book with a thud. "As for superiors, you will know all of their faces, eventually. Generally speaking, though, the military officials wear insignia. The questioners, on the other hand, seldom use the appointed insignia. However, you can distinguish them quite easily. Added to the sunburst icon on their cloaks as the rest of the Children have, they have a red shepherd's crook behind it. Hard to miss. You are expected to address them with the title sir. Added to a bow when it's a Questioner. A salute when it's a Commander." Emanuella reassured Sylos with a warm smile.

 

"You will find five sets of uniforms in the closet in your room. Take good care of them. They will not be replaced. As for curfews. You have one day of rest and one afternoon off a week, in which you're permitted to leave the fortress. At any other time you are expected to remain within the Fortress' grounds. Now, if you have any questions, I'll be delighted to answer. But first and foremost. Welcome to the Children of the Light."

 

 

 

Emanuella

Quartermaster

"Thank you." Sylos responded to the welcome with a polite bow. "The head clerk made his place in the fortress hierarchy quite clear when I spoke with him. He seemed to be having some difficulty with the crowds in the mess hall, as I recall. With any luck, he'll be able to fix them without bringing the entire bureaucracy to a screeching halt." He added with a faint smile.

 

"Are there are any rules set on communication outside the Fortress? Now that I'm going to be in one place for more than a few weeks, I'd like to let my family know where I am. If there are any rules about personal weaponry, I would appreciate being informed of those as well, though I can ask someone else if you're busy." He glanced around at the papers and letters on the desk as he finished his sentence, realizing somewhat belatedly that he might be intruding on important work.

 

Deciding that if the damage was done, it was too late already, and that this was probably the most appropriate place to ask anyway, he offered up his last question. "Also, if the uniforms should happen not to fit, what should be done?"

IC:

"Are there are any rules set on communication outside the Fortress? Now that I'm going to be in one place for more than a few weeks, I'd like to let my family know where I am. If there are any rules about personal weaponry, I would appreciate being informed of those as well, though I can ask someone else if you're busy. Also, if the uniforms should happen not to fit, what should be done?"

 

Emanuella leaned back on her chair and rearranged her glasses. "There are no rules, per say. The letters go through the Communication office, are read by the officers to make sure there is no vital information about the Children in it. A precaution, I'm sure you understand. We send messengers with parties that leave the fortress. Or sometimes with merchants we trade with. Safer than messengers going about on their own. So, feel free to use the service, though I must warn you that military related messages are given the priority over personal mail, so it might be some time before it is sent. Personally, I sometimes use the mailing service that Amador has to offer, to speed things up. But that is totally up to you to decide on."

 

"If the uniforms don't fit, pay me a visit. I'll arrange a meeting with a seamstress and she will get them fixed for you in no time. Worry not. We like our recruits to have a clean look." Emanuella pondered for a moment before continuing. "As for personal weaponry, there's nothing set in stone. There are certain weapons that you would be required to master. You are of course welcome to master other kinds, as long as you are trained to do so. There shouldn't be any problem, as far as I can see."

 

Taking a sip from her now cold cup of tea, Emanuella took a moment to take a look at the young man. He seemed intriguing in a way she couldn't explain. Letting that thought dissolve, she grinned. "If there's anything else I could help you with, feel free to drop by my office. Otherwise, you may go and settle in your room. I hope you find it accommodating."

 

 

OOC:

After you post settling into your room, consider this entry to be officially complete. Though, If you want to continue chatting with Emanuella then by all means, we can continue. But requirement wise, this one is fulfilled as far as i'm concerened. Don't forget to keep your fulfilled requirements listed on the progress board so I'll know when it's time to promote your character ;)

*hugs*

 

 

Emanuella

Quartermaster

 

Sylos bowed gratefully, glad to know he could contact his family. "Thank you very much. I'll be getting settled in right away." He smiled cheerfully and bowed once more before heading out the door of the office and set off for the quarters of the Children, which he had spotted whilst trying to find Roudal's office. Arriving at the room indicated- 57- he knocked on the door, and walked in when he recieved no response.

 

He gazed around the room for a moment, noting that it looked inhabited, as would be expected since Emanuella had named his two roommates. He walked over to the only bed that did not show signs of recent occupation, and sat down on it, slowly storing his few belongings, before laying back on the bed for a long moment.

 

"Well... Here I am." He said, and set about deciding whether or not that was a good thing.

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