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A sturdily built, slender young woman at a final height of 5'6", her lovely, light-brown eyes and pretty smile begin to reflect a developing inner maturity. Her sun-streaked blonde hair is kept short, its translucent golden ends curling in unexpected ways at the ends where it just stops to tickle her well-proportioned ears (her best feature, some say, for the rest of her face is quite plain). Her freckled skin is lightly tanned, enough so that she no longer suffers from constant sunburn, and she moves with a misplaced assurance -- despite some grace, she is completely lacking in coordination.
A pair of off-white, wide-bottomed trousers have been obtained from some forgotten storage bin, their hems rolled up a couple of times to reach the height of Oli's tanned ankles. A large shirt of soft cotton also has its sleeves rolled up and fastened to keep them out of the way, draping freely and comfortably until it tucks loosely in at the waist.
A blue apprentice patch bears the age-old harp logo emblazoned in white embroidery -- but that isn't all. A new twist in the knot on Oli's shoulder means that she's now a Senior Apprentice.
Tolia is 17 Turns, 6 months, and 18 days old.
You step through the door which leads into the Harper Classroom of Tillek Hold.
The first impression to be gotten from this room is how vast and expansive it feels. It is open in most places a full two stories tall or more and light form the outside streams in from many windows set into the ceiling and around the room. At the second story level all around the perimeter of the room is a balcony some twenty to twenty five feet wide and supported by large hardwood beams and posts. Sets around the balcony are all sorts of tables, couches and chairs, perfect for work or relaxation. The room contains dual metal-railed spiral staircases that lead down from this semi second floor. The whole look of the room is tone in natural looking wood whose surface is stained but not painted. Set around the first floor are sets of couches around heavy looking coffee tables and long, high tables surrounded by almost equally high wooden stools. Sets around the perimeter of both levels of the room are heavy wooden doors that lead to smaller storage and personal rooms.
It is a summer midmorning.
To the southeast, you see one person. On the perch is Nicolae.
Obvious exits: Hall Harper's Quarters Rooms
Kaeryn steps in from the Harper's Quarters.
Brina steps into the classroom from the door that leads out to the East Hallway.
Tolia is rummaging through a box of parts, yet again. Only this time, they seem to be a bit more random than drum parts. She glances up at the simultaneous entrances; she smiles at Brina and grins at Kae. "Hey, gimme a hand with this?"
"Trouble?" Kae asks quietly as she walks out of the apartments she shares with Jerran when she's home at Tillek. "What do you need a hand with?" she asks, stepping closer, her fingers running through her hair, pushing it out of her eyes.
Tolia holds a thick metal pipe at one end; the other is buried in the box. "Can you just hold a couple of these things so they don't go all over? I need just the one..." She doesn't have quite enough hands at the moment.
Kae reaches one of her tanned hands out to take whatever Tolia needs her to hold, a small smile touching her lips at her student's efforts.
Brina bounces in the classroom. "I can help you with that too." as she walk over to Tolia and reaches out her hands.
"Thanks," Oli grins to Brina.
"Oh!" Kae exclaims quietly as she looks from Oli to Brina. "Oli, this is my cousin, Brina. She's come here to live for a while. Brina, Oli is one of my students, she is posted on the Lady Rose with me."
Tolia extracts the needed piece. "Hey, welcome. Thanks for your help -- let me just get this set up in my room," she grins, conspiratorially. "You can't see it yet." The harper apprentice brandishes the pipe lightly, and retreats.
****** time passes ******
Tolia finally emerges from her room, carrying an odd-looking contraption and beaming. "Ta-daa!"
Kae watches as Oli reappears in the room with some..thing..in her arms and she grins. "So, you going to demonstrate?" she asks, motioning at funny looking thing.
Tolia giggles softly and puts the ... thing ... down on a worktable. "Make a loud noise," she instructs. "Really loud." She waits, with almost the aura of a proud parent.
Kae instinctively covers her ears before motioning for Tolia to give it a test. "Show us just /how/ loud it is?" she requests, stepping backwards a pace or two.
Brina covers her ears just like her cousin and braces herself. "I hope it won't be too loud."
Tolia sighs. "No, *you* make a loud noise. Any kind."
"Oh," Kae blushes, as if she's the student instead of the teacher, and then she screams. "Aaaaaah!"
The smallest of the pipes on Oli's contraption vibrates, just a tiny bit.
Tolia winces, though. "Okay, that was loud," she agrees. "See, though? It resonates."
Brina Looks at the contrapution with curiosity. "I didn't know a scream could do that."
Wincing at her own scream, Kae takes another step backwards, but she can't help but smile at her student's achievement, and her smile shows this. "Good work, Oli, though I'd hate to hear what will make it resonate /more/."
Tolia listens as the pipe's tiny sound dies away. "A drum. The lower pitches make the bigger ones vibrate more, and the louder it is, the more it resonates," she explains. "Now I need to figure out how to really measure that." She leans on a stool next to the worktable.
Brina With strawberry-blond hair that curls to her shoulders and her wide inquisitive blue-grey eyes, Brina has the look of a girl that is always looking for something to do. Rukbat's warm rays have blessed her small nose with many tiny freckles, and her sun-bleached lashes enhance the color of her eyes. her Sun-kissed cheeks make her 12 turns seem young as she is at a slightly smaller stature than her peers. Brina is wearing a pale green sundress tied in a bow in the back while wearing brown sandals on her feet. She is awake, but has been staring off into space for 3 minutes. Brina is 12 Turns, 1 month, and 18 days old.
Brina wonders if it works with all different sounds. "Would it work with dolphin's songs or just loud and low stuff?"
Groaning slightly, Kae slips down into a nearby chair and leans forward so that her elbows are propped up on the table. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment, and then opens them again. "It looks like you have your work cut out for you," she says softly to her student.
Tilting her head slightly, Oli studies Kaeryn for a moment. "You okay?" Her brows furrow, uncertain as to whether she's imagining something.
Kae waves her hand in the air, motioning that she's fine. "Just a touch sick, probably because I haven't rested enough lately," she explains with a shrug and a tight smile. "Do you need anything from the hall?" she asks, turning the subject away from herself again. "Jerran will be returning from a trip over later today, and he asked if we needed anything."
Tolia gives Kaeryn another look, shaking her head. "Not from the hall," she answers; then turns to Brina. "Don't know if it'd work with dolphins. Maybe, if they're loud enough and right on the pitch. It's picky about higher notes than lower," she adds.
Chin is propped in the cup of her left hand and Kae's right hand lays flat against the table, her fingernails tapping out a soft beat against it as she watches her cousin and her student chat. From her shoulder, Eppie croons, her golden tail uncurling from it's grip around Kae's neck.
Tolia looks back at it, lightly tapping one of the larger pipes to set it vibrating lightly with a deep tenor tone. "So how do I measure how much it resonates? I need to find out how loud a drum is, so I can prove to Master Thorn it'll carry." Her jaw sets stubbornly as she tells Kaeryn, "He doesn't think it'll work. I think he's just trying to keep me busy by letting me do this."
"I'm sure your Uncle and Sejith would be willing to test it for you," Kae notes quietly, her eyes half closed in thought. "We can test it at different distances, to see if it carries as far as a drum would. I could probably get a few dolphins to help out, if you wanted."
Tolia blinks, confused. "Huh? I'm not using this as a drum," she cautiously starts, not sure if she's been misunderstood or not. "This is to see how loud my drum is."
"Yes, of course," Kae nods her head, the confusion slipping away quickly. "Forgive me, I don't think I was paying attention as well as I should have been." As she moves her head, her sun-bleached curls bounce around her face, and she pushes them away from her face.
Brina wrinkles her eyebrows. "Kae? are you really feeling okay. you seem to have your mind somewhere else. and you don't look your best."
"You look a little green around the gills," Oli adds.
"Fine," Kae responds with a bright, if forced, smile. "I think that I might should just relax this morning, though, get in some much needed rest." Her fingers continue to click on the hard surface of the table, and she lets her eyes droop closed.
Tolia frowns at Brina, eyes flicking to Kaeryn to illustrate her dissatisfaction with the woman's answer. "Hm," she grunts softly. Finally, she sighs at Brina. "She's your cousin," she accuses. "Do something about her, will ye?" A touch of a smile turns up the corner of her mouth, though she's still wearing more of an expression of concern.
"Oli, I am worried about her. I think we need to make her go lie down and perhaps get her something to make her sleep." Brina sighs at her cousin. "Kae, would you please go lie down for me just to make me feel better?"
Tolia strolls over to Kae's side, standing over her. "Need help?" she offers helpfully.
Kae rolls her eyes skyward and shakes her head. "I can hear you, you know," she mumbles as she gets to her feet and stretches her arms up above her head, winking at Oli as she does. "Learned to listen when people are talking around me when I was a little girl," she grins at the pair of worried girls and moves toward the shelf of art supplies. "I must've just eaten something that my stomach disagreed with last night. I'm fine."
"Would you mind going to lie down for me. If your stomach is upset you might want to lie down and rest a little. It would make me feel better, cousin." Brina lookes worridly toward her cousin. "It would make me feel better if you would."
Tolia nods, a silent echo behind Kaeryn.
Kae collects a few small boxes of paints and a sketchpad and turns toward the pair of girls, shrugging. "I'll retreat to my room now, ok?" she wrinkles her nose as she walks off in the direction of her room. "The pair of you together can be worse than having Jer around." With a wave, she slips off into her room.
Brina smiles towards her cousin. "I am glad that she is going to lie down. Perhaps she will be feel better later."
Tolia grins suddenly. "Hey, *somebody* needs to watch you when he's gone. Right?" She winks at Brina, and grabs her contraption again. "Hope so. Now I've got work to do, too," she laments.
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