Tales of the Jewel

"Surely you could spare a few coppers to see to a start at least," Tarset added, though to whom she referred was left in the air. Both eyes were open now, and she allowed herself a slight smirk, "I know plenty that would do nearly any work for money, let alone something so... prestigious and worthy."

"Well... something should be done..." Ali grumbled. After a few moments, his expression brightened, and he chuckled. "Well. Perhaps I'll have to see if I can get my hands on a broom."

His eyebrows went up and he glanced at the woman. "Oh? What sort of work do you do, Tarset?" The unfamiliar name didn't exactly flow smoothly off his tongue, but not too poorly, either; city life gave Ali a cosmopolitan education, at least.

The woman gave a slight shrug. "Handy work Sayyid. There are a lot of things to do in the Jewel that cannot be done by those without connections or copper after all, and a woman of some size and strength can do many of them."

She leaned forward off her hands and put her elbows on her knees as she did so, eyes staying toward the two men. "Clearly this is a case where someone must step forward since,,, mmm, it is not forthcoming, shall we say. Still, if it were as simple as giving willing people brooms and pay, this place would have been as sayyid Nasim reminisces about" Tarset was all but a native of the city, and knew very well the reason why, though she saw no reason to drag that hornet out of its nest.

Nasim eyed the Senpet woman again at her casual manner with copper. This was one that was going to run out of coin very quickly. "If I had a few spare Copper laying about collecting dust I would be wearing much finer clothing." Nasim said with a smile. "As is, I am one of those many city citizens who would be happy to do the work for a pittance of pay."

Ali's question peaked Nasim's curiosity though and he listened to her answer. Muscle was never bad to have around. "True enough, there are bribes that must be paid, provisioners to be found, priests to harange out of their sorrowful stupor." Nasim shrugged casually.

Ali looked back and forth between the two of them, eyebrows raised.

"Well, it sounds as though there are those willing to do the work. It's just a matter of getting hands on the necessary funds." He chewed his lip a moment, then shrugged. "Well, I'm not quite fresh out, but I haven't much copper to my name. Still... worth keeping an ear to the ground, eh? Never know what offer you'll hear."

Tarset raised an eyebrow. It was certainly a simplistic view of things, Still, she wouldn't be the one to burst the man's bubble. "I've not a copper to my name to offer up unfortunately, but I'm certain if Sayyid truly wished to see the matter done, he could find some ears among those with money."

That'd likely earn an arrest sooner or later, but the city could always use some shaking up.

Whatever the trio was talking about might or might have been seditious; Aydi couldn't tell, for what reached his ears were just reverberated whispers, mumbled by complex acoustics of the grand dome. Still, his curiosity was piqued and he rose from his prayers to approach. The woman certainly stood out, by at least several metrics.

Ali gave his bow of greeting to the newcomer. "I hope we weren't disturbing your devotions, my friend." He said. "We were just discussing the state of the temple, and brooms."

He smiled. "But perhaps we've said enough on that. There's things to be thankful for, like the archery festival, eh?"

"Ah, so you've been thinking about cleaning the house a bit? A noble pursuit." Aydi put his right hand over his heart in greeting, then offered it for a handshake. His smile was broad and heartfelt. "And something to be thankful for. When everybody only sees to their particular business, common good doesn't fare well. I can't say I know a lot about the contest. Is it something on your mind?" He looked at the others as well, repeating gestures of greeting.

Ali extended his hand, returning the shake easily. "On my mind? I suppose you'd say that. I plan to take part."

After a moment, he shrugged, smiling. "I don't plan to win, but I'm willing to be surprised in that regard. And well, even if I don't, a festival is a festival, and I've spent days in less pleasant activity than putting arrows into a target."