Evening Gratitude (LE House of the Heavens)

[Ali ibn Farid]

One eyebrow lifts, her smile a bit mocking though her tone was amused. "Why apologize? You didn't run into me, or...so far as I heard...offer prayers asking for my ruin. I'm not here for the attention, after all."

That made Ali chuckle softly. "Having never met, offering prayers for your ruin would be quite rude of me indeed." He gave a little bow in return, right hand giving a gesture of greeting. "Ali ibn Farid, at your service."

He shrugged. "And it's always a pleasure to see those with skills display them. Or really, to see anyone who cares to give it a try." He smiled gently. "Sometimes people just need a chance."

He glanced at Tarset, eyebrows going up. "Speaking of, I should still like to see you try it someday, miss. Especially as..." He glanced around, "-we've now seen how every other member of this fated group handles a bow."

[Lamis Naaji]

Lamis offers her attention to each as they introduce themselves, very still while listening, eyes flicking to take in the small details of attire and stance, in the pauses. Nodding finally at Ali's comment, she adds, "it's a weapon that rewards practice, I guess all of them do."

"If you haven't tried a bow," she adds, turning to Tarset, "you should, at least to see if it suits you. Everyone needs a way to strike beyond the reach of short arms sometimes. Moreso if that's one way you earn your coin, hmm? And you, sir," her eyes and smile indicate Faruq, "are keeping your hips too tight and stealing the strength of your stance from the bow. You can't balance right when pulling if you're pretending to be stone below the waist." The last might be flirtatious, or at least sound like innuendo, in a different circumstance, but Lamis says it with the same clinical detachment he might use diagnosing a festered splinter.

"So." She gestures to each in turn, "local doctor, and local enough for a nickname Problem Solver. And who are you, who kindly does not pray for the ruin of your competitors?"

[Ali ibn Farid]

"Me?" Ali's eyebrows went up. "Hmmm. It's easier to sum up another in a few words than yourself, I feel. Perhaps I should think of it as another sort of challenge."

After a moment, Ali shrugged. "I help out with building. Not much for the building myself. Mostly the heavy work that needs to be done." He was lean, probably the result of sometimes missing meals, but his arms were certainly well-muscled. "And I patrol the streets for the guard, sometimes. I'm not sure what that would make me. A laboring guardsman? A patrolling laborer?" Another shrug.

He nodded to Lamis. "And if I turn your question back on you, miss?" He asked politely.

[Lamis Naaji]

"Hunter, among my folk." The answer slips out comfortably. "Here? If your builders can use more strong hands, I'm not averse to earning a bit to keep myself and Janan supplied while this contest rolls on."

"Guard and laborer sounds like patching enough together to keep yourself supplied. Guess I thought this place looked rich enough to take care of folks without that much scrambling. But I suppose it's a lot more complicated than things are out on the sands."

[Tarset Kishan]

Tarset held up both hands in mock defeat. "It's not as if I've never held a bow in my hands before, just not my style. I suppose it helps that I do most of my work places where you're up close anyways. Not a lot of large, uninterrupted parts of the city."

"So... a physician, a guard assistant, and a huntress in the city. Quite an eclectic mix," she noted with a slight smile. "I suppose the chance for prestige and a mystery reward will bring together all sorts. I'm quite glad I took time off to come watch."

[Ali ibn Farid]

"Hunter. Hmmm." Ali's lips parted to follow up, the obvious question being who are your people, but he let it be. "More complicated is certainly one way of describing it." He said dryly. "But in some ways, it's very simple."

He nodded to Tarset, smiling at her manner. "Indeed. No doubt that brings some. Others come for the excitement of the thing. Like you. And myself." Ali chuckled softly. "I just wanted to watch from up close."

[Faruq Al-Farhan]

And you, sir," her eyes and smile indicate Faruq, "are keeping your hips too tight and stealing the strength of your stance from the bow. You can't balance right when pulling if you're pretending to be stone below the waist." The last might be flirtatious, or at least sound like innuendo, in a different circumstance, but Lamis says it with the same clinical detachment he might use diagnosing a festered splinter.

If Faruq took any of the nomad's words as flirtatious, he didn't show it - but he did pay great attention to what she said, nodding at her with a weak but gentle smile over an otherwise serious face. He refrained from commenting on it now, though, so as not to interrupt the others.

"So... a physician, a guard assistant, and a huntress in the city. Quite an eclectic mix," she noted with a slight smile. "I suppose the chance for prestige and a mystery reward will bring together all sorts. I'm quite glad I took time off to come watch."

He nodded to Tarset, smiling at her manner. "Indeed. No doubt that brings some. Others come for the excitement of the thing. Like you. And myself." Ali chuckled softly. "I just wanted to watch from up close."

"Well, an event of that doesn't happen everyday. I can speak for myself when I say prestige and a reward were not on my mind when I decided to try my hand at it - in large part because... well, Sayyeda Lamis has made it clear how much I have to learn before I'd have a chance to hope for any of that prestige", he said with a bit of a chuckle, which sounded a bit odd coming from his otherwise serious face, but was surprisingly good-natured.

"In fact, I thank you kindly for those words, Sayyeda. Learning is precisely why I decided to give it a try, in fact", he said, nodding at her. "I suppose Archery is an exotic enough skill for those of us who spent almost all our lives in the city to be happy for a chance to see it, let alone try our hands at it - or watch masters of the art."

[Lamis Naaji]

Tarset held up both hands in mock defeat. "It's not as if I've never held a bow in my hands before, just not my style. I suppose it helps that I do most of my work places where you're up close anyways. Not a lot of large, uninterrupted parts of the city."

Along with Faruq's note about archery being a bit exotic in the city, this causes Lamis a moment of reassessment. "Everything so close in. Hadn't really considered how little most would need a bow here. You can't hunt that way here. And I imagine nobody much heads out to hunt here. Everything's merchants and...I guess building things for coins to give merchants?"

"Have to say I haven't really missed my swords in these crowds. Knife makes more sense anyway."

Hands clasped lightly at her waist, she adds, "Honestly? I heard there was a Khadi sponsoring the whole thing. We have tales of them, but I was curious to see the actual thing. I tell you true, I expected a city run by immortal sorcerers to be...much darker. The tales among our folk of khadi do not include bustling markets and welcoming feasts."

Her gaze sweeps the shabby temple. "I was surprised to see this place looking so..." she reaches for words, "like a maiden who once took great pride in her shining river of hair and gleaming ornaments, but now the years have thinned hair gone gray and little ornament is left to her after a hard life."

[Ali ibn Farid]

"Hah." Ali crossed his arms over his chest, frowning. "That's a very good way of putting it. Yes, the temple has, unfortunately, experienced a bit of..." His lips moved for a few moments, selecting minimally treasonous words, "-lack of attention over the years. Thus, the disrepair."

He scowled. "It's as bad for a temple as it is for anything else. A house. A city. People."

[Tarset Kishan]

Tarset rolled a shoulder, her tone a bit of a grumble. "I suppose it's just because I've always had to look out for myself, but I've never put much mind to appearances. I'm certain this place used to be much more grand, but it's what you make of what you've got that matters in the end. I could pray at a rock on a hill in the desert and I'd likely feel about the same."