A Vintner's Treasure

Writers: Danielle, Elaine
Date Posted: 2nd December 2005

Characters: Rialine, Catriana
Description: Rialine and Catriana meet and go exploring
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 9, day 1 of Turn 3

She spotted another girl that looked about her age. After considering a moment, she tapped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, do you have a moment?"

Catriana turned, her hands covered in flour, with more smudged across her forehead. She'd been kneeding dough for bread- a task she half enjoyed, half hated. "Oh! Hello. Yes, I have a minute. What do you need?" She reached over and rinsed her hands off, glad to take even a small break from the sticky, powdery mess. "I'm Catriana, by the way. I don't think we've met...yet," she said, drying her hands on a towel.

"No I don't think so, I'm still learning a lot of new faces...
Catriana. I'm Rialine, my father, Talrian, is the new Healer." She then pointed to her head and laughed weakly. "You missed a spot I think."

"Oh, dear." Cat scrubbed at her face with the towel. "At least I'm not the only one wandering around trying to figure out who is who and all that. I arrived here with my brother Darrin. He's an apprentice Vintner, furthering his training. And I'm..just along for the ride, I guess." She shrugged and set the towel on the counter. "Did I get it all the flour off?"

"Yes, I think so," Rialine replied with a smile. "Hah! I finally didn't recognize someone because they were new, not the other way around. It looks like you've landed on your feet though. Cookings fun isn't it? I love digging my hands into dough vthat way, great way to work off frustration."

"Definately. Well, I'm about done with this one. Just have to shape it and set it to bake. I'm still in the mood to cook, I think. Shall we surprise everyone by getting an early start on lunch? I don't know if the Cook will mind, though."

Rialine thought for a moment. **Well, I think I have time.** "Sure, thats not a bad idea. I'm just not would we get started on? I've actually been doing most of my food prep at my father cot."

"Me too. Well, we could work on some of the things the Hall always needs. Staples like bread, cut vegetables, like that? Surely Cook won't mind if we do that little stuff. It would make her work load easier." Catriana placed the bread dough on its stone and set it in the already hot oven.

"Ok, how about some vegetables? I still don't quite know my way around the kitchens here, where are they stored?"

"Now that _is_ a good question. I've managed to find the dry goods.
I'm assuming the vegetables are in some sort of cool cellar. That's where we kept ours, but our cellar was actually off the wine cellars.
Maybe we should go exploring?"

"Yes, lets!" Rialine began turning in circles, while pointing. "Which way first?"

Cat laughed. "I'll close my eyes, and when I say 'Stop!' whichever way your're pointing is the direction we'll start. How's that?" She covered her eyes with her hands and started counting silently in her head.

"You better... say stop... soon," Rialine said, the constant turning starting to make her dizzy. Rialine was half tempted to simply stop moving and just point at Catriana.

"Alright....Stop!" Cat shouted with a laugh. She pulled her hands away from her eyes and looked at there Rialine had ended up pointing.

"OOoookay!" Rialine said as she stopped. Her finger pointed to wall, but was close to a passage way. "I guess we'll head that way."

"Sounds good. I wonder where it leads. I don't think I've been that way yet. Have you?"

"No, I haven't. I've still spent most of my time here, puttering around our cot." She replied as she began walking towards the passageway. "Well, come on," she said, motioning with her hand over her shoulder.

There was nothing else to do but follow, and so Cat did. "So how long have you been here?" Conversation seemed much better than just listening to their footsteps. Cat let her fingers trail along the wall, the surface cold as they went further away from the warm kitchens. That was promising, if they were going to find the cold storage.

"Couple seven days," Rialine replied. She gave a brief shiver, also noticing that the temperature was droping.

"Me too. Well, it's definately getting chilly. That either means they don't heat this part of the Hall or we're getting close to the cellars." The passage ended in a set of stairs heading down. "Maybe we should have brought a glow."

"Yes, that _would_ have been a good idea," Rialine sighed, turning back. "Would it be too much to hope you know where the glows are kept?"

"I haven't had to change them yet. We could peek into some of the rooms nearby, and maybe borrow one if we can't find the store room."
Catriana went back a short way and tapped on the door- just in case.
There was no answer so she opened it and peeked inside. "Oh, look!"
She opened the door wider. "I guess this is the glow room." There were baskets of the stuff. She picked one up and opened it. "That was lucky!"

"Quite lucky!" Rialine replied, "I'll have to remember to keep you around for all my exploring adventures. Now lets go a little further." She said walking closely with Cartriana to take advantage of the glow.

The glow definately did help as they walked along the passage, since the corridor seemed to get darker. "I wonder if anyone even comes down here much." It was probably too much to hope there was a spare cloak closet hidden behind one of the doors. It was chilly.

"If we don't find something soon, we should probably turn back,"
Rialine responded, not wanting to get lost in cold, dark, unpopulated areas of a hold. "But wait, there a few footprints, in the dust, hopefully they're recent."

"Good eyes, Rialine. Let's follow, for a little ways at least."
Catriana knelt and looked at the footprints, holding the glow closer.
"I can't tell how recent they are, but they can't be too old, or they'd be as dusty as the rest of the floor."

"Exactly!" she replied, "How about you watch after those tracks and I'll keep an eye on the walls, an opening is bound to appear soon."
Rialine's eye were starting to adjust to the dark too, trying to pick out a greater pitch of dark, hopefully indicating an opening.

"Alright..." Cat kept her eyes on the floor, following the faint traces of footprints. They did seem to be going down the hall and back the way they came- but it looked to be one set of prints. One person who came and left. "Here...they turn here..."

"Oook, wait!" Rialine said, pointing. "There, up ahead, is that an entrance." She began walking closer, a bit out of the glows range, feeling the walls for the break in it she saw. "Yes, I think we've found something!"

"Oh!" Cat crowded behind her, forgetting all about the floor and the footprints. "Another door? Here...," she tried the old handle. It was very cold. "Locked. I don't suppose you know how to pick locks?"

"Noo," Rialine said, but she lightly felt the door. "But, I think we could easily get in, the wood seems to be rotted. If we just push a bit, near the nob...." so saying Rialine pushed in, and chunks of wood gave way. She pulled her arm out, shaking the grime off it. "See?
Now if we just turn..." she reached in again, and turned the nob from the other side, opening the door.

"That works too! Good job, Rialine. Now, let's see what we've found...." Cat held the glow up and peeked into the room. It was old and very musty- the smell of old wood and dust made her cough. The room was far from empty- great sheets covered everything, the cloth, once white, had yellowed with age and grime. Catriana walked further in, holding the light high. "This place hasn't been used for _ages_. "
Except for the footprints in the hall- which were fairly recent.
Strange. Cat began to study the floor again.

Rialine covered her mouth with her other hand, coughing also. "No, it doesn't look like it has," she began poking away too, but not too far from Catriana, and the glow. She gingerly touched sheets, trying to push them aside.

The cloud of dust that rose from the sheet as she moved it made her sneeze. "Oh dear! The dust is driving me crazy." But there was a cabinet under the sheet. Carefully she pulled open the door and peeked inside. "Some dusty old cups and things in here. Find anything, Rialine?"

"No, not yet," Rialine replied, a little disapointed. The search for vegetables had turned into a treasure hunt, and she was determined to find something. She decided to crouch down, and begin searching underneath the beds. And after some careful feeling around, she found something. "Oh, I think, I know what this is," the feel was one that was becoming exceedingly familiar, living at the Vintner Hall.
"Catriana, I think I've found some wine?"

"Wine? Down here?" Cat shut the door of the cabinet and brought the glowbasket over. She knelt beside Rialine and peered under the bed.
"Let's see the label...if it still has one." An old, forgotten wine would be a treasure here at the Hall...

"I can't see it that well," Rialine replied, "Even with the glowbasket." She had pulled one of the bottles out and squinted, trying to read the label. "What about you?"

"Hmm.." she peered at the faded and yellowed label in the light of the glow. "I think it's from the Hall...see, you can almost make out the wine barrel...like the one above the front gate, see?" She pointed to the shapes, "And here...it almost looks like...like a dragon or a flit on either side of the barrel. This must have been very pretty when it was new. But the words are too hard to make out. I think this might have been a date here....but I can't read it. It's too faded."

"Maybe its time to return," Rialine said, grabbing the other bottle.
"don't won't the glows to run out on us. We should, bring these to someone, don't you think?"

"I think you're right. The glow is starting to dim. We should show these to Diagoro at least, or should we go right to the Hallmaster?"

Rialine got up and started to leave. "Yes, definitely daigoro." She said after a thought.

"Alright. Let's go find him." Catriana grabbed the glow basket and followed Rialine out.

Last updated on the December 2nd 2005

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A Vintner's Treasure