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Seeker	The constant rumble of people, items, conversations, and conversions are a constant in Great Forks' temple district. Seeker has found a small cafe that, through thick curtains and strategic placement, has the rumble down a few decibels. A considerable achievement. "Your tea, sir," a fetching server slides the modest clay cup on the table in front of him. It accompanies a small plate of fruits common this time of year. The table's wooden surface is worn from use and cleaning. "Thank you," Seeker responds as he sits up. Taking the warm cup in his hands. He lets the heat seep into his hands before taking a sip. He leans back in his seat. "This has grown far greater than I thought initially..."
Neza	People. So many people. So much wealth passing through. Ugh, when had these moments gotten difficult, Neza wondered. It wasn't always this way. It wasn't always who she was. But those days were past. The comfort was gone. The comradery that came with blowing off steam in trade towns was no longer. She was a sellsword without a company, an occasional professional nose for an occasionally curiosity piqued scholar. But this was her reality now. Obscured by beaded veil and overly stiff and tall collar, Neza pauses amid the crowds. She knew who she was looking for, and she had considered it likely that he would be here. Her nostrils flared. She didn't look for him, not with so many people around, she smelled for him. Twice she had been near him and that was normally enough to get an idea of how someone would stand out in the crowd. It's what she normally followed from distances, and in crowds like this. Graceful in the dance of cosmopolitan crowds, despite her discomfort, she glides past people as she follows her bead. To a place that mingles a great many odors, most of them good. She ducks as she passes through the curtains, best to keep her hat on. She needn't take long after entering to scan and find the man she's looking for. Approaching him, she asks in her usual muted tones, "Good afternoon, Scholar. You look better than last I saw you. Would you mind if I join you?"
Seeker	Looking up casually, Seeker looks at the woman and has to recall their last meeting. He has been running rampant and meeting a lot of people in the medical field, but that wasn't it for this lady. It finally came to him! "Yes, please join me Neza," cheerfully escapes his lips. He also motions for the server's return. "Last I saw you, you were enjoying a fine... an ale. I was enjoying learning how far I can be thrown." A bit of glee can be seen in his eyes. "Looking for a quiet place to rest?"
Neza	"I trust you learned a great deal that day," Neza speaks with a dipping of her head. As she takes her sit, the cloak splays a little around her, the shapeless mass of cloth that it is. And she takes a steady moment to consider her surroundings before she too asks for a tea. "I'm happy that I've found you. I've been noticing some problems that until now I have been able to ignore. And I think you might be someone who can assist me." She waits a moment, compliment given, before adding, "And though I don't have much to pay you with, after our last meeting I am certain you are in need of my services."
Seeker	"Another issue coming my way. If it deals with shadowlands, the encroaching plague, or the history of Great Forks, I may already be looking into it." Taking a bite of fruit, Seeker uses the time to enjoy the burst of flavor in his mouth. "Though, that isn't the limit of my scope. I read through the 1000 Years Temple Library just last week." He chuckles to himself. "Not 1000 years I'll tell you!"
Neza	A shake of her head and a low, amused laugh. "Nothing like that," she says, pausing to watch the clay cup be put down before her. She pauses a moment before reaching to take the cup, much of her hand wrapped, with the tips of her clawed fingers just visible to take the drink up and over her collar. It's a very slow, slightly slurping sound, but it ends with a contented sigh. "This is more pragmatic a need," Neza explains with a slight embarrassment, "What do you know of languages?"
Seeker	"Most of them," Seeker responds casually. "I know most of the major languages around here and can make do to figure out others." He takes another sip of tea. "Am I needed in some delve to stave off crumbled old wards? Or maybe a treasure that contains wording you haven't seen before?" His eyes give away his light play at these ideas.
Neza	That's a good answer. One that bodes well. But again Neza laughs at the ambition of the scholar. "Nothing so," she informs him. Her hands have again gone underneath her cloak and she sits quietly for a pensive moment. "I ask you to teach me. I am finding that knowing the cant of Riverspeak is not enough. And that," a pause again, and for a moment, her mint bright eye looks out at Seeker, pained. "I need to reclaim what I may have forgotten."
Seeker	"Forgotten?" Seeker muses. Interesting choice of words. The woman seemed capable. He had read of people forgetting things if they suffered enough head trauma. She didn't appear to have any, but that wasn't definitive. "You know Riverspeak. Speech I know, what about written?" Seeker inquires between sips of tea and fresh fruit. "What do you want to learn?"
Neza	Neza nods solemnly. "I do know Riverspeak. I can write it as well," she explains. It takes longer for her to be forward with how she explains her situation. "I was born to the North of here. I was raised on the Rivers, and Riverspeak was what everyone used for business. I never had a need to learn more. That said, I recall distant memories of Skytongue." A shake of her head to bring the beads back into line to hide herself again. "I want to reclaim that. For myself. But I find I'm at a lost without a tutor."
Seeker	Paper and pen are in Seekers hands in place of food and cup. "Skytongue," he says in the language. "I can get you started with the basics," he comments as his hands jot cross the paper filling it with runes and patterns linking them back to Riverspeak. "It's a lovely language. A bit lofty in it's speech patterns. It can be a bit wordy as well." A second parchment is already out and filling with writing. "Now, why Skytongue if you've only known Riverspeak?" He thinks on this while his hand continues it's work on a third page. "Orphaned? Maybe slave during your childhood?"
Neza	"I was raised in a company of Mercenaries," Neza explains. "The Red Scarves." She bows her head slightly in case Seeker has missed the very red scarf that serves as her hatband. "I vaguely remember some words, and the script in front of me as child. But with our business being bound to the river and traders, it was Riverspeak that I retained." She leans, long-bodied that she is, to get a bit of a view of what Seeker is scribbling down with such speed. She watches the runic alphabet put to parchment with an intent eye. "But this gives me a feeling of home I did not know."
Seeker	"Understandable," Seeker comments on the Scarves and Neza's history. With 10 pages filled out, Seeker starts shuffling other parchments from his many containers. He pulls them out, glances, and slides them into another. With one finally empty, he rolls the completed instructions into one and hands it's to Neza. "Here you go!" Smile on his face. "Should get you started in basic structure and conversational words. Some of the later pages would be the next step up." "Ah!" he interrupts himself. Another, smaller, parchment is on the table. "Here is where I can be found most days." A sparse map and name of a temple are written down. "Evenings would be the best time to catch me there. You will need to practice the speech, so see me often, or find someone else who knows it. And when you feel like you are ready for more, just let me know."
Neza	So many pages in such a short time. Just quickly given out, filled and processed. It's enough to put Neza off her base. A slow creep of distrust comes through her as she watches how simply and directly the scholar is to impart the knowledge of languages. Her head tilts, she leans back in her sit and folds her hands in her unseen lap. She stills to a pensive statue while she listens and considers this scholar's eagerness. And his even more quick willingness to encourage her company. "I will consider that," she says, as though there really is a question. The Scholar is correct in that she will need practice and her available partners are more than limited at the moment. "I am moving between some inns for the time being," Neza admits. "But I promise you I will make myself available should you need my own skills." A short pause, and a venture of a joke, "Unless you wish to continue your studies in flight."
Seeker	Giving a little chuckle, Seeker takes up his tea again. "Experiance is a great teacher." Considering her proposal, "At this time, I am not in need. Though, that may change with what I'm starting to unearth. What is your experience with the undead?"
Neza	Everyone needs a weapon, or at least someone that can use one. Neza has learned that hard rule throughout her life. And watching this scholar suggested he wouldn't have trouble finding ways for her to pay him back for his tutelage. She was not entirely expecting the subject of undeath, however. To that, she nods, and she tells him directly. "That they can be made dead again," she speaks in a matter of fact way that belies the reality of her history. "I've never had reason to study them more than that."