Fwurg

[Veolian Commonwealth]

Lord Shebi was very interested in T'Sal research. In fact, with the level of questions he asked, and the detailed insights he provided, it dawned on T'Sal that he could only really discuss her work in such detail if he had read most of her publications.

However, his interest seemed genuine, and they walked through the garden discussing astrophysical phenomena for a while. Lord Shebi appeared to enjoy the exchange immensely.

"Jedi T'Sal, we should really go and find my wife. We have already been talking for nearly an hour, and dinner will be served soon. I propose that we continue our discussion at some other time."

With that, he looked around the garden, and closed his eyes for a few seconds.

"My wife is that way, Jedi. Let us go meet her.", he pointed down a path after he opened his eyes again. "So tell me", he asked while following the path, "are all scientists at this Jedi research institute as insightful as you? If so we should talk about setting up some collaborations between our institutes."

[T'Sal]

“There are not so many scientists among the Jedi. The force is a strong aid and everybody has about this level of understanding of their field. Half of them see it as a hobby and the other half are real scientists. At the institute there are also quite some very skilled personal that helps us.”

T’sal look interested at sir Shebi as he closed his eye.

“I heard that the Hemet Veolian have some kind of telepathic abilities. Is that how you know in which direction your wife is?”

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"I shall have them contacted about collaboration then."

"Hemet Veolians do indeed have telepathic abilities, but that is only half of the trick. Our telepathy only goes outwards, we can't read minds, or detect surface thoughts. Our telepathy isn't even that precise, we can omit some groups, but instinctively we project our wishes to almost everyone around. And we can't really send exact messages, only vague desires. Unless trained of course, as with all natural abilities.

In this case, I projected a desire to be in the presence of my wife, and in response she projected her desire to hold me. Because she projected something to me, I have a general feeling of where she is -- and I know she wants to hold me.", he smiled at T'Sal. "For us, this is normal, but outsiders are always surprised at how our telepathy works."

"Judging from her general direction, she is probably sitting on a bench near the pond. She loves to watch the fish jump."

He lead T'Sal through the garden, and after five minutes of walking, they indeed arrived at the edge of a pond. Sitting on a bench near the pond were the two veolian women T'Sal had already spotted from the window. When lord Shebi and T'Sal approached the bench, both women stood.

The younger woman spoke first, after a bow to both T'Sal and lord Shebi. "It is an honour to meet you, Jedi."

The older woman spoke, also after a bow: "Jedi, it is an honour to meet you.", she then direct her attention to her husband "You are late, husband.", she said. Instead of replying, lord Shebi pulled his wife close with an arm around her waist, and kissed her. "I love you too, dearest."

Lord Shebi spoke in a clear voice: "Lady Vahaka, it is always a pleasure to have you over. Allow me to introduce Jedi T'Sal, of the Hiocan Society. Jedi T'Sal, this is lady Vahaka Jan, and my wife Shebi Dathi."

[T'Sal]

T’sal looks surprised to lord Shebi’s reply to his wife. He surely loved her and did not want to discuss things. T’sal bows back after being introduced.

“I am honored to meet you took, lady Shebi and lady Vahaka.”

[Veolian Commonwealth]

Lord Shebi's wife extracted herself from his embrace.

"I'm afraid that Lady Vahaka had another appointment, and will not be joining us for lunch.", she explained.

"Indeed. I look forward to meeting you again, Lord Shebi.", lady Vahaka bowed politely and left.

Lady Shebi sighed. "She is becoming a tad clichéd. It might be good for us to come to a decision within a year, she is clearly fishing for something, but she isn't telling me. Maybe you should go on a date with her sometime."

"And make you jealous? That is most definitely not going to happen.", was lord Shebi's reply. "Let us not bore our guest with this issue."

"Of course, husband. Shall we?", she said while starting to walk back to the main building.

While walking, she continued.

"Jedi T'Sal, I look forward to hearing all about the daily going-ons at the Jedi Temple during dinner. I haven't heard anything of my granddaughter in a while. Do you know her well?"

[T'Sal]

“I do not know your granddaughter very well lady Shebi as our interests are different. We do train together and we have been on missions together.”

T’sal replies while walking along. It seems like the really wanted some more information of their granddaughter but T’sal could not help them that much.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The walk was short, and very soon the three sat at an oversized dinner table. T'Sal recognized some of the dishes on the table as traditional Hiocan dishes. After they sat down, same servants came about to offer drinks and to offer an appetizer.

"Jedi T'Sal", lady Shebi started, "Even though you can not tell us much about our granddaughter, we are still very interested in the day-to-day happenings at the Jedi temple. Could you tell us some of the daily activities of Jedi padawan?"

[T'Sal]

“There are not so many Jedi masters/knigths and there are many padawans so we have trainings groups. As sometimes people are away on missions the group size and teacher can vary.

We begin with morning exercises and meditation, we have breakfast, we continue with various (Force) training and meditation sessions, and then it is lunch break. As most padawans still need to go to school they go to classes in the afternoon. I continue with my research and I do not know what miss Shebi’s does in this time. In the evening there are again meditation sessions and lightsaber practice. Not the entire day is filled so you can take lesson/training in other fields like linguistics, engineering etc."

((OOC: I will edit this post later after the OOC discussion on jedi daily life.

Made the edit, jeh))

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"That sounds like a good training regime.", Shebi Dathi replied. She followed up with some general questions on the day-to-day activities of jedi padawan. It seemed that although she probably knew about the Jedi, she was still interested in hearing it first hand. Lord Shebi asked a few questions as well, but the larger share came from lady Shebi.

((OOC: I'm a bit out of material here. I think we should switch to a more 'highlights' method of doing things (as ten posts describing you sitting in the lab doing research is boring :P). You can do some exploring in the city if you want, visit that bar that has been mentioned earlier, etc. For now, I propose we timeskip forward to a few days later -- when Shebi Ajava's mother visits the laboratory? If so, you can start out by describing what you're doing in the lab, city, bar. I'll pick it up and make things happen (such as someone telling you that Shebi Ajava's mother has arrived).))

[T'Sal]

T’sal gladly answered all the questions of Lady Shebi and also asks some questions back. She enjoyed the rest of the evening.

The next days T'sal continues to work in the lab. She makes some plans for in the weekend with miss Shebi and miss Likra. She would first like to go sightseeing in the city and visits a few musea. Afterwards they could go to the bar.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

Over time, T'Sal discovered that the Veolians did not have something akin to a weekend. Miss Shebi was uninterested in visiting museums or sightseeing, but T'Sal found that miss Likra was willing to accompany her. As always T'Sal's temporary aide, Mikaro Aosa, quickly arranged the visits. Unclear of the exact preferences of T'Sal, she made sure to include at least an art museum and a history museum.

The city itself was massive, and seeing all the sights would require at least a week of full-time exploration. But the hovercar with dedicated driver made a lot possible. They went to a few historic sites, and T'Sal quickly found that most historic sites were actually still in use. The Veolian nobility took great pride in their centuries-old estates, probably because the inhabitants were centuries old as well...

The museums were impressive. Both hosted collections containing pieces over a thousand years old, and both were privately owned. Veolian art seems to favour fluid curves, and puts a lot of emphasis on the body. Arts like sculpture and dance seem very important, while written works receive less attention.

The historical museum had an interesting section on what was called the 'aftershock wars'. Though much of this period is unclear, T'Sal could easily learn that the aftershock wars happened during the times of chaos, roughly 2000 years ago. Apparently, at that time the Veolian Commonwealth collapsed in on itself due to some unknown reason, and a brutal civil war resulted in (the then small minor) House Saret making a sudden and triumphant grab for absolute power.

Mikaro Aosa arranged for a simple dinner for T'Sal and miss Likra, before having the driver drop the three women off at the pub miss Likra suggested to T'Sal a few days ago: Sarabi Hirana.


The pub appeared as if its best time was already over. The building was run down, and the sign flickered on and off at random. But the music from inside sounded friendly, and joyful voices came from inside. Just outside the door, three veolian men stood talking to each other, bursting out in laughter just as the women approached the door.

"Hello there, ladies", one of them said in a slightly slurred male dialect. "Miss Likra! Such a pleasure to see you again." another stated, "I'm not sure you should really be here though. Especially not without that pretty noble friend of yours..." he continued ominously.

"Don't worry, lord Kintar, I have someone much better than miss Shebi with me this time.", she retorted.

The man moved to the door, and held it open for the women. "In that case, after you, ladies."

Inside, the pub seemed rather old to T'Sal. A young looking muscled veolian man stood behind the bar, serving drinks. A small Bith band played folk-like music, and a young and scarcely dressed veolian woman was dancing on a raised podium. The patrons of the pub seemed to be a gathering of veolians and other races from all levels of society, and everyone seemed very happy to mingle outside their own social circle.

"Well, jedi?", miss Likra softly asked T'Sal. "What do you think on first glance?"

[T'Sal]

T’sal has put on some nice Veolian cloths for today. She enjoys the trip past historical sites and the musea. After dinner they go to the pub. T’sal is a bit worried when they pass the guys outside. Inside she takes a good look around.

“Well it looks like a cozy place. I do not have any pub reference so I have to see.”

T’sal moves a bit closer to miss Likra and says with a soft voice.

“What did those guys outside mean? I am not a noble?”

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"No, they meant lady Shebi. Last time I was here, I had a bit of a fight with a rather ungentlemanly hemet... He was about to take advantage of a twi'lek girl, so I politely informed him that that would be very unwise. Instead of taking my advice, he turned his attentions on me. Fortunately, lady Shebi was there too. She explained to him the consequences of his actions, by way of throwing him outside and beating him up till he stopped moving."

"He swore he would take his revenge when she wasn't here to protect me. But with you here, I'm sure that he won't be stupid enough to do anything. And this really is the best pub to meet interesting people."

[T'Sal]

T’sal looks to miss Likra with a big question mark on her face. T’sal does not like the prospect of playing bodyguard and meet “interesting people”. She sights.

“I hope that you know what you are doing. I do not look impressive and we like to solve problems peacefully. I am not going to show off. I am here to have fun so let’s find a nice seat.”

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"Don't worry. He will make himself scarce once he understands that you are a Jedi. Jedi are well-known to be protectors, and are well resepected in the Veolian Commonwealth as powerful individuals. Just make sure a few people known that you are a Jedi, and nothing can go wrong.", she replied with a smile.

"I propose a seat close to the podium, the dancer is a friend of mine.", she said while pointing to an empty table near the podium.

[T'Sal]

"Okay"

With that T'sal follows miss Likra and sits down to the table near the podium. She looks if there is a menu kart to see what this bar has to offer.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The menu was filled with a large number of drinks, most of which T'Sal did not recognize. It seemed though that the Veolians, or at least this bar, are very appreciative of drinks and the menu is several pages long. It was a good thing she learned the two veolian dialects, or she wouldn't be able to read any of the menu.

It seemed that the menu was done in both languages, though some of the drinks were only listed in bolī, while others were only listed in láadan. The division of sexes appeared to run very deep in their culture, to the point of having male and female drinks...

Meanwhile, miss Likra signalled a waitress to their table. The waitress smiled cheerfully, as she addressed them in a very tonal láadan: "Girls, what can I serve you today?"

Miss Likra looked at T'Sal expectantly.

[T'Sal]

T’sal picks something that has fruit juice (cocktail) in it in láadan. She does not mind that there is alcohol in it as Hiocans are immune and she will not get drunk from it.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The waitress took a note on her pad, and accepted the orders of both veolian women as well. Miss Likra ordered another fruit cocktail, and T'Sal's guide ordered a glass of water.

The waitress soon returned with the orders. T'Sal's drink smelled slightly acidic, making T'Sal wonder whether this was a good choice. Miss Likra took a sip of her drink, and started watching the dancer.

[T'Sal]

T'sal wonders what it will taste like, she carefully tries a sip. She then goes to watch the dancer. T'sal uses this evening to experience the Veolian culture by trying various things.

[Veolian Commonwealth]

The drink is indeed very sour, and makes T'Sal's mouth tingle. But after a while she gets used to it.

The evening passes mostly uneventful, with T'Sal and miss Likra sometimes speaking about the differences between Veolian and Hiocan culture, and sometimes listening to music, or watching the dancer. It dawns on T'Sal that the dancer has already been dancing non-stop for one and a half hours before she slowly comes to a stop. But when the beat picks up again, she smiles and continues dancing energetically.

The pub serves a large array of foods and drinks. Judging from what others here do, T'Sal estimates that the veolians require a lot of fluid intake, as some of the veolians easily drink a litre of extremely sweet fruit cocktails over the course of an hour. The dishes are another surprise to T'Sal. Some of the dishes are very bland, while others are spicy to the point of actually hurting.

But the weirdest thing T'Sal's discovers on the menu is a drink called Kicara. The drink, served in a tall glass, is a translucent green slime with a strange flower in top. It is served with a spoon, and miss Likra orders a large pitcher of water immediately after the wiatress brought T'Sal her Kicara.

Like some of the other dishes, the green slime was an extreme: it was very salty. T'Sal could somehow feel a ripple of sweetness flow through her mouth just after she swallowed a mouthful. The flower turned out to be made of actual flower leaves coated in sugar. The leaves, when chewed, tasted like sweet liquorice, but had the consistency of tough meat. The real surprise though, was after she chewed a leaf: the slime stopped being salty, and instead felt cool when eaten, with a fresh but sweet aftertaste.

It soon became clear why miss Likra ordered the water. A few minutes after finishing her Kicara, T'Sal was thirsty. Very thirsty.

((OOC: If you want to do other things here, such as talk with the barman, dancer, or someone else, go ahead. Otherwise, suggest to leave and we'll go to the surprise event.))

[T'Sal]

“Miss Likra you friend is dancing well for a long time, she has quite some stamina. Are Veolian performances always this long?”

T’sal quickly drinks half of the pitcher after getting thirsty and then continues more slowly. After drinking all the water T’sal goes to the restroom. During her walk she takes a good look around to see what kind of people have gathered here. Once she returns she orders a regular juice and asks a question to the barman.

“I have notices Veolians drink a lot. Could you tell me a little more about that and all the interesting drinks?”

((OOC: I am going for more role-play so starting off with two questions))

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"That depends", was miss Likra's answer. "In this case, yes. She usually dances away the whole evening, she says it keeps her in shape. Then again, she is hemet, so she can pretty much keep this up for days and she doesn't really need it to keep in shape. I think she just likes the attention."


The barman looks up, and raises one eyebrow. "No child. You people drink very little.", he said smiling and in fluid galactic basic. "It is like some species have to eat a lot of meat, and others have to eat a lot of leafs. We veolians have to drink a lot. I do not know why, I just serve the drinks. And those, I can tell you all about.

Which drink did you want to know about? I can probably tell you something interesting about pretty much all of them, otherwise the wouldn't make it on the list. Though some of them, such as most of the sodas are actually just shipped in. But don't tell the other patrons.", he added with a smile.

[T'Sal]

"Could the tell me more about the origin and creating of the Kicara and of some of those very sweet and spicy cocktails?"

((OOC: As you did not give names I juts give general description.))

[Veolian Commonwealth]

"Most cocktails were invented by some or other drinks mixer, usually under the patronage of a noble. As it is really hemets who drink this much, so the nobility is very interested in having new and unique flavours and tastes."

"The Kicara drink is something else."

The way he pronounced drink gave T'Sal the idea that it isn't really a drink.

"It is made from the sap of the Kica tree, which is then concentrated, and left to build flavour in a cask. Next water is added to soften it up, and about a dozen salts and spices are added. A few other ingredients, secret ingredients, are added after it has gelled for a while. And no, I'm not telling you."

He pointed to a few bottles. "For the mixing I use the system my father thought me. Those there are the spices, and way over there are the sweets. The ordering is my own, but the mixing system is his. You start with a soft and sweet base of a single fruit. Next you add the primary spice and the complementary fruit. You finish the drink with either a combination of two secondary spices, or the secondary fruit and a fine salt."

Just as he wanted to continue explaining, a veolian man with a white beard and two purple horns protruding from his forehead walked up to the bar.

"Excuse me, he is a big tipper. If you have more questions, find me later, ok?" the barman said before moving towards the other customer.