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Humph. I’m Narwa. I don’t want to be here, but my writer made me. She says I have to work on my “people skills”.
I’m from a dinky little village near the mountains--I’m sure you never heard of it. I got pregnant at sixteen. Mahon left right before I lost the baby, so I moved in with some other guy for a while. It was better than going back to my parents’ lodge. After all that, no one in the village accepted me anymore. Fine with me; most of them were small-minded and selfish.
Mahon always talked about Banoth and Mael, but I preferred to hear about Gyda. When I visited a nearby village, one of Her priestesses happened to be there. She was such a sweetheart! I didn’t have to think twice when she asked me to join the convent. I spent a long time there, learned a trade, even made a few friends. I learned to read and write well enough to copy out the common prayer books. It was out in the country, but I loved it anyway.
Sometimes I wish I’d had children. I’m over forty now--too old to think about that. Besides, who wants a husband? For the most part I’ve been content to be a novice, do as I’m asked, just be one of the sisters. Until lately, that is. It’s been growing in me for some time, this desire to do something special, see other places, be somebody. Before it’s too late. When I heard they were looking for candidates to join the temple in Searos, I jumped at the chance. They picked me to go, even though younger women were turned down. My sisters were shocked. But hey, why not? I’m as good as any of them!
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What am I doing here? They all hate me. Maybe its because I’m new, but they’re all so sophisticated. Many of the women are younger and they’re all higher in rank.
The worst part is, I had to fill in for the High Priestess’ scribe. Everyone was either sick or had more important things to do. There I was, in a room with all the high priests of the whole pantheon. Not to mention the Earl of Searos. I spilled my inkpot, and then Sidra asked me to do the opening reading. I fumbled it. Couldn’t even get the words out. I was supposed to record the meeting, but after all that I missed about half of it. I bet she won’t ask me to scribe for her again!
My main duties are to help make talismans and to sell them, along with our prayer books, at a stall down in the poor quarter. I didn’t know there were different talismans for different classes of people. Some are bigger and fancier, but they contain the same stuff—I don’t think its right that we offer better protection from the crawlies * to those who can pay more. If they’re really any better.
* NOTE: if anyone can suggest a better name for a class of monsters that come in all shapes, colors, etc., all twisted and unpleasant… I’m not sold on “crawlie”.
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Why do you care so much what people that you don't like think about you? Who is Mahon, and why did he leave you? Do you plan to stay in Searos for the rest of your life? What made the woman you called "sweetheart" different from everyone else? Are you like her? What kinds of things make you happy?
[This message has been edited by Unwritten (edited September 20, 2008).]
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Hi, um, I'm Fiona and I wanted to see the world too, even though I guess I didn't have much of a choice about it at first. What were the special things you wanted to do at the temple? Do you actually believe in the goddess there or did you just join the convent 'cause the priestess was nice to you?
I never thought of myself as the mother type either, but one day this little boy appeared in the tent where I was staying, and he was being chased by catmen, and all they wanted to do with him was foist him off on a nanny who'd probably get killed along with him next time the catmen attacked. So I kind of adopted him and ran away with him. Maybe you can find a kid to adopt too, there's lots of them that aren't wanted.
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Bunch of lousy nosers… Ow! My writer says I have to cooperate. What, does she think she’s Yao or something? Just like old Ida, always bossing people around.
…keyboard tapping...
All right already!
Why do you care so much what people that you don't like think about you? I don’t care what they think. They’re just a bunch of snobs. Take Miram for example. She’s Sidra’s scribe, the one I filled in for that day. She said my record of the meeting is the worst writing she has ever seen. What does she expect? I can’t spell very well without seeing the words, and no one ever asked me to write my own thoughts down. It’s her stupid fault for not explaining what she wanted. Back at the convent, when Miram asked for writing samples, they showed her our copy work. After all, that’s what we did there, copy scriptures! No one thought to tell her it wasn’t our own ideas.
Who is Mahon, and why did he leave you? He was my first lover. He came to our village when I was fifteen, with all kinds of tales about the city. All the girls thought he was so handsome, but I told them he didn’t seem very nice. Then he started paying attention to me, and I guess I fell for it. When I got pregnant he promised to take care of me, so I moved into his room, in the lodge that had taken him in. But when I got big he started flirting with other girls. He talked about returning to Searos, and asked me to come with him. I would have, too, but soon after that he just disappeared. I never saw him again.
Do you plan to stay in Searos for the rest of your life? I don’t know. It’s tempting to go back to the convent, except they’d all laugh at me. I kind of like selling stuff, so as long as they let me do that, I’ll stay. I don’t have anywhere else to go.
What made the woman you called "sweetheart" different from everyone else? Are you like her? Oh, Clauda! She was kind to everyone, but I didn’t know it then. She always listened, and asked questions like she really wanted to know what mattered to me. And she didn’t try to tell me what to do. She would just give me a hug and tell me she cared. No, I’m nothing like her. No one is!
What kinds of things make you happy? Having more than enough to eat. My favorite is venison stew in a trencher after the long hike down from the hill country. I like it up there with the goats, and the wind whipping my hair around my face. Oh, and it feels good to finish a piece of copy work with my perfectly shaped letters filling the page.
Sorry, Fiona, I’ll have to get back to you later.
Author intrusion: Does Narwa sound too young for 40ish? (She never quite grew up, but she shouldn't sound like a teenager.)
[This message has been edited by MrsBrown (edited September 22, 2008).]
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From Pyraxis: she sounds a little immature but I've met a fair share of people her age like that. I can buy it, from a cloistered temple woman who never got over her irritation at the unfairness of the world. I do get impatient with it, though - I haven't found much to like or admire in her yet.
Posts: 188 | Registered: May 2008
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I'm not planning on Narwa being a major POV character. Her purpose is to be part of Ida's goals (win back the lovely little girl she remembers from long ago), and to give the reader a POV into the antagonists' camp.
Narwa'a story is really more about Ida's successes and failures, at least in my mind. This exercise is helping develop her, so she proably needs her own charcter arc where she changes into a better (more likeable) person.
The first scene in Narwa's POV doesn't delve so far into her attitude problems. It shows her as the underdog in the meeting with all the priests. But its all in flux right now. We'll see how it goes.
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