Briar Moss (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thornandmoss) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
taxonomites2012-04-06 12:09 pm
thornandmoss) wrote in taxonomites2012-04-06 12:09 pm
Entry tags:
[visual]
Briar is stretched out on the peak at the center of a slanted roof, a makeshift shelf for building supplies set up next to him. He has obviously just finished modifying the roof, widening the ridgepole of it. Not to make it easier to reach, but to give him a comfortable seat when he does. Briar leans back and rests his elbows on the lip of the chimney, the weather warm enough that no fire is lit below. Running water forms faint background noise, his home located not far from the river.
"Has anyone else noticed how strange the plant life here is?" he asks idly, alternately basking in the sun and enjoying the view. The garden, the sun, and the cloudwatching are all doing him more good than he can say after recent events. Being up on a roof always did seem to help some.
During Briar's first explorations of the city, he made note of both familiar and unfamiliar plants, anything he could find as many of them went dormant for the colder months. "The weather here fluctuates more than the usual climate for a lot of vegetation I've found. I wondered whether they adapted to cope with a wider variety of temperatures and rainfall levels." He pauses, frowning. "But they haven't."
Briar's garden stands out in stark contrast to the neighboring areas to someone who knows what he's looking for. Seeing it from above only makes what he has already observed from ground level even clearer. "My garden is still growing what I planted in it recently, but nearby? That's different. There's plants that weren't there before, plants that wouldn't have survived the colder months here. Decade-old trees that hate cold temperatures are flourishing, and they weren't in the city when we got snow."
He grins now, informing everyone, "Fruit trees that weren't even around to get pollinated are in season. I've transplanted some vegetables that are near the end of their growing cycle but definitely weren't last time I checked them. If anyone wants lemons or oranges, I've found a lot. I've also got--" He reaches into his pocket, retrieving a brown and fuzzy-skinned oblong fruit. Briar peels half of it with a small knife, biting into the juicy green fruit inside. He chews, swallows, and smiles again. "I don't know the name for these, but they're good."
He shrugs a shoulder. "I'm in the northwest district, Wilde, a mile upriver from the tram line to the center of the city." City still seemed a misleading word, given the massive size of the place. "You're welcome to stop by and visit if you'd like some fruit or some company." Briar adds as an afterthought, "Or a sparring partner. I haven't gotten much practice with a staff lately."
"Has anyone else noticed how strange the plant life here is?" he asks idly, alternately basking in the sun and enjoying the view. The garden, the sun, and the cloudwatching are all doing him more good than he can say after recent events. Being up on a roof always did seem to help some.
During Briar's first explorations of the city, he made note of both familiar and unfamiliar plants, anything he could find as many of them went dormant for the colder months. "The weather here fluctuates more than the usual climate for a lot of vegetation I've found. I wondered whether they adapted to cope with a wider variety of temperatures and rainfall levels." He pauses, frowning. "But they haven't."
Briar's garden stands out in stark contrast to the neighboring areas to someone who knows what he's looking for. Seeing it from above only makes what he has already observed from ground level even clearer. "My garden is still growing what I planted in it recently, but nearby? That's different. There's plants that weren't there before, plants that wouldn't have survived the colder months here. Decade-old trees that hate cold temperatures are flourishing, and they weren't in the city when we got snow."
He grins now, informing everyone, "Fruit trees that weren't even around to get pollinated are in season. I've transplanted some vegetables that are near the end of their growing cycle but definitely weren't last time I checked them. If anyone wants lemons or oranges, I've found a lot. I've also got--" He reaches into his pocket, retrieving a brown and fuzzy-skinned oblong fruit. Briar peels half of it with a small knife, biting into the juicy green fruit inside. He chews, swallows, and smiles again. "I don't know the name for these, but they're good."
He shrugs a shoulder. "I'm in the northwest district, Wilde, a mile upriver from the tram line to the center of the city." City still seemed a misleading word, given the massive size of the place. "You're welcome to stop by and visit if you'd like some fruit or some company." Briar adds as an afterthought, "Or a sparring partner. I haven't gotten much practice with a staff lately."
[Location: Briar's House]
Briar breaks off a section of orange, eating it before he starts. "I don't remember my actual birthday," because Briar has since chosen one of those, "or my first name. I'm on my third by now. My second name was Roach. I was a thief for years, and the Thief Lord named me. I chose Briar Moss for myself after my third arrest, when someone noticed I had magic and whisked me off to a temple instead of hard labor like I was headed for. Said they couldn't make out temple papers for somebody named Roach, and I'd never liked the name anyway." Knowing his age, Martha can get an inkling of just how young Briar was when he started stealing. He wouldn't have lasted long in hard labor; Briar would be long dead by now if Niko hadn't found him when he did.
[Location: Briar's House]
"I hope that was the last time you got arrested," she said, because apologising for something that had already happened would have sounded less than sincere. "And I'm glad you got out."
[Location: Briar's House]
And with regard to his arrests... "I've come close a few other times, but those ones weren't for stealing, I swear!" Briar grinned broadly, false bravado in the face of the much bigger trouble he'd had potential to get into lately. Powerful magic and military and political struggles were every bit as dangerous as his old life had been. Briar just ate a lot better now.
He gets a little more serious when he concludes, "Me too. Niko dragged me kicking and screaming off to Emelan, forced me to bathe like every other person who can afford to, and I got the best two mothers a boy could ask for out of it. Plus three sisters, an awful lot of good meals, training..." He trails off with a shrug. Briar knows full well how lucky he is.