Title: FFXIV Write 2022 - 6. Onerous Characters: Krile Baldesion, Estinien Varlineau Rating: Teen Summary: Krile would like to accomplish certain tasks on behalf of her comrades. That's... nice. Notes: None
Krile was having, if she had to be frank, a terrible time.
Figuring out what to do was easy enough. She would use her position as the de facto leader of the Students of Baldesion to secure passage for her comrades to Old Sharlayan in order to further their cause. Though the numbers of the Students were few, it was still a proper organization of recognized researchers in Sharlayan, and so she held some small amount of sway in the politics of the nation state.
Some sway.
And of that, a very much small amount.
Her first sennight back home had been spent almost entirely in filling out forms and talking to registries. Apparently, at some point, someone had de-registered the Students of Baldesion as an organization, citing their small numbers and the loss of their leader. That this had happened during the time Krile had still been investigating the disappearance of said members galled her to no small bit, and when she finally had hunted down the overzealous book-keep that had started the process, she had given him a fair piece of her mind. Suitably chagrined and terrified, he had started the process of reversing the process of de-listing the organization.
Fortunately, while re-listing was a process that would take some time, since they were never formally and fully removed from the ledgers, they still had their annex, and so Krile, blessedly, had a place to sleep, and company in the form of Ojika Tsunjika, a cousin to Ejika. And fortunately, unlike Ejika, who she had found thoroughly unpleasant to work with, Ojika was of a more even, likable temperament, and helped her as he could.
Unfortunately, the beginning of the delisting process had ensured that payments for the upkeep of the building had been sent to an arrears department. Krile had to spend another few sennights finding the clerks who could help her untangle that particular mess, and only a hastily-written letter and a timely grant from Tataru had enabled her to keep the lights on and the warmers running for the building.
She could only hope that the star would wait on any disasters while she continued to sort through her woes.
Once she had managed to convince Sharlayan bureaucracy of both the existence of the Students of Baldesion as an organisation, as well as their solvency, she was then able to return to her original task. Restoring the Students to their prior tasking and capabilities would have to take a backseat to her primary goal of getting the Scions onto the island. The latter, however, could take place under the guise of the former, and so she began to gather the permits necessary, as well as convincing the appropriate authorities as to her intent.
And on top of everything was how odd her homecoming had been. The bureaucracy, she had anticipated to a certain extent, even if not the exact form it had arrived in. (She cursed that fool of a bookkeep once more under her breath). What she had not anticipated was the stonewalling from the Forum and the general air of Sharlayan as a whole. While she realised that Eorzea at large viewed them as isolationists with no care for the larger world, it was downright bizarre for that to be the very -feeling- she got while being on the ground in the city state.
Her fellows seemed to not know of what was going on outside of Sharlayan, and those who she spoke to seemed disinclined to care. They were all preoccupied with their unusually large workloads and efforts that had been dictated, by and large, by Forum policy. More material was arriving at Sharlayan than historically had been, and it seemed almost everyone was very busy with something or another, and as she asked around, it frequently seemed that they knew not what. She heard many stories of managers asking for increases in quotas, or sudden research initiatives springing up which were clear in the results they desired but not at all clear in the objectives they were meant to meet.
Mysteries upon mysteries, and troubles upon troubles, but at long last, the organization's existence was confirmed, the permits acquired, the forms filled out, and though it felt like it had been at least four, no, make that four and a half moons, she had finished the work in a timely enough manner.
A last minute two week delay due to yet another bit of bureaucracy placed in her path was not enough to dash her hopes, but she certainly was frazzled by the time the ship with the Scions on it was due to arrive.
And so it was, after a long and trying process, that Krile found herself waking up to greet her comrades who would be arriving at last.
If only she hadn't slept in late, her spirit having finally decided to let her relieve the exhaustion of her efforts.
As she raced down the pier to where the ship was, she could hear the annoying-yet-commanding voice of the Worldly Affairs Official as it carried over the water, as well as one other.
"Estinien Varlineau. Formerly of the Order of the Knights Dragoon in Ishgard."
Oh, she was going to regret having indulged in sleeping in.
Krile missed part of what was said next, still caught the last bit of what the woman said. "...And what, pray tell, is your 'profession' now?"
And then she heard nothing, and then she heard more nothing, and then Krile groaned and sped up. Well, one last onerous task lay before her, she supposed, but then her friends would be with her at long last and they could get on to the real work.
And she found herself quietly resolving that she was going to make herself a certain someone's problem, as she made it at last to the end of the pier.
