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Tolia's Tale:

**pre-MOO**

Oli was born first to her parents, but it hardly matters. On the beasthold where she grew up she was already only one of many cousins and fosterlings. A practical family, all who lived at the hold contributed to the running of it. Tolia grew up a-runnerback, though she was disenchanted by the plethora of chores associated with the beasts. While the other cousins her age had started to show an aptitude for the family trade, Oli did not and drew apart, instead finding creative and mischievous ways of getting out of the work she didn't like. 

She finally took it into her head to leave the hold and seek her fortune. She packed up a few things and her only 32nd mark piece in a small carisack and got nearly as far as the last gate before her grandfather just ... happened by. After a good chat, he convinced her not to run away, and soon after that arrangements were made to send her to Ista, a-dragonback, no less, with her dragonrider uncle T'rell and an accountant foster-brother of her father's, Feelyn. 

* on-moo *

     Neither of them realized what they were getting into, and after a month or so of trying to keep track of 12-turn-old Oli, T'rell begged Herder Master Myra, an old friend at the Istan Herder Hall, to look after her until she was able to find a suitable apprenticeship. Out of sympathy for the men or the girl, Myra accepted and Tolia spent the next turn helping at the Herder Hall -- despite her disinterest in the craft as a whole, she did know how to care for beasts -- and developed a lasting friendship with the Master. 

Apprenticeship was a tougher problem for young Tolia to solve. She really just didn't know what she wanted. All she knew was that she didn't want to be a herder, but had very little idea of what else was available. First she settled on the Smithcraft, with less than perfect results; she got scared off by Mastersmith Evan when he asked her why she wanted to be a smith. So much for that. Weaving would be too much work, as would pretty much anything else -- she wanted an easy craft. She stumbled into a gathering of harpers in the Flying Mug one afternoon, and was convinced that she could handle the craft. She got through the interview with Master Teraille mostly because she was an understanding Master who had in common a disinterest in the beastcraft. Somehow she must've realized her luck, for she buckled down and actually did her best to learn as she started on her new career. 

Though she has never been the best of students, when a subject catches her interest Tolia pursues it to its conclusion. Drums caught her interest, and so it went. She quickly outpaced her peers in drumcode and rhythms while she fell behind in other standard instruments and, when she needed to declare a specialty, it only made sense to choose percussion. 

All was well, but just leave it to Oli to find trouble where there should be none. She was on a simple messenger duty, assigned because she was comfortable enough on a runner to get out to the cove where the Lady Rose lay at anchor. She delivered the maps requested to Master Dolphineer Thorn, the ship's captain, and while she waited to take them back to the Hall, she managed to get herself thoroughly lost even aboard a relatively small ship. Wandering amid the treasures of the ship's holds, she was forgotten and didn't even realize it when the ship set sail. That night, the ship encountered a storm, and Oli did not fare very well.

The ship, needing to meet its scheduled ports, could not turn around and deposit the unfortunate apprentice back on shore; she had to ride it out. She worked for her keep, making very bad klah for the sailors and trying otherwise to be helpful in exchange for having stowed away. When she finished her trip at Tillek, she found she actually liked sailing (well, except for the storms).

Unfortunately, she was obliged to return to the Harper Hall to catch up on her studies -- she'd missed several months at sea, and she spent several months after doing very little other than catch-up work. She was pleased to return to Tillek, however, assigned to Journeyman Kaeryn. She was even more pleased to sail there on the Lady Rose again, this time properly arranged. She spent two turns at Tillek while Kaeryn was posted there; when Kaeryn began to study dolphineering with Master Thorn, Oli hinted that she wouldn't mind going aboard ship for yet another voyage.

It was during this trip that the now Sr. Apprentice got her idea for enhancing ship-to-shore and continent-to-continent communications. With Master Thorn's permission and with some wangling at their stop at Southern Hold, she obtained a retired (for good reason) message drum to bring on board and rebuild. From that point on, much of her efforts were aimed at first getting the drum useable again and then making a study of its effectiveness at sea. Granted, she also learned some flute and art and other harper-y things from Kaeryn while she was at it, but rhythm and communication had grabbed her interest nearly from the first, being something she was actually sort of good at.

They sailed the route from Southern to Tillek and on the way back, stopped at Ista Hold so that Oli could present her findings to her superiors. While the project itself was not a complete success, being impractical to outfit every ship with drums, they considered her work good enough to promote her to Journeyman. Because Journeyman Kaeryn was by this time several months pregnant and chose to stay ashore, Tolia became the Harper for the Lady Rose. It only lasted one trip, though, for she began to be assailed with what she thought was seasickness. On arriving at Ista Weyr, she was told by the healer that she should rest and she reluctantly decided to take his advice, recovering at the Weyr while babysitting for Kaeryn's infant.

After a few sevendays, with her vertigo gone and feeling healthy and restless again, Tolia applied to the Hall for a position. With Journeyman Marius recently reassigned, she was able to move right in and start teaching. Although she misses the Lady Rose, she's busy enough now with the activity at the Hall and with landbound friends that she's happy.