[Bards] What would you be doing today in persona

[T'Star]

This day I am stuck in the Ottoman Empire.  My father and I came this
way at the beginning of winter to trade with the Persians, Arabs, and
some Egyptians and the like that come through Babylon.  Unfortunately
the Persians are yet again disputing the area and we are stuck here
for an unknown amount of time.  Pashka (or Easter as you say) is not
yet for another month.   We are but halfway through our lent.  The
Chaldeans follow the same calendar as we.

I look forward to returning home to Russia, and then to Ansteorra, but
until that time I will paint eggs for each of my far away friends.  I
will paint such eggs as do not rot that I may gift them to you when I
return to your company.  The Sultan Suleiman is greatly concerned with
his wars, though seems, to my way of thinking to be less concerned
with his people than Czar Ivan is.  Fortunately his wars have not
brought him into conflict with Russia.  The Persians and the Holy
Roman Empire are more of a concern for him than lowly traders from
foreign lands with whom he is not making war.  So we attend mass most
of our day and wait yet another day for the battle lines to pull away
from our path of travel for us to make our way home.  It is a somber
time, but a month hence shall be a time of joy no matter the state of
the Ottomans.

So today I help my host's wife and daughters keep the house.  In their
customs we are guests and should not help.  In our customs we cannot
do otherwise in honor.  So some uneasy comprimises have been made.  By
what means I do not know, but I have grown to appreciate these people
and their culture.  This family is also Christian, so we are sharing
our fasting together, and I look forward to breaking our fast with
them next month.

~Svetlana Andrejevna Volkova

OOP note:  Yes, the Russians have been gifting eachother with painted
eggs for nearly a millenium. ;)  Red is the most common color because
it is believed to protect against evil spirits.