Strange Lands

Log Info

• Title: Strange Lands

• Emitter: Aavhash

• Characters: Aavhash, Arash, Geir, Ravenstongue

• Place: A09 - Southern Banks of the Tornmawr

• Summary: Aavhash, a newcomer to Alexandria, is searching around the banks of the Tornmawr when she comes snoot-to-snoot with Ravenstongue's familiar, Pothy. Meanwhile, Arash is observing the model ship he built, which spectacularly fails, and Geir observes it failing. The group all comes together to discuss the nature of being a newcomer in the city and a bit about their occupations before everyone goes their separate ways.

-=--=--=--=--=--=-<* A09: Southern Banks of the Tornmawr *>--=--=--=--=--=--=-

Overhead, the Highbridge spans. Here is a pleasant enough bank, if one does not mind the ship traffic amid the broad and winding Tornmawr. A few picnicers spend their time here and a few blankets are present. Many of them are craftsfolk and other "ordinary" people, as well as a multitude of tired river sailors here on break. Or, the watchful husbands and wives of sea-sailors. To the south, the great river empties into that great expanse.

-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=- Dramatis Personae =--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-    
Aavhash              7'4"     198 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    Sleek, slender, black-scaled, with a short frill between horns.            
Arash                6'1"     185 Lb     Human             Male      Human Cerenzan male, dark hair and eyes, scarred.                          
Geir                 5'8"     200 Lb     Sith-Makar        Male      A short, copper-scaled Sith-makar.                                         
Ravenstongue         5'0"     99 Lb      Half-Elf          Female    Short half-elf girl with violet eyes and black hair.                      
-=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=--=-

There are enough Sith-Makar in the city that a new one doesn't stand out that badly...

Most of the time.

This time though it is obvious that the long and lean black scaled Sith-Makar is either hunting and searching for something in particular or is just... new. They don't move with any real speed for the time being just unabashed curiousity and a distinct lack of personal space. Mostly caught by the nose Aavhash is sticking her nose into the picnics, and lunches, of all the people who are down by the river eating their meals on their breaks.

Sniff.

Sniff.

After a few moments of awkwardness, at least on their victims part, Aavhash moves on at a leisurely pace. The openly worn armor, the greatsword slung across her hip like a standard long blade for others, bow, quiver of arrows... doesn't really help.

The Sith-makar is met snoot-to-snoot by another nosy contender: a raven. Not just any raven, but a pale-feathered one, his eyes a startling blue. He quirks his head as he lands right in front of the nosy sith.

"Snacks!" he croaks. Apparently, they are aligned in a common goal: that universal instinct to forage for food.

At least, until a half-sil shows up, wearing a bell-sleeved cotton dress that's been dyed a deep blue. The dark-haired girl rolls her violet eyes as she scoops up the white raven--who protests with a rather loud "Merp!"--and puts him up onto her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," she says apologetically as her face shifts from somewhat annoyed to now rather worried. "He's my familiar, and while he doesn't need to eat, he certainly likes to. I hope he didn't bother you."

Standing just over six feet, this young Cerenzan human is far more imposing than his years alone would suggest. His lean-muscled frame is deceptively strong, and any teenage awkwardness of movement has been left in the past. His dark brown gaze moves smoothly across any scene or target in view with a calculating, steady investigation.

His face is smooth as if he has never had to shave, but his features have a maturity and noble strength that keep anyone from calling him baby-faced. Dark brown hair with waves and curls is usually somewhat unkempt, finger-combed into a rakish look, but at times it can be found neatly combed. The most striking and perhaps unnerving feature is a large scar from above his right eye down over the cheek below it.

Along the bridge, mixed in with the crowd and the associate noise, is another Sith. His pace is modest, given the heavy armor that he wears, which clinks with each step. His expression is relaxed, as the crowd, and the city itself, is taken in.

The copper-scale's path veers towards the edge of the bridge, and the river below is gazed at for a time. After a time, Geir makes his way to the stairs, and begins steadily descending, the jingle of his armor preceding his arrival at the bottom. Where, again, he takes in the scene before him.

Down by the river is another figure; this one is a human male named Arash that's stripped down to a thin white shirt and pants. He is barefoot and in the water up to his ankles as he works on some weird contraption. It looks like a model ship made with metal and gears and two wheels that have mounted paddle fins.

Putting the model ship down in the water, he is careful to make sure it floats, watching it as he tests its buoyancy. Pleased with himself he talks softly, making mental notes as he pours a liquid from a vial into a hole near the top of the model. Clicking the top closed on the boat he makes a few adjustments and then like magic, it starts to move, the wheels on either side turning to power the paddle fins.

"YES!" The man calls out as he points to the ship as it starts to speed up, moving away faster and faster, smoking starting to billow from the ship as his smile wilts and he shakes his head. "No... no... Not again..."

Instinct has the black-scaled Sith take a quick snap at the albino raven but fortunately the bird is scooped up and away by it's keeper before anything untoward could happen. It was a warning snap after all... for someone else's lunch which quickly gets snatched up and taken by it's actual owner with a worried look but it's easier to step away and give space than make a scene.

Aavhash looks from the albino bird to Ravenstongue and rises to her full height, head cocking slightly to the side, tail swishing slowly back and force in sinuous fashion. "White raven." She hisses in a soft sibilant voice, "Not good coloration for survival. It is good it has you to look after it." It's an attempt at an exagerrated smile, which isn't all that pleasant to look at for non-Sith all things considered.

Her head snaps over towards the scent of smoke and the shouted 'Yes', "Such an odd place." Aavhash says as she looks around again. For the moment she doesn't notice the copper scaled one as he's just making his way down towards the river bank.

The white raven familiar preens his pretty feathers. He seems to not realize that his colors are not well suited for survival in the wild, but the half-sil does, snickering. Apparently she doesn't mind Aavhash's smile. "Well, luckily for him, he's no ordinary bird. I inherited him from my mother, who inherited him from her father... Rinse and repeat."

She smiles. "Are you new to the city? I haven't seen you around before, and most of my makari friends tend to stick together," she explains. "You can call me Cor'lana--or Ravenstongue. They mean the same thing, roughly."

"Snacks," the raven interjects. He's in the conversation, too.

"And this is Apotheosis--Pothy for short." Cor'lana--or Ravenstongue, whichever is easier on the sith-makar tongue--reaches into the pocket of her dress and pulls out a handful of dried berries, holding it up for Pothy to feast from. The bird has been bribed.

The cruise ship to the unknown is eyed curiously as it begins to puff, the copper-scale's browridge rising slightly. "This one thinkss it is good that it is heading towards the middle of the river.", he intones, as he steps closer to where Arash stands at the edge of the river. "This one gathers by your reaction that it is not intending to be smoking?"

Geir hms, and eyes the raven, the Half-Sil and the black-scale Sith. The corners of his lips curl upwards slightly at the interaction between them, before he glances back to Arash. "What powers the device, if this one may inquire?"

Arash watches as the model ship goes up in smoke, catches fire, then promptly sinks. Shaking his head, he waves off the sunk vessel and mutters, "At least this one didn't explode and shoot metal shrapnel everywhere..." Trailing off, he turns and heads over to where he has a little picnic site set up. Standing on the towel that makes up the floor of his area, he rubs his feet over the material to dry them as he mutters darkly to himself.

Plopping down into a seated position, he starts to pull on socks and then boots just as Geir arrives and speaks. "No, it shouldn't have caught fire... But! At least it traveled, and it didn't hurt anyone." Nodding to Geir, he stands and stomps his boots into a more comfortable feeling fit. "That ship was powered by a bit of magic, a bit of steam, tons of hope, and there was tension on the gears that the steam could use and build on to make the wheels turn the paddles. I'll have to improve on this design and see if it can be made to work on full-sized ships."

"I am Aavhash." Aavhash says appropriate at the introduction to the half-sil at least. The bird doesn't seem to garner her attention much now that it's not beak to nose with her. "I am new come to this city. My tribe wishes to know more of the people the Silver Queen signed treaty with." She shrugs, "They sent me." She turns around again, looking over the area then back towards Ravenstongue but gets stopped by the sight of the ship sinking and the copper-scaled Sith-Makar.

Without any hesitation Aavhash moves at a ground eating stride down towards the river bank, "Why do you sink waste into river? Foul it?" She does not sound happy given the undertones. "River is life. Precious yes? Why?" She looks at Geir as well, accusingly, like 'how could you allow this?' type of reproachful look.

Cor'lana nods, smiling. "I should introduce you to my friends, Skielstregar, Seyardu, and Vaera," she says. "They'd probably love to meet you--"

Her thought trails off as she finally looks over at the other sith-makar and the Cerenzan young man. Apparently she hadn't really noticed the model ship sinking in failure until her newfound friend called it out. "Oh, well, at least it didn't have anyone onboard," she murmurs. As though someone could fit inside of such a small ship.

Her violet eyes look off to the side back at Aavhash. "I don't think he meant to pollute the river. Do you build... toys?" Cor'lana asks, walking closer to the young man. Her hand is still outstretched for her raven, who feeds from it like there's not a single other care in the world.

Geir chuckles at Arash's explanation, a deep rumble in his chest followed by a gurgle somewhere, and a faint waft of smoke drifts away from his nostrils.

"This one is amused, but also pleased, that the misfortunes of previous events have not dampened your... enthussiasm for continued design. Though one must express a bit of alarm at the feeling that there is a ssilent 'this time' appended to 'no one was injured'. Thiss one wishes you luck in further creations. Have you sstudied the airshipss and their designs?" The copper-scale gestures to the airstation, high above.

He blinks as Aavhash approaches quickly, the cleric taking a half-step backwards in response. There's a brief amount of tension as Aavhash speaks, but then there is a sense of 'hackles settling into place'. "Peace on your nesst", Geir intones to the black-scale Makari. "This one is Geir, Shaman and adherent of the Deathdragon. Alexandria is not Am'shere. While there are... thingss here that we would not tolerate in the Old World, there are those here who tend the lands and waterss. They may not be as pure, but they are cared for. One musst remember that we are the interloperss here."

Arash nods to Geir and replies, "Yes. The idea here is to figure out means of motion through land, sea, and air. Figure out a means to do it that can hopefully be useful to all and build from there. See what can be made to improve travel and whatever else comes of it." Looking like he's about to go into a deep rant on his plans; it seems it's derailed by Aavhash's arrival and her words.

The Cerenzan looks from the black-scaled being to the water where his ship went down then back. "Oh, it'll be ok. It's just fire, smoke, ash, wood, iron, a bit of copper... Mmm, steel." Looking back to the river, he continues, "Nothing that isn't from the land already." Frowning a bit, he looks back to her then adds, "There is a bit of oil and the like, but it'll be diluted and is nothing with the amount of water there is..."

Thoughtful, he goes silent as if working through the actual calculation of the amount of potential pollution in relation to the amount of water in the river. "It'll be fine." Smiling at the trio, he shakes his head in response to Ravenstongue's question. "No, not toys. Well, I mean, I can make toys, but I work on real items. I'm an artificer by trade. Engineer, inventor, tinkerer." Waving to the group, he adds, "My name is Arash," pronounced Ur-Ash.

"Deathdancer is known to me." Aavhash's nostrils flare a little, "Interloper..." She takes some time with the word, tasting it, saying it slowly to make sure she pronounces it properly in tradespeak. "This is word for unwanted. Intruder. Unwelcome outsider." She stands up fully, frill flexing outwards in an emerald green display against the back. "That is how they see us?" She spits off to the side, the liquid sizzles on the ground for a second, tail lashing a bit more quickly for a moment.

Slowly her head turns to the side as she looks from Geir to Arash then to Ravenstongue and all the others who are just going about their day trying to get some peace during some downtime. "Peace," Her nostrils flare but then she stills and bows her head deeply to Geir, "Be upon your nest. I am Ash of the Aavh tribe." She pauses, not knowing Geir's tribe perhaps she is watching for a reaction. Not all tribes get along well. "It may be the way things are here, but it is something my Elders will wish to know."

Straightening up again she looks at Arash, "Do your kind drink fire, smoke, ash, wood, iron, and copper?" She asks, "It is of the land. Not of the water." Her tongue flicks out briefly but she is soon distracted by the remembrance of... "Cor'lana. If their tribes are not enemies of the Aavh, then I should enjoy meeting them yes?" She pauses, "Perhaps even if they are." She hisses softly in amusement. "These lands will take much to learn. I hope my Elders are patient."

Cor'lana smiles at Arash as he introduces himself. Pothy, the white raven, still maintains his vigil on her shoulder as he eats dried berries, although that small mountain is now dangerously low and will probably be hoovered down the bird's gullet in a matter of seconds. "It's nice to meet you, Arash," she says. "Call me Cor'lana, or Ravenstongue. And I know another artificer--I ought to introduce you to him! Nice older fellow."

However, she doesn't offer her explanation about the meaning of her offered names again, as she's a bit busy shaking her head at the notion of sith-makar being interlopers. "Outsider, maybe," she says, "but unwelcome? Unwanted? No. I'm not from Alexandria, either, but I was able to integrate. I even found more like me--half-sil are not common where I lived with my mother in Rune, but here, I have met several."

Her violet gaze drops to the ring on her left hand as she smiles very warmly. "I even found love with one."

But then she seems to remember she's in the company of other people and looks back up. "Err... It takes time, though. Any new place does. Some more than others. It took me a long time to get used to being here. I advise being patient with yourself, really, more than anything--it's easy to get upset and be hard on yourself for misunderstanding things."

"Snacks," Pothy says. Very good contribution to the conversation, Pothy. He's indicating he has run out of berries, and this is rectified when Cor'lana holds up another handful of them for him, delivered from her dress pocket.

"This one believes that some in these lands do view the People as interloperss. What this one means is that... we are the invited guests here. If we were in Am'shere, and people from this city were visiting us, we would expect them to ... conform to our ruless. We'd be upset if they were to do thingss we consider forbidden. And we would be right to .. correct them."

The copper-scale gestures to river and beach. "We are the guestss here. We... can not tell them to do or not do. We can, however, offer suggestions. This one understands, possibly, how you are feeling. This one has lived in these lands for several decades, and there are still thingss that this one finds ssurprising.

Geir chuckles at Arash's explanation, or nearly so, of his crafting intentions. "Arash. An interessting name." He nods to Aavhash's introduction. "Be at peace. This one has no tribe. They were... taken. This one almost missed being named. This one survived. Named. Survived and stabbed at Charn'ss poisoned heart." The copper-scale turns to spit to the side, a small sizzling speck in the sand.

Geir offers a polite nod to Ravens as she introduces herself, "Peace on your nesst".

"Right, but the oil will dissipate in the water and break down to the components that made it. The metals will sink back to the earth at the bottom of the river and break down, rust, and be recycled naturally. That wood that survives will float to where it finds land or breaks down and returns. That water will help with- uh? No we don't drink fire. But the fire went out because of the water." Arash looks to the river as he speaks, motioning to the flow of the water and the shore at the banks to indicate the earth under the water. "I get what you're saying though. It's why its a small test that won't cause much damage now."

The artificer smiles then looks to Geir and Ravenstongue, nodding to the pair and then adding to the group as a whole. "Good to meet you all. And I'd be interested to meet this other artificer. I wonder if he's part of the engineers enclave, the guild." Smiling wider he looks back to Aavhash and adds, "I hear you though, and understand your concern. I appreciate it too."

"I have done something forbidden?" Aavhash asks with a frown, shrinking back a bit which still puts the slender black-scaled Sith taller than the copper-scaled one, even if by comparable mass she is the lesser of the two. All sinuous graceful lines and lengths. "It is forbidden to ask questions in this place?" She frowns, "The Elders must know of this." She starts to back away from Geir, perturbed and disturbed to the point she doesn't even respond to the others.

Cor'lana can't help but grin a little. "No, questions are permitted," she says. "Although... Some people don't like certain questions. People can be peculiar in a variety of ways. And it's hard to gauge what questions are 'appropriate' here, because people come from so many backgrounds and cultures."

She nods to Arash's explanation with how the oil disperses. "I'm sure there are some people in the city who drink fire," she says, grinning even wider. "We have some powerful magicians here. People who can do all sorts of impressive things. My mentor, Lady Sandy, is one of them. I've seen her banish people to other places and return them just a moment later."

The copper-scale's head cants slightly to one side. "No. It is not forbidden to ask question in this place. This one is suggesting it might come off poorly if one attempts to apply the .. rules and laws of Am'shere on a place that is not Am'shere. The people here may not take kindly to people attempting to tell them what to do with the lands they occupy."

Geir removes one of his scale gauntlets, and rubs at the back of his neck.

"This one suggests you move carefully among those here, is all. They can react oddly to things you would not expect such from."

Turning to the artificer, he nods. "To this one's understanding, many artificers do join that guild to enjoy discountss in a variety of storess." He gestures to the corvid. "This one is curious about the bird'ss colouration. It is unusual, is it not?", he wonders of Ravenstongue.

Arash pulls on a thicker, long-sleeved tunic to get himself back to being fully dressed as the small group speaks. Nodding his head to Geir about the other artificers, he smiles and chuckles at Raven's words. Looking to Aavhash next he gives her calming look. "You can relax. We all seem polite and helpful in this group. No one here will do you harm I don't think."

Looking to the others he seems to be sizing them up before he lands his gaze on the raven. "Well. I can't speak for the bird. But I think as long as he has something to munch on, you'll be ok." There is a wink to show he's just trying to lighten the mood before asking, "What about the rest of you? What is it you do here?"

Aavhash cocks her head at Geir, "Am'Shere's laws and rules are those of survival. To foul the water is to invite ruin to many." The black-scaled Sith-Makar rises up to her full height again. "I will not change who I am. These," She gestures around to indicate everyone around them, the whole city, the whole of Ea perhaps, "Will accept me. Or they will not. I cannot be any other than who I am anymore than I could change the color of my scales." It is all matter of fact in statement. There's a slight twitch that she might say more but she holds her tongue for the time being.

Instead, her attention returns to Ravenstongue and Arash, to the latter she introduces herself, "I am Aavhash. Urash, peace be upon your nest." And she inclines her head just a touch then asks further, "The guild? It is like the Maker caste?" But the question is also answered; "I am a warrior of the Aavh tribe. I explore these lands at behest of my Elders, to learn, and report back to them these... paper allies of the Silver Queen."

"I'm an adventurer," Cor'lana explains, regarding her occupation. "Pothy here travels with me to all sorts of places. I've been in the sewers of Alexandria, I've been to Llyranost and aided a divine nymph, I've been deep in caves crawling with kobolds, and I've been places I can't even legally talk about."

Which is a lot for such a short half-sil girl to boast, but she certainly talks about it all confidently. "My fiance, Telamon, is sort of my adventuring partner. We tend to go together. We're both sorcerers, albeit with our 'talent', as he calls it, from different sources--so we bring different things to the table."

She looks to Aavhash and smiles. "These guilds are sort of like... Hmm. I'm not really sure if it's like the castes. Our friend here might be able to make a better comparison, but they're basically organizations of like-minded people who help each other."

The copper-scale shrugs at Ravens then, and looks back to Arash. "This one is an adherent of Vardama. One regularly volunteers his time at the Soldier's Defense, as well as regular duties at the Temple. With... the occasional foray into adventuring work."

His shoulders roll in a shrug to Aavhash. "This place's rules are different in ways you will come to understand. And to live here and not change, well, all this one can say is... you will see."

A bell tolls somewhere in the heart of the city, and the copper-scale straightens.

"This one must be going. Peace on your nests." Geir turns and heads back for the stairs leading up to the bridge.

Arash listens to the responses from the group before smiling. "Well, we'll all have to go on adventures sometime. I can be reached through the local Artificer Guild if you ever need me." Smiling to Aavash, she gets a nod, "Yes, the guild I'm a member of is a group of like-minded folks that work together on magic and engineering projects, learning from each other and furthering our craft." Gathering his things, he shoulders his pack and falls in line with Geir. "I should head back too. It was good to meet you all. I'm sure we'll cross paths soon."

"Makers caste, then." Aavhash has decided of the leaving Arash but Geir's comment gets an upraised eyebrow, "Life is growth. Growth is change. I will be who I am, whatever that may be." She inclines her head to the orange-scaled Sith-Makar, "Peace be upon you, Shaman. May the Deathdancer not choose you for a partner soon." She gives a slight smile, a faintly amused tilt to her voice that might not be picked up by non-Sith-Makar.

Attention shifting back to Ravenstongue, Aavhash looks at the half-Sil, "You have experienced much. Survive you have and grown stronger for it." She sounds approving of this, "I do not understand this term, fiance, but perhaps in time." She looks towards where the others are leaving, looks around the river bank once, sniffs audibly, "Perhaps I should see other places in these paper lands."

Cor'lana waves farewell to both Geir and Arash as they depart. "Peace on your nest," she echoes to Geir in particular.

She looks to Aavhash and nods. "Well, a fiance is... Hmm. It's like a mate that you have made a commitment to marry--which is something us 'softskins' do when we find someone we really want to be with. Marriage is... theoretically for life, or until death, but sometimes it doesn't work out. When you go through with it, the fiance becomes a spouse--"

Pothy takes this moment to tug at Cor'lana's braid in his own very helpful way. "Snacks," he says.

And there's a good reason why. Pothy's run out of snacks. Cor'lana's hand is left with the residue of dried berries, but there are no more berries to eat. The half-sil is about to say something in response to Pothy when the bird takes to the sky, screaming, "SNACKS!"

"Oh, gosh, Pothy," Cor'lana grumbles. She looks to Aavhash and smiles apologetically. "I'm sorry. I better go catch him. Hopefully I see you around some other time--peace upon your nest!"

The half-sil turns her attention back to her alabaster avian. "Pothy! Pothy, wait up!" she calls as she takes off running.

These are strange lands indeed.