[Hooves n' Horns] Meeting and Greeting.

by **Kwantu** on June 23rd, 2014, 3:04 pm

3rd of Summer, 514AV.

Kwantu often ended up spending a lot of time with his fang-mates. They were his essential family, after all. There were few things he wouldn't do for them, and likewise, they for him. They were more than just a pack of killers in a military, they were a family group. Even if some had some strange ways of showing their affection for another, they were all together in everything. Except when it came to shopping. Then everyone suddenly decided that it was best if they moved off in their own ways and met up later for their usual training sessions. That day would be no exception. Kwantu had decided that he needed some more weapons.. after all, he could never have too many of the things. Armour was almost completely out of the question, however. He held his scars dearly, and there would be no metal or leather holding back his honour. The others would often wear something, but it was never anything heavy or significantly insulating. After all, the heat was unbearable on naked skin, let alone when baking them alive under layers of tough leather and other useless things.

However, for some reason, he didn't end up looking for weapons. As he stalked through the city markets with little else but the spear at his side for comfort, thumping along the ground with its hilt as he walked, there were few things that could jar his senses as much as the sudden, and rather pungent odour did. Many of the others that walked around him seemed barely affected.. so he could only guess that it was his imagination putting on a show, until he saw a horse. They were the last things he wanted to see - if he would ever, ever ride a mount, it would be the back of a Myrian Tiger, if anything. But still, inexplicably, he found himself drawn with curiosity towards the beasts. Large things, of different colours stacked through thick and thin fur. He knew where the smell was coming from now, at least. The sweat they must have drawn out.. it was worse than any other human that he could have known. Worse than a Dhani, he could imagine - and those things were foul, if there were any creatures that could be even remotely related to such things.

There were so many of the horses, as well. Of different sizes and shapes, and different colours. Wandering about freely through the tents as he begun wandering through them, occasionally letting the butt of his spear jab into the dirt before he continued. Tskanna were even rousing around the area. The Sunken Scar felt almost completely lost when he turned his head back the way he'd came, and found a small huddle of old Tskanna blocking his way. He'd just have to keep pushing through the tents until he found his way back out. He'd already decided that after this, he would return back to the barracks relatively quickly.

Myrian Tongue | Common Tongue | Tukant Tongue

by **Oryani** on June 25th, 2014, 12:41 am

Oryani hadn’t truly been doing much when the man arrived. Reylil had gone out riding, to attempt to bring in new customers, leaving the Chatakwe to handle things while she was busy. Oryani hadn’t done much in that time either, except continuing to clean off one of the few saddles they had after someone had gotten mud on it. She had yet to decide if it was horse or human, but it had gotten into all the painful niches. It was on the bridle too, wormed into the braided leather, a dark brown color on a more reddish one.

She sat just outside the shed where they kept the tack on a small three legged stool, the saddle placed awkwardly on her lap. She could have done it on one of the racks built for holding such things, but it was cramped where that was, and she didn’t feel like being in the slightly stuffy building. There was limited lighting in the room, and it was a wonder anyone could find anything at all in the gloom. Also, in the light, she was able to keep an eye on the horses and Ashta (which she still had barely worked with).

She had a tin bucket at her side, filled with a slightly frothy mix of soap and water, with a bristled brush in one hand, for scraping of the thicker mess. A rag floating in the water as well, for use for plain wiping. The bridle hung over her right shoulder, loops and reins wrapped many times around it so they didn’t swing to the ground and get even messier than they already were. The Summer rains, she’d been told, were only just getting started… but already half the ground was mud. She didn’t think she could find the bottom inch of her boots if she wanted to, they were so covered.

She scrubbed heartily at one side of the saddle, precariously holding the off-balance thing with her free hand. Most of the weight was at the top, meaning that turning it to one side or another made it almost fall off. At least she’d removed the stirrups, though those needed cleaning too… she’d hung them over her shoulder to join the bridle and reins. It left a nice, flat area for her to work on, though there were several layers of the leather, and the mud had gotten under some of it. Though most of it was easy to scrub off after some work, the parts that hid away and got into corners were irritating, and sometimes she had to resort to slipping her finger under and scraping away at the dirt below. The worst part was where the metal prong for the stirrups to slide onto was, covered by a small flap of leather for protection… though it hadn’t done much of a job. It looked like someone had purposely rubbed a handful of mud into that spot, and it was a pain to work it out of the rougher part of the leather.

She grumbled quietly under her breath as she worked, every movement of her legs to get at another spot upsetting the saddle’s balance and nearly making it fall into the mud again. She’d done the top first of course, the easiest part and the easiest to balance. She’d found she could spread her legs just the right width so her thighs and knees mimicked a horse’s back. That way, the saddle sat smooth and flush, not bouncing around or drifting to one side or another like it did now. Sometimes she had to set down her brush, dropping it into the bucket to soak a bit, so she could use both hands to shift the leather creation into a more comfortable spot.

Finally the left side was done, and it was time for the right. After only wetting it slightly and getting a few scrapes of dirt off, however, she spotted something in the pen that was more sentient than everything else. Namely, a Myrian… a Myrian who looked rather lost. Sometimes people wandered into the pens to get a better look at the animals, but it was usually at the invitation Reylil, who liked to keep an eye on them. The rest leaned on the fenced walls, getting a good look from outside, before approaching a worker to request a horse or Ashta or whatever else they wanted. She would have rather continued with her work on the saddle, as she was getting somewhere, but a small part of her, the dutiful part, reminded her that this was her responsibility now, handling the customers. That was always a pain, due to her utter lack of skills in Common.

She dumped the scrub brush into the bucket, giving a half excuse to say it needed to soak anyways, as the bristles had started to become coated in mud. Scrubbing with things like that was always annoying… sometimes it felt like you were depositing more dirt than you were truly getting off. She then shifted the various leather loops on her right shoulder so they were more secure, grabbed the saddle with both hands (it was impossible with one) and stood. She wasn’t about to approach utterly handless and carrying a heavy saddle, so she turned and balanced it gently on the stool. Luckily, it was just high enough so that the side flaps didn’t brush the dirt below. It required several moments of adjustment, however, until the front and back were truly balanced. When that was done, she checked to make sure the customer hadn’t run too far away… and dashed a few paces to catch up.

”Hello?” she asked in Common, resting her left hand on his shoulder to gain his attention. She didn’t want to move her right as much, due to the strangely balanced bridle and stirrups. Her Common accent would sound utterly foreign, built from a mix of Pavi and Tawna sounds, and Syliran and Riverfall influences. None of those places were anywhere near to Taloba, or truly known by the city’s residents… so more than a simple word would be hard to understand. Considering few people her were fluent in Common (she certainly wasn’t), any conversation in the language would really be a challenge.

Wordcount1045

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

by **Kwantu** on June 29th, 2014, 4:59 pm

He felt truly lost in this strange place, and was about to turn and make his way back to wherever it was that he'd entered into this place, before a voice appeared out of nowhere. And a touch, brushing one of the deeper scars that traced from the bottom of his neck up over the collar-bone and ended about the tip of his shoulder. It was enough to have him jerk around, but thankfully he didn't raise his spear before he saw who it was. Just a worker - most likely a worker, judging by the heavy saddle she had thrown over one shoulder and the clothing she wore. Not even a Myrian worker, either.. he'd never seen too many non-Myrians working around the city of Taloba, given the fact that.. well, they liked their own space. The children of Myri would stay close to her, but these people were the children of others. Most of them lost, some of them simply exploring the world. Most of them weak.

Even her accent proved that she was a foreigner - filled with strange tones that he had never heard before, and had no wish to become accustomed with. And her eyes... damn, those completely-black eyes were somewhat scary with the way that they stared at him. He wrinkled his nose at the mere sight but he knew that he was on another's territory... and while she was a foreigner in lands that were not hers, whoever she was.. she was someone with enough strength to make it to the city. He could not judge.. well, he could, but he probably shouldn't have. "And who are you, foreign person with dark eyes.. are you the owner of this place?" He could hear the common tongue that she spoke with, but the accent that she put it in made the phrase sound too alien. Combined with her.. imposing eyes. "What do you sell here.. horses? Saddles? Is that all?" If he wanted horses or saddles, he would have left Taloba and indeed all of Falyndar. Heck, the only thing horses were really good for was eating in his mind.

The things were muscular, that was for certain.. but they would never hold a candle when compared to a Myrian Tiger. They could not traverse the wide jungles as quickly as a Tiger - and neither was it much of an honour to ride such a thing. They were commonplace animals that would be at home in a field, perhaps.. but not in a jungle. No.. in these places, they would merely be snacks for the Dhani. It was foolish to even bring them out so far, but he supposed that a foreigner would not think before they acted. They would only see the possible profit of bringing such strange animals in the hope that they would be amused. It didn't mean they would ever buy one, though. One went to a zoo to look and laugh at the poor creatures, but never to buy the animal and bring it home.

Myrian Tongue | Common Tongue | Tukant Tongue

by **Oryani** on June 30th, 2014, 12:17 am

The man whipped around in a startled fashion, as if he hadn’t been expecting someone to approach. As if he was lost and tense and uncertain. It was an emotion she’d become rather familiar with, during her time in Taloba. Very, very familiar. She paused a moment, waiting for him to calm down, though took a careful step back to be mostly out of reach of the spear… though it was hard to be out of reach of a spear, they were always so long. Actually, wasn’t it better to be closer, where they couldn’t poke you? Still, it was more of an instinctive move than a truly tactical one, also partially to give the man space so he understood his surroundings a little better.

She winced visibly as the rapid barrage of MyrianSince you didn’t quite specify the language, I assume this, considering it would be hard for Kwantu to speak so fluently with Poor Common hit her, and she held up her hands, almost to ask him to stop. His tone was harsh, demanding, and she was a little insulted… she was of the prominent gender after all, if not race, and was warranted to a little more respect. In her mind, at least. The Drykas didn’t treat outsiders as harshly as Myrians did, as they were simply… not allowed into the more private, personal, things. Like webbing. Especially webbing. She was sure she’d never tell another soul about the magic, or talk to them about it, during her time here. It always weirded her out whenever she remembered that there were no web lines here. None at all. It was empty, barren, devoid of light or connection. She wondered how they survived, how they found anything. Endrykas was so entwined with the web, she couldn’t imagine the city at all without it. In fact, it was flatly absurd.

When the man seemed to be finished his demands, she gave an apologetic look and shook her head. ”Common? No Myrian. New. I wants to ask… need thing? Horse? Ashta? Reylil… Myrian who own here. Not here.” She shrugged, knowing she was rather helpless with this. Her job was to deal with the horses and equipment, not the customers themselves… but her job was also a widespread and rather flexible one, and if Reylil wasn’t there… well… it was kind of her job to take care of the customers. Her general plan was to keep the man busy until the woman returned to do business, and at least see if he wanted anything, or was simply intruding and was unaware of what he was doing. If so, she could shoo him out and return to her own work, cleaning the saddle. She wasn’t quite done, after all, and hated to leave something so close to being finished without knowing when she’d get back. She was fine with having the stirrups and bridle un cleaned… she hadn’t even started them, after all. It was the saddle that itched and irritated her like a new mosquito bite.

Thinking of it made her want to turn and double check that the saddle hadn’t fallen off its stool, but she knew it would be rude to glance that far away in the middle of a conversation. A conversation that wasn’t exactly going beautifully, by the tone of the man’s voice. In fact, it seemed to be going kind of terribly. She couldn’t think of a good reason why someone would want to demand an answer so harshly, or so forcefully. She wished that Reylil hadn’t left, so she wouldn’t have had to deal with this annoying customer, and strain her social and language skills. She didn’t want to help him find a horse, or an Ashta. It sounded and felt far too complicated. Instead she crossed her arms, before hastily uncrossing them and pushing the pile of straps back up her shoulder and then crossing them, much more carefully.

Wordcount632

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

by **Kwantu** on June 30th, 2014, 5:07 pm

He probably would have garnished a little more respect and thought for his words, if he knew where he was. With nothing but a Drykas for company in a strange place, he wasn't exactly feeling too comfortable. At least he had his spear to support himself, though. A Drykas that spoke the Common tongue.. something he wasn't exactly too accommodated with, but at least he knew some words from it. She should have been grateful for that. And at least he could pick up some of the words that she spoke about. It made him visibly begin to relax a little, but his grip on the spear was still pretty damn tight. His knuckles were turning white under the brown skin. "Mm. Common." His voice certainly sounded a little more relaxed at that moment, as well. It became softer and softer, with the more that he talked. Naturally, he had always been gifted with a soft word and a soft tongue, but he never often got the chance to show it. Especially not in a Common tongue conversation, that still ended up coming out with a bit of a gutteral chirr to it.

"Myrian own. Nice.. place. Need thing. Hor-se. No. Ashta no. Else." He'd never have a reason to buy a horse and he certainly hadn't wandered off into such a mass of tents to find one. Neither did he want a tiny elephant, because goodness knew if he could ever ride such a thing into battle. Surely not on patrols.. he'd be laughed at to no end. He wanted to shop for something better.. if they had anything better, that was. He wanted some weapons.. something that he could use on his patrols. Or some kind of food, armour.. anything? "Want.. something. Fight." Damnit, he hoped that she would understand. He didn't want to have to try and teach a foreigner what a weapon was. But just for a bit of added help, since she looked like she might need it, he gestured to the spear that he still held. Yes, he wanted a weapon. Was that so much to ask for?

Although... he also wanted to get a better look around the place. He'd never really visited many of the places in Taloba - especially the ones that didn't have that much to offer that he was interested in. Maybe it was just a natural curiosity or a simple need to waste some more time before the next training drills, but he wanted to see what there was beside the horses and the Ashta. Perhaps he'd take a look when the girl was gone. He didn't feel all that comfortable around her, regardless of whether she was indeed a female. She was still a damn foreigner, from the lands of the strange horses and grass. He may trust them when it came to their horses but that was about it. He didn't even know whether she'd ever proved herself in the field of battle...

Myrian Tongue | Common Tongue | Tukant Tongue

by **Oryani** on July 1st, 2014, 12:08 am

Oryani relaxed a little when the man did, on top of the beginning of his use of Common. The Myrian’s skill in the language was as bad as hers, though she had a little more practice, and so oddly easy to decipher. No complicated sentences to pick apart, no strange words to deal with. She’d had a hard time with the Deverauxs back in Endrykas, and other new slaves, who only knew how to speak Common. They all said things fluently, full sentences that left her confused, a little bewildered, and wanting them to change to Pavi. She knew that hope was useless here, however, so all she could do was hope that people could speak Common well enough to do simple deals and transactions.

Her small smile turned into a frown as his first sentence went by. No Ashta, no horse? Well… that was all they sold here. The man was most certainly lost, she’d decided. If he wasn’t looking for either of those things, and had ended up wandering through the pen… well… that was the only explanation. Other than that he was a theif, of course. She didn’t want to deal with a thief, and after their original misunderstanding… the man seemed a little too nice for one of those. He just looked tense, worried. Probably lost, then. Lost people worried, obviously.

She snorted, unbidden, when he said he wanted something to fight. ”Sorry,” she threw out, when she realized what she’d done and how rude it had been. She often forgot that the Myrians didn’t have as much of a view of horses as the Drykas. In her culture, ‘horse’ and ‘fight’ were practically the same thing. You fought on horseback, you moved on horseback, and you sometimes ate on horseback. It was funny how that amazing advantage hadn’t quite clicked with the amazingly resourceful Myrians. She could admit that the dense jungle didn’t help, but horses were always good in her mind. Incredibly, irrevocably, good.

She shook her head for a moment, wondering how to explain it to the Myrian who seemed ignorant in her mind, now. ”Horse. Fight. Ride horse, fight on horse. Bow, sword, spear.” She waved at his weapon when she named it, shrugging a little. She hoped she’d be able to teach at least one of the dark skinned warriors this simple fact. Riding a horse made you taller and faster than your opponent, and therefore gave you the advantage. She was tempted to take his spear (despite the fact that she didn’t know how to use it), mount a horse, and give a little bit of a demonstration. She could see holes in that on multiple levels, however, so decided to resort to words instead. They were safer, and less likely to end with a Myrian chasing you angrily for taking his spear. She would have been on horseback at least, and able to outrun the man.

”I ride, I shoot,” she said as a further example, mimicking firing a bow and arrow as she said it. She had to push the loops on her shoulder back up, however, when they went sliding down her elbow. The things weren’t annoying for the first ten chimes, but after it? They were positively irritating.

Wordcount542

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

by **Kwantu** on July 1st, 2014, 4:47 pm

He wrinkled his nose at her sudden throw of attitude... but at least it softened soon afterwards. It softened, but it didn't make any more sense to the Myrian, and he was sure that he wasn't the only one. In the end, after several moments of long and competent thought, he finally laughed softly and shook his head dismissively. She must have made a mistake to even think that a Myrian would ever be found on horseback.. or at least, the ones that were loyal enough to remain in their mother city. Not a true Myrian. True Myrians rode on tiger-back.. they rode the Myrian Tigers, named after them, given to them by the Gods themselves. There was no better mount.. and therefore, there was no other mount. The best was the best, and there was no point in pushing for the second best creatures in the wild. It just seemed.. well, rather laughable, for a group to be riding on horses through the jungle with a Tiger alongside them. If he wanted a horse, he'd leave Taloba and travel to the tent cities around the oceans of grass, or whatever they called the strange lands.

"Horse, mount? No." He barked another short laugh as he continued with his explanation, and really started to try and use what limited knowledge he had of the language to explain exactly why he would never be seen on a horse. "Horse, no fight. Horse.. not deadly. Horse burden beast." After all, these horses.. well, they just weren't the same animals that the tigers were. They weren't carnivores.. they didn't have any attacking power of their own. Weapons could be used from the back of them but that was about it. They were loud, noisy.. and though they required less food, they were still.. well, horses. Beasts of burden meant to carry about people when they wanted to cross a long distance.. creatures meant to carry belongings and other things. Not to fight from the back of.

"Tiger, mount. Tiger fight. Horse, no. No horse." Already he could tell that he was not going to get anywhere. There would be no tigers in a place such as this, and if there was only horses and Ashka to offer.. well, then he was going to search for somewhere better to find what he needed. Perhaps, he would return if he needed a horse to travel across the oceans of grass.. but he doubted he would ever need that. No no. Not as long as he had the comfort of his fang-mates and two good feet to walk with, he doubted he would ever need any of that stuff. "Ahh, thank you. Out?" He was done, and pointed with his free hand in the direction that.. well, the direction he hoped he'd emerged from. Perhaps the woman could show him a way out if they had the time. If not, he would find it himself. But he didn't see a reason to hang around any more.

Myrian Tongue | Common Tongue | Tukant Tongue

by **Oryani** on July 3rd, 2014, 1:49 pm

Oryani frowned when the Myrian commented how horses 'weren't deadly' and 'weren't for fighting'. She disagreed utterly. Of course, the man brought up the Myrian tigers as well, and though she had a few arguments about that... the man also had a point.

"Horse hooves, kick. Big horse strong, fight. Tiger... is good, yes. But tiger expensive, tiger hard to feed tiger... not much tame. Bite, bite rider. If horse bite rider, only hurt a little." She gave a small grin, remembering her experiences being bitten. It hurt, but it didn't sever the fingers like a tiger's bite would.

She wasn't going to admit that tigers were probably better suited to the jungle, though. They were, by their build, and they were also more vicious. If a Myrian knew how to deal with one... well... it would never stand up to a horse. However, horses were faster, if you put them in the right place. However, the jungle wasn't the right place. In the Sea of Grass, the Drykas and their Striders would run circles around a tiger, and would never be caught. It was as simple as that.

"Out? Mm. Here." She pointed behind her, behind the shed she'd come from, where the closest way out was. If the Myrian had wanted to he could have climbed the fence, of course... it was a little funny that he hadn't been able to find it. He'd probably just been going in circles around the center.

Still, she led the way, pulling the long door open a few feet to give the man room, but not let the horse which had followed after them in. "Go away," she told the Leopardbred, pushing it on the shoulder to make it move away from the fence. "You're not leaving," she added sternly, gave another shove, and sighed when the horse turned away. She herself twisted to get a look at the receding Myrian, waved, and returned to her cleaning job.

OOCWell, I guess that has come to an end XD It was fun, though! It's amusing that they didn't even learn each other's names. If you want, you can add a last post, and I'll submit it for grading?

- Pavi - Common - Tawna -

by **Kwantu** on July 3rd, 2014, 3:33 pm

He only snorted in humour at the argument that the girl brought up. Surprisingly, it wasn't actually very condescending.. it was more like a laugh at a bit of a funny joke than anything. After all, what she was suggesting was.. utterly laughable, in the end. But, he supposed that he would have to forgive her. After all, she obviously knew very little about what was important to not only a Myrian but to be a warrior. "Tiger, challenge.. show strength, of rider." It was difficult to give the true gravity of what it meant to ride such a majestic creature in such a language.. or in any language in fact. It was beyond most words, and even if he could describe it, she would never understand it. She may be a female, but she was still a human. She had probably grown up on the fields of grass where there were horses everywhere. But he, and all Myrians, had grown up under the tigers. Where tigers could no be bought - they were earned. One had to prove that they were worthy of riding one.

"Horse.. pet. Horse bite rider, hurt little.. horse bite not friend, hurt little." He still tried anyway. For stubbornness. It eventually got to the point that he gestured about with his free hand, and waved it to try and help pass the already-confusing message. He had a feeling that it wasn't working anyway. "Horse.. only rode by strong. Everyone ride horse. Nobody ride tiger." He was finally done. He didn't know how much more he could explain. His tongue already hurt from all the complicated motions it had to go through. And he knew that even with all of that, it mostly likely sounded far too guttural for his own good. When she showed him the exit, there was nothing more he could think about, other than getting back to the Barracks. To the world beyond foreigners and strange horses. He followed her, into what he strongly suspected was even deeper into the mass of tents and horses.. but lo and behold, she held an exit path in her hands and he nodded in thanks.

He stopped and wheeled about on the spot when he heard "Go away," thinking she referred to him.. but she was looking at another horse that had pushed its way through, possibly following the Myrian. The thought creeped him out more than it should have, and he shook his head on the way out. "Goodbye, strange lady." He was sick of the common tongue.

Myrian Tongue | Common Tongue | Tukant Tongue

by **Catastrophe** on July 10th, 2014, 10:39 pm

Kwantu :

Oryani :

Notes :

The Darkness Within

Closed [Hooves n' Horns] Meeting and Greeting.