Open The Traveler

[Akasja]

OOC: No problem! I have a pretty good schedule right now that allows me some down time almost every day.

When the man spoke, Akasja had to pause a moment to let the word unfurl in her mind. It was his accent, too, very unusual. Finally, she recognized the word: Drykas. It was not his name, but the name of his people. It confirmed Akasja's earlier suspicions. She wondered what he was doing out here, so far from any others. Perhaps he was hunting for something, same as she.

Akasja waited for the man to continue speaking, but when he did not, she wondered if he either wasn't prone to it, or perhaps if the lack of speech, plus his heavy accent, signified that Common was not his first language, either. Well, this was an interesting situation. Even if the man spoke Arumenic, it would be more helpful to them both. But what were the odds of that? The fact that Akasja spoke it better than Common would probably be a strange enough fact to anyone who didn't know her. She decided to continue with Common, in the hopes of making some leeway with the Drykas before her.

"Why you...here?"
Akasja paused, thinking about what would be most important to communicate to this man. She suddenly felt the goat shift under her grip and looked down at it. It was still alive and well, taking the lack of action as a sign that it could be freed from the Chaktawe's grasp. But Akasja held on, and the goat settled back down into the dust again. It could be killed, as Akasja was planning to do, or it could be traded... Akasja didn't know anyone in her tribe who kept goats for their milk. It just wasn't something that her people usually did -plus, animal milk made many of them sick. Nevertheless, Akasja knew that the Benshira coveted goats and cows, and that many people herded them and didn't necessarily eat them. They would pay a lot of money for a goat and all that it provided. Benshiras had even gotten into small altercations with Chaktawes over who they thought owned these animals, even when the animals had run away from their herds.
Not to mention, spilling blood out here would surely attract carnivorous animals. Akasja would need to make a fire first before she would even attempt butchering this size of an animal by herself.

As Akasja studied the Drykas again, she began to form a more concrete plan. He looked able-bodied, healthy, and carried multiple weapons. Being a Drykas, it was more than likely that he had at least one horse with him...somewhere. Akasja had her horse as well, and she could call to it to come to her. And, of course, there was the high probability that this man knew exactly where Endrykas was. That is what Akasja had come here for, anyway. Above all, she needed to travel on, to find knowledge, to hone her craft.

Akasja looked decisively at the man before her. "You want...Endrykas...with me?" Akasja pointed to herself, then northward. "Endrykas," she emphasized, trying to say it as best as she could, blending her learned accents as she attempted to recollect the Common one. Since she had learned Common mostly from Eypharians or scattered Benshiras, her accent had an almost Arumenic sound to it.
She gestured to the animal beneath her, struggling to find the word, but managing it: "Goat here, I give you."
Akasja looked intently at the Drykas, watching for any recollection in his features. Once more, she repeated, her phrasing more steady,"Goat here, I give you. You and me, Endrykas." Akasja took another glance at the man's weapons, and quickly added, "Please."

[Colt]

There was a pause, a moment of contemplation, and then recognition; she knew the word “Drykas,” hopefully correctly, and it didn’t raise any alarms with her. There was still the problem of the language barrier, however.

“Why you... here?” she eventually put together, words simple enough for Shahar to process.

He didn’t even try and summon up the word for hunt; instead, the Drykas hefted a javelin, careful to point it in a completely different direction than the woman, and mimed throwing it. Hopefully that would be enough for her to gauge his purpose.

She paused, presumably to think, and then moved to a different subject.

"You want...Endrykas...with me?" she asked.

You want… desire? Look for? That was what it meant, wasn’t it? And Endrykas… that was a definite place, not something one could have so much as go to… and with me, that could be projected to mean together. Which meant… she was asking to go to Endrykas together?

Common was exhausting.

Apparently struggling with the language as much as he, the woman gestured to the goat.

"Goat here,” she said. “I give you."

Shahar tilted his head. The goat? Why did she want to give it to him?

"Goat here, I give you,” she reiterated. “You and me, Endrykas."

Taking a leap, Shahar tried to confirm what he thought she was saying.

“Trade?” he asked. “I goat, you I Endrykas?” He prayed he was interpreting her correctly.

[Akasja]

When Akasja had asked why the man was here, she saw him move for his spear in response -but not aggressively. She tensed slightly, remaining on guard. As the Drykas imitated throwing his weapon, Akasja realized he meant to indicate something like the word "hunt" or "I am hunting". Apparently neither of them knew how to say that in Common, but it was what they both were out here doing. Akasja felt a sense of satisfaction as she realized she was actually communicating with this Drykas, however choppily.

Akasja's further speech in Common was hard for the man to grasp -she knew it would be- but she was so unused to the shapes her mouth had to make for it, the sounds her throat had to produce. Something about it was enjoyable, though. Neither of them had the upper hand as far as communication went. Although the man was better armed, and probably more practiced with his weapons, he looked to be about Akasja's age and was certainly at Akasja's level in the Common language.

But what Akasja had asked was to be brought to this man's homeland, a place where he would certainly be at an advantage in terms of communication. Akasja couldn't imagine there being any Chaktawe any further north than she was, except for maybe those she hadn't really known to begin with. Eypharians, just as unlikely. Akasja thought about the faces of her family members just days ago, how they were bright with pride and hope. She held onto their smiles, took in a breath, and then heard the voice of the Drykas in the still air.

"Trade?" he had asked, the word Akasja had forgotten to use, but exactly what she had meant. Her expression brightened. She felt herself smiling, almost to her shock. "I goat, you I Endrykas?"
Akasja was very pleased. Finally, they were getting somewhere. "Yes," she confirmed confidently. "Yes. Trade. You and me, trade."

The next step would be to secure the goat. Akasja had rope with her, but it was in a pack that was strapped to her horse. She looked to the south, in the direction of where the black mare had taken shelter by an acacia. Still, the horse was there, and although it was grazing a little bit, its ears were swiveling attentively.

Akasja rose slowly to her feet, bent over and still holding onto the goat, which was looking more and more annoyed by its situation. She hated being in this awkward pose, but she would change that soon. The goat bleated once, and Akasja shushed it before turning to look at the Drykas again.
"I give you goat," she repeated assuredly.

With that, Akasja whistled a low melody of only three notes, cupping one hand to the side of her mouth to amplify the sound. She saw her horse's ears flick forward. Akasja repeated the melody, and her horse started into a trot towards her. Akasja shuffled to her left about ten feet, then whistled again, and the horse smoothly transitioned into a canter. Although Akasja was not a master at horsemanship like most Drykas, she had managed to train her mount enough to respond to her voice and to basic directional commands. For now, this sufficed.

As the black mare approached the area, Akasja ushered the goat onto its legs and walked it toward her mount. Her horse snorted, noticing both the smaller goat and the strange man. The goat seemed to perturb it the most. Akasja gave the Desertbred a few gentle pats on her neck to calm her, then looked back at the Drykas to gauge his reaction. Perhaps he hadn't expected her to have a horse at all. Swiftly, she opened the pack on the mare's back with one hand, feeling around for the smaller part of the rope she had. What Akasja managed to pull free was about twenty feet of braided plant fiber. She looked again to the Drykas to reassure him, hoping he understood what she was doing.

Akasja strung the rope about the goat's head and snout within the span of a chime or so, much in the fashion of a makeshift bridal. Finally able to stand fully, Akasha held tight to the rope as the goat attempted to slip away from the scene, but was unable to move further than a few feet. Restricted in the most uncomfortable way, the goat bleated exhaustedly.
"Here," Akasja said rather gently to the Drykas, motioning to the goat. She then slid one hand onto her horse's withers, gripping some of its mane to guide it forward. The Desertbred followed calmly, but Akasja knew it soon would be anxious to travel on again. Akasja approached the Drykas with the goat strung along, stopping ten or so feet from him. She looked steadily at him, waiting for his response.

[Colt]

The mention of trade seemed to spark recognition, and the black-eyed woman confirmed emphatically.

"Yes. Yes. Trade. You and me, trade." She looked away, into the distance but still keeping her grip on the animal. The goat itself seemed none too pleased by anything that had happened to it, and it bleated once to show its displeasure before it was shushed.

The goat acquiesced to silence, which told Shahar that it was accustomed to the command. It much have had human contact at some point, then, and it seemed more annoyed than fearful at what the woman was doing. Perhaps food was not the most useful destiny for this creature. Leaning to the side, Shahar tried and failed to identify the thing’s gender.

The woman reiterated her intentions, then turned and whistled three piercing notes. They carried on the wind, and Shahar followed her gaze––to where a horse stood, hidden in the shade of a wide-branching tree. The horse responded to the notes, but it took a second whistling to bring it to movement. The creature was black and not of a breed Shahar had ever seen; its legs were graceful and thin, its forehead was dished, with a body so delicate that it looked like a firm strike would shatter it. Not at all like the strong and solid striders the Drykas mingled with, although who knew? Perhaps this horse had strength beyond what its limbs would belie.

When her horse––her mare, it looked like––approached, the woman quickly retrieved rope and set to making a harness and leash. The process was somewhat lengthy, but not agonizingly so; in short order, the woman had finished with her crafting and let the goat free to walk about in what little space the leash afforded it.

“Here,” she said, approaching. Shahar tilted his head, then nodded in agreement and held out his hand for the leash; should she give it to him, he would turn and point northeast, to where he had left Akaidras––one could not reach Endrykas without his horse.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Shahar Dawnwhisper

Experience

• Riding, Horse: 1
• Foraging: 1
• Stealth: 1
• Detection: 1
• Tracking: 1
• Logic: 2
• Hunting: 2
• Weapon, Javelin: 1
• Socialisation: 2

Lore

• Akaidras: Nervous of other horses
• Location: The road to Eyktol
• Jackrabbit: Solitary, secret, strange
• Logic: Using facts for decision making
• Tracking: Preserving the trail
• Chaktawe: Black eyes that give away nothing
• Common: Hard on the ears
• Akasja: Wants to go to Endrykas
• Common: An exhausting language
• Akasja: A goat for a guide

Rewards

1 x Goat

Akasja

Experience

• Observation: 5
• Organisation: 1
• Tracking: 1
• Riding, Horse: 1
• Detection: 2
• Hunting: 1
• Stealth: 2
• Intelligence: 1
• Running: 1
• Bodybuilding: 1
• Endurance: 1
• Land Navigation: 1
• Rhetoric: 2
• Logic: 1
• Socialisation: 2
• Negotiation: 1
• Animal Husbandry: 1
• Wilderness Survival, Plains: 1

Lore

• Cyphrus: The Sea of Grass
• Akasja: Exploring the unknown
• Tracking: Paths in the tall grass
• Eywaat: Feathered Prince
• Isla: The Hoopoe Bird
• Hunting: Letting your prey tier of its own accord
• Bodybuilding: Holding a struggling animal down
• Drykas: Horse Lords
• Language: Start with Common when speaking to strangers
• Sea of Grass: Blood attracts all kinds of predators
• Shahar Dawnwhisper: A quiet man

Rewards

1 x Guide to Endrykas

Notes

Akasja, you need to pay seasonal expenses for Winter 514 AV; preferably poor or common (45 GM to 135 GM), before you accept the grade and awards. Cool story you two, took me about an hour and a half to grade, so if you feel like I missed something, just send me a PM and point it out. Enjoy the rewards!