Open Welcome home!

[Aq Sulei U'sij]

1 Fall, 516

The deck tilted under their bare feet, but the Akalak was insensate to the instinctive roll of their own gait which kept them from pitching headfirst onto the rough, wet planks. Sulei was quiet, lost somewhere inside the being that was both two and one, perhaps musing over this return “home.” Riverfall was home. It was where they’d been birthed, and raised – where they’d undergone the Rite of Trial and later, after forging the lakan, the Rite of Passage. Their father had been so proud. Their mother would have been, had not the lifespan of a rabbit kelvic been so very short – no more than the blink of their father’s eye, in terms of their own race’s lifespan. She had passed a month or so before that first hunt. That had hurt. Aq and Sulei had not been snatched from her and raised in isolation from all things maternal. They had a close relationship with the slightly nervous, timid creature who had housed them in her womb for all those long weeks, and finally produced a fine, healthy heir for her partner/owner. But even her death had not distracted them from the purpose of the hunt and its goal. They could not have allowed that, for it might have meant death, out on the grassy plain.

But they had passed the test and then their father had allowed them to do what they longed for – to go to sea. It could not be said that seafaring was in their blood. Their father could not recall an ancestor of his that was so enamored of the deep blue swells, and the fresh winds that blew off the ocean and so invitingly – so tantalizingly – into their flaring nostrils. He himself was more of a guard, helping to fend off threats to the city, on that other sea – the green-gold sea of coarse, head high grass. Yet he was tolerant of this seemingly odd desire to feel the world rock beneath their feet, to clamber up ropes and swing high above the tiny deck below, to ply the blue seas in search of adventure. Now fifty years later, Aq felt as he always did when the first site of Riverfall hove into view. He had no family left. But still, it was home, and he smiled broadly as he pattered across the heaving deck to clamber up into the rigging and begin to haul in the sheets, accompanied by his shipmates who all knew how to dance amongst the rigging as he did. Nimble and sharp eyed, deft with hands and clinging onto the guy ropes with toes like monkeys, they worked in an intricate coordination, securing the sails to the yardarms, before descending once again to stand by for orders to man the jolly boats.

Rounding the headland, the Bluevein cascading like a rush of lace from the high plateau above, just barely audible over the creak and groan and slap of wood and water and rope and tackle, the ship slowed considerably, as Aq and the others worked the winches to hoist the boats over the side and down with a sharp splash into the waves below. Hauling ropes secure, hard muscles rippled under skin of many shades, as he and his mates pulled on the oars, towing the big trading craft safely into port. In short order, the task was done and she rode gently on the mild waves of the harbor, anchor dropped and the crew more than ready for their liberty call. By the boatloads, the thirty or so souls were rowed to the docks and let loose on the city – a city that stood ready to relieve them of their hard earned coin, in exchange for some good times, a lot of liquor, and perhaps the congenial company of a willing body or two.

[Aq Sulei U'sij]

Huge feet (though not over large for the majority of the inhabitants of the city), now clad in seafarer’s boots, stepped from jolly boat gunwale onto the weathered rung of the ladder which lead upwards to the stone wharf. Nimbly, they climbed up and quickly reached the top, stepping onto the smoothed paving stones, worn down over generations of use. Without conscious thought, Aq’s brain and inner ear worked in tandem to adjust for the now unusually stable footing, as he strode forward, joking with a comrade about the much anticipated delights to be found in the nearest tavern. It would take a day or two to recover his true ‘land legs.’ Until then, his gait would have that distinctive slant to it that marked a man of the sea.

They’d gone no more than a few paces when it seemed that his twin soul awakened to the fact that they had reached landfall. Right in the midst of the bawdy punchline Aq was delivering to put paid to the joke, that familiar voice sounded in his head. ”We should visit the shrine,” Sulei intoned, in his typically somber voice. ”His anniversary is fast approaching.”

The fact that a second conversation was about to begin in his head was no cause for hesitation for the dominant brother. He listened to his corporeal companion, laughing along at that one’s lewd retort to the joke, while saying inwardly to his twin, ”The shrine will be there. I’m thirsty, for wine! It’s been too long since I had a taste of the Yellow Dog.” He was referring to a local vintage which took its unexpected name from the vintner’s mangy, but beloved, mongrel. Many agreed, it was one of the best reds produced from the high quality grapes that were so carefully and successfully raised around Riverfall. Still, even as he said the words (silently), Aq felt a small stab of guilt. It was true – the anniversary of their father’s death was only a few days away. They would of course prepare a proper ritual meal and perform traditional remembrance rites at the small shrine thrown up in his memory. But still, they really should begin with a prefatory visit, to see if repairs were needed. He was sure the site would need weeding and sprucing up at a minimum.

Boots taking them by instinct towards ‘Kulk’, the inner conflict which had been raised slowed their pace only fractionally. As usual, Sulei did not come back with an instant argument for his suggestion, nor did he rant or rave. Aq knew not to take his brother’s silence for diffidence, though. Of the two, Sulei could be far more stubborn than his more outgoing twin – worrying away at a point like a terrier with a rat, wearing down Aq’s usual good natured resistance with a quite admirable tenacity. Like a pig-headed mule, Aq liked to say, of his twin’s persistence when he got a bee in his bonnet about something. They kept walking forward, towards the well known and welcoming tavern that usually served as their temporary home as well, when they were in port. But already, Aq felt his own will beginning to waver. Sulei could be more than persuasive when he really put the effort into it.

”We can…” Aq’s inner voice began, almost ready to give up the fight before it had even began.

A sudden eruption of noise on the pier distracted him and their head swiveled to take in an unexpected sight – although, really, down on the docks one was likely to see just about anything, such were the strange and constant comings and goings of so many different denizens of the ships that plied their trade in this busy port.

[Karin]

The docks were busy today, full of commotion from comings and goings. Yet the bustle was peaceful, a background noise that blended in with the screech of seagulls and the muted rush of the great waterfall that filled her everyday working hours. For Karin was firmly positioned at work, high up in the riggings of a boat that was being repaired. Her position there was tenuous, but her fear of heights was much lessened recently, due to her time with Jay and a certain sense of confidence that was instilled in her because of this.

Her work for the day was a joint venture, to take down the tattered sails and make notes of anything that looked like it would need replacing. Clenched in her teeth currently was a length of rope. In her hands, lengths of the same rope. In fact, her mind was tied up too, trying to figure out exactly where the rope ended and began. She wasn't aware of what had happened to the boat, but as far as she could see the ropes were in this state because whoever owned the boat didn't look after them well enough. They were truly knotted, and she was tempted to get her knife out and cut it to free it. But the ropes themselves weren't damaged, merely in a mess. It wouldn't be worth the hassle of adding more cost to the repair job, especially when it didn't need it.

Finally, after what seemed like an age of figuring it out, she got the ropes untangled, and started to wrap them around her hand and forearm, to loop them into a neat state before dropping the whole lot to the deck with a thud.
"Hey, Karin!" Her work partner Aedre was shouting up at her, and she quickly started looking for a way down, climbing carefully backwards down the mast until she reached the bottom. The other woman finished what she was going to say. "The sails should be ready now. Could you go fetch it please?" They'd been working on the boat for a couple of days, and thankfully the sailor who's boat it was knew the exact measurement of his sails.

With a sigh, as Karin would've preferred to stay on the ship, she walked off. As easily as she'd tuned it out before, the noise and hustle bustle of the docks suddenly rushed back into focus as she wound her way through the tradesmen and sailors who populated the place. It seemed a boat had recently docked, and she cast an eye over the people she could spot. Mostly Akalak, she thought. However, it was only a short distance to Wavemaster Shipwrighting, and soon she had a small cart full of thick, new, white sails.

Unfortunately, they were a lot heavier than they looked, or at least, the cart was less agile than she would have hoped. It was especially awkward to manoeuvre in a crowd, and multiple times she had to wait as patiently as she could for people to realise she was there and let her through. As she had almost made it back to the semi-repaired ship though, a sudden clattering noise startled her. She stopped the cart, and looked around for the source of it, worried for a tick that it was something on the ship, that she'd accidentally broken something or that one of her colleagues needed assistance.

[Aq Sulei U'sij]

There was indeed a loud clatter, followed by the sound of something smashing against the stone of the pier. Immediately came another, and then another similar crash. Aq and Sulei turned more fully to look at the cause, which was comical. A monkey of some sort was perched atop the lower portion of the roof of a porch of one of the nearby buildings. Beside it was a stack of what looked to be plates. These were being commandeered into use as temporary projectiles – disks of clay that the monkey was lobbing at an enraged looking Akalak. If his face wasn’t already so blue, no doubt it would be purple with anger and embarrassment, as he shouted and cursed at the little beast, which paid him no mind whatsoever and kept trying to do its best to bombard him with the improvised missiles. The stream of vitriol spewing from those blue lips soon made it clear that the monkey was not, in fact, a common animal, but was indeed a kelvic – and apparently the man’s mate, or partner, or wife or something like that. She seemed just as mad as he was, and it was clear that Aq and Sulei were witnessing what amounted to nothing more than a domestic dispute.

With a smug grin, they were just turning back around, when they bumped into something. It’s never a good idea to keep walking when your head is turned back over your shoulder! The something was a small handcart, and the bump was more like a stumble. They lurched and overbalanced and then righted themselves but not before almost upsetting the cart and its contents. Grabbing quickly to try to steady it, Aq swore in annoyance – at himself for being so inattentive.

[Karin]

The commotion which quickly turned into an argument was between a monkey and a man. The scene was ridiculous enough to turn her worries on their head, and she watched it for awhile, caught up in the spectacle. She couldn't catch much of the conversation, but that didn't matter too much. It was the monkey and the clever way it threw things at the enraged Akalak that made her smirk the most. But soon enough, she figured she should be heading back to the ship.

That was when a tall, red Akalak rattled the cart and it's belongings and made Karin start backwards to avoid the wheels. He swore, whether it was at her or at the cart she didn't know. In a burst of Common, she said, "I'm sorry! I didn't see you there, I was watching that over there." She pointed towards the now boiling-down argument, and with surprise Karin noted the monkey had shifted into a woman. Kelvic, huh. She thought of Jay, and made a mental note to ask if any kind of creature could be a Kelvic.

The man seemed to be mithering around, and Karin brushed a hand through her hair, wondering whether to apologise more. She knew there was a language the Akalak spoke, although she didn't know what it was called. The tongue wasn't easy to her, having really only spoken Common throughout her life. With extreme difficulty, she tried to recall anything, anything she'd overheard spoken in their language.

Nothing.

With a sigh, she looked up and spoke out again. "Look, I'm really sorry for getting in your way. I can only speak Common, is that okay?" She looked for a sign of recognition before continuing, even if there wasn't one. "Uh, where were you off to? She indicated with her head slightly towards the boat in the near distance. "I need to get back to the ship, though..."