[The Bizarre] Strange Bizarre Wanderings (Kadirri)

[Terag]

Summer 17th, 517AV - Midday Terag was astounded with how lit the Bizarre was inside a building that seemed to have no windows. And it looked larger from the inside than it seemed to be from the outside, although differing sizes of insides and outsides were the least of Terag's worries these days. There were moments already where he was unsure if anything he saw was true, and while the city of illusions is never really that bad to its resident's - Terag had definitely been worrying himself more that it just might. Of course it was all in his head though, and it was something he would have to learn to deal with. After a brief shake of his head, the Isur made his way deeper into the building. Along the sides of the path that he took there were many open stalls, people selling all sorts of strange things - some of which the Isur had never seen before. Although he could not help but notice, and appreciate, those that sold the good they made with their own hands. Clay pots, small metal jewelry, even some thing that were made of blown glass. The ones that most caught his eye was a stall that had a small collection of moving pieces of metal. A new process Terag hadn't seen up close before. He walked a bit closer to admire the moving metal, and just over heard the owner of the store talking to a customer, and referred to the contraptions as 'gadgets' and that the creator of such things was a 'gadgeteer', one who knew 'gadgeteering'. All of this was information that Terag tried to note for later when he got the chance to buy a book on the topic. As he turned to walk further into the bizarre he continued getting distracted by the different stalls, and all the while the Isur was beginning to hum to himself again, a hymn of reverence to Izurdin.

[Kadirri Terras]

The bizarre was a place that Kadirri found fascinating because of the collection of people, goods, and everything that took place. She still enjoyed finding out about new people, places, ideas, and cultures. It was part of what drew her away from Sultros in the first place. For a time she stood there watching the people, listening to what they said, merchants who haggled, and more. As a recent arrival Kadirri still didn't know a lot about Alvadas, aside from the fact it was easy to get lost in a place like this. Standing in the corner and being shorter than most, it was easy for her to be overlooked, not that it bothered the Isur woman. About the only one's to take notice were the menfolk and it wasn't hard to tell what was on their mind.

Holding a small piece of wood, Kadirri used her Isur hand to manipulate it without even paying much attention. There was no intended object to be made from the wood, more than anything it was an absentminded action as she watched the market. Finally deciding to venture further in to see what was on sale, she began to scan the stalls seeing a wide variety of goods and objects for sale, a good many of them for which she had no idea of the purpose they might serve. She waited until a merchant turned around and started to rummage through some things, to pick up an item from the table and look at it.

Kadirri had no intention of stealing from the man, she just didn't want to hear a sales pitch for looking at a curiosity. The item was made of iron and shaped vaguely like a small hand. Clueless as to what it might be used for, and quickly losing interest, she placed it back on the table. There was a man at one stall who was selling a small assortment of weapons and armor which drew her attention. The man didn't appear a smith, so he was likely just reselling. The workmanship of the items was, in her opinion, passable at best. These were the type of weapons she'd blunt and use for practice, not actual combat.

With a bit of a smile she walked on, still glad the best work she'd ever seen was still to be found at home in Sultros. While walking around aimlessly, she stopped to look at some jewelry and heard a small tune. At first it didn't even fully register in her mind and soon Kadirri was humming a small melody she'd learned as a child, a hymn that praised Izurdin. That was when it clicked in her head the humming was out of sync slightly, because someone else was humming the same tune. That came as a shock because since leaving Sultros she'd barely heard the god's name spoken, let alone someone humming a childhood hymn. Turning on a heel she saw a man, rather short for the lot normally found around these parts.

“...so shall our works and the works of our children be as praise unto our lord,” Kadirri said, speaking the last line of the hymn in Isurian.

[Terag]

Terag stopped mid song as he heard another voice chime in with the end, it had been much too long since anyone had any idea of the songs he was humming or singing that this took him quite by surprise. He stopped in his tracks, causing the person behind him to grumble slightly before going around the Isur, as he looked around the Bizarre to find who had been the source of the final line of the song - even going as far as to take a step to be sure to be out of others' way and so he would be sure to find singer. Most of the others paid Terag no heed, after all an Isurian was not nearly as strange a sight in Alvadas as it had been in Syliras. However, there was a set of eyes that were looking directly at him, ones much closer to his own height than many of the others that frequented the bizarre. He couldn't help but smile as he looked for a moment longer, realizing the other pair of eyes belonged to an Isurian as well - it was always nice to see one of his own. A feeling that might die down as he lived longer in Alvadas as his own were more common here than Syliras, but for now it was a feeling he continues to revel in. After making eye contact, Terag made his way through the on-goers to her. Now that he was closer he got a much better look at her. To him, her most striking feature was the blonde hair she possessed as most Isurians had darker hair. It was an interesting trait, and one that Terag noted along with the color of her arm: purple. So she must be a Terras, Terag reasoned, and so likely was a smith of some sort. While many Isurians were smiths after all, the Terras clan was more well known than most to produce many smiths, and all of them female. At least they were as far as Terag could remember. Rather than try to shake her hand or other sorts of physical contact, Terag decided for the time to simple wave as he approached. "Hello! It has been far too long since I have had the pleasure of talking to someone else who knows our songs as well as I do," he said in Isurian. He assumed she understood since she has known the words to the hymn. "My name is Terag Magehand Pitrius, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He gave a brief pause so she could introduce herself as well before he continued, smiling all the while. A genuine smile too, not the one that he used often when he had to interact with customers who believed they knew everything about smithing when they would come in to his work to pick up his and others' works or request an item to be made. "Is it safe to assume you learned the songs growing up, like I did? I learned mine from mostly hearing them when my family would make a travel to the nearest shrine of Izurdin, there was always singing going on there."

[Kadirri Terras]

Kadirri listened to the man introduce himself as a Pitrius. This along with meeting another Isur brought a smile to her face as well. Unlike the normal solemn appearance she put on for others, this was a genuine expression derived from meeting a fellow countryman. With both of them out of the way she walked closer to him, maintaining a normal distance for a casual conversation. Tereg was of the Magehand family and his clan was obvious by the black arm. It reminded her of her father whom the woman hadn't seen for some time now. She looked Tereg over for a moment, but not in a 'check him out' sort of way, more just taking a measure of the man and what he looked like.

“Kadirri Steelhand Terras,” she said, holding her arm up a little. “Like the last part was hard to figure out. I learned the hymns from my father Ordath as a child, he was Pitrius as well. I used to go to the temple with my parents, I could probably recite most of the songs by memory.” Kadirri enjoyed being able to talk with another Isur. It had been some time since she met someone who understood her way of life. There was also appreciation for someone who knew who Izurdin was beyond his name. About to say something else a small gurgling issued forth from her stomach. “And that's what happens when you skip breakfast. Would you like to join me for lunch Tereg?” Kadirri said.

[Terag]

"Well it is a pleasure, Kadirri, to make your acquaintance. That's amusing that your father was a Pitrius too, you don't hear many stories about a Pitrius marrying outside the clan, with us already being the smallest." He couldn't help but chuckle when he heard her stomach gurgle, and to her question he nodded. "I would love to join you for lunch, it has been much too long since I've been able to talk to another Isur, I was taking today to try to learn the layout of Alvadas. Although, I'm quickly relearning how pointless of an endeavor that is. I do hope you know of a store to go to in specific? Unfortunately I know little of the food that's offered in the city." With Kadirri guiding, Terag would follow along beside her. Now he took a few more moments to look her over, trying to assess who she might be as a person or whatever else he could learn from her. It was in moments like this that he cursed that he hadn't paid more attention to his father for learning Auristics. Her clothing did little to hide her form, though this was normal for the Isur, and as best as he could tell he had a body that was functional. One that was toned from hours of labor primarily, though if she did more than that he was unable to tell. He could make the assumption she did as most Isurians did, but that was about it. Also being on the slender side was normal too, not too surprising for being a female Isur and he knew as well as any of his kin that an Isurian needed little muscle to work their craft, since their bodies are so dense and strong to start with. As they continued to walk he would speak up once more. "So what brings you to this city? Not many of us leave the mountain, so why did you? Personally, I came out to see if any of the outsiders knew anything more about smithing. Learned more, though it was still mostly from another Isurian. However, I've also picked up a lot more than I ever thought I would while out and about. Didn't think the other races would be nearly as," he paused for a moment before continuing, "Interesting? Colorful? There are many words, though I suppose 'surprising' would be a good catch-all for it."

[Kadirri Terras]

Kadirri listened to Tereg talk as she walked through the city. She also noted how he was right about the Pitrius being the smallest of the four clans. That also made her think about that for a time, her parents. It was a bit of wistful thinking, about how she'd been gone for so long, and how much she missed hearing their voices. It wasn't a sad memory though, because Kadirri knew she'd eventually return home, and when that happened she'd settle down for good. After returning home she would find a husband, start a family, and hopefully have more knowledge and skills than when she left.

“You know, it's funny you should mention that. From what my parents told me it was something of a whirlwind romance. My parents met at the temple, dated for a month, spending most of that time either doing things I'd rather not think about my parents doing, or arguing, then they got married. They don't argue much now, but when they do, boy it's a whopper.” Walking along the streets of the city she kept an eye out looking for one place in particular. After a few turns she looked around, then noticed something to the left, snapped her fingers, and pointed. “Ah ha!”

The location she was pointing to turned out to be the The Cubacious Inn, which had quickly become on of Kadirri's favorite places because it was where she ate more often than not. Glad to have found it, she smiled to Tereg, nodded, and headed that way. Approaching the middle cube she walked through the front door and into the tavern section. Something else that Kadirri appreciated was the calm atmosphere to be found here. Bar fights were few and far between, which she liked, and standing there she looked around.

“I left Sultros out of curiosity for the most part, but not about smithing. I know it's rather odd for an Isur to say this, but I was curious about what the world is like. I was interested in learning about new cities and cultures. There is so much more to the world than just Sultros and I wanted to know more about it. You're right in that the world does seem filled with some very surprising people indeed.” She waited for Tereg to choose a table. “I've also found out something else too, we're a short lot we Isur, yeah?”

[Terag]

Terag tried to remember any of the times that he had heard his parents argue. He barely remembered once that they might have argued about which day he was supposed to be taught how to wield djed and which day he could run off to the forge, but that was it since he had spent so little time at home. "Your parents would have that bad of an argument? Seems strange, but nice. Not arguing sometimes means things have become stagnant, wouldn't want that. But a month is a very short time, I'm surprised it ended so well for your parents. Rushing things doesn't usually go well, but there are always exceptions." He raised an eyebrow when Kadirri pointed out the inn. The strange shape was enough to make Terag question what the building was - but again he attributed the strangeness that was Alvadas and left it at that. He followed her in to the middle cube, and took a quick look over the surroundings. For a few moments he stood awkwardly, just looking over the patrons and the room before he realized that Kadirri was waiting for him to find a seat. He decided to just take the closest table to the door, taking the seat on the opposite side to make things easier for Kadirri and so he could see people as they came in to the building. "Well I do suppose being curious about outsiders is a tad strange overall. Having curiosity isn't though, I mean after all how are the Pitrius to learn new magicks or the Terras to learn new smithing techniques without a little bit of curiosity, a little bit of experimentation? So I guess being curious about the rest of the world isn't too far from that, but it is a little odd of a desire to have for the most part." Terag just smiled and shrugged, after all he was an Isur that left home as well, and they were neither the first to leave nor were they going to be the last. Sometimes one needs to leave home to grow after all. "I suppose you could say we're short, but I prefer to think about it that everyone else is too tall. After all, Izurdin made us perfect as we are. They're the ones deviating from that. But the height difference does prove a bit annoying sometimes, such as sparring for instance. Their extra reach makes it a tad annoying, but that's just another reason to use a spear or a warfork I suppose." He smiled a bit more, after that comment. "So why did you settle down here, in Alvadas? Why not any of the other cities, like Syliras? And so far have you learned anything particularly interesting or amusing about, well, anything out here?"