Flashback Part 5: Field Day

[Karsynwa]

5th of Fall, 490 AV

Karsynwa found himself perched over a map this morning that he had borrowed from Arrel the night before. On it he could see a list of businesses advertised along the sides, some names he recognized from his jaunt through the city a couple of nights ago. He’d been staring at it for a long time now, but didn’t really feel any closer to finding out what his mentor had asked him to do. Nothing popped out to him besides the obvious places like the two entrances into the city. All the other locations were circumstantial bets that he couldn’t rely on without wasting his time trekking to a potential dud of a location.

There was another reason he favored the entrances to the city. There were plenty of ways to go from them, and thus seemed like likely hubs of activity based upon what he learned so far. After a few more chimes of staring at the map, he decided to go on ahead to the land gate as it was the closest one to him currently.

The trek there was not an overly arduous one. Karsynwa practiced keeping a keen eye on those he passed along the way, the vast majority of which where Akalaks dressed in various shades of earth tones. These men tended to wear functional clothes that had seen a lot of use that he reasoned by the fact that their dyes had significantly faded. As a spur of the moment kind of thing, he tried greeting one of them with an extended arm which earned him a surprised look from the Akalak before the man clasped his arm back.

“Sorry, you looked familiar.” Karsynwa said a little too quickly, his nervousness drawing a weird look from the man.

“Sure.” He said, and Karsynwa realized his attempt to play it off had fallen flat on his face. Rather than stick around to make things more awkward he just slightly bowed towards the man before hurrying off. Fortunately for him, the man didn’t follow Karsynwa noticed as he looked over his shoulder. All Karsynwa had gleaned from the contact was the man had exceptionally rough hands, beyond the callouses he got from working with a wooden lakan every morning. He wondered what sort of work the man did to get such calluses and idly considered even trying to follow the man for a bit before quickly deciding against that foolish idea.

It would be easy for the man to recognize him after that little interaction. Even if Karsynwa had prior experience following a man, which he did not, he would be hard pressed to keep from being seen by him. He simply didn’t know enough about how people looked around them. How aware they were of their surroundings. It didn’t take a genius however to realize that the man would certainly be more aware of those around him now. Might even be looking over his shoulder now to try to spot him. It was then Karsynwa registered that the man probably thought he was trying to pick pocket him.

WC: 512

[Karsynwa]

Karsynwa had never thought about such a thing before and thinking of that man expecting such caused him to feel a surge of shame. This was so he could be a better intelligence member of the branch he had to keep reminding himself till the emotion finally cooled somewhat. It still simmered down below, making him jumpy as he passed people. Karsynwa decided that was it for his human interaction for now, he would stick to watching them for a while.

When he made his way over to the land gate, he decided take a seat in one of the shady alcoves that lined the outside of the Gideon Arena. There he had a good view of the traffic that came and went from the overland entrance to the city. Karsynwa was suitably surprised by what he saw there. There were a great many humans around this section of city. Not the normal odd mix like those he saw at the Kulkukan. These seemed to be organized by the color of their clothing. Mostly greens, and reds, with a few wearing white sprinkled in between. They tended to stick with their color, an when they spoke it was in a strange language with quite a few gestures involved. It all looked rather silly to him, but their faces were very serious.

The Akalaks they associated with seemed to be familiar with them as well. They were often greeted warmly, and promptly taken to whatever the vendor was trying to sell them. Though Karsynwa reasoned this could be just a tactic specific to vendors, not a sign of friendship between them. He could tell the vendors were not as surprised as he was by their appearance however. He could see it on their faces that these were a well accounted for people. Asking Arrel about this later was definitely on his list.

There weren’t any other humans around that didn’t have a color to match to. That seemed odd to Karsynwa though he was starting to suspect they primarily came by way of the port, given that he always spotted them around there. Still, he should avoid making hasty generalizations after barely a bell of observation. From what he had gleaned from Arrel, it often took days of watching a place to extract valuable Intel. An looking at the street, he agreed. Sure he knew about certain characteristics and behaviors of these strange humans which was valuable in its own way. However, that didn’t paint enough of a picture of traffic through the gates or even if the reactions of these people were typical for whichever group they belonged to. Perhaps they were a special circumstance, something he wouldn’t know until he observed them further.

That didn’t seem to be in the cards though as the men soon departed back through the gate with their horses in tow. Karsynwa wasn’t packed for the sea of grass so he wasn’t about to try to follow them there.


WC: 495

[Karsynwa]

It was another two bells of observing before Karsynwa spotted something interesting. An Akalak with bright tattoos came riding in. He immediately recognized the man as Cerulean, remembering his lesson yesterday as he leaned forward to get a better look. The Cerulean didn’t look too happy which fit his expectations, and carried a wickedly curved sword sheathed on his right hip. Karsynwa wondered for a moment what that blade must look like out of the scabbard before he brought his mind back to task. The Cerulean was fully armored as well, and as he passed the gates, Karsynwa finally noticed the guards.

Noticed them because of the way they stepped out of the shadows from the wall as the man passed. They seemed to be keeping a close eye on him, walking a short ways down the street till the Cerulean got the idea. Then they were back under the shade of their wall. Karsynwa stopped watching the Cerulean for a moment to look at the guards, remembering that from his lesson as well. From his vantage in the Alcove he could make out three along the base of the wall, and two up among the parapets though he figured there had to be more of them patrolling above. Outside the gate as well. He had no way of seeing those from here though.

His eyes tracked back to the Cerulean whom was making his way down the cliff out of sight. Chewing his bottom lip, Karsynwa decided to pursue. For once, he was glad it had started to get a little nippy out because he was wearing a cloak with a fur lined hood. He pulled that hood up now, and over the top of his head, hoping it obscured his face somewhat as he hurried to trail the man. When he got to the to of the street he had disappeared down however, the Cerulean was no where to be seen.

He hesitated at the top of the street outside of a doorway while he considered the thoroughfare below him. There were too many ways he could have gone for him to be sure which one the Cerulean had taken. This being the top of the city, he had plenty of paths to choose from that wound down and across the cliffs, or he could have stayed on this tier. Perhaps he was in an underground structure even now that was just out of sight, tucked away in an alcove.

Karsynwa frowned, and wavered there for a moment before going back towards the gate. He’d missed his chance this time. Maybe the next one he would do better about following. Seeing how an individual interacted through his day was really something he wanted to get a grasp of before his next lesson. The Cerulean would have made a good study, though perhaps it was for the best he hadn’t followed the man. He was still more than a little uncomfortable with Arrel’s description of them.

WC: 497

[Karsynwa]

His next perch was on the stoop of what looked to be a tavern though naturally it wasn’t very busy this morning. He’d glanced to see only a few people milling about within whom he assumed worked there as they were currently cleaning the place. Only thing surprising he saw was that it was two human women though he didn’t notice anything special about them besides their penchant for wearing the same color. Kind of like those men he saw earlier by the gates, which made him wonder if they were related or this was some odd human custom he wasn’t getting.

He didn’t think much beyond that as there wasn’t anything he could do about that just yet. An the advantage the stoop provided was an interesting angle on who entered the gates. For instance, he could see more guards now up along the top of the wall, and contented himself with watching them patrol for a bit before his eyes wandered elsewhere. So it came as a surprise when one of the woman he spied inside the tavern came out to crouch beside him.

“Fancy a drink?” She said in a soft voice that startled him from his thoughts. Her laughter was light at his shocked expression, and Karsynwa rubbed his face, embarrassed. “Sorry I startled you, name’s Ann.”

Ann was wearing a shirt, trousers, and some slippers that all had something noticeably familiar in common. They’d all been dyed red at some point, though they were starting to fade into a light pink around the knees and elbows.

“Sure, what do you have?” Karsynwa said after a moment, and hesitantly followed the woman inside. The other woman inside was wearing similar clothes though hers were dyed green. He thought about asking what that meant when the woman in green spared a look at him, but remembering his earlier performance, he decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead he took a seat at the bar while Ann poured him a light pink wine into a glass. He took in gingerly, sniffing at it before finally taking a sip. It tasted sweet with a bizarre after taste that he didn’t like at all. Scrapping his tongue against his teeth, he pushed the glass away as politely as he could manage.

“Don’t like wine huh?” Ann said with a broad grin. Karsynwa shook his head and fetched out a silver miza. Ann shook her head slighly and picking up on that, Karsynwa fished out a gold rimmed miza instead, then pocketed the silver.

“I’ll pass on wine in the future, thank you.” Karsynwa said more brusquely than he intended. He quickly felt embarrassed for that, though Ann didn’t seem really bothered by the attitude. Instead she just pocketed the miza and leaned on the table, continuing on in that soft voice of hers.

“So what are you doing outside of the tavern then?” She asked.

Karsynwa hesitated as he racked his brain for an answer, settling on the simple truth to see where that took him. “Something for my mentor.”

“Oh, how mysterious, you must tell then.” She said, smiling at him again, her hand casually brushing his.

WC: 528

[Karsynwa]

Karsynwa realized he had been caught in a trap. One he didn’t know how to lie his way out of. Not in a convincing way at least. So on a hunch, he decided to try his hand at battering. She seemed kind enough. Maybe she would take pity upon his inexperience.

“Only if you tell me something about yourself.” Karsynwa said, trying his best to look charming but knowing he probably looked as nervous as he felt.

Ann just kept smiling, and even pulled up a stool that was positioned on the other side of the bar. “Alright, shoot.”

He hesitated for a moment, before blurting out his question. Karsynwa hadn’t exactly been expecting her to agree so readily. “What’s with the matching colors, I saw some others who rode in through the gates. They favored something similar.”

Ann laughed, and the woman behind him joined in, coming up to sit beside him along the bar. It was her that answered. “That is because we are drykas. Our colors match the clans we belong to. Red for Ruby, Green for Emerald in this case. Makes sense you saw some of us by the land gates, we are probably the most frequent people through there aside from your people.”

Karsynwa turned slightly towards her. She had dark brown hair that carried down to her shoulder, and a wide, pretty face. Karsynwa felt a little flushed with her sitting so near. “So, do you get a lot of drykas here?”

“Oh we get all kinds around the gate. Why I-” The woman stopped as Ann wagged a finger.

“Now that is cheating. First its your turn. What were you doing out on our stoop?”

“Just looking at who comes and goes from the gate.” Karsynwa said somewhat awkwardly. He didn’t feel like he was making a very convincing impression. Not anything that the waitresses would react well to anyways. His mind scrambled for what he could do but was coming up blank for the present moment.

“Whatever for?” Ann asked, a sly smile shared between her and the other woman.

Karsynwa raised an eyebrow at that. Evidently the fact that these two were from different clans didn’t lead to any animosity between them, which confirmed what he saw earlier between the men. They seemed to be rather friendly actually, which lead him to think that the distinction was somehow more specific.

“Cause that is what my mentor asked me to.” Karsynwa said, and winced as Ann rolled her eyes. The woman to his right slapped his forearm, and both of them got up from their seats.

“Alright, you’ve had your fun. I don’t know who put you up to this, but we’ve got to get back to work. But do come back and visit us sometime when you are more forthcoming.” Ann said walking him towards the door while the other woman wordlessly went back to cleaning.

Utterly confused, Karsynwa found himself at a loss for words however it seemed that he was done learning from these women for now. At the door he turned to offer a small wave but Ann was already heading back inside the tavern. Curious reaction, Karsynwa mused as he headed out onto the street to see what else he could get up to today.

WC: 548

[Reed]

Grades Awarded!

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Karsynwa

Skills

• Intelligence: 5
• Observation: 5
• Persuasion: 1
• Socialization: 2

Lores

• Location: Land Gates
• Persuasion: Why your facial expressions should match your words
• Intelligence: Observing how Drykas greet one another in Riverfall
• Intelligence: Observing how the guards patrol along the land gate
• Intelligence: Identifying a Cerulean coming through the land gate
• Location: Blue Bull
• Ann: Waitress at the Blue Bull
• Lore - Drykas
• Socialization: How being obtuse can frustrate the other party

Awards & Retribution


Notes