-flashback- We are Seeds [Jiem]

[Colin Oliver]

STORMHOLD CASTLE, SYLIRAS
12th of FALL, 510AV

Colin had traveled a far distance, leaving Wind Reach three weeks ago and trekking to Alvadas where he boarded a ship on the last leg of the Syliras Route. The young Inartan’s saddlebags were laden with carefully placed goods and he could hardly wait to get off the ship and into Stormhold Castle. Colin felt the vessel lurch into port and he quickly gathered his items, placing a few sugar cubes in his shortcoat for his horse, Yarrow. The trip had been relatively short, but he knew the mare would enjoy having her feet on solid ground.

This would be Colin’s third trip into Syliras, so he was somewhat familiar with the city, but with so many people, the place was constantly undergoing changes. Colin fetched his items and his mount and followed the gangplank down onto the pier. The city loomed ahead and Colin led Yarrow towards it, already anticipating the sights and sounds, the variety of people, and the plentiful business. A gut feeling told him that the sales this season would be fantastic.

Colin passed by the Syliran Knights with little issue, quickly stating that he was merely in town for trade. A Knight gave Colin a brief summary of the laws and punishments and he was finally allowed to pass under the large stone archway.

As he entered the town, Colin had to mentally restrain himself. He knew his curiosity could get the better of him, but he needed to settle down before he could begin exploring. He quickly ran through a mental list: “I’ll need to find somewhere to stay for the night, a stable for Yarrow, a safe place for my stuff, and-”
The smell of food suddenly erased whatever remained of Colin’s thoughts. With his priorities reordered, Colin sprang into action.

He quickly tied Yarrow to the side of the tavern, making sure the knots were tight, and headed inside. The place was quaint and had a warm feeling to it, much better than the taverns in Riverfall he had heard so many rumours about. Colin took a seat at the counter and waited to be served.

[Jeim]

A loud bang erupted from the table top as the back of Jeim's hand was forced down. Silence reigned for a split second as everyone waited to see how the red-haired 'Tavern-Boy' would react. Suddenly, Jeim threw his head back, roaring with laughter, his burst of mirth acting as the signal for all within the tavern to join in. He had lost the arm wrestle quite spectacularly, the throbbing along his knuckles telling him that he was not going to be able to grip as he usually did for quite some time.

"Well, ya can't always win" the young man muttered as he got to his feet, his chair scraping along the floor. Shaking hands with the man who had just defeated him before he did so, Jeim slipped back into the crowd in the tavern, muttering "excuse me" repeatedly as he attempted to make his way towards the bar. He had an inkling that those fellows who had ordered two mugs of ale roughly five minutes earlier were getting pretty antsy about now.

After having dropped the mugs of ale onto the table with a whisper of "Here ya are", Jeim turned his attention to the door. After having done this job for little over a year, he was more than familiar with the burst of cold air that accompanied someone entering the tavern. It was a black haired youth, one who couldn't be more than twenty by Jeim's reckoning. Making his way through the tavern Jeim followed the young man until he was standing beside him at the counter. Jeim was determined to turn this fellow into a friend and thus, a regular of tavern. It was what he usually did and the barkeep knew it, so as his eyes met Jeim's he turned away from the raven-haired customer.

Clapping his hand onto the stranger's shoulder, Jeim adopted a smile and exclaimed "Lo' there friend, something you need?".

[Colin Oliver]

"Lo' there friend, something you need?"

Colin felt his heart skip a beat as a heavy hand landed on his shoulder. Colin sized up the person standing beside him. A stout young man, not much older than himself. He had a strong build that suggested an accommodation for physical labour. But what struck a chord with Colin was the tousle of red hair the color of dying embers and the piercing gaze of aquamarine eyes. The Inartan features were all so familiar that Colin spontaneously replied in Nari.

“My name is Tyrin. I’d like to get something to eat, and it would be quite helpful if you could point me to a local inn. Somewhere cheap but reputable would be nice.”

Colin quickly realized that the youth had been completely taken aback by the outpour of trills, clicks, and whistles. Colin quickly apologized in the common-tongue:

“Ah.. Sorry. I thought you were Inartan. My name is Colin. I would like food, please. And guide me to a good place of shelter, please.”

The mistake had been a bit embarrassing, but he had made a quick recovery. This was Syliras and there were many races gathered there. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear a language one did not know. Colin had found that out when he had tried trading with a Vanthan the year before.

Colin gestured towards a plate of food that lay on the side of a table. It was a complimentary salad, meant to open the appetite and often discarded after the first few bites. Colin pointed to the salad and pointed back at himself, indicating his order. Living in Wind Reach, Colin had grown up under the law that all birds, including chickens and turkeys, were sacred and not to be eaten. A recent run in with thin needle-like fish bones had temporarily turned him away from the aquatic animals. And he had never quite enjoyed the toughness or bloodiness of beef, veal, or venison. Salads were simple and good enough.

[Jeim]

Jeim was a professional. Or, to be perfectly honest, he liked to believe that he was a professional. His reasoning for having come to such a conclusion was he had been a Tavern-Boy for the last year or so. With that being the truth of the situation, when he was confronted by the swarm of words in the semi-familiar Nari language, his smile never faltered, though inside, he was, for the most part confused. Due to his practice with dealing with Nari, he had encountered a Nari traveler when he had first begun the job so he was able to catch a few keywords in the stranger's statement but for the most part, it had been gibberish. Unfortunately, a second later, the stranger managed to confuse Jeim even more by offering a completely different name for Jeim to address him as.

It was safe to say, Jeim was finding this man more than a bit interesting; In fact, Jeim was finding this fellow downright entertaining.

Chuckling softly, as he watched the man point towards a plate of salad, Jeim nodded, not trusting himself to speak lest he laugh in the stranger's face. Getting the attention of the barkeep by rapping his unbruised knuckles on the counter, Jeim placed the order for the man he was now certain he was going to enjoy getting acquainted with. Nodding as the barkeep offered the affirmative that he could get the job done, Jeim turned his attention back to the stranger, his grin having grown by quite a bit. This was the kind of fellow that got Jeim's attention, and when someone had his attention he tended to like them.

"You're an Inartan" he phrased the question as more of a statement, a statement he allowed no time for confirmation as he explained how he had come to such a conclusion with "You were speaking Nari" . He took the empty seat beside the fellow, leaning against the counter via his elbows.

[Colin Oliver]

“So you noticed!” Colin replied, turning to the man beside him, “I am here from Wind Reach to trade with the people of Sileras.”

Colin had taken a liking to the young man, especially his outgoing confidence. He began describing his work to his new acquaintance. At first, the story-telling went slowly, but as Colin became more comfortable speaking in his slightly broken Common, Colin managed to explain his life in Wind Reach. Colin started by showing the youth a few small glass items, decorations mostly. He went on to describe how he travelled out of Wind Reach each season to trade his unique and one-of-a-kind wares with people from other regions, bartering Inartan items for those of the other races. As the monologue continued, Nari terms popped up in several places and Colin’s hand gestures became wilder by the minute.

When the food arrived, Colin hardly noticed. He picked at his salad occasionally, but he was so engrossed in telling his story that he lost track of everything else. Perhaps it was being stuck on a boat for several days, but Colin was extremely happy to finally have someone to talk to. He wasn’t a very good storyteller, so his tale was filled with tangential anecdotes, skipping from the different environments of each region to the exhilaration of riding on the back of an eagle.

“I forgot to ask,” Colin said, after describing a tale of his encounter with a wild Glassbeak, “What is your name?”

For some reason, he had forgotten to ask such an obvious question. It would be nice to become friends with someone in Sileras. The youth seemed rather intelligent, and if Colin could maintain contact with him, it would be much easier getting around the town. After all, Colin did need to find somewhere good to set up his business. Location was extremely important when it came to a mercantile job, and someone with knowledge of the town’s layout would definitely be able to help.

More so than that, Colin appreciated the human comforts of socializing. Talking to the young man had been more than a practice of the Common-tongue, it had been fun. Colin finished his salad, wiped his mouth, and took a drink from his waterskin.

[Jeim]

As the man affirmed his suspicions as to his race, Jeim did little more than nod in a self-satisfied fashion, altering his posture so as to settle in for a story. His numerous hours spent listening to people go on about their lives had equipped him quite well for careful listening and observation making, which he did with, what he believed, was quite a bit of skill. As his new companion offered his life story, Jeim found himself less interested in pretending to listen intently and started actually listening, his interest having been piqued. The stories and the explanations were accompanied by gestures which only worked to better the entirety of the experience.

Perhaps the most interesting part of Collin's tales had been when he explained the sensation of soaring on an eagle. Now THAT sounded exciting! As the raven-haired young man asked for his name, Jeim realized that he had never offered his name, let alone given it. That was strange, he rarely ever slipped up in such a fashion; people found it more difficult to trust a person with information about themselves when they had no idea who he was. "Well, my name's Jeim" the firey-headed young man explained, his smile faltering a bit as he realized that he had been sitting at the counter, doing nothing rather than working. "Sorry to just leave you in the middle of this conversation, but I have work to get done" Jeim offered in explanation as he got to his feet "Make sure to look for me whenever you visit Syliras."

Choosing to leave on that note, Jeim grabbed a pair of mugs of ale and made his way into the crowd in the middle of the tavern, intent on getting to work immediately, lest he get into trouble with the tavern-head.

[Chevalier]

Colin Oliver

LORE

• Acquaintance: Jeim

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Rhetoric	2
Storytelling	1

Jeim

LORE

• Life in Wind Reach (Basic)
• Acquaintance: Colin Oliver

EXPERIENCE

Skill	XP Earned
Rhetoric	3

Storyteller Notes

Secret :

Graded by me at Dusk's request. Hey folks, good little thread here. Colin, I noticed in your character sheet you don't have any Lores mentioned, or at least I'm not seeing any. Remember you can pick 2 lores on character creation. Jeim same with you, I didn't see any lores chosen for you as well on your character sheet.