Open [The Red Diamond Tavern] Come Sit By the Fire

[Svasra]

Svasra Snowsong "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." -Marcus Garvey oocI apologize in advance for the shortness of this one. The panther purred in response to Svasra's inquiry, licking her hand with her prickly tongue. Svasra giggled slightly, and stroked the soft ears of the wild feline once more. "I'll take that as a 'I liked it very much.' " The Vantha watched as the Kelvic plopped onto a chair in a very human-like position, growling at her though it seemed more dismissive than mean. "Grr?" Svasra asked back, laughing slightly at herself. The Kelvic glanced at the drunken men with a shake of her head, and suddenly decided to shift. Living in Avanthal, Svasra was not new to a Kelvic shifting though she did have to admit it was unexpected as she jerked back with a mild exclamation of surprise. In the place of the graceful panther sat a woman. Whom was very naked. Svasra smiled at the female politely, though she could see Barten already moving with an uneasy look. "That was a beautiful story you just wove. Although I must say that I did not understand a word of it. Yet your voice was very lulling and melodic. I am new to Avanthal, so I can not speak this language you people have here," the woman said in a pleasant voice. Svasra blinked a few times, and then placed she had spoke in Common. "Ah, you liked it much, that makes me very glad," Svasra said jerkily, nodding as the Common tongue was wrapped in the humming accent of native Vani speakers. For Svasra, it ran a few of the words closer together without a proper break; as the speech of Vani was the flow of words, the gentle cascade of one word to another. This is where Barten trotted in. He was Barten because he teasingly never told Svasra his name, until she'd dubbed him a new one. Still, the barmaid never got around to asking the manager what his real name was . . . oh well. "Hfmm," Barten grumbled, looking at the woman straight in the eye, determined not to let his gaze wander. "Uha, Miss," he began, speaking Vani. "She speaks Common," Svasra chimed, in which Baren nodded slightly in acknowledgement though he didn't turn. "Miss, we ask all patrons are fully dressed or in their animal form within this Tavern," Barten said with a nod. "Please either find some clothing and return, in which we will embrace you with open arms, or change back into your panther form - in which we will embrace you much more warily," he continued with a quirky grin. [Note: Svasra speaking Vani, speaking Common. Barten speaking Vani, speaking common.]

[Vaspira]

Vaspira smiled at the woman’s rough use of common. It was obvious that she did not speak it fluently like Vaspira, but the Kelvic understood her now, that was all that mattered. ”I liked it. I just wished I could have understood what you were saying.” Vaspira said with a small smile. Then a man walked up to the two of them, Vaspira of course ignored him, he wasn’t important nor deserved her attention. Vaspira directed her gaze at the fire as the man talked. Telling her to either put clothes on or shift to her Kelvic form.

Vaspira did not comment at the man’s words, instead she sat there for a full chime, staring at the dancing flames. Then she turned her head, a cold smile on her face, ”You are obvious ignorant to the fact that Kelvics cannot do multiple shifts due to the fact of exhaustion. With all the Kelvic Polar Bears you have here, you should also be accustomed to the fact that we cannot shift while in clothes, unless of course you are also ignorant to this fact.”

Vaspira stood up out of her chair, her face and voice calm, only arrogance gleaming in her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest, not letting the man get a word in edge wise. ”I do not ask you to change who you are to benefit me in anyway, and it is not right for you to ask me to change for your benefit. I will not shift, so you can “warily” accept me. Nor will I put on clothes to satisfy you. You can just take that petching idea and shove it up where the sun doesn’t shine.”

Vaspira had begun to circle the man as she would a prey, cutting off his words in a growled voice, ”Matter of fact, you do not have to worry about my business anymore, and I will be sure to let it be known that you do not accept Kelvics in your business as well. I am sorry if you think that I would quietly obey your petching shyke, because I will not stand here and let you tamper my spirit nor let you take away who I am. Accept me or not, I do not really care, but you have no right to tell me what I can or cannot do, whether you own this business or not, you do not control me.” With that she ended her ran and spat at the man’s feet and waved at the kind woman.

”It was a pleasure to hear your voice weave the story, as well as a pleasure to meet you. But my kind is not welcomed in this petching establishment, so I will see myself out.” With that Vaspira growled at the man and walked out of the Tavern, entering the arctic air. She was so ready to leave this place, she needed to hurry and gather her information on her father and leave this frozen city. Vaspira stomach rumbled slightly, but she ignored it. Her body needed nourishment from the shift, but there was no helping that right now, so she shifted back into her black leopard form and sat in the snow outside of the Tavern door, deciding which way she should go, not

[Svasra]

Svasra Snowsong "A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots." -Marcus Garvey "I liked it. I just wished I could have understood what you were saying," the Kelvic said with a smile. Svasra found herself liking the kind persona of the woman, and went to speak - until Barten came in to ask the woman to put on some clothes. That's when things went downhill. The woman seemed to take it quite offensively, even accusing the man for not welcoming Kelvics into the establishment. She went on and on, not allowed Barten to explain himself. Both of the workers of the Tavern looked surprised, even some of the patrons that understood a bit of Common. The woman took it very badly indeed, claiming to spread that the Red Diamond would not Kelvic-kind. Svasra's eyebrows shot up as the woman left, and she rose to her feet. "Oh dear," Barten muttered with a shake of his head, sighing. He began to walk towards the door, but Svasra waved the man off, and moved to follow the woman out. This was something that needed to be explained woman-to-woman. "Miss, wait," Svasra called as she grabbed her mitten and stuffed it into her pocket without checking it for any coins. She ran in front of the panther and crouched down, staring into her ice-blue eyes with a concerned look. "Please, just listen," she said quietly. She paused to find the words in Common to get across what the woman needed to understand. "The man ... in the .... room. He is .... protecting. Yeah? Keep from harm? The people ... when they .... uhh ... drink the .... strong water ... y'know?" She tipped her head back with a cup action for drinking. "They get ... rowdy. Give servers .... times difficult. No, uh, hard times, yeah. Sometimes ... " She frowned, said, "Kelvic," in Vani, gesturing to the woman in an attempt to get her meaning across. "Kelvic changes ... changes in bar. Men get touchy, yea, so ... so for ... protective. No, um, protection? Protection of people. We ask clothes ... clothes on. Not so ... hard ... in day-time, yeah, so ... simple request. It. Uh. More .. hard ..." She frowned again, and shook her head. "More a rule ... yeah? In dark. When drink flows like river. " "We are . . . " Svasra sighed and said, "Vantha," in Vani, gesturing to her flickering eye-color. "Vantha, we love Kelvic, it is ... part of our culture. He didn't mean ... hurt you. Hurt your inside mind, yea?" Svasra tried to grasp the words again, struggling to string the language into sentences. "We ... welcome ... Kelvics into tavern. They are ... part of us. We don't want to see ... harm ... yeah, hurting Kelvics .... or more offense from ... uhh ... people full of strong water ... drunk? Yeah, drunk people giving offense ... it's bad." Here, Svasra reached out her hand towards the feline, her gaze begging understanding. "We ... have in our heads.... uh ... hold information ... of Kelvic shifting. He ... would have brought you clothes, or some .... things you .... put in mouth ..." Svasra thought hard. It always hurt her to see someone thinking they were unwanted, and even though speaking in Common was a battle, Svasra struggled for the sake of the woman to understand why the rule was implemented. "Food. Yeah. Brought ... food. For you to change back." Svasra shifted slightly in her crouched position, staring at the woman. "Please ... he try not to make you ... angry .. or hurt. He ... protects. We, at tavern, we watch out for our patrons." "And . . . on the 'wary' part. He ... was trying to make ... funny. Uh .. be funny. You growled ... and ... he tried to make laugh. No, uh, make you laugh." Svasra sat in front of the panther, settling into the snow with the comfort of Vantha. "I ... understand ... if you still want to leave ... and ... do not want to be ... friends. But, the ... saying? No, um ... rule. Rule is there for the .... good, for the good of its people. So no one is ... hurt or harmed." Svasra sighed and looked at the panther, hoping she made herself clear with her broken Common. If the woman had said that she didn't want to shift, or wear clothes, then there was nothing that either of them could have done - it was not a solid rule of the tavern, so they couldn't actually make her leave. It acted as a simple request for the well-being of the patrons in order to ensure nothing got too out of hand during the nighttime, especially with the brawl that had broken out earlier in the season. Of course, from a Kelvic perspective, particularly one that had just shifted, the rule might seem ludicrous in a place that had integrated Kelvics into their society. That was understandable. It also had to be understood though that it was a place popular for drinking, and a naked woman - known Kelvic or not - could bring some dire results. It was not to satisfy Svasra, or the bartender, or anyone else. It wasn't to make sure that everyone looked the same, or a dictatorship. It didn't just pertain to Kelvics. It acted as a request to ensure that peace reigned over the tavern, and nothing regrettable came from a naked body with beer influencing everyone else. [Note: Svasra speaking Vani, speaking Common. Barten speaking Vani, speaking common.]

[Vaspira]

Vaspira sat there, a little frustrated at the gall of that man. She would not change for anybody, she was who she was, why would she have to shift. The man was being ignorant, she was starving now, her body feeling weak and tired, she was about to get up and go hunt for some food when the storyteller woman came out, Vaspira stopped and sat back down looking at the woman calmly as she spoke.

Her common was broken up; sometimes it switched to the language of the Vantha every few words. It seemed the woman was trying to get it across it Vaspira that the man meant no harm, that he was trying to protect her from the drunk men in the Tavern, and something about hard times. She also went on to try and explain something about who they were, pointing to her eyes. She did not understand this; she looked at the one’s flickering eye-color. The only person she had seen with that was Banir back at the Spires. She called them special eyes, because they were so unique and beautiful. Vaspira sat there still and calm as she let the woman try to explain in her long lecture of why the man said what he said. He would have brought her food to eat and clothes to put on? Maybe that is what she meant, Vaspira was pretty sure that is what she meant anyways.

Vaspira realized that she was being slightly impulsive and rude, that the man meant no harm. She felt slightly bad about that, she became offended for no reason, and the woman thing to do was to apologize. Vaspira nodded her feline head at the woman, standing up on all fours she pawed at the door of the tavern. She needed to apologize to the man, and she needed to shift again and hope she did not pass out in doing so. Maybe if she got some food in her belly it would give her strength to shift again. Vaspira turned from the door and looked at the woman, she moved her mouth in a chewing motion and slanted her head to the side, and then she remembered her bag was in a nearby tree. Vaspira felt bad that the woman would not understand, but she looked at the tree in the distance, and then back at the woman, then back to the tree. She nodded and ran off towards the tree.

She returned to the woman from the tree, it only had taken her 10 chimes to retrieve the bag. She trotted over to the woman with the backpack in her mouth then jerked her feline head towards the door. She hoped the woman understood her; she needed to get in there, get food, shift, put on her cloak, and then apologize to the man.

[Svasra]

Svasra watched the feline closely when the last of her little speech died off. The panther stared back, about as emotional as a stone from what Svasra was able to perceive. There was obviously very little of her mother's blood running her veins, that much was for sure. Hesitant to speak again, she waited while the Kelvic woman thought it over, digested the awkward and jerking explanation Svasra attempted to give. What if she just offended the woman more? Well, it wasn't as if she'd run up to her and screamed 'Tikita' in her face like some might do to outsiders.

Not Kelvics though. Kelvics were at home in the ranges of Taldera as the Vantha were, and they were only given the love and respect deserved to the race that granted the Vantha their guards. The Kelvic rose to her paws, and nodded slightly. In farewell? Acceptance? She plodded to the door and pawed at it slightly, which Svasra took as a signal she meant to return and perhaps even explain her own actions? She believed that she was completely right to respond the way she did, maybe she wanted to tell them why? By the chewing action she did when turning to look at Svasra, the Vantha woman had second guesses, maybe she was just hungry and this was the best place to eat around here apart from trying to get some food from the Winterflames. "You want to eat?" she asked carefully, blinking.

That was obviously not the answer though as the panther suddenly took off. "What in the name of snow . . . " Svasra muttered, watching the animal disappear. She seemed to be in a hurry to go somewhere . . . following her instincts, Svasra stayed put, settling down against the wall and stretching her feet out in front of her. Singing quietly under her breath, the woman saw no harm in waiting a bit to see if perhaps the panther was going home to change.

After a few chimes, Svasra began to grow bored as was her persona. She disliked being stuck in one place, or sitting for too long. Too long could be a few moments, or a few hours, depending if she had anything to do while sitting. Reaching over, Svasra took a piece of snow in her hand, clumping it into a snowball to throw up and down. "Up and up it goes, will it come down, no body knows!" Svasra muttered, finally just throwing the snowball at a nearby kid who ducked, stuck their tongue out and ran off. The Snowsong looked upwards towards the sky, tapping her fingers on her leg in an absent rhythm.

The panther appeared out of the night. Svasra jumped in surprise as she'd begun to even drift off as she watched the twirling motion of Morwen's Lights. Wondering if they could be used to hypnotize someone, Svasra got to her feet and looked at the feline carrying a bag of somesort. "That contains your clothing?" she guessed, though puzzled why she wouldn't just shift when she had left.

The Kelvic's words came back though, recalling that they couldn't change too many times close together without some sort of food to eat in between. Nodding, Svasra finally understood, pushing the door open for the black cat. "Looks like we need an order for a hungry panther" Svasra called to Barten who had returned to the bar. Looking up at her voice, the man nodded and moved to whisk up something that would do.

Food wasn't really free here, but Svasra and Barten knew the necessity to have food provided in the case of Kelvic shifts. In agreement, Svasra volunteered to have a portion of her own pay to go towards the food that would be given, as that ensured the continuation of Kelvic customers and no naked people. She would give thirty gold mizas of her pay to the Tavern, and it would be used to cover the costs of any food needed to be given to Kelvics. As the offering was no advertised, and only given under strict circumstances, Svasra felt confident it wouldn't exceed the limit. If it did, then they would simply have to stop unless some of the other employees were willing to pitch in, which most were not.

Settling down at a table, Svasra gestured to the spot across from her. "I am Svasra Snowsong," she said with a grin.

[Vaspira]

The woman tried very hard to understand Vaspira in panther form, and she did surprisingly well. Though she did not get the whole picture, she did understand the generalization of what Vaspira was trying to get across. When she left to get her things, she had hoped the woman did not leave, but she was sitting there looking up at the sky, and Vaspira was happy that the storyteller had not left her, that she slightly understood her.

The woman opened the door, and the Barten guy went to fetch her some food. Vaspira kept the strap of the backpack in her mouth as they made their way through the drunkards to a table. The woman settled down in her seat, and then Vaspira hopped up into her own seat, looking across the table at the woman. She introduced herself as Svasra Snowsong, and Vaspira stretched her paw out in greeting. She wanted to tell the woman her name, but it would only come out in a guttural kind of growl, that may frighten some of the more drunk individuals.

Vaspira did not have too much time to really think about it though, as a plate of food was brought forth and placed before her on the table. She smiled a toothy grin at this man Barten and nodded her head in thanks. The meal looked delicious to Vaspira’s growling stomach. It had some meat that looked to be Elk, in some kind of sauce, a side of grilled vegetables, and what looked to be some kind of pudding. Vaspira licked her drooling lips, and quite literally dug in to her meal. When she was finished she let out a growled burp, and slightly hiccupped, but she felt so much better. Vaspira jumped down from her seat and grabbed her bag with her mouth and slung it up on the table. Then she shifted once again into her human form, quickly digging in her bag and pulling out her mother’s bladed cloak, she put it on. The cloak covered her body well, nothing being exposed to anyone’s eyes, so hopefully it would suffice.

Vaspira looked down at Svasra and smiled brightly, ”It is a pleasure Svasra. I am Vaspira. I apologize for my behavior earlier. If you will excuse me I must apologize to this Barten fellow as well.” Vaspira nodded her head and was off seeking out this Barten man. She approached him with a warm smile and apologized profusely for her behavior and misunderstanding of what the man meant. He accepted the apology, and told her she was welcomed here when ever, just as long as she was clothed or in Kelvic form. She returned to the table, her ravished plate had been taken away. Vaspira still felt slightly weak, but much better than she would of if she had tried shifting on an empty stomach.

”So, you are a story teller?” Vaspira asked the woman as she sat back down, digging through her bag till she found her stash of mizas. She placed 2gm on the table while waiting for the woman to speak.

[Svasra]

Svasra watched Barten approach with an apprehensive look as he placed the food in front of the panther from obvious concern it might not be liked. There was no hesitation for the Kelvic though as the food disappeared quickly, and just as swiftly a human woman clothed in a cloak sat before her. "Thanks, Barten," Svasra said with a grin. Barten just nodded and moved away, though a tinge of amusement entered his gaze at the nick-name she had dubbed him. The woman looked back to the Kelvic, with a hint of curiosity, waiting for her to speak.

"It is a pleasure Svasra. I am Vaspira. I apologize for my behavior earlier. If you will excuse me I must apologize to this Barten fellow as well," Vaspira said with a smile. True to her word, without further ado, the woman was off and going towards the bar to call to Barten. Wondering how he would react to another person calling him by the name of Barten, Svasra simply rose and took Vaspira's plate. Though she wasn't really on shift right now, there wasn't much else she could do. A glance at Vaspira's sac though made her pause, and slowly sit back down, aware she couldn't just leave it.
"Hey," Svasra hailed to another barmaid, handing it over with a thank-you.

Svasra only had to wait a few more chimes before Vaspira returned. Glancing at Barten, he gave her a small smile with a shrug before returning back to the people who demanded drinks. "So, you are a story teller?" came the lulling voice of the woman, drawing Svasra's gaze back to the Kelvic.
"Yes, tell stories, weave history," Svasra said with a confident nod. Glancing down at the money placed on the table, Svasra couldn't help but feel a slight flutter of relief, as whatever was not used towards Kelvic meals was returned to herself.

"You are .... what is Common word for ... changing shape ... uh ... animal and woman," Svasra said with a drum of her slender fingers. "We have .... your kind .... as our guards on the Icewatch," she added with a grin, feeling the need to elaborate of her previous claim of Kelvics being part of their culture. "Certain .... reason? Certain reason you come at Avanthal?"

[Vaspira]

The woman’s common came out almost childlike to Vaspira, it was quite endearing and made her smile. She was indeed a story teller, a person who told stories of history. That was really interesting to Vaspira, there was nothing like a warm fire and a story being told, minus the drunkards of course. Vaspira sat there looking at the woman with her slitted eyes as she struggled speaking her common, but the only way to learn the common tongue was to speak it, so the more the woman would speak common the more she would understand, it was a win-win situation.

Svasra was trying to figure at the word of those who shifted shapes, and Vaspira replied to her in a calm and pleasant voice, ”Kelvic. Ka-el-va-ic.” She sounded the word out for Svasra, that way she could learn the word in common and commit it to memory. Other than those few words though, she let the woman continue staying quiet. So the polar bears were kelvics that watched something called a Icewatch, Vaspira wasn’t sure what this Icewatch was and intended to ask her, but the storyteller asked her own question first.

Vaspira tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and watched the woman, pausing briefly before she spoke. ”I came here to gather information on my father. Though I am not sure where to start, and I do not know much about him, but I was hoping to find someone who has been here a long time, that would maybe know my mother, and possibly know my father’s name as well.” Vaspira spoke in a low tone, emotionless as she looked down at the table, scratching her long nails idly on the surface.

The kelvic heaved a sigh and looked back up at the woman, ”So, what is this Icewatch you speak of?” the emotionless demeanor of Vaspira disappeared and was replaced with the same warm and kind one she had before, curiosity danced in her ice blue eyes as she waited for the woman to answer her question.

[Svasra]

The other woman stayed silent for the most part, only lending help when Svasra struggled to come up with the Common word for the polar bears. "Kelvic. Ka-el-va-ic," Vaspira said slowly, elongating each section to ensure Svasra followed.
"Kelvic," she muttered under her breath, going over it a couple times to commit it to memory. In the meantime, Vaspira spoke of her reason for coming all the way to Avanthal.
"I came here to gather information on my father. Though I am not sure where to start, and I do not know much about him, but I was hoping to find someone who has been here a long time, that would maybe know my mother, and possibly know my father’s name as well."

Svasra blinked at that and nodded quietly. She didn't voice the best person would be anyone, really, within Avanthal, as most of the people here have lived within the snow citadel their entire lives. Herself, included, though no one related to Vaspira came to mind. Vaspira seemed to close in on herself when speaking of it though, leaving Svasra to fend for herself with the notion of commenting. "Queen Morwen might be able to help," she finally murmured, though half of the sentence was spoken in her Vani dialect as she had no known words for the others. "Goddess, ruler, ice," Svasra continued, flipping her left hand over to show the pale snowflake that seemed perfectly at home midst her coffee-colored skin.

Vaspira obviously did not wish to dwell on the thoughts of her father though as she moved on, asking of the Icewatch. Svasra paused and shrugged mildly. ". . . they protect city. Human is trained. Kelvic born into it. They protect Goddess," she said with a few hand gestures. Svasra looked at Vaspira and tilted her head. "How much of Avanthal ... " She paused trying to find the right verb tense. " . . . you saw?"

Note: Svasra speaking Vani, Svasra speaking Common.

[Vaspira]

The woman repeated the word Kelvic in common tongue, it was well spoken, a little shakey and foreign, but still she did a good job at repeating it. Vaspira felt a little proud at teaching the woman the word, and smiled slightly, and then she got on the topic of her father. The woman said something about a woman named Morwen who could help her out. Vaspira did not know who this Morwen was, or where she was for that matter. Vaspira sighed softly, as she listened to the woman talk about the Icewatch. So these people and Kelvic at the Icewatch protected the city. That was interesting to say the least, but she was happy to learn about it, Vaspira was always happy to learn new things. She was easily excited, the childishness that still lived with in her she supposed. But this pale snowflake, the gnosis mark, really intrigued her. She heard vague mentions of marks from Gods and Goddesses, but had never really seen one until now.

Then the woman asked her a question, about how much of Avanthal she had seen. ”Well… I have not seen much of it. I traveled through the Northern Reaches, which was a treacherous journey to say the least, and I just arrived here not too long ago. So I have yet to really see much of it. Mainly this tavern, a shop or two. I have been asking around to see who I should go to speak to about my father, but no one understands me that much. So I keep to my tree usually, it is where I sleep, and only come down to ask people questions or get something to eat and drink.” Vaspira rambled on; she was a speaker that was for sure, always long winded when she spoke. She was trying to be as detailed as possible, to help the woman understand, though maybe she over did it a little.

Vaspira pointed to the snowflake, ”This mark is from which Goddess, and what does it do?” Nai’a asked thoroughly intrigued once again by something the woman spoke of. Avanthal was different then she initially thought. Vaspira thought it was just a frozen and dull city, which welcomed strangers but then again was slightly wary of them. But it seemed to city was rich with culture and deep with secrets, and it really struck her curiosity.