[Pig's Foot Tavern] The Temptation of a Woman (Kechaiya)

by **Caela Dorin** on November 16th, 2014, 10:20 pm

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She was so glad that Kechaiya took her hand instead of bursting into tears again. Caela knew that she'd been being mean but it had seemed that the woman needed a kick up the arse and apparently it had worked.

Once the woman had been helped up the two of them took their seats at the table again. There was still some water in the mug that the doctor had given her. Her mouth feeling dry, she took a sip as she waited the foreigner to do as she'd asked. If she talked it out then she'd feel better and hopefully less likely to have emotional outbursts over little things. Whatever it was, Caela hoped that she could help the other get through it. She did want to call this woman her friend, truly she did and if this problem - whatever it was - could be talked about then it would bring them closer together.

The doctor's hand stretched out to her across the table, grabbing her own and squeezing it as she began to explain. The dancer stiffened as the woman explained her entry into slavery, the things that she'd had to do and for how long. Khestra had indeed been a name and she found herself wincing at the comparison that the other had drawn between them even if it had only been because of a trick of the light. It wasn't nice to be compared to an apparently cruel slaver. It had obviously brought back the horror of what had taken place in Kechaiya's past and so she couldn't blame her for hyperventilating. Gods, she felt like such a bitch now.

She squeezed the doctor's hand to try to affirm the bond growing between them, her voice soft as she addressed the woman. "You don't have to worry about being overemotional, Kech. I think that it's understandable, at least with this. Think it was just alcohol earlier but now I think you had good reason for getting upset. It's only a memory though. Khestra isn't going to come looking for you. If she was then don't you think that she would have found you before now?" The dancer smiled, giving another squeeze to let know the other know that everything was going to be all right. There was nothing for her to fear anymore.

The foreigner's narrative had raised quite a few questions for the blonde though and she could see no harm in probing the woman for information. There probably wouldn't be anything that could be touched upon to set her off again, or at least she hoped that there wouldn't be. It was important not to overload her with too many questions all at once but they were simply bursting to jump off her tongue.

"I have a question or two, Kechaiya. If you don't mind me asking you some things," the young woman began carefully, watching her companion's face as she continued. "How old are you now? I mean, your age, your number of years whatever why you say it." The dancer wasn't sure if she'd get her meaning so she decided to give an example. "Okay what I mean is... well, I'm 22 so I was born 22 years ago. No, actually nearly 23 years now. It's my birthday on the 46th. I was trying to make this easier but I think I'm making it worse. It's only a handful of days so we'll say that I'm 23. What age are you now?" The question was sighed out, the blonde knowing that she'd been tripping over her own tongue. She'd just had to keep talking, hadn't she?

A few deep breaths were taken before she hazarded speaking again, this time thinking carefully before each word. If she made a mistake again she had every intention in stopping herself and waiting until her thoughts could be collected into some semblance of sense. "What's an Eypharian? Is it the name of a people or a place? Like are you Eyk...Eyktol... Eyktolian because you're from Eyk... that place." How smooth this was going, stuttering over the name of where Kechaiya was from. She was getting an idea of how the doctor must feel while stuttering over Common words. She wouldn't snigger at her problems with the language again, not even in her head.

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by **Kechaiya** on November 16th, 2014, 11:45 pm

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Kechaiya nodded, understanding the logic in the dancer's words. That slaver had a very good way of finding the truth behind things, and no one hide from her should she decide to go looking. This was why Kechaiya had put so much distance between the two of them, to make it not worth the effort of the hunt. In a way, Kechaiya first had to become worthless, in order to become someone worthwhile. And if the woman ever did come, Kech knew one thing, she would never get her friends involved in dealing with her. It was far too dangerous. After all, she was the reason the woman had found her parents. Because she was not a true Chaktawe.

The comforting squeezes of the hand really did help to bring peace to Kechaiya's troubled mind. When Caela said that she had a few questions, Kechaiya's first instinct was to not say anything. But she stifled that, it was a terrible habit, amongst friends at least. And she wanted at least one person, other than Noven, that she had no need to lie to. So she nodded at the request.

But as Caela explained, and over explained her question, Kechaiya could only smile. She knew the concept of age, and how to say it in Common. After all, everyone had the Watchtowers, even if they didn't speak the Common tongue. "I have twenty and two years. Mother say I born thirty and four day of Summer." She made a point to remember that Caela's birthday was on the forty-sixth of this season. She did not know if Sunberth celebrated birthdays, but back in Eyktol they were big affairs, with dancing, food, drink, all around a fire at Lethlight. Perhaps she could do something similar.

The next question reminded Kechaiya of the ones she had asked Calyn about this part of the world. It took many frustrating explanations on the matron's part to explain the difference of Syliras and Sylira to Kechaiya. Smiling, she found herself now talking with her hands as much as words. Spreading her arms wide, "Eyktol desert. Sand go many day in all direction, many, many day. I Chaktawe. No live city like this, live in desert. Eypharian, like mother, live in Ahnatep. Eypharian look like me, no black eye." At this she flapped her arms to make it seem as if she had more, "But all have more arm. Four or six. No two. Like scorpion. Four city in Eyktol. Ahnatep in east. Eloab, city of ghost, in north. Yahebah in west, city of Benshira. Benshira like human, skin like mine. Very hairy." This last bit she gestured as if she had a big burly beard. "In south Hai. Hai where people do bad things go. Never come back. Ever. Is help?"

She smiled across the dancer. It was quite refreshing to get to talk about home to someone who actually wanted to know. To have a confidante, a friend who knew as much about herself as she did. "Most strange thing of Sunberth when get here. No crime, no danger. Most strange how pale skin all are. Is like alive ghosts." She found this wholly too funny, simply because she'd always wanted to say it to someone for years now. And as such, she found herself in a small fit of giggle-snorting, before composing. She waited to see if Caela had any more questions or anything else for the night.

by **Caela Dorin** on November 17th, 2014, 7:02 pm

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Kechaiya's smile after her age explanation showed that Caela had been talking for no reason at all. It had never occurred to her to wait and see if the doctor would be confused and then explain if it was necessary. She couldn't seem like a bigger idiot right now if she tried. She'd gotten the information she'd wanted and a more besides. The woman was a nearly a full year younger than herself as she would only have turned twenty two the season before, the 34th of Summer being a date that she'd have to remember for the following year. So that meant that nine years ago, Kechaiya had been thirteen. A slave at thirteen and free before fifteen, all alone in the world and running from a mistress that could have come after her. The dancer had no idea how she had managed it, surviving on her own in the world at that age. She must have had something of value to travel, although the blonde had no idea how far she'd travelled, and that might have been her medical knowledge. It seemed doubtful that it had been her body. She had said that she'd never kissed anyone before Noven and she was too innocent and honest to be lying about it. That was a small mercy at least but in spite of it she wondered what the woman had seen, the good no doubt mixed in with the bad.

The doctor began to explain the geography of Eyktol. So it was a desert. She'd possibly heard of it then. She'd heard that there was a land where Syna's heat beat down so mercilessly on it that the earth had turned to dust, sand where nothing could grow and nothing could survive. Surely that wasn't where Kechaiya came from. Yet from the woman's description that was exactly where she was from and she had lived in that environment. The foreigner was showing entirely new depths the more Caela looked into her. She felt sorry for putting the woman down, her experience was turning out to be vastly impressive.

The woman's mother was Eypharian but Kechaiya was Chaktawe. She wondered what the later was supposed to mean. Had her father been different? She'd only mentioned her mother so maybe it was a word for a mixed blood or something. Another question to add to the list. Her tongue couldn't be held when the Eypharians were described to her. "Four or six arms? Who has that many arms? That's just weird!" she exclaimed, face contorting in an expression of disgust. Belatedly she remembered that the doctor's mother had been one. Dropping her gaze and flushing she mumbled, "No offence to your mother or anything. It just seems really strange to me." She held her tongue from then on in, absorbing the new knowledge. Ahnatep, Eloab, Yahabeh, Hai. Hai she had heard of before but all she'd known was that it was a bad place and that it was sometimes used in swearing. She hadn't known that it was a real place, she thought that it had only been made up. Ghosts, Benshira, Eypharians, Chaktawe. It sounded like a exotic place and one that should only exist in stories like the ones the sailors told of far away places. The doctor was believed though.

"It helps. I have more questions though." The young woman smiled sheepishly, allowing the other to say anything else that she might want before she asked what she wanted to know.

At first, her friend's words concerning Sunberth were confusing. The dancer initially thought that the woman was saying that the city had no crime or danger, which caused lasted for one brief eye popping moment before she grasped the true meaning. "Oh! Yes, I see what you mean. Well if everyone looked like you back in... Eyktol then we would seem yes. To us, you seem dark. Just depends on your point of view, I guess." The blonde's chin rested on both of her hands as she considered all of the questions her companion's answers had raised. If they asked in one chunk then maybe she'd get the answer for a number of them at once.

"You said that you were Chaktawe, what does that mean? If your mother was Eypharian then what was your father? Do others have black eyes or is it only you? Um..." She paused, considering if she had anything else that she'd wanted to add. "Oh yeah! How can ghosts have a city? They aren't actually real, are they? It's just a way of saying that it's empty, right? And Hai is a real place? Is it very bad? Sorry for all the questions. I'll try not to have any more." The blonde smiled sheepishly as she looked up at Kechaiya with eager anticipation in her eyes.
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by **Kechaiya** on November 17th, 2014, 8:23 pm

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Kechaiya could only agree with Caela that having that many arms was strange, despite having lived most of her life with an Eypharian. There were times that it seemed quite convenient and other times it looked terribly awkward. But she did give great hugs. And she liked that Caela had more questions, rarely getting to talk about herself in such a pleasant light. The latest question Kechaiya found both simple and difficult to answer. But she gave it a good attempt.

"Chaktawe no human race. Father Chaktawe, have black eyes, all Chaktawe have black eyes. Eyes not only make Chaktawe. Chaktawe body made live desert more other races. Have extra organ hold water, like camel. Have web toes walk sand less hard. Can feel move in air with fingers. I no have this. I have black eyes, no else. But Chaktawe no race only. Chaktawe is..." she had trouble explaining that it was a culture and that it could be anyone who joined them as well. "Chaktawe is way live. I Chaktawe, but no all Chaktawe."

As Caela revealed that she didn't know that ghosts were real, Kechaiya was quite surprised. She knew ghosts weren't extremely common, but she thought everyone knew of them. But as Caela had been patient and didn't poke fun at Kech, so the doctor returned the graciousness in kind. "Ghosts very real. Eloab no big like Sunberth, has ghost only, no empty. Is dangerous. Ghosts in Eloab no happy. Very angry. No like alive people. Try kill, make more ghost."

Kechaiya was significantly less surprised about Hai. Even in Eyktol there wasn't a lot known about Hai, because when people were sent there, they never left, never so much as got a message out. It was a black hole in the desert. "Hai very bad. Yahebah and Ahnatep send very bad criminal to Hai. No ever come back. No ever hear from. Gone forever. Chaktawe no send criminal to Hai. Is very real."

Kechaiya broadened her smile at Caela, hoping these answers satisfied her. Kechaiya wanted to know more about Caela, but really didn't know the questions to ask. She was fairly certain Caela was from Sunberth, but when she had questioned her a bit earlier, there had been a bit of discomfort on the dancer's part. So for now, she let sleeping sky dogs lie.

by **Caela Dorin** on November 17th, 2014, 9:48 pm

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So Kechaiya wasn't the only person with black eyes! It was strange to imagine that there was a whole load of people with the unusual trait but then it was a matter of perspective again, wasn't it? Black eyes were strange to her but to the doctor they were normal. She'd grown up with a man with black eyes, had them herself and had a mother and a mistress with multiple arms. What seemed surreal and fanciful to the dancer was entirely ordinary to the foreigner. How strange must the people of Sunberth look to her then? Was it odd to look around and never to see eyes looking back at you that were the same as your own? Was it strange to see everyone going about the place with only two arms? It was a peculiar thought and one that Caela knew she would run away with if given half the chance. There was no point blocking the mixed blood's words out now while she tried to imagine things from her perspective. It could wait.

Chaktawe weren't entirely human. They were apparently closer to an animal than to the race of men. Did camels had black eyes too? Maybe. Perhaps the black helped with the harsh light. It was the only Chaktawe trait that the doctor had inherited though at least physically from her mixed pedigree. It was a mystery what came from her Eypharian side, certainly not the arms. It seemed that Chaktawe was not simply a race of people but a way of life if she was deciphering the woman's words correctly. If Kechaiya was indeed Chaktawe, in terms of culture if not in appearance as well then what had she gotten from her mother at all? It seemed rude to ask somehow as if pointing it out was a dirty thing to do.

"It's a way of life," the blonde offered so that the woman would have the right words in future. With time she would learn but she would learn Common faster if she was corrected from time to time.

The revelation that ghosts truly existed was a terrifying one especially when her companion pointed out that they were aggressive and dangerous. She'd always heard in the stories about them that they were insubstantial an harmless but Kechaiya's ghosts could kill. She felt chilled. Hopefully these angry, murderous ghosts could only exist in a far off place like this Eloab in Eyktol. If they could be here too then... it didn't bear thinking about. The blonde shuddered silently hoping that she never had a chance to actually meet a ghost and have to test its level of threat.

So Hai was not only real but truly terrible, a place of damnation until death. Could ghosts move, she wondered. Could the people who lived and died in Hai migrate to the ghostly city? The worst criminals went there, the murderers and rapists and child molesters of Sunberth if they did the same. The vicious went there, those with murderous streaks so it sounded possible that they would remain as the dregs of their former life to carry out their revenge and resume their crimes. Now that she knew just how bad a place though she would not curse so flippantly with it anymore. It would be reserved for the very worse situations and the most cruel, horrible people. If she ever damned someone to Hai in the future then it would certainly be because she thought they deserved it rather than being simply pissed off at them.

"Hai is... full of all the worst criminals. Do they continue after death do you think? As ghosts? Murderous ghosts like those in Eloab?" The dancer's head shook back and forth as soon as the words were free of her mouth. "I'm sorry, I won't ask you that. I'm talking your ear off enough with questions so there's no point giving you ones that are too horrible to answer." Considering more carefully this time, she ran over Kechaiya's words in her mind once more and alighted on something that could be asked of the former slave.

"Ahnatep and Yahabeh send criminals to Hai but why not the Chaktawe? Do you not have criminals? That shouldn't be possible really so you must have them. What do you do with them then?"

The young woman promised herself silently that this would be the last question. Either the other would batter her with queries of her own or Caela would take her leave. The latter was probably for the best. It was no doubt now quite late and it wouldn't be good to keep her friend from her bed for too much longer. They would have a chance to talk again after all during their shopping trip in a couple of days.
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by **Kechaiya** on November 17th, 2014, 10:48 pm

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Kechaiya said 'way of life' several times in order to log it specifically into her memory when trying to describe cultural lifestyles, in Common. She enjoyed learning the local idioms, especially if she knew the equivalent of them in Tawna. Kechaiya couldn't have answered Caela's question had she decided to actually ask it after asking it. No one knew what happened within Hai. It was an interesting thought, maybe all the ghosts in Eloab were the souls of those that died in Hai and finally escaped, and formed their own community in death. Her father would've enjoyed such a debate. He could probably argue it until Leth was high in the sky, from both view points.

And the question of how the Chaktawe deal with justice was a complicated one, even in her own language. It really depended on the nature of the crime. But she would give it a shot. "Is... hard say. If steal from man, man challenge thief combat, winner determined by gods, is right. If man kill man, killer stripped of belonging, titles, family, banished to desert, never return. If he live, is will of gods." With a knowing flick of the hand, "Gods punish those need punish. It is known. No happen here, Sunberth no honor gods."

Kechaiya knew it was growing late and the later it grew the more unsafe it became for Caela to walk the streets to get home. Kechaiya would feel awful if Caela were harmed or killed leaving her home. She was half tempted to offer for her to stay here, but Kech really didn't want to give up her bed, and after the awkwardness by the hearth, sharing it with her wouldn't help. "Is late, Leth high. No be safe in street. No want you hurt. Still want shop on day thirty and one? Meet at Pig Foot twelve bell?"

She really hoped Caela didn't think she was rushing her out the door, her fear for her safety was genuine. The violence in the streets had been going on for many days now and didn't look to be stopping any time soon. Despite the fact that the emotional turmoil in this night had been incredibly high, and varying, she considered it a good day. Because Kechaiya could safely say that now, in the slums of Sunberth, she had found a friend with hair and heart of gold.

by **Caela Dorin** on November 18th, 2014, 12:04 am

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The doctor hadn't tried to answer her pseudo question about Hai and ghosts. It wasn't surprising really. It hadn't been the sort of thing that had an answer. If nobody knew anything about Hai and what happened there then obviously there was no way of knowing if there were ghosts there and whether or not they left for Eloab. Better to stick to facts rather than forcing Kechaiya to talk about things that would be difficult to discuss even if they could speak fluently in the same language. As it was there was a serious language barrier between them and so abstract topics really couldn't be up for discussion.

Justice among the Chaktawe was explained by the foreigner as best as she could. They didn't decide it themselves but allowed the gods to decide the fates of their criminals. It was certainly unbiased on their side but it hardly seemed fair. Was it right for some being that you never saw to decide the innocence or guilt of the accused? The dancer imagined that there were times when someone got away with a crime because the gods said they could even though they were guilty. Depending on the severity of the crime it must be horrible for the victims involved, especially as they weren't allowed to go against the verdict except in the privacy of their hearts.

"It is known."

It hadn't been known to Caela. The gods didn't decide on justice in Sunberth, the people did. Whether it was individuals who dealt with their own problems or a mob sought retribution, it was Sunberth's denizens that served as judges and executioners in the city of anarchy. It was drastically different from the way things were done among the Chaktawe as well as Eyktol at large. Sunberthians had to have everything in their own hands.

Nodding to show that she understood the mixed blood's explanation, the blonde didn't have a chance to voice her intentions before the other beat her to it after coming to her own conclusions. The woman was a bloody mind reader now too. At least there would be no protests to her departure if anything the doctor seemed eager to get her out of doors.

"Don't worry yourself, Kechaiya. I haven't got far to go," she reassured the woman as she rose from her seat. The blonde moved partially around the table, a hand coming to rest on her new friend's shoulder before she leaned down and pecked her on the cheek. The action complete Caela moved to the doorway, pulled it open and turned to the doctor one last time. "Thirty first, twelfth bell, Pig's Foot. I'll see you then." With a parting smile, she was gone with the door pulled to behind her.
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by **Vanari** on December 14th, 2014, 3:31 am

Caela

Observation	+5 XP
Dancing	+3 XP
Planning	+2 XP
Tactics	+2 XP
Seduction	+1 XP
Brawling	+1 XP
Teaching	+4 XP
Rhetoric	+5 XP
Intelligence	+5 XP
Leadership	+4 XP
Persuasion	+5 XP
Intimidation	+2 XP
Philosophy	+2 XP
Interrogation	+5 XP
Acting	+2 XP
Storytelling	+3 XP
Socialization	+5 XP

Lores :

Notes :

Closed [Pig's Foot Tavern] The Temptation of a Woman (Kechaiya)