Timestamp:10th of Spring, 520 A.V.
When the ship came into sight of the settlement, Taz stood at the rail looking on. She knew the place was smaller by far than Riverfall, but the one dock jutting out into the cerulean water surprised her. She saw a few buildings built in the distance out into the water. And it looked like further back in the palm trees more buildings were tucked here and there. Swallowing hard, the young woman reached back and tried to capture a portion of her wildly curling hair behind an ear, while trying to suppress the grin that was having a hard time being covered up despite her dismay.
Riverfall was so different. It had a roaring waterfull on the side of a sheer cliff that dropped down into a plunge pool that formed a sheltered harbor. Buildings clung to the cliffs and rose up the walls of stone in tiers. Here, there was only the sun, the sand, and the water. It was beautiful, but it was so different. Her fingers dug into the wood of the rail and she leaned over as the sailors brought the ship expertly up to the dock and lines were tossed overboard. The Veronica was tied off dutifully and almost immediately the crew and even the passengers were conscripted into unloading.
Someone struck up a tune and though Tazrae wasn't used to singing with others, she joined in the song having learned it in the crossing. A crate of chickens was handed to her and several bags of potatoes were draped across her shoulders, balancing her load. She thought of her bags and trunks in the cabin and cargo hold, but the work before them seemed to take precedence. People came out of the trees, all joining in the work without the Captian even remotely having to ask.
People greeted each other and sailors hugged what appeared to be family members that materialized to check on them and then help unload the ship. It was clear to Tazrae almost immediately that Syka had no longshoreman. Instead, the citizens just seemed to turn out to assist the ship unloads all on their own.
With crystal clear blue eyes, she noted packages of mail handed off to an older man who wore authority like a coat, and even that gentleman set the mail he was handed aside to roll up his shirt sleeves and help with the unload. Surprsingly, the whole process took less than two bells, though it was two bells that Tazrae sweated and groaned unused to the heat and humidity they worked in.
However, it wasn't without its reward. Sometime about halfway through the unload, several people, peeled off from the work and headed towards what looked like a commons area and she could smell meat cooking. Pork, she thought, though it had a tinge of something to it she'd never smelled or tasted before. One of the sailors, handing her a crate of what looked like paper and ink, winked and nodded towards the commons where something was smoking fairly heavily now. "They've put a pig on the spit, girl. We'll have barbequed pork sooner than later and all the fixings." He muttered happily, handing her a waterskin which she took a drink out of before passing it onward.
She had no clue, of course, what barbequed pig was verses normal pig, but that didn't mean the smell wasn't making her stomach growl. Taz wondered if there was someplace she could clean up because her curls were now plastered to her face, neck, and face. The underarms of her shirt were soaked through with sweat, and she had long figured out her heavy kidskin boots were unsuited to the heavy sand. Her skirt was too heavy for the weather too, she decided immediately, and she flapped an end of it in her face as soon as she was relieved of the writing supplies by someone who said they were bound for the mercantile.
Sometime later, Tazrae got swept up in a crowd and found herself jostled into a line that wound through the communal kitchen with a plate loaded with food and a mug loaded with some kind of fruit juice. On the far side of the line, was a covered area filled with tables and chairs. She found a seat alone, a bit away from the crowd, and settled in to enjoy the food. Barbeque, it turned out, was tangy and delicious... some sort of roasted treated meat. But there was corn, fruit, and two different types of salad. She had a bit of everything, tasting and trying the new cuisine, even as she looked around and took in the sites.
She wondered again, for the hundredth time, if this was the right decision. Syka was only two or three days from home by ship, but it might as well be a world away. She knew absolutely no one here except the Captian. And honestly, she hadn't seen him for hours. When the ship had steadily risen in the water as it emptied out, Taz found her stuff in a neat pile off to the side of the dock in the shade of a palm tree with absolutely no one messing with it. She'd left it alone in favor of the food, but the truth was she had no idea where she was going to spend the night. There was no Inn here.
That's why she'd come, truth be told, but it made her feel weird that so many people might come here to visit and have no place to go. Could she change that? Was there truly an opportunity here? Tazrae dug into her food, curious, thoughtful, and indeed watchful.
Word Count: 996
