A Walk of Weapons[Ari'Ellin]

[Moritz Craven]

12 Fall 521

Taking a breath, Moritz eyed the edge of the giant bazaar of the Outpost. He had been to the place quite a number of times, but even still he felt a bit pressed when entering it. The sounds, the smells, the sights, it was somewhat overwhelming. After entering the outpost today he had quickly made his way there, the man handing out maps being busy and so not getting a chance to talk to him. But, Moritz supposed, he could likely see him on the way out and get in a word or two.

"Excuse me, could you give me directions to the weapons area?"

Questioning a Keiss quickly Moritz followed the directions with his feet. A left turn, then two booths, then a turn.... And then along that before... While he knew after his many visits how to find the bazaar itself, it being so large it was almost harder to miss than to find, he still did not know where much of anything was within it and so needed help in more specific directions once he arrived. He was not even sure if it kept the same. Was weapons always in the same place? Did it move? Was there any order to the seemingly infinite market? Would armor or pots be there the next day? He was unsure how solid or consistent anything was, and so instead found himself asking for aid in finding things on any given day he visited.

A left turn and then... Two booths over... And then... And then Moritz saw a weapon stand, and knew he had found the place. This one was simple, a line of swords laid out across some cloth on top of the booth. They were bigger swords, not small ones but not overly large either, perhaps around the same size as his own tiger hook swords he wore today on his weapon harness.

Today he wore his silk button down outfit below said weapon harness, the outfit that only showed above his neck, past his wrists, and below his ankles. His feet as usual were covered in sandals, and on one wrist was a bracelet he was incapable of removing due to what he assumed was some form of magic.

On the small of his back, just above his waist horizontally, was his weapon scabbard attached to his weapon harness and holding his dual tiger hook swords. Said weapon harness had spots for more weapons he had not yet gathered.

Over that was his pack, the scabbard and weapon sticking out on either side, this holding various common items he kept and used and of course money for buying things. And the sole odd artifact which was a piece of skyglass he had found fully formed and fallen from the sky. Odd enough in general, but even odder as it had fallen not as normal and been turned into skyglass, but already as skyglass.

As usual he stood out from the crowd in large part due to his odd kelvic features. He was on the tall side, nearing six foot, but he had other features that were much odder. After all not many people had hair colored mainly in large pastel purple and pink streaks, nor the square black pupil less eyes of a goat. Both were carried over from his Okomo form, perhaps recognizable to someone having seen Okomo in Lhavit but not to many others. Of course some might just assume he had colored his hair, not realizing it was his natural hues.

Even odder, when looking closely enough to properly see his eyes, were the sunbursts surrounding and contrasting with his square Okomo eyes which marked him as an Iraso, a practitioner of Pathfinding.

Looking at the booth Moritz inspected them for a moment before passing on to the next spot. This one had a mix of longer blades, some curved and some straight, though none in the style of his own blades. After that was a series of knives on a booth, some looking like they would work for cooking, others clearly intended for more combat oriented uses. One was even so long he was unsure it would be called a knife, though laying by its neighbors it did seem as such.

After that he saw some axes, light little things that looked like they might be used for throwing or something. Moritz looked at these a little closer, inspecting them, before silently turning on to the next booth. He was unsure what he was looking for, but he felt he would know it when he saw it.

With a sigh Moritz continued onward, his main focus switching to each booth in turn as he took in its wares.

WC: 785

[Ari'Ellin]

To say that the Outpost’s bazaar was overwhelming to Ari’Ellin would have been an understatement. It was why she tended to avoid going their all too often. The few times she’d been to the Outpost, she’d avoided the bazaar as much as she could. She always found that there were too many people there, speaking too many languages and rushing around at speeds faster than Ari could comprehend.

She had never been one to rush through everywhere as quickly as they did. She knew that if she tried that she’d mess up. She needed the time to make sure she was doing things correctly. It was too easy for her to get things wrong, to mishear or misread things, or forget directions when she was in too much of a hurry, especially when there were distractions all around her and the sounds of hundreds of voices saying various different things, only a handful of which she could understand.

Today she had managed to find herself lucky, and Kita had written her a list of a few things for her to get and the types of stalls that she should be able to get them from, even adding on the things that Ari’Ellin wanted to get for herself, and the Konti had found herself at one of the areas she needed within twenty chimes of entering the Outpost.

She had recently decided that she wanted to get some sort of ranged weapon, one that would be relatively easy for her to use so she could learn to hunt and get her own bones, rather than having to buy them. She liked to have more options available, and she felt as though seeing the actual animal that the bones came from would help her to create fetishes that actually did something, rather than just ugly pieces of bone with something carved on it that ultimately seemed to do nothing more than superstition.

Sighing, she approached a stall, the list of things Kita had wrote for her in her hand as she looked down at it, then her eyes scanned over the weapons and she frowned. She had thought that she’d recognise the bow she was looking for. She’d seen someone holding one from a distance once, and she had thought that that would be enough, but as she looked over the weapons, everything seemed so unfamiliar when they weren’t being held by someone.

She read over the list carefully, trying to find the word that she needed so she could try to work out what the word was.
“Jar, cactus seeds, pot, shea butter… eh?” she interrupted herself as she found that the bow she wanted was practically illegible to her, a frown spreading wider and wider across her face. If it had been written in Kontinese, she might have had an easier time deciphering the scrawls and overlapping letters, or perhaps even if she could remember the common name for a crossbow she might have been able to recognise the the word, but that wasn’t the case.

Ari’Ellin shook her head to herself, only looking up enough to recognise that a person was nearby before reaching out and tapping them, gesturing to her piece of paper before she spoke.
“Sorry, you help can?” she questioned, pointing to the word. “I read bad, what does say?” she asked, finally looking up to see the tall man with pastel coloured hair. He was definitely odd looking and Ari found herself blinking in surprise at the sight.

She wasn’t quite sure what she was expecting to see, but she couldn’t recall a time that she’d ever seen someone with pink or purple hair that didn’t have horns like the tall beings that she’d seen in Lhavit a few times, and this man didn’t seem to be one of those, especially once she paid more attention to his face and noticed the bizarre rectangular pupils in his eyes.

“Sorry, rudeness, I struggle. My name Ari’Ellin, my common not so good. My friend write, but I can’t tell what say. It too much mess.” she said calmly and as clearly as she could, now uncertain as to whether the man would speak enough common to have understood her. Then as she waited, she looked him up and down a few times, trying to work out what he could possibly be, or where he was from.

Word Count729

[Moritz Craven]

Moritz was looking at a set of weapons on a stand, trying to figure out what it was and why it looked so odd, when he noticed someone trying to get his attention with a touch. At first he thought it might be someone else, but turning to meet their gaze he realized they were directly talking to him. For a moment he thought he was in the way, or perhaps had dropped something, but looking about he realized he was not blocking the stand and he did not seem to have dropped any of his things. So then it did seem, he reasoned, that the woman was trying to talk to him.

As he looked closer he realized the woman looked somewhat familiar, not like he had met her before but perhaps similar to someone else he had met. She was shorter than Moritz, had pale skin and hair, and seemed... Familiar... Though even as he thought this the young kelvic could not put his finger upon who he was reminded of. Surely someone from Lhavit, as most people he had met where there, but who specifically he was unsure of.

Gesturing at a piece of paper with some writing it appeared the woman was trying to get him to read something, though until she spoke he was unclear why. Was she trying to get him to buy something? To read a sales pitch? All of those suppositions were proven wrong by her words, though admittedly he had some trouble understanding her words as her common was a bit rough.

From this Moritz reasoned either the woman was not very literate, or that common was not her first tongue and so did not know it was well as another. Another option also seemed to be some type of trick or subterfuge, but he was unsure what kind of trick it could be. Law was enforced pretty strongly in the outpost, or such was his understanding, but he supposed scams and the like could still be possible and within the laws or some grey area within them.

"Can I help? Help with... Reading this? I suppose."

Turning to face the woman who offered her name Moritz nodded, realizing then that his name was displayed in common on the front of his clothing. Some odd magic related to the buttoned suit made it so that when he fully donned the garment his name appeared- both first and last- on the chest. He was unsure why, but besides himself trying some subterfuge the naming did not cause him any issues and so he did not fret over it.

Looking at the writing more carefully he saw it was in common, and admittedly not written very neatly. Tracing along a finger above each word as he read it Mortiz read them off one by one till he arrived at the one in question, speaking each word clearly and slowly without much in terms of inflection or emotion. More of a flat somewhat disinterested voice.

"Jar... Cactus seed... Pot... Shea Butter... Cross... Bow... Crossbow. Yeah, that is it, crossbow. I suppose your looking for one?"

Pointing at the name of his chest Moritz explained his own name in return for the womans, nodding in response to her words.

"Ari'Ellin. Hello. I am Moritz, Moritz Craven as you can see here."

Remembering the woman was trying to find a crossbow Moritz looked around quickly, but after a quick look did not see any. He vaguely knew what a crossbow was but had not used one himself. A bow was a piece of bent wood with string or something... And was fired... Here Moritz searched for the word... Manually. Which meant size and strength was important. A crossbow on the other hand was kind of... t shaped.... And rather than working by manual force, it was mechanical. Though, he supposed, some form of manual process was still likely required to power that mechanical force... But regardless this made sense for a small woman who would not be as physically strong as a larger man like Moritz.

Turning to a nearby booth Moritz waved to get the mans attention, querying him.

"Hey, this lady is trying to find a crossbow. Do you know any of those around here?"

The booth holder shrugged noncommittally, eying Moritz and then the woman. "What kind of crossbow? You know there is more than one type, right?"

Moritz shook his head, having not realized there was more than one type, thanking the man and turning back to the woman.

"Uh, do you know the type of... Uh... Crossbow... Type?"

On the last few words Moritz made sure to speak a bit slower and to enunciate to make sure his question got across.

WC: 790

[Ari'Ellin]

The man looked confused for a few moments after she had managed to catch his attention and she could feel regret building up in her chest. She should have paid more attention. She had no clue how busy the man had looked before her intrusion, and had she looked for someone who appeared to not be busy rather than reaching out and just grabbing the closest person to her she might have avoid the nerves building in her as she realised that she might have just angered someone.

Trying to keep her composure, she chewed on the inside of her lip, waiting for the odd man to say something before he responded, showing that he understood what she had asked him and then agreeing to help her. Almost immediately a grin spread across her face and she exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Thank you! Sorry, I no check see if busy. I look next time, not grab first.” she offered her thanks and apology to the man, bowing slightly and listening carefully to his words as he read them out. Some of the words had an awkward spelling to them, but she had been able to remember them, and hearing him saying them at least a similar way to her imagination served as a boost in her confidence with them, then as he reached the unfamiliar word a look of realization came across as she silently cussed herself out. It was so obvious now that she’d heard him saying it.

“Oh! Crossbow!” she repeated after the man. She had heard the word before, granted it was only in passing, but she had definitely heard it before, only somehow it had slipped her mind, even with it written on a piece of paper, granted one that she couldn’t read. She traced the messy letters of the word, sounding it out as she did so, trying to force it into her memory so that she would be able to recognise it if there was ever another time that she needed to. “Cr-oss-b-ow...” she mumbled to herself, before shaking her head at herself. Now that she knew what the word was supposed to be, she could see it in the darned writing.

As the strange looking man stated his name and pointed to the word on his clothes that he claimed to be his name, Ari stayed quiet, focusing on the words for a bit, trying to commit them to her memory before she looked up again and smiled at him, nodding to him.

“Moritz Craven? It nice to meet you.” she chuckled slightly, offering her hand for a handshake to the man. “Where from? From here? Come from other place?” she questioned, trying to work out where the man was from.

Then she heard him asking one of the shopkeepers about the crossbow and for a moment she blinked, having expected him to have had his own things to tend to rather than helping a stranger. Still, the gesture was very much appreciated and Ari’Ellin made sure to keep close to the tall goat man, though she tried not to stay too close to him. She didn’t want to unnerve the man.

The shopkeeper had spoken too quickly for her to keep up, and while she was still trying to process what he had said, Moritz turned to her, asking at a speed that was a lot easier for her to understand. The brief thankfulness for his help was quickly cast aside though, as the words he spoke set off a sudden wave of panic.

“Type? Lot types? Ah shyke...” she mumbled under her breath trying to think of any she had seen. “I... not heavy. Not special, just shoot bird and squirrel. Deer when I good?” she started before thinking. “Two hand hold, add... Add... pointy thing? Point and pointy thing fly." She shook her head realising that that probably described every crossbow. “Ai...” she sighed shaking her head more. “Sorry, no good speak. Which less but okay shoot birds and squirrels and deer?” she asked, looking between Moritz and the shopkeeper, realising that the shopkeeper could maybe give her better options.

“Sounds like you need a light crossbow, or a hand crossbow, or a bracer.” the shopkeeper responded as he looked them up and down.
“What difference? Which easy use?”
The man chuckled and sighed slightly. “A light crossbow is cheaper but is loaded and fired with two hands, the hand crossbow is smaller fired with one hand, and the bracer is on your wrist and loaded with two hands and fired with one.”

Not wanting to seem like too much of an idiot to the man again, Ari turned to Moritz and asked him in a hushed tone. “You think load is put pointy thing in place?” she asked, before frowning at herself. “I ask you too much, sorry. I can help you after if need help? No help debt that way.” she smiled slightly at the man, hoping he’d accept her offer.
Word Count834

[Moritz Craven]

Looking at the woman, he began to puzzle over some of her reactions. She had boldly asked for aid when she needed it in understanding the common, but had almost immediately turned shy. Was she bold, or shy? Was she sure of what she said, or not?

"Whats the point of apologizing now? Either I was busy and would say so, or I was not and would help. Since I've helped clearly I wasn't busy, or at least not too busy. Whats the point in dwelling on worrying me after you've already done so? That is kind of being noncommittal..."

After finishing explaining this Moritz remembered the woman was not very fluent in common, and so did his best to summarize a bit more simply.

"I help, or not help. No point in... Worrying over it. Better I think to... Commit. And if not work, go to another."

While he spoke more simply Moritz refused to speak in broken or incorrect common, simply using simpler phrasing, slower speech, and occasion pauses for emphasis. After all if he did not know a tongue well he would want to learn to use it better, which required hearing it used correctly not being coddled with half correct wording and usage. So he simply assumed the woman would want the same and would be striving to better herself, unless until proven otherwise.

"In truth... I'm just browsing... Looking around. I'm not looking for.... Anything specific. Just browsing."

Explaining his situation and the words involved in a few different ways Moritz tried to be as clear as possible, particularly since he wasn't completely sure which words the woman did or did not know.

At her query on where Moritz was from the young kelvic thought a bit longer, pondering how best to explain his complicated situation before responding. As he sometimes did he thought out loud through his process, before responding in somewhat easier to follow common.

"Well lets see where I am from and where I came from, those aren't the same thing. I was born in one place and lived there awhile, and then moved, and now I'm visiting another place so that's where I'm staying but not technically where I am from... Does she mean one or both? And if one which one? And wait, from here? Is anyone from here?"

Pausing in thought Moritz considered this. Had he met anyone who actually said they were from the Outpost? He vaguely felt it was a recent thing, appearing after he was born, which could explain why the people he had met here where all from other places. That or people who he had not confirmed where they were from... But recalling their conversation Moritz turned back, continuing his explanation.

"I was born in Lhavit. Lived there a time. Most of my life. But then moved, and staying in another place for now. Not sure how long stay. But came to Outpost from there. Does that answer you? Also.... Where are you from? Or where did you come from? If its not the same..."

Thinking on something else, namely the woman's rough handling of Common, another question occurred to Moritz.

"Also is common not your first tongue? I am curious, if its not what is? I have not heard of it before, but you look.... Kind of familiar to me. Not exactly but... In general. Similar to someone else I met before."

After that the woman and Moritz spoke with the shopkeeper or stand runner running the stand of weapons, trying to work things out more. Said shopkeep seemed helpful enough, though not himself selling crossbows perhaps a bit limited in his full knowledge. But being a merchant of sorts and selling weapons still likely knowing more than either of the two- namely Moritz and Ari'Ellen.

With some back and forth and some aggravation on the part of Ari'Ellen for realizing she did not know things, they seemed to work out what was needed. Not a heavy crossbow, nor a more specialized or slimmed down one, but instead just a simpler and apparently cheaper light crossbow. He smiled at her question aimed towards him, nodding in response.

"Loading means to put something into something else... Like you load a cart by putting things in it. So yes, I would think loading a crossbow means putting the... Pointy thing... In it."

Moritz did not know crossbows too well, but he was fairly certain "pointy thing" was not the correct term. But pending his finding out the correct term he simply used the woman's term. He knew with bows it was an arrow, but off the top of his head did not know what it was called for a crossbow.

"Its fine, honestly. I was just looking around. Browsing. And I wanted to look at weapons anyways, so it does not hurt to learn more about a certain type of them. Plus, I don't have anywhere to be."

Considering things and his own worn pieces, Moritz put one hand on his worn weapon harness.

"Do you have something to... Carry things on? Or are you going to hold them by hand all the time? If not, you might want to get some kind of harness, like this. To... Carry things easier. To attach to... To hold on when not using. Have you thought about that? Something to hold on?"

WC: 894

[Ari'Ellin]

As the man spoke Ari’Ellin tried to keep her facial expressions calm despite the speed of thoughts running through her mind as she tried to work out the words he was saying. Some of the words she knew, others she had to think about longer and harder, and then others sounded alien to her. Despite her efforts to try and understand and keep her face calm, she ended up furrowing her brows more. She was about to speak and complain about how many words he had used and how quickly he had spoke when he spoke a little more simply. She assumed that he was repeating the same points from earlier, and she listened carefully, nodding at him. This time she found it a lot easier to follow his words, until he mentioned the word commit and she frowned.

“Commit like crime? Crime bad, no commit crime!” she chewed the inside of her lip after she spoke before thinking. “How commit crime fit with other words. Make less sense.” she frowned more, trying to work things out, but it was a little infuriating to her. The word seemed completely out of place with the others and she couldn’t see why someone would use it unless there was some other sort of meaning to the word that she hadn’t yet managed to work out.

She hummed softly, listening to the man and working things out in her head, trying to force the words into her memory. From the way he had paused and then given a different word, it seemed that browsing and looking around meant the same thing, and so she nodded but tried to avoid asking too many questions about the language and turning towards his intentions for the day.

“Just look? See anything you want buy? Or not wanting use any money? Just looking fun?” she questioned, trying to work out what he wanted to do in the Outpost and see if there was anything she could help the odd man with.

What he said about the difference between where he was from and where he came from took a little while for her to comprehend, but once she did, she nodded. It seemed he was like her, having moved from one place to another, living away from his family.

”From Outpost? Mmm… Maybe?” she thought. “Where I be, I see people live. Some must live here?” she thought, musing to herself, now growing more and more uncertain. Shaking her head, she listened closely to him speaking again and at the mention of Lhavit she grinned slightly, listening more as he mentioned moving and she nodded.

“Like you… I from Mura, but travel. I live Lhavit now… live in Lhavit now…” she paused trying to correct her common, still uncertain as to whether she was using it properly. “No, father tried teach me common, but he bad teacher. Where I from we speak Kontinese, so everyone know Kontinese. Some say common, some say Tukant. Father taught common, mother taught little bit Tukant but she not know much to teach.” she mumbled as she spoke. “So I say Kontinese best, common can understand and say bits, but even more little Tukant, just words and little phrases.” she tried to explain as best as she could. “Do you speak more language?” she questioned, wondering if she could perhaps relate her understanding of languages to him a little easier if he had firsthand experience of learning, or trying to learn, languages. “Also, you say look similar to someone you know? You maybe know other Konti? If light hair and scale, you meet Konti before.” she nodded as she spoke.

For all the man was one she’d only just met, she was already grateful to him and all of the help he had offered so far, without having any obligation to help her. Even just having him there had given her the confidence to try to speak more with the shopkeeper, something she would likely have avoided doing without having anyone willing to help her nearby. Then as the man explained to her, confirming her understanding of the word and she smiled, nodding.

“Ah, many thank. I never sure of some word. It get hard sometime.” she shrugged slightly, chuckling and shaking her head. “We walk and look more? Maybe other… shop thing… have more thing, something you like look and want buy too?” she chuckled and grinned more as she spoke to the man. She had been so fixated on getting her crossbow for so long that she’d never really considered what other weapons might look interesting or useful for her. “You say you live somewhere different to your home home, what is new place like? Is more or less dangerous than Lhavit?” she hummed as she spoke, looking up at the man.

As the man mentioned perhaps needing something to carry a weapon with and touched the harness he was wearing, she furrowed her brow realizing that she hadn’t really looked into things as much as she should have done, she hadn’t even considered needing anything to carry the weapon with, and she couldn’t help but bite the inside of her lip in frustration as she shook her head. “I not think about carrying… Carrying is hard when no holding thing?” she questioned, before nodding. “Maybe I need.” agreeing that one would probably be useful to her, especially if she eventually ended up wanting to get further from the city to use her crossbow. “Will make easy when want to walk further. Less time to drop and break.” she nodded to herself, more thinking out loud than actually talking. She wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t break the weapon within days of buying it, but she also wasn’t sure that she could trust herself to use a harness properly and not get tangled up in it. Of course she would have to practice using the harness and getting the bow out of it before she’d actually be able to use it.

Word Count1002

[Moritz Craven]

Frowning Moritz tried to puzzle through the woman's words, but found his understanding lacking. While she was technically using common words, he would not really call what she was doing properly speaking common. As to how she had gotten off on a tangent completed unrelated to anything he had said the young kelvic was at a complete loss.

"I... What? When did I say anything about a crime?"

Somewhat frustrated at the miscommunication, and trying to puzzle out where the wrong turn had come from, Moritz went through his own earlier words. He knew from personal experience lack of understanding of a word or two could make a big difference, such as when he was younger and people used technical terms or words he did not know which meant something else or something very specific. Like souls rather than soles of shoes... But still, how this one had occurred was puzzling.

Running through what he had said he was able to piece things together, but it took some time and trial and error to work out the logical pathway the woman had taken in her misunderstanding. Crime... She had mentioned committing a crime... And he had only said commit... So then from what she said... She thought commit was related to crime, rather than defining the action on the other part? In this case the action of asking a question he said it was better to commit to, versus her understanding from that of committing a crime as in performing one. A key distinction, mainly caused by her assuming one phrase used often together meant both parts were the same word or had the same meaning.

"Ari'Ellin.... If your going to listen, you have to listen to the whole thing. Okay? One word used one way, does not mean the same as the same word used in a different way. If I said I was going to... Drown you in flavor... Would that mean the same as saying I was going to drown you? One means lots of flavor... The other killing with water. Very different right? But both use the word drowning. Context is very important."

Pausing for emphasis Moritz tried to make sure he met the woman's eyes, trying to see if she understood what he was saying.

"I said commit. Commit by itself has nothing to do with performing a crime! Commit just means... Either to perform something, or... To go all in. Not to half way do it. Understand? If someone performed a crime, that is the same as committing a crime. But if someone committed to a crime, that is another other thing meaning someone went all in on a crime. I said it was better to commit to asking me for help, rather than you not committing or going half way. That has nothing to do with crimes, okay? Committing a crime only means that because the key word "CRIME" is being used, not commit! Understand?"

He did his best to speak slowly and clearly and to enunciate, but he was still confused at the odd path of logic or more so the odd leap of conclusion the woman had taken for not apparent reason. This left Moritz feeling a bit wrong footed, but outwardly he still displayed the same flat and mostly neutral expression and tone of voice as he spoke. Though he did raise his tone a few times for emphasis, this was more of a voice volume thing than anything else.

At the question of him looking and perhaps purchasing something Moritz simply shrugged, before slowly responding after taking a few moments to think.

"I do want to buy... But only if I find the right thing. But the right thing... I do not know what that is yet. I am trying to decide on it. If I see it, I hope to know it when I see it. But I have not come with a specific thing in mind. Just... Whatever is right or fits me. I am not just looking for fun... But I am not looking for something specific I have picked either."

Though he had trouble understanding the woman, he was able to piece together basically what she meant for the most part. Excluding of course the times where she went far off on a tangent and he completely did not understand her. That being said he had a feeling he understood her better than she understood him, which probably said more about his own speaking abilities. He was just not used to simplifying things, and when he spoke he tended to use the first word that seemed to express his point without considering alternatives. In fact one he found a fitting word he sometimes had trouble thinking of a second instance of the word, though not all the time, which did cause issues. His own learning of vocabulary had been accelerated due to his quick aging as a kelvic, and so he had not had much time to really digest all of the words. Due to that he tended to understand the basics of many, but was not always fluid in using different words or simpler ones when he knew another word at the moment.

From what the woman said she was from a place called Mura, but like him was a traveler and was now in a new place. That new place being the one he just left, Lhavit. He also learned that indeed common was not her first tongue, and while her father had tried to teach it to her he had apparently not been a good teacher.

"I have not heard of Kontinese before, though I am always open to learning. I only speak common, but I would not mind learning another tongue. Perhaps you could teach me a bit of it some time? Or a bit about Mura. I have not heard of it before, so I do not know much of it."

At the concept of Konti Moritz connected this to the language Kontinese, and assumed the term was related as well. As for the race, that he was less sure on, though he had seen woman who looked similar... The scales and such did seem to stand out compared to a normal human.

"Uh, possibly. What exactly is a Konti? I don't think I really know. Though I think maybe some of the teachers at the school, back in Lhavit... I think one there kind of looked similar. Scales and light hair you say? So perhaps she was one? I think I maybe met others but... I can't really remember. I only really remember things a year, maybe a year and a half ago. Things before that are a bit... Fuzzy. I mean, I'm not even three years old, so I was pretty young back then. Things before I was three seasons old... They are more dream than memory."

Not thinking to explain that he was a kelvic and so aged quite differently, Moritz pondered on the nature of Konti, but if he had met them before he did not recall being explained what one was.

"I'm fine with looking around more, I'm not in a rush. I have some time before I need to be back, and I was just planning to browse around anyways. As for where I'll be going back to, that would be Syka. Lhavit is a big city, and old. Syka is new, just a... Small settlement I suppose. Not many people. Maybe a hundred or so people, or maybe less... There are a lot I have not met. It is... Well like I said a settlement. So it is... Wilder, than a old and bigger city. It is in the jungle, with the settlement kind of cut... Into, or out of, the jungle. It I suppose is more dangerous, but also less dangerous. Less dangerous as there is less people, less crime, and such. But more dangerous in terms of animals and things."

Having someone literally look up to Moritz was new for the young kelvic. Growing fast as he was a season past he was shorter, and a season before that even shorter. Shorter then than most adults. Now he was taller than many other grown people, even his own mother. Due to this and his sudden growth his eyes tended to settle in a position a bit lower due to the habit of where he kept his gaze. That and his lacking of natural eye contact, as he did not tend to put as much emphasis on such things and so did not naturally meet peoples eyes too often.

At the topic of his harness and carrying the weapon she planned to buy Moritz nodded, looking about the wares of the market section.

"I think it is important, since you won't be using the weapon all the time. And a bow or crossbow, it won't really fit in a pack well will it? So it would make sense to have some kind of... Lanyard? Neck thingy? Or otherwise something to hold it on your body so you don't keep it in your hands al the time."

Thinking on this for a moment Moritz realized something else the woman might have forgotten.

"Oh, uhm... Where do you put the... Bolts, were they? The things you fire from the crossbow. Where do you put those at? Is there a place to keep those as well? Although I don't know if those are held the same for bow and crossbows, or if they are different... Although maybe those could be held on the harness, if you had a proper sized and arranged pouch or such. I'm not really sure, but I suppose they would need to be held somewhere."

WC: 1,624

[Ari'Ellin]

Hearing the mans confusion at her ramblings, Ari’Ellin instantly felt her face involuntarily scrunch up. In her mind everything she had said had made sense,in reality she was just oblivious to just how quickly she had jumped to conclusions just thanks to the use of the word commit. Sure Kontinese had similar word pairs that went together like that, but she had never considered that other languages had them too.

“But… you… commit…” she started, before trailing off and shaking her head, finally realising her mistake. She frowned more, looking down at her shoes for a moment as the man continued speaking, starting to explain where she had misunderstood. She kept looking towards the floor, still listening to him explaining, though at the mention of the phrase ‘drown you in flavour’ she instantly looked up, her brow furrowed in confusion as she listened more to him. She knew what drowning was, but flavour was a word she wasn’t so familiar with, but she didn’t want to interrupt him to ask for a definition that didn’t seem overly important for now. Instead she kept the phrase and the word in her mind, intent on asking Kita when she saw the woman next whilst accepting that flavour likely had nothing to do with dying or drowning or water.

“Context is… around thing, yes? So here, context other words?” she asked, trying to clarify that part before listening more to him explain what commit meant. She nodded as she listened, trying to piece everything together in her mind and get rid of her prior misconception of the word as she listened. “So commit is like… commit to work? You agree do thing for money, but to get money must commit to task and finish it?” she questioned, trying to put it in another context to check that she was understanding it correctly. “Then can maybe commit write journal? Or commit only certain length time?” she wanted to know more about the word, especially after the man had given her a thorough explanation of where she had gone. Most of the time people had avoided correcting her at all, which had definitely led to her developing some bad habits and allowing her to stagnate a little. Even the few people she had asked to correct her had usually only corrected a few minor things and given very little ideas of how she’d use it correctly in the future.

She thought for a moment in silence before nodding after the explanation, trying to keep everything in her mind as something to practice using later, just to drill the idea into her mind more. Then she heard the men mentioning that he wanted to buy something, but nothing specific.

“Ah, so nothing set. My mother say that when risk spending too much money. If you know what want, can plan and get cheap. If you not set what want, make harder plan, less like to get cheap.” Ari hummed as she spoke before she shrugged. “I think if good head, either way can get less price. Not get… made pay more than worth.” she nodded before chuckling and shaking her head. “I not have good head. Too many things to distract, I not focus too well. You maybe can tell.” she sighed and glanced around before chuckling again.

“You want learn language? Really?” Ari grinned widely as the man mentioned wanting to learn more languages, and suggesting that she could teach him. She hadn’t encountered many people that spoke Kontinese, and even less that had mentioned wanting to learn. “I maybe not good teacher, but can help teach some Kontinese words and how put words together. Like small parts, anything you want know! Word chains?” the last phrase was more for her own benefit as she tried to put things together properly. “And I can tell more about Mura too. I grew up in Mura for long time. I will learn draw to make pictures of what look like. Help you to know Mura better than only words! Can say what like, but not same as see with eyes. Pictures not so good but better than just words!” she offered enthusiastically, despite knowing that she could not draw and it had been a few years since she had left Mura, meaning that she probably wouldn’t start a chance of drawing a good image of the city.

“Yes, sound like you teacher Konti.” she started, about to continue before realising what he had said. “Three years old? Not yet? Really? But so… tall… You are child… You not human? What are you?” she furrowed her brow in confusion looking him up and down. “Sorry, you look little more old than three years. If young you do lot of growing, it sound normal you not remember all life. I not remember seventeen year ago clear, some things and idea what happened yes, but not any detail.” she sighed and shook her head, directing back to his question about what a Konti was. “What is a Konti?” Ari’Ellin mused tapping a finger to her chin as she thought about what to say. “Konti from Mura, most Konti. Mura peaceful place, lot of water. We all scales, light hair yes, and light eye. Also…” she moved a hand to point to the gills on her neck. “These, help breathe underwater so we on land or in water, no problem! Most Konti learn tell fortune, or… make people health again.” she nodded as she spoke before shaking her head. “Most Konti stay Mura, some are told to go other place to do favour, some leave to find own life and then wish had learn more language.” she chuckled as she spoke, shaking her head again. ”We live long too. So you not three yet, but I…” she paused counting on her fingers. “I thirty-five, my mother… over one hundred when she have me.” she frowned as she realised she couldn’t recall her mothers age. Her father would have scolded her for forgetting that if he had stuck around for a decade longer than he had.

As the boy spoke more Ari’Ellin listened intently, interested in learning about this new place that he called Syka. It wasn’t a place that she’d heard the name of before, but the idea of a newer place that was not an actual city but some sort of settlement mixed in with a jungle was exciting to her. It seemed a little scary too, but the idea of being somewhere with that few people, in her mind that meant that it would be easier to actually do something and be recognised for it. But then that also meant mistakes would be easily attributed to the perpetrator and it would be harder to hide behind others.

“Very small... I sure you meet everyone soon. When small important know people, then can easy find help when need, yes? Do you like more or less than Lhavit? How find Syka? Are people good to talk? Or do you think hard?” she questioned, looking at the odd boy again. “Syka sound interesting. Different life, different... erm… struggle. You go because want change, or different thing? And all Syka speak common?” she asked more questions, wanting to try to learn more about the place. “Oh and many building, or not so many? What made of? And how get things. If newer and small, it hard get special things. Is that why at Outpost? Thing hard get in Syka?”

“No, maybe too… bad shape? For pack. Maybe not fit well because bad shape. Not like book.” she nodded in agreement with the man, before thinking. “Neck thingy to carry? Like necklace? Neck thing maybe dangerous? If get stuck can… can…” she gave up trying to find the word and instead opted to show the man instead, hoping he could give the word she was looking for. Gently she placed her thumb and forefinger either side of her neck. “Like this, but squeeze. No breath. So neck thingy to carry be not safe, no? Shoulder maybe more safe>”

“Bolts? Pointy things…” she mumbled to herself, trying to remember the word should she need it later. “I think need see harness know. I not know what harness look like, so… maybe need something. Bolt holder maybe easy make too? If get harness can take to sewing person, and they sew something hold bolts?” she half mused aloud for her own benefit and half for Moritz’s input on her thoughts. He seemed to be sensible and logical than she was, and he seemed to know at least a little more than she did about any weapons. “Or is important to buy at same time? I not normally buy this things.” she sighed and shook her head. She’d never realised exactly how much she would have to consider buying just to be able to conveniently carry a weapon to try hunting with. She hummed softly, her eyes looking over the different stalls just to see what they had, trying to get an idea of what the weapons harnesses could look like.

She could see a few cases for weapons as they walked past, but all of those looked more like storage to protect whatever was in them, rather than something meant to make carrying the weapon a little easier whilst not being too restrictive. Shaking her head, she exhaled as she looked over everything before returning her gaze to the tall boy.

Word Count1575

[Moritz Craven]

After taking his time to explain her mistake, Moritz was glad to see the Konti work out her mistake and try to understand the correction. If nothing else it meant she was making an honest attempt to better herself and her understanding of common. Which of all people Moritz found honorable of a thing to do.

Never giving up or settling, always trying to further refine ones knowledge and understanding. Such was how he tried to live, slowly working away at things.

Nodding at her question Moritz agreed, trying to follow after that a flurry of examples which seemed right but were quite numerous. One or two perhaps, but the woman seemed to... Commit... Moritz chuckled to himself inwardly... To naming many examples of the correct usage.

"Yes, context is what is going on around something, rather than the thing itself. Context with anything is important. Fire is fire no matter where it is. But is it fire on a roof? Or fire in a fireplace? Not the same thing, right?"

Nodding at her examples Moritz listened, fairly certain she had the idea down. Commit to work. Commit to write.

"Yes those are proper examples of ways to use commit. Work, writing, as I said it just means the other thing is something you are doing all the way not half way. Commit to learning a language. Or not eating meat. Lots of things."

Hearing Ari'Ellin speak on money and spending Moritz shrugged, not sure he really agreed. In part, but perhaps not wholly nor in practice.

"I don't know that I agree with that. It has some assumptions I don't think apply to this situation. If you don't have a plan you might buy things yes, but if you needed those things then its not wasted money. That is less of an issue of not having a plan, and more of an issue of being wasteful and getting things you don't need. I'm going out to look, but I don't always buy things. Sometimes I just look, so I'm not wasting any money on things I don't need. And also, if you only buy the things you planned to buy, what if a good deal you weren't expecting comes up? Or an item you did not know existed is offered? If you follow your mothers logic, you will never even have a chance to get those things, right? So you could miss out on those chances. That could also be seen as a waste."

At the topic of languages the Konti seemed eager, gladdened it seemed at the concept of another person being willing to learn something such as a new language.

"I'm always looking to learn things, and learning a new tongue could be of use. Like now, I don't speak Kontinese, and you have trouble with Common. If we could meet in the middle perhaps it would help. I'm not sure, I've not really tried before, but I think it could work. At least, it would not hurt to try I think."

Thinking on the womans words Moritz wondered on how learning a language would work best, and tried to consider the things he might need.

"Mmmm... Well first, I suppose I should know... Does Kontinese use a different script, the writing language, than Common? Letters? Are there different symbols? It might be useful to see the alphabet, or maybe some simple words written out."

While Ari'Ellin seemed intent no telling him of Mura she did not seem to use many actual descriptors. He had no idea of the location, land type, climate, trade, or really anything. Did it have trees? Was it a desert? He was unsure of each such things from what she had said.

The Konti then realizing Moritz was not human, the same in that regard as she was not human, Moritz smiled and nodded.

"I'm a Kelvic, not a human. I age more like my animal side, an Okomo, than a human does. That's why I look so old and tall for my age. I'm not sure what a three year old human looks like, but I doubt they go on trips to the outpost by themselves. As for my memory... I remember stuff mostly after I turned one, stuff before that is less clear. And the further back from there I go it gets even less clear till it just sort of fades into other memories. After a year though, I remember most of those things decently enough, and on through now."

At the topic of age Moritz wondered on how much time he actually had. How fast would he age compared to a human? Would he soon be old and grey? He was young, and so felt like he had plenty of time to learn things, but if he aged that fast... Then perhaps not... Clearly this woman, based on the age she gave, was also a slow ager. Perhaps even slower than a human. But he did not really know much about Konti, so he could not say for sure how long or slow or how old an old Konti was.

By then Ari'Ellin seemed ready to tell him both of Konti and Mura, giving some actual details about the place. Konti were from Mura, where Ari'Ellin was from... A peaceful place of water... With scales, light hair and eyes... And gills? From what she said it seemed they did allow her to breath underwater, perhaps somewhat like a fish, but she also seemed able to breath on land well enough. Konti also seemed to either be... People who worked in health, or.... Fortune Tellers?

"People who make people healthy... Like a doctor you mean? As for someone who tells fortunes... What exactly does that entail? Or how do you know such things? What exactly is a fortune?"

Moritz vaguely knew the word, but in other context. From what he knew of it he did not think it fitted what the woman was saying, but then he did not really understand what she was trying to get at.

At the mention of his current settlement Moritz nodded, wondering on the city for a moment before trying to explain what she had asked.

"Yes, it is very small. I'm not sure if it even has a hundred people. As for which I like more... I don't know one is better or worse, they are just different. There are good things about both, and bad things about both. It depends on what you are looking for. Though being able to breath underwater, that could be an advantage in Syka. I don't think too many people can do that there. It is right on the shore, on a beach, and people go swimming all the time and all year. So it would probably be easier in that respect for you, compared to Lhavit where swimming is much less common. But Lhavit is also much bigger and tamed, whereas Syka is wild. Which also makes it more dangerous."

"As for how I found it... Well I was traveling looking for a jungle, and ended up in Riverfall. And from there I ended up in Syka since its right by or in the jungle. Coming from Lhavit by boat, it took over a season of travel to get there. Not quite two seasons, but more than one season at least. Most of the people have their own things going on, so I suppose I don't end up talking too much to people. And then when I do talk, I end up talking too much and annoying someone. But that's probably more about me than them. I'm not really sure what language most speak, but I think most of the people I've seen at least speak common. I wouldn't know if they spoke anything else. Most of it is sort of cut out and into the jungle, so nothing too dense, and mostly wood buildings I assume from the felled trees. And with the Dovecote there, its always a short trip to the Outpost if I do need anything specific."

It took Moritz a bit to work out what Ari"Ellin was trying to say, finally understanding it.

"You would just need to find a weapon harness that doesn't go there. But its not a necklace, so they don't normally wrap around the neck. More like a backpack, with straps over the shoulders. Other parts too, around the waist and things, but most can be adjusted. We can look around if you like, and find one that fits. But you can always add stuff on after, you don't need to get one that already has a thing to hold whatever now. Also, you do know I'm wearing one right? A weapon harness? I've got one on right now, if you want to look closer. But mine doesn't wrap around my neck at all."

WC: 1,477