Private Tales A new world

[Fife]

She waved her farewell to the dwarf and they found a stable to keep their mounts. Fife fretted over Socks and Dusty, wanting to be sure they were comfortable and happy before they left them. Would they know they were underground? What if they didn't like the grain? She knew it was silly to worry, but caring for something was still new to her. They weren't as scary to her as them were at first, and she rather liked them.

As they left, Raigryn's sudden and odd question gave her pause. But his face looked rather serious, in the same way it did when he told her about serious stuff. Needless to say, it was a face she knew well by now.

Fife shrugged. I guess. But that wasn't a sound answer to that, so she tried to elaborate. She pointed to her eyes and gestured away in a general sweep, then touched her temple and waved again before giving a thumbs up. I like seeing and learning about new things. With a soft smile, she mimicked picking up something and touching it to her lips. She finished the thought with a thumbs up. The new foods are good, too.

She kept going; Fife cut a negating hand across her throat before outlining a house and then walking her fingers away from it. I had never left Elbion before. The use of house or home wasn't a very faithful way of exoressing Elbion, but it was close enough. She really needed to work on learning letters so she could just write things down for him.

In truth, she was rather enjoying it. Sure, parts of it were scary: relying on strangers, never knowing where they were going, dealing with all of the new things she had never seen or known about or expected... It was a lot, but it was something more than the alleys of Elbion. It was exciting, and she was anxious to see as much of the world as she could while she had the opportunity.

Finished, she gave him a bit of a quizzical look. Why the sudden concern? She hadn't seemed ungrateful, had she? Worried, Fife pointed to Raigryn before giving him a thumb up, her brow creased. Are you okay?

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

A similar thought crossed his mind: he needed to get hom on from her alphabet onto words so she could start to put complex thoughts into sentences. Raigryn normally got the gist of what was he was trying to convey. Whilst he wasn't quite sure was the box shape was about, Fife was enjoying travelling and seeing new things. The only morning surprise you got on the back streets of Elbion's poorer districts was a chamber pot out the window.

"We're fine Fife," he explained. "We left Elbion in something of a rush. I just never really took the time to make sure you didn't just feel like you were running away from danger.

"I am... Glad to know that you're enjoying the road." Raigryn laughed. "I've got my two silent travelling companions now."

Jason, or Jocelyn, was back on his shoulder. He, or she, stayed very still and absorbed the view of the strange city. His eyes were actually much better adapted to the dim light than the human's were. There was a slightly attentive look to his festures; he knew they were heading towards food.

 

[Fife]

Fife chewed in her lip, as he answered, but l laughed when he remarked on his silent companions. She could be noisy, or just wasn't fun or practical. He knew she could whistle a pretty tune, but she'd yet to have reason to bust out an ear-splitting whistle.

Seeing Jason, she perked up and bounced closer to look at him. Her. Raigryn's flopping on its gender never ceased, and ended up messing her up, too. She softly whistled the name tune for "Jocelyn" and admired the strange critter. It was looking around with huge pupils, clearly having an easier time seeing in the dim cavern than Fife.

She made circles with her fingers in front of her eyes then opened them as she whistled an ascending note -- commentary on the lunasloth's enormous eyes. Then she pointed to Jason/Joscelyn, tapped her temple, gestured from her eyes to the tavern, and pat her stomach. She always knows when it's time to eat. In much the same though process as Raigryn, she recognized that his pet conveniently emerged from her pouch at mealtimes.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Yes he does actually. This is Jason the seventh and none of the six I had before were this useless at scouting for me and this good at finding snacks. This is perhaps because it's quite hard to sex them and this Jason is actually a Jocelyn. Definitely more stubborn and difficult to train than the males. Here."

Without much more warning he gently grasped Jason around the belly and picked her up. The lunasloth made a quiet click of protest but went quite limp. Their natural defence mechanisms seemed well ingrained. Move very slowly when watched, dissappear with incredible speed when not. He still suspected they were slightly magical in that regard.

The warm weight of the lunasloth was plonked down on Fife's shoulder. Jason took a firm of his coat with all four hands and wrapped his tail around the back of her neck.

 

[Fife]

She didn't know much about animals (or anything, really) to know if her being female made a difference in her behaviors, so she shrugged. She liked the lunasloth; its strange features and behavior made it charmingly cute in the roundabout way ugly things could be. In much the same way she was becoming rapidly attached to the horses, the small critter was easily endearing.

When Raigryn piked it up, at first she watched with interest what he was going to show her. But rather than presenting some aspect of his pet, he put it on her shoulder. Fife went rigid as the lunasloth took hold of her jacket and her tail wrapped around her neck. She gave Raigryn a nervous look before turning her head slowly to look at Jocelyn, and a wide smile broke across her features.

Afraid she'd startle it, Fife cautiously signed to herself, then laid both hands over her heart before pointing to Joscelyn. I love her! She was strangely overwhelmed by excitement and awe for the little creature, and was smiling like a fool.

// Raigryn Vayd​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Her smile was infectious. Raigryn still managed to push aside the voice that told him the warning could wait to tell Fife: "They don't have a very long lifespan, only five years or so."

There was a reason this was Jason the seventh. In the night they moved faster than the eye could see but it wasn't a safe job to be trained to scout for danger. Jason IV had been eaten by trolls. That was a detail Fife didn't need to hear right now.

The lad had quite a gentle disposition for once who had raised themselves on the back streets of Elbion. Whilst travelling by his side had certain advantages if you wanted to see new things it also came with danger. Raigryn would need to have a conversation on his intended destination and give Fife the option of staying here.

Raigryn reached across. "Here, just behind her ears," he explained. Jason grunted a stubborn protest at first but soon relented, turning her head and half closing her eyes as he itched the difficult to reach spot.

 

[Fife]

When Raigryn broke the hard truth to her, Fife's smile wavered and was diminished slightly as she looked back at the lunasloth. So little time, she thought. But she rallied, sighing softly to herself. It would be fine; Raigryn would probably take her back to Elbion when the year was out, after she'd learned Empathy, and she might not have to worry about the pet's death. A small mercy, she knew.

Her mellow thoughts were soon brought back up as he showed her where and how to scratch behind Jocelyn's ear, and Fife was excited (but nervous) as she reached a finger back to try. She laughed a bit, her smile returning in force as she got her to do the same happy lean into the scratch. Sure, she wasn't going to be around forever, but that meant she should enjoy her while she could, right?

Giving Jocelyn one last little scratching, Fife looked to Raigryn and gestured to the tavern. She was curious about the fare and, as always, was hungry. Indulging too much was dangerous, and she had had to wrap her bindings a bit tighter lately as some shape was added to her slight frame. She would have to work on cutting back without being so obvious as to worry him.

Or should she just tell him? The thought sent a thrill of slight panic through her. Perhaps not yet, but someday. Soon; she would try to tell him soon.

Maybe.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Whilst a lunasloth moved incredibly slowly when observed, they were quick when not watched. Quick enough to playfully and gently nip at Fife's finger as it was taken away.

Raigryn laughed at Fife's shock, knowing that his finger wouldn't have been cut. "Such a little mare," he said of the sloth.

The door opened to dwarven song and laughter. There was just the right kind of light to make it look welcoming. The smell that wafted out only compounded that. A dwarven waitress - with an impressive beard - was carrying a tray of pies to a table.

"Oh they do the best pies here," he said and he scanned for a table.

 

[Fife]

The little nibble on her finger was surprising, to say the least. With a gasp, she quickly looked between Jocelyn (who looked devoid of guilt as her wide, eerie gaze slowly began to shift away from her toward the tavern) and Raigryn. His laughter eased her initial concern that she had somehow offended the sloth. At least she seemed to like her, she told herself.

The interior of the tavern almost immediately challenged any thought she may have had to start cutting back at meals. It smelled amazing, and a dwarven woman -- bearded, sure enough -- walked by with a tray of pies. Fife turned eyes as wide as Jocelyn's toward her tutor, both from surprise at the woman's beard and excitement for the food in which she was about to partake.

Her mouth was already watering as he looked for a table and she was a bit distracted as she followed him, drinking in the sights and sounds. For once, she was among people of relative height, and she could have looked most of the men and women in the eye.

Their merriment and song was even more interesting. Fife had always had a penchant for song, quite capable of whistling, and paid close attention to music when she heard it. Dwarven music was fairly new. She had seen and heard dwarves in the past, and could confidently whistle the tunes of two songs she had heard on multiple occasions, but the prospect of new music was quite distracting. She bumped into Raigryn as she was gawking, and gave him an apologetic look.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Don't worry, Jocelyn was just telling you off because you stopped scratching," Raigryn explained. He took a handful of Fife's jersey at the shoulder and steered him towards a table. He continued his trend of picking the feminine name when he described a quality he thought was because of the lunasloth's gender. Whether that was a lunasloth or Raigryn thing was to be seen.

Literacy among dwarves was slightly higher than among humans, but when the waitress appeared and found they were having food she almost immediately listed off a string of pie fillings as well as a range of other dishes they had on.

"Oh venison and ale pie for me," Raigryn said. "And a pint of Brigman's and a half pint. Some water for the table. And when Fife here is ready to order I'm afraid I'm going to ask you to go through the list again and wait for him to nod. He can't speak you see," Raigryn said. They had found this was easier than Fife trying to mime a dish.

 

[Fife]

Steered toward a seat, she sat down with a bit of color to her cheeks as she gave Raigryn another sheepish look. A waitress quickly approached them, which effectively put an end to her gawking. Fife listened to her list off the pies available, and waited while Raigryn ordered and asked the woman to go through the list again for her to nod.

Honestly, there were a lot of choices for a girl who was glad to eat anything, so she just nodded midway through the list: pork, apple, and bacon. She smiled appreciatively, then looked over to her shoulder when she felt Jocelyn beginning a creeping descent down her body toward the table. If she kept to that pace, she might arrive the same time as their meals, Fife thought. She had been intending to slump back in the seat, but instead leaned forward to give the pet less distance to travel, and looked around to give her some privacy to (hopefully) go a little faster.

There was a group of raucous individuals having a grand time, and they made for easy watching. They were singing something in their native language together, and though she didn't understand she was quite fascinated.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn followed his gaze to the group of dwarves. They had joined arms whilst still finding enough room to hold mugs, suds spilling free as they sang.

Jocelyn continued an exceptionally slow journey towards the table. We can all see you, you rediculous creature, he thought to himself. Sometimes instinct overrode everything else.

"Do you like their song?" he asked. He narrowed his eyes as he tried to pick out the dwarven he knew. His eyes shot open. "I don't think I'll repeat those lyrics," he announced.

Their drinks were placed on the table and Raigryn picked up his jug and drank deep. It was a rich ale, full of character and bitter notes. Not like the kind you found in human cities that was essentially water.

 

[Fife]

Raigryn asked if she liked the song, and she broke out of a sort of trance to blink at him momentarily before nodding and smiling. His look of surprise and commentary on the lyrics made her look between him and the group with renewed interest. He knew some dwarven?

Their drinks arrived, but she was curious. What did he mean by that remark? He surely wasn't going to make a comment like that and expect her not to want to know? Having heard enough of the song to catch onto the tune, she whistled it softly and gave Raigryn a mischievous smile.

Then she indicated him, touched her temple, pointed toward the singing dwarves, then tapped her ear with her brows raised. You know what it means? As much playful heckling as he usually gave her, she was a bit eager to put him into the same position. Fife made sure to lean back toward the table for Jocelyn when she was finished, having to sit back while she signed.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

It took him a couple of seconds of deliberation to decide what to do. Raigryn considered himself quite a worldly man but there was a slight blush of embarrassment behind his grin as he tried to translate a few lines.

"Oh...I just want a beard I can hang from, I just want a beard with some...grip? Don't care for big...tits...just give me a woman with some...grip or purchase.

"It all rhymes in dwarven of course," he explained as if he was making n academic observation of the behaviour of animals.

Fife was left in a fairly uncomfortable posture with Jocelyn half on the table. Two hands had moved exceptionally slowly, one by one, to grab the edge. Now the sloth stayed in that position with two hands still grasping Fife as she decided if the table was safe.

 

[Fife]

She had figured the song contained such lyrics, and she bit down a smile and a laugh in spite of the small show of color when she remembered that lady dwarves had beards, too. There wasn't much she could really say in response to that, so she just whistled the tune along with the group before it ended shortly.

Jocelyn was halfway onto the table, but seemed to hesitate, so Fife put her hands on it, making something like an alley from her forearms. If she was going to beat the food to the table, she needed to hurry -- other tables were getting pies left and right, and her stomach growled with its usual good timing. Jocelyn and her belly both knew.

When it seemed like the lunasloth had deemed the take safe enough to begin her progress once more, Fife reached for her little half pint of ale and gave it a tentative sip. Swallowing, her whole body shuddered and she grimaced against the stout burn of the alcohol. When she could breathe again, she wheezed and put it down.

Alcohol in general must have been an acquired taste. There wasn't even a way for her to tell Raigryn what she thought, but as usual she wasn't going to waste it. It wasn't awful, per se, and it was going to make her sleep like a log.

Still mastering her expression, she gave Raigryn a thumb up.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"For a mute, you can be a terrible liar Fife," Raigryn laughed. "You don't have to drink it to be polite. I asked for water too."

Pies were dropped off. Jocelyn looked slightly disappointed at the two bowls put on the table before them. Her little nose twitched.

Raigryn wasted no time in using his knife and spoon to lift the crust of the pie, steam billowing out from under the lid.

There was delight in his eyes as he lifted a spoonful of gravy with a great chunk of steak in the middle and blew it cool.

 

[Fife]

She nodded, agreeing with him on this account. She was going to drink it regardless, it was just going to take some adjusting. Would it be better with her food? Perhaps some other flavors in her mouth would improve it.

She didn't have to wonder long; their pies were delivered steaming hot from the vents in the top. She had been taking a long drink of water, and took the time to watch how Raigryn approached his meal before mimicking it. Flatware was still a new skill, but he was a good teacher in all regards.

She cut into her pie and, though hers didn't have a gravy like his, she used a spoon to scoop up a hot bite. Holding it over Jocelyn but careful not to drop any onto her, Fife blew on it until she thought it would be cooled enough to eat.

It was still hot, but that didn't matter because it was amazing. She would not have imagined putting pork and apples and onions into the same thing together, but it was so good she wanted to cry. Fife carved out another piece to cool, and even pulled out a few bits for Jocelyn which she blowed on before tapping them out onto the table for her.

The rich, savory flavors did make the ale easier to drink, and when she looked over at Raigryn again with the foam on her lip, she gave him a smile and a more genuine thumb up on her way to wipe it off.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Good eh?" he laughed. He broke off.a piece of the crust with his fingers and dipped it into the gravy of his pie and put it in his mouth.

Without any warning a dwarf plonked himself down on the seats opposite them. His mug spilled suds over his half of the table.

"Good day!" he declared. His cheeks were ruddy from drink, his smile a little lopsider. "Brynglass is the name. I have been given the honor...honorary? Yeah. Honorarary position of ambassor to the dwarves. If ye didn't know, ye have to sing a sing here so I have come to teach you..."

"You've been picked to come and teach us a rude dwarven song and to tell us the lyrics mean something else entirely?" Raigryn asked.

If this upset the dwarf it didnt show. "Been here before then eh?" he said before downing half a pint in one go. His bald head reflected the candlelight, yet he still had a magnificent beard that reached his waist.

"I'm Raigryn, this is Fife. Glad to meet you. Tell you what, let us finish our meal and we'll join you for a few drinks, songs and maybe ill bring some stories?"

"Grand!" said the dwarf with a deep, belly laugh. He stood from the table and finished off his mug.

 

[Fife]

Fife nodded emphatically, wiping away the frothy mustache. He had yet to truly lead her astray, so was she surprised? She spooned another bite, digging out a few more bits to cool for Jocelyn.

A dwarf rather suddenly took a seat at the table and she jumped back from her food and half-inhaled her bite. She spent the first few moments of his speaking trying to quietly cough a sliver of apple up. Raigryn had obviously been there before, however, and whatever fun he would have been able to get out of the foreigners was somewhat spoiled. He hardly seemed bothered, though. Raigryn's counter offer was one just as appealing, and he finished off his entire drink before leaving.

She blinked, poked in another bite, and gave Raigryn a look of curiosity. Stories? She had yet to learn much about him. The few things she had gleaned were skills or allegories for the purpose of teaching her Empathy. Would he be telling tales of his own adventures, or recycling tales from another? Either way, she was enticed.

Deciding she would have to nurse her little half pint for as long as possible, she pushed Jocelyn's cooled bits off of the plate for her.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Her answer would come after they were both full of pie. Fife still nursed her small mug whilst Raigryn was down two by the time they had finished. He marched up to the bar and put coin over it for a round for the group of dwarves.

"A round of a drinks and a story, as promised."

Mugs went up in cheers. The dwarves found a human stranger joining them a little curious, but they were too many pints down to give it a great deal of thought.

"So is it to be the smiting of Odelahm the Hill Giant or rescuing the maiden from the naga camp?" he asked. With a fresh mug in hand he cast his eyes towards Fife to see if he had any preference.

 

[Fife]

She managed to plow through about three-quarters of her pie, and when Raigryn rose to approach the bar she was leaned back, cradling her cup in her hand. So much for being more mindful of how much she was eating; her belly was distended, as it usually was after meals, and she had downed most of her ale. There was only a little swirl of the stuff left at the bottom of her cup, and her body was already getting a tingly feeling and her mind was fuzzy at the edges. He ordered a round of drinks, and Fife was sure to hold her little cup out for the waitress as she went by filling glasses. It wasn't so bad after she'd drank what she'd had already and her judgment was dulled.

Raigryn asked the tavern what the story would be and looked to her. Normally she was indecisive, but tales and songs were among the few things she'd had plenty of and knew what she liked. Fife emulated a swooning woman: she put the back of her hand to her forehead and sighed, her eyes closing and the hand holding the ale resting on her chest. It certainly wasn't a gesture that implied anything to do with giants, so hopefully, her vote was clear. She wasn't much interested in romance -- quite the opposite, all things considered -- but wanted to hear about the naga.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Maiden it is!" Raigryn declared.

"Aw, I love stories about killing giants," one of the dwarves bemoaned.

Raigryn kept on palm on the bar with it being a little too low for him to lean on properly.

"There was a travelling battle mage from an era that had passed. He had friends in cities all over the world, but none more dear than a family in a small village he had known for a two decades. Their youngest had come of age and was betrothed to the local baron's second son, such was her beauty.

"But the village was in the path of a Naga raid. Now no one knows why they capture people of the older races of Arethil, but they raided the town and left with half the occupants. The old mage rode out to the village on hearing the news. He consoled the widow, but he could not bear to see her losing both husband and child so he set off and tracked down the raiding party on foot.

"Now,have any of you seen a naga?" he cast his eyes over the group and took a swig from his drink. A test of if they were still listening and to get some participation.

 

[Fife]

If anyone was disappointed, she didn't notice. Fife settled back in her seat, ready for the yarn Raigryn was about to spin. She loved stories, good or bad. Though, he seemed confident in his capabilities and he had yet to really be bad at anything, thus she doubted the story he chose could be anything but good.

The narrative began in a typical way, introducing the old adventurer and the peril he would face. Raigryn paused to ask if anyone in attendance had seen naga and to take a quick drink. Fife waited for his eyes to sweep her way before she shook her head.

Obviously, she told herself. Where would she have seen the creature otherwise? She had a loose (very loose) idea of what naga were supposed to be, but was excited to hear him describe them.

// Raigryn Vayd //

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Big snake!" someone called out.

"True," Raigryn admitted.

"I saw a party down by the coast!" another dwarf added. Raigryn decided to latch onto that.

"Then you might have seen how large they are good dwarf. About this tall and wide as they move," he said, drawing a rectangle far wider than himself but a head shorter. "Then, when they stop slithering towards you as fast as a hound can run they draw themselves up to full height." Raigryn raised his hand well above his own head.

"Come off it!"

"He's not wrong, told you I've seen 'em."

Raigryn cast a glance towards Fife and winked. "Two things you should know about them. First of all you have to come from downwind. They have an incredible sense of smell. They don't smell too nice either. Secondly, you have to tread lightly. They can feel the vibrations in the ground. Actually sense you coming."

There was some more quiet banter and murmuring about whether this could be true or not. The reptiles have been appearing closer to dwarven territory, even attacking a few villages east of the spine.

"Now this group were bright torquoise with scarlet diamonds on their hides. They come in all kinds of colours you see. So the battle mage spots them from a distance, summoning all his might and courage. And he sneaks up on their camp..."

 

[Fife]

She wheezed a voiceless laugh as the room was divided in opinions. Regardless of their grumbling and doubtful murmuring, the room appeared rapt -- all except then fellow who was decidedly asleep. The room had been jovial when they arrived, but the collective enjoyment of the story brought a comraderie to the hodgepodge of dwarves gathered, even as they playfully argued the details.

Fife's mind painted a picture of what he described, stitching in bits of other stories until her mind produced something that was likely a far cry from a real naga. She had seen an exotic snake once, with a flashy collar it spread when it felt threatened, and she imagined one then with rich turquoise scales and vibrant splashes of red on it's fanned throat. In its fierce, wide head dwelled two ruby eyes, and its human torso transitioned into a serpentine body. She shivered at the thought.

// Raigryn Vayd //