Private Tales Landing: Alliria

[Aofinta]

Many ships lined the docks of the harbour, but none of its passengers attracted as much curiosity than the thunderer which carried its giantess rider atop it's back.
The giant woman navigated through the assembled crowd, whatever they talked about became an uncomprehensive mess akin to a busy tree of twitterbirds.
Only knowing the common tongue did not prepare her for the myriad of languages now heard all at once.
Excitement, curiosity, fear was clear enough from body language alone in these people. But if only...no, there were too many.

A roar from the thunderer cleared some space and the massive behemoth made his way through the people and off the docks. Each of its step a mini earthquake for a creature bearing such name.
Not long after the pair found themselves in some dark street that still supported the passage of such a large creature. Aofinta dismounted and patted her thundered by the shoulder.

 

[Iasoun Serin]

"My, you're a tall drink of water," the alchemist quips. He happened to be at the dock today, picking up basic Alchemical supplies for manufacturing potions, amulets, and the like.

 

[Aofinta]

Aofinta realigned her headdress so it neatly sat atop her hair once more. The ride across the street was indeed a treat, but where was she now?

"My, you're a tall drink of water,"

Oh, some clarity finally.
»Hello hello, « Aofinta bowed her head briefly. Her thunderer gazed blankly as it turned its head towards the little man. Well not quite little, but everything looked little to a thunderer.
»Are you from here? Or also traveler?«

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi walked along the smooth cobblestone of the harbor, his beak buried in a piece of parchment. On it was a list of things he was supposed to buy. Rare seashells and fish, some imported inks and dyes, etc etc.

He was startled by the thunderer's roar and looked up immediately, his feathers standing on end and his already-large eyes opened even wider. His beak agape, he stared at the creature and the enormous woman next to it.

Most people were large compared to the tiny kenku, but she was gigantic. Soon he found himself beside the pair, staring up at them. He hadn't noticed his legs taking him, but here he was.

He should probably say something. "I'm... Kikwi..." he breathed in awe.

 

[Iasoun Serin]

Aofinta realigned her headdress so it neatly sat atop her hair once more. The ride across the street was indeed a treat, but where was she now?



Oh, some clarity finally.
»Hello hello, « Aofinta bowed her head briefly. Her thunderer gazed blankly as it turned its head towards the little man. Well not quite little, but everything looked little to a thunderer.
»Are you from here? Or also traveler?«

"I live and work in the Inner City. I am an Alchemist in the Brotherhood of Lessat. What brings you to Alliria?"

 

[Aofinta]

»Alchemist? What does an alchemist do?« She pondered loudly.
Yet het attention shifted.
No matter how huge, how large, how far. There was always attention for the tiniest of voices out there. all yearning to be equal under an ear.
»Kikwi? Awe, « her heart swelled, if this was not one of the purest creatures on Arethil.
»My name is Aofinta, I come from the scorching globe, and this here, « she petted her pack thunderer, »this is Caom.«

 

[Iasoun Serin]

»Alchemist? What does an alchemist do?« She pondered loudly.
Yet het attention shifted.
No matter how huge, how large, how far. There was always attention for the tiniest of voices out there. all yearning to be equal under an ear.
»Kikwi? Awe, « her heart swelled, if this was not one of the purest creatures on Arethil.
»My name is Aofinta, I come from the scorching globe, and this here, « she petted her pack thunderer, »this is Caom.«

"To answer your question, alchemy is the art of using knowledge of the basic elements of the universe to manufacture useful wares, both menial and magical in nature."

Kikwi walked along the smooth cobblestone of the harbor, his beak buried in a piece of parchment. On it was a list of things he was supposed to buy. Rare seashells and fish, some imported inks and dyes, etc etc.

He was startled by the thunderer's roar and looked up immediately, his feathers standing on end and his already-large eyes opened even wider. His beak agape, he stared at the creature and the enormous woman next to it.

Most people were large compared to the tiny kenku, but she was gigantic. Soon he found himself beside the pair, staring up at them. He hadn't noticed his legs taking him, but here he was.

He should probably say something. "I'm... Kikwi..." he breathed in awe.

"Well hello, my fine feathered friend."

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi remained motionless for a time. The giant woman's voice was soothing, and her dinosaur companion was enrapturing. He blinked back into reality when Iasoun spoke. "Oh, h-hello!" he had not even noticed the human man beside him.

Slowly, he took a few steps closer. "May... may I pet him?" he asked about Caom.

 

[Aofinta]

»So like pottery and carpentry?« Pondered Aofinta before turning her attention to the littelest Kenku again.
She slowly slid off her mount, giving it a good pat on the shoulder. The giantess reached a little over the mount itself in height, the creature was impressive in girth.

»I think Caom would enjoy it!« The large thunderer shook his tail to swat off some flies.

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi would very much want to speak to the alchemist as well, he was searching for hard-to-find items, after all. In the mean time, he carefully approached the thunderer. Kikwi barely made it to the beast’s shin, but with slow and deliberate movements, he stroked Caom’s leg.

The scales were thick and rough, and Kikwi couldn’t help but feel like he was touching something from another time.

When his trance ended he looked all the way up at Aofinta, craning his neck. “Where do you come from?” He asked, quite bluntly.

 

[Iasoun Serin]

Kikwi would very much want to speak to the alchemist as well, he was searching for hard-to-find items, after all. In the mean time, he carefully approached the thunderer. Kikwi barely made it to the beast’s shin, but with slow and deliberate movements, he stroked Caom’s leg.

The scales were thick and rough, and Kikwi couldn’t help but feel like he was touching something from another time.

When his trance ended he looked all the way up at Aofinta, craning his neck. “Where do you come from?” He asked, quite bluntly.

"I would like to know as well. I've met many different kinds of people, but never a giant before."

 

[Aofinta]

»Well, I've never met people as tiny as either of you!« She chuckled at the notion of being a giant, she was normal sized after all, the rest of the people were just small.
»I come from across the sea, from the golden grasses.«

 

[Iasoun Serin]

"I have never traveled far. I have resided in the Allir Reach all my life. What's it like when you come from?

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi, still entranced by the dinosaur, ran his tiny fingers over its hide, scales on scales. He did not know of this place across the sea, but he should like to visit it very much.

As an act almost akin to instinct, he pulled a thick journal from his robes and a piece of charcoal and started to draw Caom, making annotations of particular features.

 

[Aofinta]

The thunderer wriggled its body. It was one mighty thing, it's every shift denting the soil beneath them.
»Well, it's very dusty and not as green as here. Golden grass stretches for miles in any direction and it's generally very flat and not as rugged as here.« She chuckled.
Her eyes slowly then shifted to Kikwi's drawing.
She smiled.
»Oh, that's so good! Caomh do you see yourself?« She nudged the Thunderer who seemed only more oblivious.

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi beamed at the praise. He was still quite stunned by the thunderer, and by Aofinta herself. Perhaps her great height did not impact him quite as much as it should have. Most people were much taller than himself, so it was sometimes difficult to tell when a person was significantly larger than the rest.

"Are there more of him? Where you are from?" He asked Aofinta. Visions of fields of thunderers filled his mind, each of them with a giant companion. It as awe-inspiring, and a little frightening.

 

[Aofinta]

»There are entire herds of thunderers back home in the eastern continent!« Aofinta exclaimed, her arms going wide to form a circle of sorts. Just to accentuate how many there were.
»Caomh is a grazing thunderer, but there are also the horned earthshaking thunderers and the sky-reacher thunderers. Dangerous are the sail thunderers of the rivers and the many-toothed runner thunderers.«

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi's eyes could not get any more wide. They were maxed out. They did try, though, as she mentioned the various terrible and wonderful thunderers of her homeland. He simultaneously wished very much to be able to see them and was thankful that they were not on this continent.

Suddenly, he remembered his manners. He had been staring for a very long time and asking all kinds of questions, and while Aofinta did not seem to mind, he recalled what he had been told of "tact" and general conversation. "Are you going anywhere in particular? I am just visiting this town myself, but I would be happy to show you around!"

 

[Aofinta]

The giantess chuckled.
»I just came, and I would love to see this whole city, though I fear I might get mobbed again, « she chuckled at the end.
»Though I would very much, hmmm!«
Aofitna wondered, reaching for her pocket.
»You wouldn't mind if I trap this moment?«

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi wasn't sure what she had meant by her question. Trap a moment? How did one trap a moment? Maybe it had been a mistranslation, an expression from her home?

"No, I don't mind," he said, trying to stay polite. He didn't think she meant literally trap him... although if she had there would be precious little he could do about it.

 

[Aofinta]

»Yeah, this is wonderful, « Aofinta seemed to have found what she was rummaging for in her pack.
»Stay right here, still like a stone and smile. Your back against the sea!« The giantess crouched and pulled Caomh aside, the beast lay down so the view behind them would be of the sea and the many ships sailing about.

Aofinta then took out of her pack a wrapped cloth and reached as far from them as she could. The draping fell to the ground and in its place was now a pristine white crystal.

After a full minute of holding it before them, the crystal went dull.

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi did as he was told and stood very still against the Thunderer. He wanted to look more closely at the crystal that Aofinta had pulled from her bag, but he dared not move. He waited until the giantess started moving again to do so himself.

"What... what did we just do?" he asked inquisitively. He had been expecting her to draw something, or maybe just try really hard to remember a moment. The crystal was unexpected.

 

[Aofinta]

Aofinta observed the dull crystal before handing it off to Kikwi.
The crystal wasn't that heavy, and even though it was dull, black with a brown sheen, one could perhaps see the reverse image of the environment it snapshotted around itself.

»I captured the moment into this crystal, whenever I wish to observe it, I have to put it under a light in a dark room.« The giantess smiled.

 

[Kikwi]

Kikwi tried very hard to understand. He looked at the crystal, saw the dark reflectiveness of it. Was beautiful, but it did not seem particularly magical. Of course, his time at the College of Elbion, albeit short, had taught him that things are very rarely exactly how they appear to be.

He squinted, and saw their reflection on it. Suddenly, with a spark of understanding, he got it. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "I see it! Like a mirror that holds an image for later viewing!" What a marvelous contraption. He wondered if one needed this particular crystal, or if perhaps one of the maesters would be able to manufacture a similar device. He resolved to ask about it later.

"Do you like fish?" he asked suddenly. "The warf has many fish for sale, but there is a small cove just a short walk away that has lots of colorful ones. I think they are too small to eat, so people don't seem to catch them."

 

[Aofinta]

»We can view it later in full,« Ao tilted her head before pocketing the crystal. She had many, but perhaps not enough for the whole journey across the continent. Of which there were two, she had to remind herself.

»Ohh, I'm not picky, are the fish here any different?« She loudly wondered to herself. Of course, they are.
Part of exploring the world was exploring the cuisine!