Solo Unexpected Encounters

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Timestamp: 79th Day of Fall, 514 AV I really need to go visit the trade caravans today. As much as I wish I wasn't pregnant, I am. And the child will be coming soon. Next season. And...I have nothing that the baby will need when it comes. I've been trying not to think about it so much that I haven't even started buying the supplies that the baby will need. Seirei thought ruefully. Seirei rummaged through her belongings until she found her carefully hidden mizas. Although she and Lian had started to get to know each other a little, she couldn't bring herself to trust the man after the way he had treated her. She was afraid that if he ever found the mizas she was saving up, he would think she was planning to use them to escape, and take her hard earned money away from her. Seirei was planning on using some of her mizas to buy passage with a trade caravan when she was ready to make her escape, so she couldn't even say that Lian would be wrong if he thought that. But that just made her even more determined to keep them well hidden. Once she'd found what she was looking for, she put everything back in its proper place. As a wood carver, it was important that she knew where all of her tools were at all times as she worked, and that the ones she needed most often for the project she was working on were closest to hand. As a result, she tended to be very organized. That organization tended to translate from her work habits to the way she organized all of her belongings. Seirei knew that Lian had to have noticed that she tended to keep her things as neat as possible. So if he saw that she had left them scattered, he might well become suspicious. And if that were to happen, Seirei knew that even the illusion of freedom she had now would be gone. When she'd finished straightening up, Seirei stood slowly. Her back protested the movement fiercely, and she had to wait for a wave of dizziness to pass before she could continue. Then she left the tent, and made her way towards where the trade caravans were set up. It was a beautiful day for a nice, leisurely walk. The sun was warm, but not overly so now that it was late fall. The early morning chill was gone, and there was a light breeze that carried a bit of a chill, but the warm sun was stronger than the slight chill. The sky was a bright, beautiful shade of blue, and as Seirei took a moment to watch, a few fluffy white clouds drifted by. Seirei walked slowly, but she eventually reached the trade caravans. The walk was good exercise for her, and she wanted to stay in the best shape possible. Voices filled the air as she approached the trade caravans. Merchants praised their goods, trying to lure customers in. Customers asked questions about the merchandise. And both haggled over prices. It was a welcoming, familiar sound. One that Seirei had grown up with. It reminded her of happier times, and filled her heart with an intense feeling of longing. But it hurt to hear the sounds of brisk trade, too. She would still be a part of it all if she hadn't been betrayed by the only family she had ever known. Seirei took a few moments to orient herself. Though to an inexperienced eye, there was chaos among the caravans, Seirei knew the general organization that existed. The caravans that offered items that were most useful to the people living in the city they were set up in had the prime spots. Within that group, well known traders who had established a good relationship with the city had better trade spots than newcomers. Traders tended to organize themselves by types as well. Weapons merchants would congregate in one area while clothing merchants would gather together in another. As a former trader, Seirei knew the way things were usually set up. And as a member of a caravan that had often traveled to Endrykas, she had knowledge of how the trade caravans were set up in this city. That gave Seirei an edge, and made it easier for her to know where to go to find the items she was looking for. Even so, Seirei took her time, browsing through the wares of a number of caravans as she drifted towards the cluster that would be selling furniture. "That will be five gold mizas, please." Seirei froze, her eyes widening at the sound of a familiar voice among the organized chaos. Almost against her will, she turned to see if she had just imagined it or not. She couldn't decide if she had hoped it was her imagination or not. But it was not. Her brother, Jared stood beside a caravan just a few yards away from her. The sound of her own pulse roared in Seirei's ears as her heart pounded painfully in her chest. Jared. Her only surviving family member as far as she knew. The kind man who was filled with laughter, and always had an encouraging word. The beloved brother who always protected her. The man who hurt as much as she had when their mother finally succumbed to her illness. The man whose betrayal had hurt her the worst. Why hadn't he come back for her when the caravan abandoned her? Why had he let them abandon her in the first place?

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei stood frozen in place for several chimes, torn by indecision. Part of her wanted to simply fade into the crowd that was moving around her as they went about their business. That part of her wanted to avoid any confrontation, and pretend that she had never seen her brother and her old caravan. It was also the part of her that didn't want anyone from her former life, especially her older brother to see her in "disgrace," heavily pregnant, and all but enslaved to her Drykas captor. But there was also a small part of Seirei that wanted...even needed to confront Jared, and demand to know why he had abandoned her when she had needed him the most. The decision was taken from her, as so many others had been since she had been captured. Jared happened to glance in her direction as he searched the crowd for more potential customers. As Seirei watched, his eyes widened in astonished recognition. She could see confusion, disbelief, relief, and happiness warring in his eyes as he just stared at her for several long ticks. He started to call out to her, but then he shook his head. Seirei heard him ask one of the others in the caravan to take over for him. The name he called was an unfamiliar one. Seirei realized that they must have hired more people after they abandoned her. That must mean that their luck had improved after she had been left to die in the Sea of Grass. Seirei had very mixed feelings about this. Part of her wanted to be happy for her former family and friends. And she was...but a small, petty part of her was angry that they were obviously doing so well without her. That was the part that couldn't let go of the past, and how deeply she had been hurt when they abandoned her. "Seirei? Is that really you? It is! It really is my little sister alive and well, when I never expected...err..." Seirei blinked, startled out of her thoughts. How had Jared crossed the distance between them so quickly? Had she really been that out of it as she struggled with her emotions? Her brother's words cut her deeply. In his eyes, she was alive and well? "Alive," yes, that was obvious. But she hadn't been "well" in a very long time, and Seirei doubted that she ever would be again. His words, and the way he trailed off suddenly when he'd realized what he'd said also suggested that he had known that they were going to abandon her...and he didn't warn her. Didn't even try to stop it. Had Jared been more involved than just not stopping them? Had he agreed with their plan? Once, Seirei never would have believed such a terrible thing. She would have insisted that the others didn't tell him about their decision until the last minute, and that they prevented him from trying to help her somehow. But her innocence had taken quite a beating since she had been captured last spring, and she was no longer as trusting as she used to be. Jared must have seen some of her conflicting emotions reflected in her eyes because his grin faded as he approached her. He reached out to her, clearly wanting to hug her, but Seirei flinched, and pulled back. Her brother's eyes filled with worry as his arms fell to his sides, and he studied her carefully. "It's good to see you again." he said at last. Jared hesitated, and Seirei could see that he was choosing his words carefully now. "You look...good. Congratulations on..." his voice trailed off once more as he gestured at her swollen belly. "When are you due? It must be soon by the looks of you. Who is the lucky man that you agreed to marry? Did he come with you today? Is there any chance that I could meet him?" Jared asked eagerly. Seirei frowned. "He's out hunting, most likely. And we're not married. He...this...I didn't want any of this." Seirei said quietly. She couldn't quite keep the bitterness out of her voice, and she wasn't certain she wanted to.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Jared frowned in concern at the implications of his sister's words. "So, then...you're..." "I am a captive, Jared. One of many who are being forced against our will to bear children for these people. My captor raped me every single night for an entire season before he managed to put his child inside of me." Seirei told her brother, her words and tone filled with all of the pain and humiliation she felt every time she thought of that horrible spring. And it is his child, not mine. No matter how much I try to convince myself that Waisana is right, and the child I'm carrying is more mine than Lian's, I can't seem to think that way for long. she thought ruefully. "Most of the time, he forced himself on me every morning before he went out hunting, too. Even after he succeeded in getting me with child, he continued using me for pleasure until earlier this season. It hurt, Jared. It hurt so badly every time he forced himself on me. I screamed myself hoarse from the agony more times than I can count, and no one came to stop him from violating me over and over and over again. I begged him to stop, but he never did. When I tried to fight him, he hurt me even more to punish me for my defiance. For a long time, I forgot what it felt like to not be in constant agony. And every time he forced himself on me, I felt a little more like the animal he was using me as. A broodmare to be bred and used as he saw fit. Feeling that way hurts me as much as being raped did." It still does. So many of the Drykas seem to feel that the captives are nothing more than animals. It's hard not to think of myself as nothing more than an animal when most of the people around me treat me that way. "That's what the captives are to most of the Drykas, you know. Animals to be bred to suit their needs." Seirei's eyes flashed with hurt and anger as she lashed out at her brother. "I don't even have the relief of knowing that it's over now that I'm pregnant. My captor, Lian informed me that I would spend the rest of my life bearing his children. Do you have any idea what it feels like to know that? To live every day with the dread that as soon as I give birth to this child, he's going to start raping me all over again so he can force me to bear another child? And another. And another. And another after that. Until I either die of it, or am too old to bear any more children." Seirei hesitated. "I've thought about it, you know." "Thought about...what?" Jared asked slowly. Jared had a frantic look about him now, as he struggled to take in everything Seirei had told him. In the past, Seirei would have hated to see that horrified look in her brother's eyes. She would have done anything in her power to help him feel better when he was feeling that badly about something. But things were different now. Something had snapped within Seirei, and all of the anger, bitterness, hopelessness, and fears she had tried so hard to keep hidden away so Lian couldn't see them and take advantage of her weakness came pouring out as she lashed out at one of the people who had betrayed her. Jared and the others in the caravan Seirei had once called home were not the ones who had raped her, or treated her as little more than an animal. But if it weren't for them abandoning her to die in the Sea of Grass, Lian never would have "rescued" her, and the nightmare that had become her life never would have happened. And part of Seirei desperately wanted...even needed at least one of them to know what they had condemned her to. Seirei looked around, not wanting any of the Drykas who were out shopping to over hear her. No one that she could see looked overly interested in her conversation. Even so, she lowered her voice in the hopes that no one in the crowd would hear what she had to say next. "I thought about killing myself. When things got really bad, I thought about it a lot. It would have been easy. All I would have had to do is walk out into the Sea of Grass, and allow death to take me. Even now, I'm not sure what stopped me from going through with it." Sheer stubbornness, probably. Giving in to the urge to kill myself would have been letting Lian win just as much as allowing him to rape me without fighting him would have been. And there were days when even that nearly wasn't enough to keep me going. On those days, only losing myself in one of my carving projects, and forcing myself to forget everything other than what I was doing for a while was the only thing that helped. Jared paled. "You...but..." Seirei sighed. "I'm not about to run off and kill myself right now, if that's what you're thinking. Things are a little better now that Lian isn't forcing himself on me every night any more. But once the baby is born, and he decides that it's time to breed me again, I don't know if I'll be strong enough to resist the urge to escape again."

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Jared stared at Seirei in silence for several long chimes. Seirei could see that he was struggling to think of something to say. Finally, he sighed. "I don't know what to tell you, Seirei. I really don't." he said at last. "I can't take you with me when we go. You have to know that. The others would never agree to it. I know it's not what you want to hear, but once you were...gone...our luck really did change for the better. I personally don't believe that you caused our string of bad luck in any way. But the others do, and they'd be afraid that it would return if you came back, even as a passenger. Look, do you even have enough money to pay for passage to the next city we go to?" Seirei shook her head. It was more accurate to say that while she might have enough saved up to get her to another city, she wouldn't be able to afford passage with a caravan, and the supplies she'd need for the journey, and still have enough to get by until she could find a job and settle in. Even if she did, traveling in her current condition would be foolish at best. Especially in the winter. "That's what I thought. It would be too risky for you to travel right now, even if you could afford it." Silence fell between them as each struggled to find the words for what they wanted to say. "Why did you betray me?" Seirei asked at last, anger, and hurt mingling in her voice. "I..." "Don't say that it was because of the bad luck. I know that's why the others did it. But why you? You are...were...my brother. Family. Why didn't you stop them from abandoning me? Or, if it had to be done, why couldn't you have waited until we got to the next city on our route? Why didn't you at least warn me?!" "I wanted to, but there wasn't any time! I begged the others to reconsider. I tried to convince them to allow you to stay until we reached a city. The others wouldn't have it. They were too afraid that the bad luck would follow us to the next city if we did that. The best...the very best I could do was to convince them to leave some supplies with you. That way, you at least had a fighting chance to make it to a city if you woke up. The others...well...they didn't even want to do that." Jared admitted in a tortured voice. It hurt to know that the people she once called friends and family would have abandoned her with nothing if Jared hadn't managed to convince them otherwise. Knowing that he had at least tried to help her didn't make his abandoning her okay, but it was nice to know that he had cared about her enough to try. "I never thought I'd see you again, Seirei. Even with the supplies, I knew it wasn't likely you'd make it to safety if you woke up. But it was all I could do for you. Seeing you now, alive...I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I am to see that you survived. That I didn't kill you because I failed to convince the others to do more. Even knowing what's happened to you...I'm still glad that you survived." Jared hesitated. "Is there anything you like about living here?" he asked hopefully. Seirei thought about Waisana. She didn't know if the healer thought of her as a friend or not. Her confidence in that had been shattered by the healer who had examined her the last time. And yet...she still thought of Waisana as a friend. Or at least, she desperately wanted to believe that she wasn't completely alone in this hostile place. "Maybe one." she admitted softly, without offering any further information. Jared grinned. "Well, that's a start, at least! Look...I know you're unhappy now. But at least you're alive. Your life is here now, for better, or for worse. Make the best of it. These are your father's people...so force them to acknowledge that. Maybe then they will see you as one of them instead of as a captive. You're good at working with wood...a skill that is probably not that common here since there isn't a lot of wood to be had. So find out what they need that you can make for them. I see a lot of Drykas wearing different colored beads. Make those. Or...well, you've lived here since last spring, so you probably have a better idea of what the Drykas need than I would. Find a place for yourself here. Force them to acknowledge you as a person in your own right. Someone to respect and admire, not someone who is only good for producing children. If you can do that, I think you can make a real home for yourself here. One where you can be happy. And if not...save up any money you can get until you have enough to make your escape. I'd like to help you more, but..." But he couldn't, and both of them knew it. Still, Jared had given Seirei a lot to think about. It wasn't as easy as he seemed to think it would be...but...could she convince the Drykas that she was more than an animal to be bred to suit their needs? Was it possible that she could make a place for herself...at least long enough for her to save up enough to escape? "I...I should probably get back to my shopping, Jared." she said at last. "What do you need? Maybe we have something you could use?" Seirei glanced at her swollen belly briefly. "Supplies for the baby. Cloth for swaddling clothes, and diapers, something to carry the infant in, a cradle...stuff like that." "A cradle?" Jared asked in surprise. "Well, the baby will need somewhere to sleep, and I can't just put the child in a bed roll..." "No, but isn't a cradle going to be difficult to move around when the city moves?" Seirei nodded slowly. It would be bulky, and difficult to move, but...what other option was there? "What would you suggest?" Jared gave the matter some thought. "What about some cloth that you could use to make some kind of hammock out of? That would be a lot easier to carry with you when the city moves, wouldn't it?" Seirei smiled ruefully. "Yes, it would...and I really should have thought about that. Thanks. Do you have anything like that for sale?" Jared grinned. "As a matter of fact..." Jared vanished into one of the caravan's wagons for a few ticks. When he returned, he had several selections of cloth of all different kinds to show her. "I can't help with something to carry the baby with, but some of these might work for the rest of what you need." Seirei took her time browsing her brother's wares. He was right. The fine wool cloth he'd brought out to show her would make good swaddling clothes, and blankets for the baby. It might work as a hammock, too. Jared also had some cotton cloth that would work for diapers. "I'd like sixteen yards of that fine wool cloth, and six yards of cotton cloth." she told Jared when she'd made her decision. "How much are you asking for it?" Jared grinned broadly, and Seirei couldn't help but smile at his obvious anticipation. Her older brother loved to haggle, and he had been quite good at it when she had lived with the caravan. "For quality cloth like this, I'd say ten gold mizas per yard will do for the fine wool cloth, and five gold mizas per yard for the cotton cloth." It was an outrageous price, of course...and both of them knew it. But then, most opening bids were.

[Seirei Dawnwhisper]

Seirei chuckled. "Keep in mind who you're talking to, here. Did you really think I would fall for that? Unless you're going to tell me that this cloth was woven out of pure gold, then it's not worth that much. And if you are...well...it's the wrong color for that, so I'd say that you're out of luck on that one." Seirei examined the wool cloth carefully. The cloth looked like it had been made well. There were no obvious flaws that her untrained eye could see. Seirei knew very little about cloth, and how to tell if it was good quality or not. But...neither did Jared unless he had learned it during the time she had spent among the Drykas. It seemed unlikely since Jared had little interest in cloth beyond wearing it. Seirei glanced at her older brother briefly. It was important to know your market when you wanted to sell your goods. It was also important to know who you were selling your goods to. If you knew that your potential buyer knew nothing about cloth, you could get a better price for it by convincing them that it was of better quality than it actually was. The people in her old caravan were honest people. They weren't the type who would take poor quality merchandise, and try to pass it off as high quality. But trying to get a few extra mizas by selling decent quality stuff as slightly higher quality than it actually was? Well, that was a different story. Knowing this, Seirei wasn't above trying to get a better deal by trying to "prove" that the cloth she wanted to buy wasn't quite as good quality as Jared was trying to pass it off as. In doing so, Seirei knew that she was likely to get a price that more closely reflected the cloth's true value. Dealing with family threw an added complication into her strategy. Jared knew that Seirei didn't know much about cloth...or at least he knew that she hadn't when she had been living with the caravan. But just as it was possible that Jared might have learned about cloth after she had been abandoned, she could have learned about it during her time with the Drykas. Especially the wool since the Drykas had a good source of wool in their zibri herds. So it was time to bluff. With luck, Jared "knowing" her would work in her favor since as her older brother, he "knew"' that she was horrible at bluffing her way out of anything. As a result, she had rarely ever tried when she was a child. "Do you see that?" Seirei asked as she pointed to a spot in the wool that had a slight discoloration. Jared looked at the spot she was pointing to, and nodded. "What of it?" he asked. "It's a weak spot in the fabric. And where there's one weak spot, there are likely to be others. Your "high quality" cloth is not so high quality after all, is it?" The "weak spot" might actually be a flaw...or it might be that the wool had been stained somehow either before it had been taken from the animal that it once belonged to, or afterwards. For all Seirei knew, the animal that produced the wool might be multicolored. Seirei couldn't even be certain what type of animal had produced the wool. But she spoke as if she knew exactly what she was talking about. Her tone was strong, and filled with a confidence that suggested considerable experience. Her bluff seemed to be working. Jared frowned as he began examining the "weak spot" more closely. "For what I intend to use the wool cloth for, it's okay if it has a few weak spots. But no one who wants to use it to make a cloak, or any kind of clothes is going to want that cloth. I'd be willing to take it off your hands as a favor since you're my brother...but I'm certainly not going to spend top price for it. Five silver mizas per yard sounds reasonable for flawed fine wool cloth. And I think you should give me a discount on the cotton cloth as well since I was nice enough to point out the flaws in the wool to you, and buy it anyway. Does 3 silver mizas per yard sound okay to you?" "What? No! Wait..." Jared's frown deepened as he stared at the fine wool cloth for several long ticks. "Okay, I'll admit that I didn't notice that the cloth was flawed until you pointed it out. But that doesn't mean that I can sell it to you at the same rate as whole cloth! Even flawed wool is worth more than that, and fine wool more still. But I do admit that my opening offer was too high given that it is flawed. I can give it to you for 3 gold mizas per yard instead of ten. And while I can agree to give you a discount for the cotton cloth, I can't go that low. How about 3 gold mizas, seven silver mizas, and six copper mizas for the full six yards of cotton cloth that you asked for?" Seirei added the numbers up in her head. The price for the cotton cloth was what she had expected to pay for it. But the price Jared was asking for the "flawed" fine wool cloth was still higher than the one and a half gold mizas per yard that it was actually worth. "You're taking an awfully big risk here, aren't you?" Seirei asked calmly. "Although it's better than your first offer, that's still a lot more than flawed cloth like that is worth. What will you do if I decide to go elsewhere? Who else are you going to convince to buy it?" Jared's face flushed as he began to lose his calm. "Okay, okay. You do have a point. I can't go any lower on the cotton cloth, but what about one and a half gold mizas for the fine wool cloth?" Seirei smiled. "Done." she said quickly. Seirei fished through her pouch for the money she needed, and handed it over to her brother. Jared handed her the cloth in exchange. "It was nice doing business with you." she said brightly. "Yeah, yeah." Jared grumbled good naturedly. He was smiling, too. But his smile faded after a few ticks. "Listen...I'll try to convince the others to come here more often to trade. Maybe twice a year instead of just once. I don't know if they'll agree or not, but if they do, it will allow us to see each other more often. Now that I know that you're alive, I have to check in on you once in a while like a good older brother should." Seirei wasn't certain how she felt about that, so she simply nodded. "Yeah." she agreed. She still had some more shopping she needed to do, so she said as much, and made her farewells to her brother. Then she headed off to look for something to carry the baby in once it was born.

[Khida]

Seirei

Skill	Points
Intelligence	+1
Interrogation	+1
Negotiation	+3
Observation	+2
Organization	+1
Persuasion	+2
Rhetoric	+4
Storytelling	+1
Subterfuge	+1

• Intelligence: listening in on an open conversation
• Interrogation: asking bluntly and up front
• Jared: still a brother and a friend
• Negotiation: fit the pitch to the market
• Negotiation: offer a little, demand a little more
• Negotiation: the opening bid is usually high
• Persuasion: presenting a plausible bluff
• Rhetoric: stating the facts, plain and clear
• Storytelling: relating a sequence of events
• Subterfuge: leaving things in their normal places

Notes

It's great to see Seirei's family coming back into play, even if just for a brief visit. I really liked the negotiation section, although Jared seemed like a bit of a pushover there. Then again, he had reason to be!

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