Solo Hey Baby

[Mayra]

44th of the season, 515AV
10th Bell, Morning
Location

Graders:I know language lores don't often cross your mind, but I tried to work a bit into this thread. If you could make a point to look for them, I would greatly appreciate it!.Thanks!
"Mayra!" The halfbreed's head snapped up at the sound of her name. The hulking barbarian that was Saron was approaching her as she walked towards the tents of the Pride. She wasn't herding today, she was simply in charge of taking care of the cows for the morning. Mayra waved at the Drykas, already worn out for the day. Having to wake up bells before the sun to finish by midday did its toll on here, even if she was ow used to the odd schedule.

"Hello Saron." She muttered when he stopped as she got near, but continued treading through the grass past him. When he didn't reply, he looked at her pointedly. Greetings. She swung her hand across her chest, only to have the movement copied by Saron. It was almost identical to hers only the fingers were crooked correctly, where as hers had not been. "Oh." She realized, watching his hands and copying his movement again.

"Good." He said in common, making an unknown movement with his hand, presumably meaning good. Or approval, or something.

"You know, I can't learn every single Pavi word every moment of the day." She muttered, trotting to catch up with the Drykas' strides.

"No you can't, but if you hope to stay here, you have to try." He gave her a knowing look and the half-Chaktawe looked down, trying to keep the blush from her cheeks. "I was easy on you, because I thought you were passing through. But you should find a purpose here soon if you wish to stay. A husband, a family..." She didn't have to look at him to tell he was trying to prod her into a descision. Saron had been one of the few who didn't push her to conform to his barbarian ways, but she was starting to see that it was almost a requirement of the Drykas to absorb foreigners. Her utter lack of interest in learning their culture has alienated her, but Mayra didn't particularly mind. She had intended to stay the last thirty days of the Spring, only begging for the job so she could continue on. It was halfway through summer and she was still showing up nearly every day to put the cows out. "Herding cows cannot be your only purpose." He filled in the silence when she did not respond.

"I... I actually wanted to talk to you about that." She looked up when Saron stopped as they neared the maternity tent. "I think I'm going to be staying here for a little while longer." Saron's face was hard and unreadable as most of the barbarians were, and Mayra squinted, unsure of how to read his expression.

"Mhmm." He urged her to continue.

"Look, I understand if you want me to look for another job. I told you I was only asking for thirty days, and clearly I've over-stayed my welcome."

"I know, I am paying you too much to herd cows." He agreed, nodding towards the tent and stepping forward. Mayra took a deep breathe, her heart was picking up with the thought of loosing her only security in the moving city, but she turned towards the tent anyway. "Which is why I am asking you to stay a little later today." The much larger Drykas reached in front of her to swipe aside the flap of the tent so that she could enter.

"Saron, I-"

"Mianda and I were talking..." He interrupted her, the tone of his voice telling her not to speak. Mayra closed her lips, mute now. "You mentioned your skill with hunting animals last season, but have failed to show any previous knowledge with the cattle. Hesbri had to show you everything, and she still is." His first wife was standing on the edge of a low woven wall in one corner of the tent. The morning sun filtered through slits in the mostly closed tent, and kept the space warm. Mayra gulped, looking down at her feet as she came to stand beside the two taller barbarians.

"But cattle are not hunting animals, dear." The more thickly accented voice of Miana spoke up and Mayra watched as her brown eyes seemed to dig into Saron's. A sparkle of something she couldn't read danced on the edge of his lips as he looked at his wife and Mayra felt the sudden urge to look away. As if she was too close to this private moment, even though they were talking to her.

"So, my wife would like you to help her with the birth today. A bitch is having pups," She followed the motion of his hand with her eyes, seeing the dog sniffing around her enclosure. The woven wall only reached to about Mayra's hips, but the dog inside was not terribly big. She couldn't immediately identify the breed, but recognized she was of Cyphrus nature. "And Mianda would like to see this skill you speak of."

"I cared for mostly cats." She informed the two quietly, Mianda's presence muting her willingness to speak up.

"Yes, that is what you told us." Mianda spoke up, shuffling past her husband to move closer to Mayra's side. The half-breed had to struggle from moving away from the unfamiliar barbarian woman, uncertain of her motives. The foreigner trusted Saron mostly, but had little contact with the rest of his family besides his fourth wife, Hesbri. "But you will be more comfortable with dogs than with cows, yes?"

Mayra shrugged, then nodded. Sure, dogs were closer than cows, but they were still foreign to her. But the prospect of moving from herding to actual training and care-taking with animals she was familiar with was not something she could simply give up.

"Good. Help Mianda with the bitch and her pups and I will see you tomorrow. You needn't wake up as early as with the herd, so come at sunrise." Saron smoothed a hand over his wife's back who smiled at him and turned to leave the tent, merely nodding at Mayra.

[Mayra]

The silence that followed her employer's diparture wasn't as tense as she expected. Whereas the halfbreed was nervous around the horsewoman she had spoken all of six words to, the woman was not uncomoftable with her. Instead of starting the words, Mayra watched the pregnant hound in the temporary box. She had finished her sniffing and had resided in a corner, panting, but not from the heat. Mianda bent down to smooth a hand over the dogs ears, but did little else as they watched her stomach heave.

"Should we do something?" Mayra interrupted when the first signs of the pup appeared near her tail.

"No,we are here to watch." Mianda spoke, less fluent in common as her husband, but still understandable. Mayra rubbed the side of her jaw and watched as the sac of the first pup came out, much easier than she expected. Then again the pup was not so large. Immediately the dam turned to lick at the sac, her pink tongue breaking the pup's enclosure. Tiny pink paws waved in the are as the pup struggled under it's mother's tongue.

"What about the rest?" Mayra asked as the mother licked the sac from her pup. When the pup struggled away from his invading mother, she clenched her jaw on the pup's stomach, moving it more within reach so she could continue to clean. Mayra looked up to see Mianda's confused face, she hadn't understood the question completely. "The pup's siblings? Dog's have litters, don't they?"

"Oh, yes! One by one." Mianda smiled, making the hand motion for something. It was clear the barrier between the two was not transparent as with Saron, but not nearly as blocked as with Dravite's, so the mixed blood watched the hand movement.

"What does this mean?" She brought her own hands up, extending two fingers across the palm of her opposite hand, copying Mianda's motion.

"'Counting'." The woman translated and then shook her head. "'Mathematics'?" She tried again, thinking her first answer was inaccurate, before waving it away. "It doesn't translate well. It is not emotion. Some signs show events." Mianda explained. "We use words to add to our signs. Like I had said 'One by one' to pair with what sometimes means 'Counting'." Mayra nodded to the woman, dropping her arms and glancing back at the dogs. Pavi uses words to supplement signs. Or something like that. Suddenly the weird language made more sense. Mayra made note of it so she could question Saron or Dravite about more on it later. Or perhaps Hesbri... she had to learn the language as well...

"Watch." Mianda instructed and Mayra looked down to see the head of the second pup peaking out. A grin spread across her face as the mother repeated the process, cleaning and moving the pup out of the way.

"It's fascinating." She murmured once the dam was done and the third pup was on it's way. Unlike the first two, the third and fourth pups came out almost at the same time, but the mother hardly flinched. She licked the sac from both and then started on cleaning them one at a time, ignoring her other pups until the one with her attention was ready.

"Good, now weigh them." Mianda instructed and Mayra was confused by how suddenly the woman went from serene awe at the birthing process to an almost business mode. Perhaps it was a healer thing.

Mayra turned as Mianda strode to the other side of the tent, opening a chest and reaching inside. Filling her assistanting job easily, she stepped over after her, grabbing the strange metal objects that she handed her. Mianda pulled out a few clothes and hunks of metal, and nodded for Mayra to follow her. Beside the whelping box, there was a small table, presumably set up for this purpose.

"Here." Mianda tapped the center of the table, and Mayra carefully set down the strange metal object. "This is a weight." She spoke the single word in Pavi, almost as if assuming the woman already knew what the strange object is. But because Mayra had no common tongue equivalent to name the device with, she stored the name with her ever growing list of Pavi words. "You have done before, yes?" Mianda asked, hooking two metal plates, hung by a chain, on either side of the device.

"No." Mayra said, shaking her head as she watched the woman set up the device.

"I will teach you." Mianda nodded to herself as she organized the hunks of metal. She picked up the largest one, handing it to Mayra. "Five kilograms." She said as Mayra felt the weight. She knew the bare minimum in mathematics, as her mother had taught her, so she caught on quickly as Mianda listed the different metal weights, giving them to her to feel. She had a wide variety of weights and she explained how they would add them up to equal the puppies weight so that the balance was even. That was how they would find his weight.

[Mayra]

"First pup?" Mianda said expectantly looking at Mayra.

"Oh!" Mayra jolted from her relaxed stance, striding back over to the whelping box. She glanced at the mother, who was busy cleaning her fifth pup now. Uncertain if the dam would anger, Mayra decided to simply go for it. She reached in, and scooped up the pup that was farthest from his mother. The mother barely noticed, she was still cleaning her last pup and the others had just about piled on at this point.

Cradling the pup in her hands, she returned to the table, where Mianda had set a tiny weight on the right of the scale and folded a cloth on the left, presumably so they would not place the pup on the metal. Carefully, Mayra placed the pup on the cloth and watched as the balance sunk immediately. Waiting no time, Mianda begun piling weights on the other side until both were even with each other. Pointing to a paper scroll and ink that was set beside her, she spoke the weight. "Five hundred, twenty-three grams." Mayra moved to the blank scroll to write down the numbers.

"Is common okay? I can't write in Pavi."

"Pavi is not written." Mianda shrugged. "Common is good for that." She nodded, scooping up the pup and showing it to Mayra. "See mark on her head? She will be identified by that for now." She moved away from Mayra. "The Hunter's Allegience will name them." She spoke the first title in Pavi.

"Who?"

"The Hunter's Allegience." She repeated in common. "We cannot keep hunting animals near livestock when they grow. Just for births." She explained, leaning down to swap for a new pup. Mayra shrugged, remembering the Pavi name for the Hunter's Allegiance and wrote down the weight of the first pup.

523 g. --> White forehead mark.

They continued the process with each pup. Although Mianda had snapped into work mode, she still chatted a little between weighing puppies and seeking unique identification marks for them.

"I like Pavi better than common." Mianda spoke up as she placed the fourth pup on the scale. "Even though you can write in common. Pavi has more expression. More... meaning." Mayra gave a hallow nod. She didn't think of the differences between the languages often, but the sudden topic starter made her think about it.

"I don't know much about Pavi." Mayra started, handing Mianda a weight she was looking for. "But I think Tawna, my mother's tongue, is similiar. No hands, just speaking. But there are so many words and phrases." She smiled.

"You speak Tawna?"

"I speak a little." She recited in her mother's language. Mianda chuckled, not understanding the language, but getting the gist.

"Four hundred, ninety-eight. All black. I only know Pavi and common. No use for other languages, I guess." Mianda grinned, bringing the fourth pup back in exchange for the fifth and last pup. Mayra scribbled down the weight and identification. "So your mother is Chaktawe." Mianda observed, nestling the last pup on the scale. "And your father?"

[Mayra]

Mayra looked up at Mianda but didn't answer. The woman finished with the weight, and called out the pup's identification. Mayra scribbled it down, feigning distraction as blew on the drying ink. "Should we get the mother water or food?" Mayra asked, showing Mianda her list. And just like that, business-mode was back.

"Yes, but do not place it on the ground. The pups cannot get in it. We can hang for her." Mianda explained, moving back towards the chest. She pulled out two tightly woven baskets. "Take this to the basin. Fill half." Mianda instructed, handing her one of the baskets, with a interesting hook woven in it.

Mayra did as instructed, dunking the basket in the water. She fully expected the clear liquid to seep through, but the reeds held the water tight. Mayra pours some liquid out to allow the basket to only be filled partially. The mixed blood glanced up to see Saron talking with another barbarian she didn't recognize near the main tent, and he looked at what she was doing but didn't react. Oh please let me keep my job. She whined in her thoughts, turning back towards the tent.

When she returned, Mianda was waiting for her with a few crates opened from the food storage on the other side of the birthing tent. "Give that to her, I will show you what we feed her." Mayra did as instructed, hooking the basket on the side of the whelping box. Immediately, the dam stood, shrugging her puppies off with ease and moved towards the water, exhaustion translating between the species.

"I hear ya, Mama. It'll be worth it soon." She reached it to smooth a palm over teh dog's ears and wrinkled face, suddenly identifying the breed. Falivan Elk Dog. She had seen many of them around, usually with hunters. Apparently they were great for large kills.

"Falivan Elk Dog?" Mayra called back to Mianda, confirming her suspicion.

"Yes." Mianda confirmed, and Mayra gave the dog one last pat before returning to the barbarian woman. "She has to eat puppy food for the first fourteen or sixteen days." Mianda explained, reaching in to some sort of grain. "So we give her grain for energy, but not as much as livestock, just a little." She scooped up a small amount and poured it in the basket, closing the crate. "Meat, of course. Leftovers with plenty of fat." Mianda opened the next crate, reaching in and pulling out a sausage link. She set it on top of the chest, pulling a knife from her waist and chopping it up. "Sausage has lots of fat, it preserves well. But we try not to keep it more than four days." Mianda scooped up the crushed meat innards and dumped them on top of the grain.

[Mayra]

"Will it be bad for her?"

"Dogs are not as picky as cats, it won't hurt her stomach." Mianda shrugged.

She uncapped a clay bottle then, pouring a strange yellow and green liquid over the meal. "Vitiman rich oils, mostly from plants." She explained. "I will show you how to make it one day. Very expensive, but we don't use it for long." She picked up a wooden spoon and stirred it all together.

"And we give her puppy food to help her milk?" Mayra asked, confirming her suspicions. Mianda nodded, closing and putting away the ingredients. She continued to stir it with the spoon, and walked over to the dog. She hung the small amount of food right next to the water, but the dam had already laid back down, letting her pups reclaim their spots on her tits.

"It is important you are here tomorrow. There is plenty care for the mother and the pups after birth. We will loose maybe two pups, and we much make sure the mother is well so she can go back to her owner safe." Mianda urged teh information, holding Mayra's gaze.

"Would we need to do anything now?" Mayra asked, glancing down at the dog."

"No, later tonight I will check her over, but she needs to rest. We will talk more tomorrow." Mianda nodded, watching the mother as well. "I've kept you too long now, it is past noon."

"Mianda?" Mayra asked, unwilling to leave yet. Although today had mostly been a lesson, she had caught on quicker than with the cows, and she liked it. "Will you have me work with you now?" She asked, hopefully. Mianda laughed, seeing her true question.

"Yes, you never have to look at a cow again if you don't want to. We will have kittens next season, and I think you will be familiar enough with birthing to take those on yourself." Mianda winked, just as the entrance to the tent was flung open. A chatter of Pavi filled the room as Saron walked in with the unfamiliar barbarian, probably a customer. Mianda waved at Mayra, and the halfblood took the chance to leave. But before she could get out the door, Saron seemingly excused himself and stopped her, grabbing her shoulder.

"Come at dawn tomorrow to help with the bitch." He spoke quietly. And Mayra nodded, thinking he would just repeat the information. "And bring your swords." The humans; brown eyes did not let her go, and Mayra opened her mouth to as a question. "You must learn to contribute to Endrykas. Defend your self and your people." He explained. Mayra rolled her eyes, safe in the knowledge that he couldn't tell. The Drykas were not her people, and very few of them would earn her defense if she even could. Her heart skipped a beat when Saron's face hardened, as if he recognized her eye roll.

"Or don't. With your attitude, not many Drykas will be willing to help you. Be grateful, child." We warned, letting her go. Mayra ducked out of the tent immediately, choosing not to face the man after those words. She would do as he said, of course she would. But the foreigner hadn't yet accepted herself into the barbarian society as he said the Drykas were so ready too. Perhaps her isolation was based on her cooperation with the culture.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S

Mayra

Experience

• Socialisation: 5
• Observation: 4
• Rhetoric: 3
• Logic: 2
• Mathematics: 2
• Animal Husbandry: 2
• Writing: 2
• Endurance: 1

Lore

• Language: Basic Pavi greetings
• Saron: Aa pushy as the rest of the barbarians
• Mayra: Needs to find a purpose
• Animal Husbandry: Signs that a dog is ready to give birth
• Mianda: Saron's wife
• Hesbri: Saron's wife
• Animal Husbandry: The needs of new-born puppies
• Animal Husbandry: Dogs give birth to one puppy at a time
• Saron: Fluent in the Common tongue
• Language: Basic counting in Grassland Sign
• Language: Grassland Sign and emotions
• Language: Using Pavi and Grassland Sign together
• Mathematics: Weights in kilograms
• Location: The Hunter's Allegiance
• Pavi: An expressive language
• Pavi: Deep and meaningful
• Falivan Elk Dog: Slim and good for hunting
• Cooking: Sausages keep for four days
• Saron: Willing to help

Notes

Great thread, Mayra. If you feel I have missed anything or there are lore you had your heart set on that didn't make the cut, let me know via PM. Make sure you edit your grading request.