Early evening
Merriment danced in the air as the people gathered. The heart fire was ablaze, offering its warmth to all who gathered. It was here that the feast was assembled, vegetables, stew, whole carcasses of beasts on display in the alcoves of the gathering. Clan heads had, as they did every year, opened their pavilions to the masses, the heat of their cookfires keeping their dishes hot. Each clan had brought their very best. Meat from the Emarald Clan, ale from the Ruby Clan, cheese and dairy from the Amethyst Clan, on and on the list went.
The city teemed with activity, the last touches being put both on food and on costume. Some arrived in their finest dresses, others wore furs and paint on their bodies in show. The drinking had begun long before the food had finished, stories and plays had started early that morning.
With each bell that passed more people arrived to the center of the city, smaller fires popping up to warm the hands of the growing crowd. Animals were mostly left at home, although some dogs and cats strolled in step with their masters, many would be home awaiting scraps from the feasting.
Naiya had begun dressing quite early that morning, the pelts she had stitched together needing finishing touches. She honored the hunters of the city, dressed in the skins of animals that had died to further the good of the people. From her neck hung a new adornment. She had carved the base of three zith teeth with marks of the grass, a reminder of the triumph of the Drykas over the zith, and her own, personal triumph over the zith whose teeth she wore.
Clanless did not mean unwelcome, and for her today that was very clear, watchmen greeted her, children stopped to touch the pelts she wore. Everyone was welcomed to the celebration today.
There was a man near by who had begun to sing, a low bellied sound the deep base of the tune. He was joined quickly by a falsetto voice countering the depth of his bass.
"There was a lad upon the sea, dark of skin and hair was he." The song was a familiar one, the boy struck out into the sea of grass, hunting and foraging gathering all he needed to survive. The tune was a lively one, four beats on the ups and downs. It brought a smile to Naiya's lips as she joined softly with the tune.
"Taller than both you and me, a greater man there could not be!" Her singing was soft, weak in comparison to the voice of the woman, but it pleased her all the same as more than one listener joined in. Naiya glanced around, seeking the sight of Seirei, it was unlikely she had strayed too far beyond. She was unsure how the woman would do in the crowd. Seirei had many good reasons to be unsure of the people.