Open The First Yet Second Tenday ~ In Honor of Marino

[Tazrae]

Timestamp: 20th of Summer, 520 A.V.

Tenday Celebrations were something Tazrae wanted to get going in Syka to help keep track of everyone and give her guests something to look forward too. A party of some sort every ten days was not a bad idea to keep tabs on the settlement to see who was doing well and who might be struggling or missing. Many of the denizens of Syka lived alone and not everyone had time to get around to everyone's home to see if they were doing well. A Tenday Celebration was a way to get everyone to gather and count heads, making sure people were doing well. If the little parties worked well, Tazrae would have nine a season to attend or help plan and that scratched a serious hostessing itch the woman often had.

So even if she had no guests, she could still caretake others in the form of feeding them or feasting. And today was an extra special Tenday. Today was the very first Tenday, but it would be technically the second one a season falling on the 20th. It was a lucky day, Marino's birthday as well.

Tazrae was grateful for her friend. He meant a lot to everyone in the community so gathering to celebrate his birthday was not a bad thing. She'd worked all afternoon yesterday to bake a cake and get enough food together for a feast. Others would bring more as well, but Tazrae had arranged to have a giant clam, crab, and shrimp bake. They'd dug a pit in the sand in Swing Beach and had laid coals down, layers of sand, and had finally wrapped the seafood, new baby potatoes and ears of corn in layers of burlap to let them all steam in the sand. She'd churned butter for the feast and melted it with garlic and fresh-baked loaves of bread.

There was a huge birthday cake - large enough to feed the whole settlement if necessary so long as everyone took a smaller piece - and there were fruit and freshwater drinks galore. Tazrae hoped people would enjoy themselves, especially with Randal promising to lead a storytelling session and Xander heading up the music.

Stu was bringing hard liquor - something he'd brewed up himself - and Juli had promised to bring some candy she had been experimenting on making using the local fruit. Tazrae couldn't wait to try both the new booze and candy, preferably together.

The Commons were decorated for the event with leis of flowers that draped the decks like garlands. Tazrae had also gone to the estuary cave and harvested glow worms to fill mason jars and lend a blue festive glow to the Commons when the sunset. The makeshift mason jar lanterns were set up at each table and hanging periodically above the flower leis.

She greeted everyone that came up the steps, pointing out the food, plates, silverware, drinks, and even the cake which they weren't going to cut until they could get Marino to cut it. And secretly, at Randal's request, she had a clipboard full of a list of names of every one part of the settlement. They had it stashed behind the drinks and had promised to check off names as folks stopped in to see if everyone showed up and was doing well.

[Quzon]

20th Day of Season, 520 A.V.

Quzon was hardly a fashion icon as he strolled around in nothing but a pair of boots and a loincloth; though he also wore a few pieces of jewelry. The building heat of the summer led the pale Myrian away from wearing his longer Isuas clothing, though he had them in his pack if he needed to head out into the Jungle Wilds proper.

He could tell from a glance that some type of event was going to take place at the Commons as he ventured to the Mercantile. The hanging decorations were a dead giveaway of that, unless that the Verusk named Talivindra decided to terrorize everyone into letting her decorate everything. Quzon chuckled a day ago when Lars had to talk Talivindra down from the idea of painting the Ashta with various cosmetics to make them as she claimed: 'Prettier'. It was a situation that eventually ended once they got distracted singing songs together.

Q still found himself chuckling about it even now as he entered the Mercantile. It was Juli who informed him of ‘Tenday celebrations' along with the added birthday party.

The pale Myrian responded with a terse grunt of acknowledgment, then quickly finished his business transition while asking Juli where the best place might be to catch some birds. She wasn’t quite sure, but suggested he start at Komorebi Estuary since it was full of insects and fish that birds might enjoy hunting for.

Juli seemed to be busy preparing for the celebrations in her own way, so the Myrian left her in peace. With a new short sword and three animal snares meant to catch birds stored away into his bottomless backpack.

He also acquired a new hunter's tool kit which he carried under his right arm.

***

After his shopping was done, Q made his way up the steps of the Commons to see everything for himself.

As someone who's never spoken to Tazrae, he mainly just stared at the female who pointed out the various foods, drinks, and eating utensils. He was staring because he had to actively gauge the small details of what she looked like. His colorblindness made her skin look shock white, though she lacked the scaled patterning of a Konti.

"Human?" he mused to himself. Likewise, he could tell that she was not marked by Myri. It was a crapshoot for him to tell what her hair color could be, so he ignored that to cast his emerald green eyes over her body to see is she might be a future weight lifting partner. She seemed toned, which caused him to nod to himself before looking towards the food.

The temptation of free food was hard to beat, especially for a bodybuilder who needed to keep up a hefty diet. It was what kept him from leaving as he nodded at Tazrae before held out the medium-sized leather pouch he'd been holding under his arm. "Hunter tools. Gift of Quzon. It, for birth." The Mixed Blood stated while wrangling his broken grasp of the Common tongue into something comprehensible.

Quzon would let her take the gift if she wanted to, or he'd place it down where ever he was told. Once all the niceties were done, he sat down to watch people for a bit before getting any food.

ledger :

x1 Toolkit, Hunter/Trapper's: 25 gm
x3 Animal Snare, Bird: 6gm

Total: 31gm

[Adeliz]

Adeliz had been avoiding people. Ever since her encounter with Kihala’s mark and the guardians, the ghost had been desperately trying to make sense of it all and to decide whether or not she actually wanted to keep the mark. Not that she had much choice about the latter. She’d tried to claw it off herself, only to find it had become as much a part of her as she was. There had been a chance that day to make new friends, or acquaintances at the very least, but Adeliz had let herself overthink things. She had let herself be frightened away, ostracized from the rest, by a woman made a water. She’d be damned if she’d let herself be beaten by walking water. If anything, Adeliz belonged here more than the water woman. There was an ocean for the other creature.

And even if she didn’t belong, Adeliz knew she had to return to Syka, immerse herself in them again. Ines belonged here, belonged in Syka, and that meant Adeliz wouldn have to be here too. She didn’t have to belong, but she would have to coexist. That meant she’d have to reach out. There were certain people she found more interesting, more drawn to. Those who had been at the assembling of the totems, the summoning of th guardians, came to min.

It was one of those who had thrown the party, the woman whose name she couldn’t remember., the one who wasn’t made of water. Adeliz had liked her. The woman had seemed genuine and kind in their first meeting, however brief that had been. And so it was to her, the innkeeper, that Adeliz first reach out.

She waited for a lull in new arrivals of party goers before she materialized and made herself known to the innkeeper. If she had learned one thing in her short existence, it was that the dead made the living uncomfortable. This was a party, and the last thing she wanted to do was drive people away.

Her materialization was shaky at best, so her face suddenly appeared suspended in the air before the woman, her voice coming from somewhere to her left as the rest of her body slowly tried to build the details of itself. She left her left arm ummaterialized, the place that carried the evidence that she had been touched by the same Goddess that had touched the woman before her.

The words stumbled out in her halting and childish Common, but she was pretty certain she was getting her point across. “Hello, I’m Adeliz. I’m sorry. I forget name of you.”

Adeliz turned her gaze out to where the rest of Syka would come from as they joined the party. She wanted the chance to disappear before anyone else showed up, a chance to keep herself from keeping them away.

“It is nice you throw-” she couldn’t think of the word ‘party’ so she gestured around them and into the inn- “this. It is good. For all people. For all Syka. It is happy. It is hope.”

Adeliz knew she wasn’t getting her full meaning across. She was about to try to rephrase what she had said when she saw Ines headed toward the inn. Timidly, she subsided, sinking into the nearest wooden wall and watching her sister’s short interaction with the innkeeper. When Ines was inside and already headed for the food, Adeliz reemerged from the wall.

“Ines is my sister. Sorry. She is not good at talk, at people. It is because she is not all people. She is not same as you, not same as me. But she is good. She mean good.”

She couldn’t be sure if that made sense, but she hoped the innkeeper understood well enough. After another person arriving interrupted them, Adeliz materialized from the wall again and pointed to the woman’s arm where Kihala’s multi-colored mark showed brilliantly against the woman’s skin. “What is smudge? What for? It hurt?”

This was something she desperately wanted answers for, but she wouldn’t push the woman too much if she didn’t want to answer. She also didn’t want to keep the woman from the party too long. That would be rude, and something in her knew that. There should be plenty of time to get more out of her at the party itself.

[Ines]

wc: 505

Ines usually tried to show up for parties. Partially because it was her main way of socializing with anyone outside of people who stopped by the Mill or Adeliz, and partially because of the food. Somehow, in her year of living in Syka, there always managed to be a new dish at every party. The vampire bat had been spending more and more time reclused in the wilds, and sometimes the only time Lars would see her was when she'd spend all day with the Ashta. There had apparently been many new arrivals to the settlement since she'd stopped paying attention. Lars even told her of a brand new inn, and that the party was being hosted by the owner of that brand new inn. This only sealed the deal for Ines' appearance - anyone who knew how to run an inn must know how to throw parties.

Ines arrived shortly after Lars. The tiny bat was dressed in little more than an oversized shirt and bare feet, her usual outfit when she wasn't traipsing around the beach naked, working, or traversing the Maw. There were some faces she hadn't seen before, and some faces she had seen too much of. Quzon, for one, had started work in the Sawmill. She didn't interact with him much since she had broken into his cave-home, but he was probably the one she was most familiar with aside from Lars or Adeliz, and Adeliz had the unfair advantage of having lived inside of her head for a season.

Ines approached the commons. She could smell the food almost before she could see the decorations, of which there were many. The flower leis were a nice touch, and so were the jars of glow worms. Ines hoped she'd get to finally meet the new residents. Apparently it was someone's birthday! She could spot the cake as she climbed up the stairs. It turned out her hope that she got to meet the new residents were coming true much faster than the little Kelvic had anticipated. At the top of the steps was an unfamiliar woman - blonde, very pretty, and definitely not a Kelvic.

This woman pointed out all of the food, drinks, and even told her about the cake - they were waiting for someone else, Marino. Ines surmised it was his birthday. Ines left before she talked much more than that. The bat beelined for the food table and started filling up a plate with seafood. Ines had rarely had seafood before moving to Syka, but she had grown used to it fast. Clams were her favorite of the bunch. After she filled up her plate with clams and a few potatoes, the Kelvic took a seat next to Quzon. If she was going to hang out with anyone, it'd be him, if only because she knew they could communicate well.

"Aren't you going to eat?" She asked him in Myrian, mouth full of clam meat as she talked. "It's good. That lady knows how to cook."

[Willjan]

Des and Willjan both approached the commons together wearing their finest... or more accurately, their cleanest since they each only owned a couple pairs of clothing. For Willjan, this meant a grey-blue linen shirt and pair of leather pants that he hadn't worked in much. For Des, it was a white linen blouse and a green, knee-length ramie skirt.

They had missed the first Tenday - they didn't know it was happening and had spent the whole evening oblivious, drying fruit by the hearth in their bungalow. A few days later, Captain Chaliva showed up to check in. Apparently these tendays event was a way for the settlement to keep tabs on each other. Pretty smart, Willjan thought.

He carried a small basket in his arms - the most recent bounty from their fruit preservation efforts. They were the best of the proverbial crop: mangos that the two had dried in a good 2-day strength of cloudless weather in the past couple days. They'd even rolled them with the last of the sugar they had invested in for the attempts. In truth, most of those experiments had failed with the mangos either spoiling or falling victim to flies before either Willjan or Des could shoo them away. What Willjan carried in his arms were probably the only flavorful slices in the whole batch. He figured the community didn't need to know that, though. Best to maintain appearances.

"Ok so you know the founders - Mathais, Randal, and James," said Willjan to Des, "We've met Stu once or twice; he's the one who manages the bar. And Duncan. He's the one who watches over the pools." He counted off each member in his head.

Des rolled her eyes at Willjan's networking campaign. This was supposed to be party! She could smell baked seafood and butter already. She licked her lips.

"I'll introduce you to Indigo, Uta, and Tazrae," Willjan went on, "Oh! And Marino- remember Captain Chaliva mentioned it was his birthday today too... Hey! Don't eat that yet!"

Des had snuck her hand into the basket to pull out a dried mango. Willjan tried to smack her hand away, but she was too quick. She took a bite and began chewing in front of him triumphantly.

"Tsk.. At least eat it slowly. And when we get there - advertise it as the most delicious thing you've eaten since your Mom's beignets."

. . .

They climbed the steps and Willjan hailed Tazrae.

"Hello Tazrae! We've come bearing nature's candy," Willjan said, raising his basket. Then he tilted his head, "I don't believe you've met Des yet."

Des curtsied with an ironic smile. "I heard you're an amazing chef, Tazrae," she said.

Willjan scanned the commons. Not many had showed up yet. There was a ghost and another Willjan couldn't recognize. In the corner was a man with a rippling torso and a precariously placed loincloth and boots. Willjan glanced back at the ghost. And then back to the shirtless man and sighed. Syka seemed an odd place to him sometimes. He turned back to Tazrae.

"Where's the guest of honor?" he asked.

[Marino Oceangem]

There is a low hum in the background. The sound of the waves pounding against the sand only its so distant and garbled as Marino sways with the movement of his Sea Silk. Up. Down. Up. Down. The sea laps at the side of his casinor, occasionally plinking against the hull. Something rolls across the floor of his vessel. Wooden and round because the sound of the half spear rolling across the floor is unmistakable at this point. He’s been listening to it for a full bell now with his eyes clenched shut, head pounding from the night before.

Liquor. The heady kind that he’d poured down his throat half hoping to drown from it. Till the warmth washed away the memories making him lose his nerve. Then came the desired blackness that drove away the dreams. The memories. Everything. An now his head pulsed and his skin felt licked by fire. He shuddered with a cold sweat as he chanced to creak his eyes open.

He heard them open as they became unstuck from the thin crust that had formed at their corners. Light lanced into his pupils blinding him with pain before he could clench them shut once more. Groaning, he wrapped his head in a blanket and forcibly sat up. Carefully he felt around the bed around him as his foot stopped the spear from rolling any further.

The lapse in the recurring noise seemed to release something within him as he let out a long sigh of relief. Clenching the sheets, he eventually brought himself to stand up and hobbled his way over to the wall where his waterskin hung. It took a little longer than it should have but eventually his fumbling hands found it and brought it underneath his blanket to take a long pull from.

As the lukewarm water touched his tongue he suddenly realized he was very thirsty and continued to gulp at it till his stomach threated to revolt. No, not threatened. Was going to, he realized with a lurch, throwing off the blanket as he rushed up to the deck. Fortunately the Seasilk was a small vessel because he was barely at the railing when he started heaving up the water he had just down as well as the contents from the previous night.

Clenching his eyes shut, he continued to heave and heave until there was nothing left in his stomach. Then he heaved some more, his skin going cold an clammy as he clung weakly to the side of the rail. He leaned over it for a long time after his stomach had been spent, with his eyes closed while his mind drifted untethered by the the pain the pounded within his skull. It had become something close to normal and did not impede his thought as it did before, though his mind was far more sluggish than usual.

Breathing in deep and slow, he eventually came to the conclusion that he should go below deck to get some more water. Then maybe, find something to eat in the settlement. His empty stomach and pounding head certainly called for something of the sort an that wasn’t going to be solved by the limited rations he had on board.

He chanced to crack an eye open, waiting for several ticks for his eye to adjust before he cracked open the other. Slowly, he opened them both till he could see more than just blurry outlines and stumbled down below to drink a swallow of water.

It was easer to see below. Not too bright so he chanced to open his eyes a little wider as he pulled on a pair of breeches and a shirt. Then he stretched which made him feel better, for a heart beat at least before he started stepping for the deck. Rubbing his temple, he sought to power through it as he slowly walked up and out onto the dock.

The sun was high in the sky. Too high. How long had he slept for? The silent reprimand would have to wait however as his slitted eyes caught a flicker of movement that lead his gaze further down the beach were a gathering was being held. Quite a large one he realized as he saw more than a few faces he recognized gathered around food and decorations. Had he missed something?

Marino worried at his lower lip with his upper teeth while he made his sedate path towards the gathering. There was a wariness to his movements that was as unfamiliar to the Svefra as he suspected having a tail would be. However, to say that he was together enough to do something about it would be a stretch. He just had his curiosity, that was pulling him along now towards this gathering along the shore.

It was Stu’s laughter that finally drew him all the way in. Allowing him to forget his clouded thoughts for a moment enough to sink into the moment as he found a spot by a pit that smelled fantastic. He didn’t see who, but someone had shoved a plate off food into his hands which he spent little time looking at before he took a bite out of one of the small potatoes. Then another, and another till the memory of the water earlier made him hesitate with a mouth full to bursting with corn, potato and clam.

Slowly he chewed the large lump of food while he furtively glanced around at the gathering. Eyes settling on a familiar face, or faces he should say as the feline made its presence known, Marino swallowed before posing the question that had started to itch the back of his mind.

“Do you know what this is for?” He asked in a hushed tone he usually reserved for games in the water.

[Robert Glenfeidh]

Ledger :

Cotton bandana, 1 sm 3 cm

Robert cursed again under his breath as he moved along the cobbled pathway, with Anastasia safely secured, though a tad rattled, behind him and mewing every now and then as he jostled her too hard.

Late again!

He mopped his brow and eyes with a kerchief without breaking stride, already dreading the inevitable waves of sweat that would drench him once he stopped. Even going topless wouldn't help. Through a small break in the trees, Robert glimpsed the docks, and there he noted Marino's casinor, idling and relaxing even in the heat. Seeing the Commons already decorated and bustling with activity, Robert redoubled his pace, eliciting an annoyed growl from his feline companion as he leapt over a particularly large stump, moving off the well-trod road to gain a few more moments.

~-~-~

He stopped some distance from the party, and wiped himself down again, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to make himself presentable. Tapping Anastasia's nose playfully, he opened his pack fully and let her leap out gracefully. The smells of butter and garlic and smoke - oh! Such temptation to the pair. While Anastasia sauntered off to the clam bake on Swing Beach - perhaps to dig out a few stray pieces that had gone unnoticed - Robert, grinning sheepishly, raised a hand in greeting to Stu and shouted, "What ho, Stu! What's on the menu?"

The bartender laughed, and thrust a mug of strong-smelling liquor into his hands, sloshing some of the contents onto the sands.

"A new blend, just finished it a day ago. Put something special in there just for you!"

Robert raised the drink in mock salute, before tipping it to his lips and taking in a moderate sip, rolling it around his mouth before he swallowed.

Oho, spicy!

Robert laughed at the unexpected flavour. "Lots of citrus, a bit of pineapple, and you've used something neutral for the spirits. And that cucumber, what a stroke of genius! Clean, fresh, bites the tongue, that can't be it."

He ruminated over the aftertaste, sniffing the mug before hitting on an idea.

"Pepper! You put pepper in my drink?"

Stu laughed and slapped Robert's back, nodding and saying, "Saw you a few days back almost falling asleep into your dinner, thought you needed a pick-me-up. Nice, no?"

Robert took another sip and let the spicy crispness wash over his tongue, already feeling more alive even through the haze of sweat.

"Ta Stu, really needed that. Now, I have to go, there's potatoes and corn with my name on them and Marino's birthday present..." Robert rummaged in his backpack before withdrawing a folded piece of cloth, still neat and untouched except for a layer of cat fur.

Grimacing, Robert ignored Stu's chuckles behind him as he walked over to where Tazrae was greeting the other guests, brushing away the fur with practised ease.

Once he caught her eye, he nodded and spoke, "Good day, Tazrae - sorry I'm late, I was trying to get Anastasia down from a tree." He glanced about the heavily laden table, drawn to the loaves covered in diced garlic soaking in fragrant butter. "Thanks for providing the food here, it all looks delicious." After having satisfied all proper courtesies, The Lhavitian succumbed to his desires and piled his plate high with the bread, blissfully indulging in one of his long-time favourites.

[Tazrae]

Grading!

Tazrae

Planning +1, Hostessing +1

Quzon

Observation +1, Planning +1, Investigation +1

Lores: Syka: Best places to catch birds, Syka: Purpose and Appearence of a Tenday Gathering

Acquisition: Hunters Toolkit, Bird snare