Star Charts and New Acquaintances (Samantha)

[Srath]

Timestamp: 8th Fall 512 A.V. Srath was leaving the General Store with his purchase as daylight was fading, the shadows of the night stretching out longer and in greater numbers. As Srath turned his head toward the East, he could see the beginning twinkles of the stars as they started to come to life. This was the time of day he was waiting for. With a new sheet of parchment, a new quill and a scroll case, he made his way slowly towards the southern part of the city. His limbs moved with a steady and slow gait, showing now hurry at all and even hinting at the way the Jamoura took life in general. He knew the stars would be there when he reached where he wanted to go and he knew they would be there tomorrow for him as well, so why hurry? With each street he passed, the heavens grew darker, more quill-points of light showing up in the sparkling wonder, giving a little aid to those walking the streets, but mostly just hanging in the sky for the eye to behold their beauty. As he reached the Temple of Laviku, the sky was fully dark except for the dozens of stars above his head, some snow white and others twinkling blue or red, others displaying the myriad of colors. What makes them look so different? Why do some sparkle more than others and yet others are dimmer? These thoughts ran through Srath's mind as he found a spot on the hill away from the temple a bit, pulling out his parchment, ink and quill. He sat facing the east and went about setting the vial of ink out next to him on the ground. Slowly he dipped the tip of the quill into the ink, letting the excess drip off before bringing it to the parchment that sat on the back of his backpack for support. Looking up straight ahead over the sea, he found the points of light furthest out. Deciding on which one looked the furthest away, he placed a point of ink on the edge of the parchment, adjusting the point to set off to the left of center, just as the furthest star sat off to his left a bit. Next he looked up and found the brightest star above him and studied it red and white flicker a moment before looking back to the parchment and placing a pinpoint spot just south of the very center. He proceeded to do this for the North, South and West skies, finding the furthest start with which to mark on the parchment. Satisfied so far, he faced east again, then looked up and began to slowly add marks to the parchment for each star around his center star. It would take several minutes for each point to be added, the large Jamoura moving in a studious manner as he gauged how far each star was from those around the others, wanting to make sure he placed each one correctly for his star chart.

[Samantha Slate]

Religion was the reason behind nearly everything; cities were founded, lives were ended, and worlds were changed forever by the gods who presided over Mizahar like imperious judges, each robed in his or her chosen domain. Each ready to play with the races of the world as if they were a child's toys. Samantha's visit to the Temple of Laviku could also be blamed on religion. The wizard was by no means a religious woman, and could not name any god who she thought deserved her devotion. Early in her life, long before she had left her father's house, Samantha had given obeisance to Laviku, the god of the sea and all within. The lives and livelihoods of the Zeltivans depended on Laviku's mercy, so it was common logic that they would show him more than a little respect. Being little more than a child, Samantha had followed suit, trusting that their god would protect them and keep the floods away. Needless to say, the wizard no longer had any room in her heart for a god that had never done her any good. For reasons even she could not understand, the wizard had felt a compulsion to visit the temple once more. Perhaps it was nostalgia, or maybe it was a dim hope that she might regain some faith in her childhood deity; either way, it wasn't important why she was going, just that she was. Samantha scanned the crowd around her, looking for any potential threats or dangers. She did it more to keep her mind occupied than out of any real worry; Zeltiva in broad daylight was surprisingly safe. The wizard was ashamed to admit that she felt as nervous as a schoolgirl, and was glad for the opportunity to occupy her thoughts. Men and women were coming in and out of the temple at a relatively steady rate, each one merging with the crowd going in one direction or another, and a few stopped to stare at the large gorilla sauntering past as if he hadn't a care in the-- Big...gorilla? What the petch? Samantha thought in shock as she picked up her pace to fall into step behind the creature. Though she normally would have had difficulty trailing someone through the city streets, the large, hairy creature was an easy target to track. The thing had the strangest assortment of gear with it; a large piece of parchment and a quill in one hand, and a scroll case in the other. Why would a gorilla need those? More importantly, why wasn't it locked up in a cage somewhere? Judging by several other expressions in the crowd, others felt the same way. The surprising thing was that some people passed by it without a second glance, as if a huge beast walking through the street was nothing unusual. After several chimes, the thing settled down on a hill near the Temple and began making apparently random markings on the paper with slow, methodical movements. Samantha stopped a few feet away from the creature, keeping out of its line of sight. Her curiosity piqued, the mage focused her mind and delved into the aura surrounding the ape, which appeared to her eyes as a greenish, earthy pulsing that ran along the outline of its body. It was unusual, more like a jungle of writhing patterns that she had to sift through in order to get any information. Unfortunately, she had too little experience with the creature's race to make much of the auras; all she could understand was that he was a gorilla with the mind of a man. Samantha had heard tales of that, but had never thought they were true! Two chimes later, she withdrew her attention from his aura and refocused it on the world around her. The ape was still sitting there, making little dots on his paper. Hesitantly, the wizard approached him--for it was definitely a male and intelligent enough to be considered a person--and spoke in a calm, soothing voice, "Excuse me?" She kept a distance from him, unsure whether he might be hostile or not. Samantha doubted it, however; he appeared as placid as a cow chewing the cud.

[Srath]

Srath had no knowledge of being followed towards the temple, of a novice wizard who was on his trail and thinking he should be locked up and kept off the streets. This, of course, was the byproduct of her ignorance of who he was and in a conversation, he would brush it aside and move on without much thought to it. As it were, he was unaware of her following him or her thoughts, his path taking him to his current location and project. The night air was pleasant to the Jamoura, the gentle breeze that blew this close to the coast shifting the short fur on his body, a gentle caress of nature that almost always made Srath feel alive, and ever-thankful for the gift of the man-mind he had been blessed with. Though the wind was messing his parchment about some, it was of no major concern to the patient creature who would just wait for a lull in the wind to make another mark on the paper, making sure that his quill tip would touch exactly on the paper he wanted in relation to the star he was marking down. Gently Srath set his quill down to his side, his large hands holding the parchment still so that the ink that was there could dry, his eyes wandering around him. He observed some of the people who were there at the temple for a few moments, seeing a range of mild curiosity to complete devotion, the worshippers of Laviku in a variety of acts from meditation and thought to hushed talking. It was a beautiful sight to see devotees honoring their deity as Srath did with his goddess. His eyes transitioned from the people to the temple though, thinking of the god Laviku. It was a new deity, the god of a realm that was mostly foreign to him, intriguing and something to learn much more about later. His body jump a little, as little as possible for a Jamoura, as a feminine voice broke his silent thought. He turned his massive head to look at the woman, his eyes smiling with his lips as he looked into her eye and spoke in his gentle, slow and methodical voice, ”Yes kind woman, how may I be of assistance to you?” The woman before him was short in height, his eyes already close to her shoulders just sitting down. Her body was small and fragile looking next to Srath who was easily twice her size if not almost thrice. Her eyes were curious, but it was not a curious that seemed pleasant right away, it was the look of wondering of something unknown, of wondering how to handle an animal you knew nothing about.

[Samantha Slate]

The surprise that Samantha had felt upon seeing the hairy creature was nothing in comparison to the utter astonishment that she felt upon hearing his voice. ”Yes kind woman, how may I be of assistance to you?" He asked in a gentle voice, one that seemed infinitely patient and even more thoughtful. It was both a stark contrast to his appearance and a strange complement to it. The tone seemed right for him. Still, it felt a little wrong to be speaking with an ape. Samantha forced herself to get over that; he was a person, not an animal. She needed to remember that, or she would certainly make a fool of herself in front of him. Samantha rarely made a habit of humiliating herself, no matter who saw it. "I was...that is to say, I..." The wizard hesitated, her words having not been fully formulated yet. She hadn't properly thought of a good excuse for speaking with the creature; what did you say in a situation like this? After a few ticks, Samantha decided that the truth would work just as well as anything else. "I saw you on my way to the temple," She started uncomfortably, realizing how impolite she was being, "And I haven't ever seen someone...like you. Of your race, pardon my saying so. I was...curious." Samantha explained with much more grace than she had started with. The woman's eyes, now a confusing mix of blue, green, and gray, met the ape's own green ones without hesitation. As odd as this whole meeting was, she had little to worry about. She was in public, and thus he probably would be unable to harm her. Besides that, he didn't strike Samantha as the sort of person who resorted to violence. He didn't look like the sort who dealt in confrontation at all, in fact. The wizard was so sure of her conclusions that she did not feel the need to waste energy and attention trying to read the alien aura that surrounded the ape. She was still tempted to do so, but was assured in her assessment of the situation; the woman wasn't always right, but she had a fairly good record for this kind of thing. "I am Samantha Slate, and you would be?" The woman asked, not extending her hand to shake his for fear of having her hand crushed, either intentionally or by mistake. Though she was reasonably sure that the ape had no ill will towards her, she wouldn't take risks if there was nothing to be gained from them.

[Srath]

Srath smiled at the girl as she spoke to him. This was a reaction he had seen before, someone unsure how to go about addressing the strange and foreign race of the Jamoura, although he had been the same way before in his travels as he met others and was not sure how to go about greeting them, of what might offend them or might honor them. He was understanding as he met those who did not know better, though meeting those who did know could be extremely pleasant. Her words came in a nervous stutter, the jumble of letters in her head trying to form coherent words that would leave her lips in and understandable sentence. His eyes held hers steadily, the patience of his long-lived race giving her all the time that she would need to formulate a sentence. With a nod of his head to her words, he returned the introduction in a deep and slow voice, My name is Srath. I am of the race known as Jamoura. Srath looked around at this point for a moment, then gestured to the ground a few feet away in front of him, I cannot offer you anything to sit on, but please sit with me if you wish. I would enjoy the chance to satiate your curiosity.

[Samantha Slate]

"My name is Srath," The ape said, shocking Samantha once again with the way his voice sounded, both a complement and a contrast to his appearance, "I am of the race known as the Jamoura." After a few moments of looking around--slowly, of course, like everything he did--Srath gestured to the ground in front of himself. "I cannot offer you anything to sit on, but please sit with me if you wish. I would enjoy the chance to satiate your curiosity." The wizard blinked in surprise; he was willing to indulge her? He did seem quite unusual, appearance aside. Most would ignore Samantha and brush her off, unless she provided a bribe of some sort as a reason to stay and answer her questions. It was both unnerving and refreshing to see someone who was different. The question nagged at her, though; was he trustworthy? He surely wouldn't harm her in front of all these people, but why would he be so open? Deciding that she would find out in time, Samantha eyed the spot where she was meant to sit. He couldn't have been expecting her, so it wasn't a trick, but she still had her reservations. Deciding to compromise, Samantha sat slightly to the side of the indicated spot, tucking her legs under her body to keep a barrier between herself and the grass. The wizard enjoyed nature; enjoyed looking at nature, to be exact. Studying it. Sitting in it was something else entirely. "Thank you, Master Srath," Samantha said with a grateful nod of her head, "I've never had the pleasure of meeting one of your kind before... If you don't mind, could you explain what exactly a Jamoura is? I've never heard of your people." That last part wasn't entirely true; she'd heard of apes with intelligence equal to that of any of the races, but never had she imagined that they were real!

[Srath]

Srath watch the young lady with interest as she studied the spot he pointed to, taking her time to place herself on the ground just to the side of where he gestured. He was confused as to why she did this, why she might not trust him. He did not take it in offense, but attributed it to her past and a new meeting with a new race. He might discover it later on if they talked long enough. As she became more comfortable, or as comfortable as she could, he got right to the source of who he was and where he had come from. He was going to give her more information than he originally asked for, but he felt it was needed to fully understand the Jamoura and their past. Jamoura, as you can see in me, are a race of intellectual apes. We have our history going back many thousands of years, but our current form is one of only 512 years, going back to the Valterrian. Before that, we were simple apes, living in our environment as every animal does, filling their natural order in the cycle that is birth, life, death and rebirth into the world again. During our past, humans started spreading and developing into our homeland, taking the forest and environment for themselves, eventually turning to violence to remove us from their ever expanding circle of influence. War between the Jamoura and humans was violent with both sides losing many lives. Eventually, their number and intellect over our primitive minds won the forests and land that was home to us and many other animals that had fled already. Here the Jamoura stopped his story to take a deep and calming breath, his eyes moist with tears. The pain of the past, though he was not alive for it, was vivid in his mind thanks to the impeccable story telling of Marn and others like him. He longed to be able to weave words like those before him, but that was another worry for another day. Apologizing for the pause, Srath continued on, I apologize Miss, it is painful to think of the blood and suffering both Jamoura and humans suffered, as well as the other animals that were there. Continuing on; As the Jamoura fled farther north, they eventually came to the Taldera region and The Spires, a great expanse of lush forest alive with fertile ground that gave plenty of foliage to be eaten as well as great canopy trees that provided shade and tall branches for animals to live. It was a paradise unlike any that had been known to the Jamoura of those times and they were happy to be there, home at least and in peace. Peace that lasted only until the Valterrian. Here, as everywhere, The Spire were shaken and broken, the world around them once again becoming a battleground of noise and chaos, only this time it was from the gods above and not the humans below. It was during this time though that things changed for the Jamoura. Little did they know that Caiyha, our beloved goddess of the wilderness and all things in it, was watching them and her heart wept for the creatures and their suffering. In her compassion she reached out to them and a change began, an awakening from simple minded animals to intellectual creatures. Marn was the first Jamoura to experience the change and he was the one who helped to gather and unite the Jamoura into a solid group, finding those around him who had experienced the same thing as him. It was with this gift and blessing that the Jamoura became who we are today, but instead of seeking out war and vengeance upon those who had wronged us before, we learned from that pain and suffering and devoted our race to the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, studying almost every field we could. Eventually some, including myself, left our home in this pursuit of knowledge of outside teachings and to learn more of the world around us. Srath stopped, his deep voice and long-drawn out words fading of slowly. His eyes, which had taken on a faraway look at times as he talked of Caiyha and his home, came back into focus on the young woman before her. He hoped his long-windedness had not bored the poor girl as he knew the attention span of some races was not as great as that of the Jamoura who had much more time to devote to such time consuming endeavors.