[Location] The Woven Gate (All Non Syms Enter Here)

[Bear]

From the silence emerged sudden, highly calculated movement that made even Bear's highly adjusted eyes squint in the darkness as she tried to catch sight of which limbs were moving and how they were scaling the high wall of the cavern. Blurs of white and a glimpse of black, the only unmistakable factor she could process was that the beings so highly contrasted the darkness that Bear could only stare at them in wonder, her anger dissipating. Their hair was pale and white with old age, yet their bodies moved as nimbly as if they were in the prime of their youth. And when they turned to face Bear and it became apparent they wore skin and weren't skeletal, but also bore no wrinkles from aging, it was clear that the beings that had appeared were death-defying. The language they spoke was foreign and intriguing, the musical sound of it in stark contrast to her fluent, screeching tongue. And as their mouths moved, Bear focused intently on the way they formed each word. But then she was addressed, and the Zith remembered that she still flew slightly above them, and that her ax was still grasped in one hand, no matter how relaxed her grip had become. They had drawn their swords, and the telling sound of a bow being readied finally caught up to the Zith's previously distracted ears. Her first language was not Common, in fact, she didn't practice it very much; So, their attempt to communicate was successful, but Bear didn't know if her attempts would be as easily understood. Alone, yes, Bear could answer that, "Alone," the Zith carefully started, unsuccessful at finding the same lower volume that they held, her voice coming out much louder than she'd intended. Bear quieted, searching again for the right tone. "I came to sleep," and strange emotion, a mix of confusion and intrigue, managed to make it's way into her voice. Kalinor was an unfamiliar word to Bear, and they had insinuated with in that it was a place. Was this Kalinor, or were they Kalinor? "Does this land belong to the colony of Kalinor?" She questioned finally, "Are you Kalinor?" There was little hesitation now, Bear not caring much whether her Common was spoken correct, "You are pale like bone, but move with much life. The hair is white but the body is young. I do not want to harm you, you are wise and wise should not be harm." Although slightly frustrated at not being able to communicate as quickly and efficiently as should could in her native language, Bear tried her best to appear as harmless as she could so that her volume control wouldn't be mistaken for anger or hostility. She waited, hoping that the Kalinor's would allow her to remain in their presence.

[Poison]

„You want to sleep in Kalinor? Alone?“ one of the men who was a little older than the other one and had a scar on his left cheek asked. He laughed. „I find it hard to believe that. Kalinor doesn’t make a good sleeping place. Besides, your kind stick together. You are barbarians, killers and thieves. So what happened to the rest of your pack?“

„Kalinor is not a colony“, the younger man replied. „It isn’t the name of a person either. It is the city of the Symenestra.“ He didn’t say anything to her comments about their appearance, but continued to point his weapon at her. He wasn’t at all sure what to make of her.

„If you really don’t want to harm us, put your weapon away“, he told her. „And follow us into the city so that we can question you properly.“

[Bear]

The pale beings spoke, and Bear listened, taking the most-scarred one's comments with a faint nod of acknowledgement. To call the Zith thieves or killers was a kind-hearted understatement, in fact Bear could recall many Zith who had taken worse words as their names. And although she was unsure of the meaning of barbarian, it had been spoken enough by others enough for Bear to understand that it was the Zith way of life, not a label. The other Kalinor spoke, informing her that Kalinor was not him or any other being, or a colony, but a settlement belonging to Symenestra. It was a word never heard by Bear before, but the way it came off his tongue made her unwilling to attempt practicing it as it seemed unfit for anyone beneath Symenestra to speak. "Alone, no harm," Bear repeated to them, "no weapon." She followed his order and stored her battleaxe within the harness she carried, "My colony is much small, and far away. I cannot bear," she held her stomach as if it was with child and slowly began to descend to ground level, "I left. I will follow you, fly?"

[Paonna]

winter 4th, 512av

She was here. Paonna didn't really know why she left the comfort of Riverfall for the underground city of Kalinor, but her call pushed her here. Everyone knew of the Harvest, getting surrogates to bear their young. It was similar to the Nakivak of Riverfall, or so she thought. The big difference was that the women bearing Akalak didn't always die, but it seemed essentially the same. Many times, though, the Nakivak were rescued slaves.

Uyu was trotting next to her as she walked up to the large firepit. She picked up a handful of glitter and threw it into the fire. Both Paonna and Uyu jumped back when the fires turned green and gold.

[Shausha]

17 Spring 513
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Shausha wasn't sure how long she had been flying, then again, she wasn't sure how long the journey was supposed to take in the first place. All she knew is that she was flying in the daytime and she hated it. She let out a histrionic sigh and let her head, arms and legs hang limply beneath her as she flapped pathetically onward. After she bumped her head into the cliff she had been following, she quickly reverted back to normal flight. Sunset was coming soon which was the only consolation and motivation she found in moving forward. Every moment the sun crept down into the horizon was like a billow of air on a struggling fire. She licked her fangs, tightened the knot in her hair and plowed on. Soon enough, the sun was almost set and she was nearing the weirdo people's cave.

When the large cave mouth of Kalinor came into view, it was dusk. Shausha let out a woop and began flapping wildly, gaining altitude and speed. When she was right above the entrance, she clutched to the rock wall above The Woven Gate to squint at the people below. Cocking her head side to side, she listened to the weirdo's voices and squinted at their pale faces. What funny creatures! They had very long arms and moved slowly and carefully. She scrambled down the rock face and dislodged a few rocks that fell, clacking loudly against the structures below. The pale people didn't seem to like that and became highly agitated. Shausha shrugged to herself and figured it was time to 'say hello' anyway. She let go of the wall and kicked off, careening down towards a platform below. Landing with a mighty thud, she fell over and found herself upside down against a wall, facing some of the guards.

"Hi weirdos!" She cried enthusiastically.
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[Poison]

Demyan Anice, the young Symenestra who had duty at the gate at this time of the day, was not paying attention. He was thinking about his poor sister, Selaria, who had been Moth Queen two years ago and nearly died during an assassination attempt. She had been sick ever since. He was also thinking about Soraya Orchid, one of the current two Moth Queens and one of the most beautiful girls in Kalinor. He had fallen a little in love with her.

She had a reputation of being arrogant and cruel, but he was sure that it was all lies. People were just jealous. Would she say yes if he asked her to go out with him? Demyan wasn’t particularly handsome, but he had a good job, and his Web was well known throughout the city.

Maybe he’d ask her this evening …

A scream pulled him out of his thoughts abruptly. He saw that his colleague Alanys Aster had a rather grim expression on her face She had loaded her shortbow and was pointing it at something. As Demyan turned around and saw what it was, his eyes widened. „Zith!“ he exclaimed. It was the second one in less than a year. Demyan readied his own weapon, a spear, and pointed it at the foul creature as well.

A couple of Symenestra that were near the gate stopped and stared at the winged creature, some in fascination, some in fear. Somewhere a child screamed. Its mother quickly took it and hurried away.

„Zith, what are you doing in Kalinor?“ Demyan wanted to know. He spoke Common – with a noticeably accent – sinc he didn’t assume that she was very familiar with the language of the Symenestra. To his colleague Alanys he whispered, „Did it just call us ‚weirdos‘?“ The female Symenestra nodded. „Yes, it did. Strange, isn’t it?“

Alanys looked slightly amused, but she didn’t lower her weapon. Her bow was still pointed straight at Shausha’s chest.

„Is there a colony of your race somewhere?“ Demyan continued. „You are the second Zith that has come to Kalinor within a short period of time, and I’m not sure if I want to believe in a coincidence.“

[Shausha]

17 Spring 513
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"A second Zith?" she repeated. Shausha sat up straight and opened her mouth twice, aiming one supersonic call into the cave and a second out into the night. Her face went blank as she listened intently for a response.

"No, I don't hear anything. And I came from Xy!" Trying to ignore the arrow aimed at her chest, she rose to her feet, unfurled her wings proudly and put her hands on her hips.

"I am here for...I'm here because..." Her wings drooped slightly as she gestured vaguely, words failing her.

"I'm good at hunting and flying and I went on a human raid once!" Her wings popped back open in full display.

"You guys capture humans too! We are not so different." She bore her teeth and tapped her fangs with her claws for emphasis. Shausha also said the last sentence in Symnos, hoping to surprise them out of their suspicious mindset.
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[Poison]

„Yes, a second Zith“, Demyan replied, and Alanys added, „She came here sometimes last year. At least I think the creature was female. She was brought to Vass Vervein at the Sac and never seen again. Maybe she is still there.“ Her accent was a little less noticeable. She meant to intimidate Shausha and make her more inclined to cooperate. She wanted her to wonder whether she would suffer the same fate.

In truth Alanys didn’t know what had happened to that other Zith. She didn’t think the creature was still at the Sac though. People would talk about it if there were a Zith imprisoned in Kalinor. Maybe she had simply left the city again after she had realized that there were no others of her kind here.

„Xy?“ The two Symenestra looked at each other for a moment and then back at Shausha. „Where is Xy? Is it near here?“ Demyan and Alanys knew that there were Zith living in Kalea, but they didn’t know where their colonies were located and how big they were.

„You are here because you want to help us capture humans?“ This was Demyan again. He only realized that the Zith had adressed him in Symenos when he had finished the sentence. He stared at her incredulously. „Where did you learn our language? Have you met others of our race before?“

Next to him Alanys murmurred, „A Zith that speaks Symenos and wants to go on a Harvest with us! I don’t think that’s ever happened before!“ She shook her head, but her bow was still pointed at Shausha.

[Shausha]

Spring 513
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"Xy is..." She scratched the back of her head with a nail and looked around. "Ummm... over there." She pointed due east and tried her best to ignore the weapon still aimed at her chest. Shausha was silent for a moment as she stared into the dark. They were openly trying to ascertain the location and size of her colony. Her good nature faded when she realized this was not a conversation, but an interrogation. Why?

Trying to close the subject , Shausha turned back to face them and added in a falsely careless tone, "Oh but I didn't come directly from there. Oh, no. That would be quite a flight." She tossed her dreadlocks and laughed. Anyway, the backhand threat regarding the other Zith that “disappeared” slid off her back. (Any Zith would have been observant enough to see through these two-faced guards that had not a drop of subtlety.)

Seeing the female re-adjust her grip on the bow aggrivated Shausha. Were these Symnestrians so different from her? Had she given them any reason to distrust her?, she thought crossly.

"Look," she glared angrily at these slow-thinking weirdos. "I am here to visit you, my fanged brothers and clawed sisters. I had heard of your dark city, learned some of your tongue and come unarmed, yet you greet me like guards of a human town, ready to destroy something you don't know anything about!" She observed that they liked to keep her at arms length and did not humor their fancy. Pushing close against the bow and arrow, she raised her chin proudly.

"I can see it in your eyes. You think we are an infestation. Come on!", she challenged, raising her arms wide. "How are you any different? Is it that I kill humans myself and you leave that to your newborn?"

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[Poison]

„Over there“ wasn’t particularly precise. Xy could be ten or one thousand miles from Kalinor. From the expression on the two Symenestra’s faces it was obvious that they weren’t happy with Shausha’s answer – at least Alanys wasn’t happy. She whispered something to Demyan in Symenos, but he shook his head. „She’s not a criminal. We shouldn’t treat her like one and interrogate her“, he whispered back. „She hasn’t done anything wrong yet. Maybe she’s said the truth. Maybe she really wants to help us capture humans.“

Alanys looked like she doubted this. Both ‚weirdos‘ turned back to Shausha. „You are right. We don’t know anything about you“, Alanys agreed. „Your race has an even worse reputation than the Symenestra. We do not usually attack humans, kill them and eat them. We do not take slaves. We treat the surrogates that we capture like queens and only hurt them if it absolutely can’t be avoided …“

„We are not humans“, Demyan interrupted her. „I don’t think we have anything to fear from the Zith. The venom wouldn’t be good for them. Besides, she’s alone. I think she’s saying the truth. She wants to help. Think of how much easier it would be for us to capture surrogates if we had the help of somebody that can fly!“ His eyes shimmered brightly as he thought of all the possibilities. Now that he had gotten over the initial shock he was smiling.

He thought of what Soraya would say if she found out that he had gotten the Harvesters such a valuable ally. Alanys though was much less impressed. Noticing this, Demyan told her, „We can at least take her to the Sickle and Arrow and see what the hunters will say. What harm can it do?“

Alanys reluctantly lowered her bow. „Where would she stay though if we decide to allow her in the city?“ she asked Demyan. „I don’t think she can stay at the Meadows Public House, not as long as the traders are there. Laudavyn would have a heart attack.“ „We’ll worry about that later“, Demyan replied. „And lower your voice. She understands our language. We don’t want her to have too bad an impression of us.“

To Shausha he said, „We will take you to the headquarter of our hunters. Is that okay with you?“