[Regional Quest] Stranded

by **Alori Sai** on July 17th, 2013, 5:28 pm

Since she was young, a lot of people had told Aela that she was reckless and far too bold for her own good. They even feared that she wouldn't make it to see her 18th birthday, and that had good reason. But Aela was an Inartan through and through so it was kinda expected for her to do rash things. But what she just witnessed surprised even her. Aela's eyes widen once again and her mouth fell open.

"What. The. Petch?"

It was hard to believe, one of the foreigners that had come down with them had just ran up, poked the strange fish creature and then ran off screaming. And she thought that Iosha was being careless. The teen couldn't even speak and just watched the girl as she scampered off to rejoin the other foreigner.

"Dek-licker.."

Aela turned back around when she heard Sira speak in common. The Kelvic, Wind eagle's voice was shaky, and it was obvious that she didn't know what to say one way or the other. The little huntress watched as she moved to allow the Valintar through and stormed off after the foreigner. With Sira gone, Aela moved closer to the Konti and kept her hand on the hilt of her talon blade just in case something happened.

"Hey.." the teen said trying to get Iosha's attention. "Maybe we should move back a little, give them more space...whatever they are." Aela didn't doubt that the Konti was more worldly than she was, but even so, the girl had very good and real reasons why she wasn't trusting of the strange fish people, even if they were some long distant cousins of the Konti.

by **Iosha** on July 18th, 2013, 3:14 am

"Oh my god! Fish!"

Iosha lived in Avanthal for over a year, and she knew from experience with friendly people of the north lands that they were known thoughtout Mizahar for their hospitality, so when Eilea walked up besides her and poked the leader of the Charoda in the arm. It was jaw dropping to say the least. Iosha would have gave her the benefit of the doubt since she might have not met a member of their race before, so her curiosity might have gotten the best of her. However, when she let out a screamed, jumped back, and yelled, fish. The konti clenched her jaw in anger for a moment and glared at the ignorant Vantha and immediately lost all respect she had for dark haired woman. Being a child of the ocean herself, the konti took much offense when somebody from the land called her or her people, fish. Iosha was taught at a young age that her people were created by the love between to gods, so being compared to a animal was a grave insult in her mind. She was sure the Charoda felt the same way because they to were children of Laviku. Iosha only joked with her friends about calling her a fish girl because it tended to take away the hurtful feeling being called a fish by outsiders and gave her a sense of control over the meaning of the word. Putting aside her personal feelings on the situation, Iosha realized that Eilea might have insulted the leader of Charoda, and worst she might have embarrassed the Valintar as well since the vantha woman was apart of his party. It was a giant mess, and the konti was caught in the middle because she was the first one to speak to Charoda leader.

Iosha glanced over to her shoulders at her companions and saw Sira wasn't by Alori, and she wondered if she went off to discipline the Vantha woman for embarrassing the leader of her people. Iosha heard Alori's warning, and she gave the teenager a reassuring smile and mouthed to her, “I will be fine, thank you, Alori.” Feeling strangely touched by Alori's concern for her safety, Iosha gave the pretty girl a wink and turned her attention to the Charoda leader and said softly while bowing her head in respect, “Sorry for the behavior of the Vantha woman. She just suffered a head injury in the last few days, so she has been acting kind of odd as of late. I treated her injury the best I could, but I think the girl might need some more rest.” Iosha knew that she might be stretching the truth a tad, but she wasn't telling a complete lie. Eilea did suffer a head injury when she feel climbing the wall, and the konti did treat her for her injuries, but she knew the head wound wouldn't cause her the act the way she did just now, but there was a small chance the leader of the Charoda would know it. Iosha kept her head bowed till the Charoda leader responds to her or speaks to the Leader of the Inarta.

by **Phoenix** on July 22nd, 2013, 5:12 pm

The Charoda watched the Inarta fidget and cast covert glances in their direction, unsure of exactly what to do or say to this strange race. Curiously calm even when a member of their group darted forward to poke at their leader , the Charoda displayed a passiveness that was only exaggerated by the innate high-strung quality of the Inarta; free of the trials and tribulations that now lay behind them, the redheads were more than a little anxious to find out what this was all about.

As Iosha was the first to step forward, she received the undivided attention of the Charoda leader. “We take no offense, Iosha of Rak’keli. The time of our arrival has seemingly been paired by a much larger ordeal. We cannot fault you the delay nor the giddy aftermath of success.” A hand extended and rested upon Iosha’s shoulder, urging her to lift her head before the Charoda turned as one towards the Valintar. “Are you the one who speaks for this City?”

“I am.” Stepping away from the Inarta and past the Konti, Kaden covered all the bases of formal greeting by offering the strange group an extended hand, which he bowed over and murmured welcome when their hands clasped. “We came from the mountain as soon as we saw the flash in the sky this morning. Is any of your party hurt?” Kaden lifted his voice so that it would travel to those surrounding him, as well as the rest of the Charoda party. “I will admit that we expected a sort of disaster to meet us here, though we found that further up the Pass. We will, however, assist you in any way we can.” There was a small eruption of murmurs from the Inarta, most of whom who had never seen a Charoda before. Help them? The Inarta could barely help themselves most of the year.

“We arrived when Leth still ruled the skies, waiting in the shallows for the morning so we could approach your city and make our requests.” The Charoda looked up towards where Mt Skyinarta towered above them all, a sound that was akin to a laugh bubbling from his throat. “We did not expect what we were faced with when we arrived. We would have been unable to make it up the mountain in our tired and wearied state. But luckily for us, the heart of the mountain was brought to the shores.” With a wide sweeping gesture, the Charoda leader bowed to the Inarta, the remaining Charoda bending in unison to repeat the gesture. “We ask you to accept us, lend us aid, and allow us to make our home here in your waters. Our own was destroyed, sending us out into harsh waters to seek shelter elsewhere.”

Straightening, the leader extended a hand behind him to the waters that lapped up onto the beach at their feet. “We do not ask to allow you into your city. We will make our home here on your shores. We will not tax your resources or your trust. We had heard of the Inarta and their hearty, relentless drive to survive. We wish to emulate those qualities in our future generations. If you would let us, we would take a page from your books.”

Silence hung over the beach, thick and heavy as the Inarta found themselves mostly unable to react to such a request. To their knowledge, there had been no other such request in their history. Kaden expected this reaction, turning from the Charoda leader with an incline of his head and facing the crowd of his people. He knew of this sea dwelling race, and knew of his answer before they even finished with their plea. “We will help them as we can. The Charoda have never done anything wrong to us in the past, and these last seasons should have taught us that anything can happen, that we need to take opportunity as it arises.” Despite the murmurs of dissent from amongst the crowd, the Valintar plowed forward with his speech, his own mind reeling despite the confidence in his voice. “All I ask is that you accept these people, here, now.”

Please Read :

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by **Arandolya** on July 22nd, 2013, 9:00 pm

You have got to be kidding me, Arandolya thought as she watched with wide-eyes as some absent-minded idiot ran forwards to prod the leader of the foreign party. Distracted from the owl-Kelvic, the Inarta glowered at the woman, though seeing Sira turn to address her caused her to stay where she was. As the others tried to repair whatever damage might have been wrought, Arandolya ventured a small step forwards, peering over the redheads to peer at the leader.

Even after the insult offered by the foreigner, the leader seemed passive and calm, hearing them all out before speaking in a clear voice. They all seemed so calm ... Arandolya strained to hear the leader speak to Iosha briefly before addressing the Valintar. Kaden, though, offered his assistance. Brows furrowing, Arandolya stayed silent, though she felt skeptical of the amount of help they could offer the strange fish-people, except perhaps accidentally toast them inside the mountain. The group though had a very acute idea of what help the Inartans could offer though, and had no hesitance to tell them, wanting to make home within their waters of Thunder Bay.

The straight-forward attitude of the Charoda, as Kaden had named them, was familiar in the presence of Inarta, yet the suggestion was ... surprising. To say the least. They wanted to make their home here? In Thunder Bay? They promised to not hinder their normal flow of resources, and only requested the space to make their home. Yet, the choice wasn't up to the group of Inartans who tittered around her. It seemed their Valintar had already made his decision, and promised to help.

Arandolya heard the muttered disagreement from a few, her own subconscious included, but there was no chance to argue the Valintar. She wormed her way forwards, and looked at the Charoda. A year ago the Inarta knew how fragile their state in the world was, and the unpredictability of the Gods. She offered a small smile, and took a breath. If their Valintar trusted them, then what choice did she have?

"I am, not sure how much ... help I will be. Hopefully, ah, some," she said in her lilted Common, head bowing respectfully to the leader.

Note: "Nari" or "Common"

by **Sira** on July 23rd, 2013, 3:49 pm

After Sira was done chewing the Avanthal out for her behavior which, luckily, did not seem to bother the Charoda anyway, she quickly made her way back over to the Valintar to hear the tail end of the conversation. The words exchanged, and the announcement by the Valintar all made her frown. Sira did not have a problem helping people.. but there were a lot of details that had not been covered. As a hunter, Sira knew one of the most important rules was to make sure your territory was not over hunted. Letting the Charoda stay would likely put a strain on the food sources in the bay, especially during the winter. After the Valintar spoke, Sira stepped forward.

"Valintar," the Endal began respectfully in the Nari tongue, "I agree that we should help these people.. but they have not even told us what they are running from. All we know is that they are here, and they want to use our bay. What do we gain from them being here, other than a strain on our already limited resources? What about when Winter comes and the water starts to freeze? But more importantly.. what fell from the sky and forced them to come here? If they had to run from it, how do we know it wont come after us?"

Sira glanced over at the fish creature. It's appearance did not bother her in the least. True, it was unusual, but Sira had seen many unusual things in her short life. While she knew nothing about the Charoda in general, their appearance was hardly an issue. Speaking in common, she reiterated some of her concerns.

"Why did you come here? What was it that fell from the sky? Is it dangerous? Is it going to come here?"

by **Alori Sai** on July 23rd, 2013, 7:31 pm

Aela stared at the Konti woman oddly and shook her head. Perhaps Iosha wasn't as worldly as she had first thought. Maybe the woman had lived a very sheltered life and hadn't been exposed to the darker side of strange creatures as she had. Then, Aela watched as the sea creature took liberties and started touching the Konti. Suddenly the teen Avora was starting to wonder if her earlier thoughts about Iosha being cousins with the things had some truth to it.

Or perhaps...the Konti knew more than she was letting on.

When she thought about it, she really didn't know anything at all about the woman, other than what she had told her. Which could all be lies as Aela had no way of proving anything. But now the thought was in mind her, Iosha was still a stranger to her and her surprisingly easy going tone with the Charoda seemed too nice. The tiny redhead glanced around at the others, before turning her attention back to Iosha. Was she the only one who found this odd?

Just when she thought that things couldn't get any stranger, the Valintar spoke up and offered his full support of the strange beings, even though they hadn't told him much at all, nor did he bother to ask. Aela wasn't expecting this in the least, it didn't seem like something the stuffy old codger would do. They had dek for one thing, born Inartan people, who were treated like shkye right under his watch. But the fish people were being given their waters? Her fun beach? It was insane.

Aela didn't say anything however, and just watched in silence as Sira spoke up. She was the Endal in the group, and Aela wondered if she could talk some sense into the crazy old fruit. But the teen wouldn't speak up, and not with the Valintar anyway. For as kind and generous as he was acting at the moment, he had no problem sending his Endal out to try and execute her and she would never be ok with that..even if he thought he had a reason. Still, something was up, it had to be. Questions.. Why was the Valintar being so kind, and talking the Charoda up as if they were friends of the Inartans when most of the people in the city hadn't even seen one before? Or...

"I think the old man has finally lost it."

by **Kane** on July 26th, 2013, 9:07 am

Sira’s rant brought some of the logic back into Kane’s brain. Okay, so maybe that had been a rather... stupid move. And he may have acted to quickly in employing the help of one such as Eilea. The poking may have been a bit out of line as well.

He realized this was a bad idea and a mistake now. That didn’t, however, mean that he’d admit it out loud. No matter the number of times he’d let his curiosity get the better of him, he’d never admit any wrong doing. Just the thought of it hurt his pride.

That being said, he really couldn’t think of any way to reply to Sira. He wasn’t even sure if he should. Eilea was the one being fussed at. Even if it was slightly his fault. But just slightly.

Luckily for the both of them, the conversation between the fish person -apparently they were called Charoda- and the Valintar distracted most within the group and the Kelvic left. Kane himself had his curiosity piqued as well.

Some of the others in the group seemed to be rather uncomfortable with the notion of helping them. Honestly, Kane didn’t see why they wouldn’t help the fis-Charoda based on the current information. Sure, it could bring some problems down the road, but that was nothing compared to what a whole new race could possibly bring to Wind Reach. Their knowledge and culture could truly enrich the city and its surroundings.

It was kind of a risk versus reward situation. And he thought the risk was more than worth the possible reward. Of course, the scale may tip the other way based on the answers to Sira’s questions. She had the right idea, they should get as much information from the f-Charoda as they could.

Not that he much wanted to admit that aloud either. She’d practically yelled at him. Well, not really, but it had made him feel bad. He grumbled quietly to himself and glared at the ground. He needed to distract himself.

Kane once again leaned towards Eilea, this time with a different purpose, and spoke in a whisper. “What do you think? Should they stay?”

by **Iosha** on July 29th, 2013, 1:12 am

When the leader of the Charoda put a hand on her shoulder and said his kind words, Iosha raised her head and gave the Charoda leader a respectful bow of her head with a warm smile. When his attention went to the leader of the Inarta, Iosha took two steps backwards and walked back over to Alori and Sira. The konti crossed her arm trying to shield the cool breeze from the ocean with her arms. She listened to the leader of Charoda tell his situation to the middle aged Inarta and gathered from the leader of the Charoda that they were refugees from their homeland. She understood why they sought the assistance of the residents of Wind Reach, but the konti knew Wind Reach could barely maintain it's own population let alone the population of the Charoda. When the Valintar asked his people to accept them, most of Inarta said they would, but their eyes told a different story. It was a tragedy in itself that the fiery red heads couldn't truly speak their mind in front of their own leader unless they were a Endal caste like Sira.

Iosha turned to her head and listened to the kelvic's questions about the current situation. They were sound questions to ask the Charoda leader because these people could have trouble following them. The konti knew the Charoda could be a great ally and asset to the Inarta because they have access to the rich food resources that the people of Wind Reach wouldn't get a chance to tap into without a sea dwelling race assisting them, but Iosha knew the growing population of Wind Reach might push for more and more resources from the ocean, and in the future could lead to conflicts between the two people. She knew the Valintar was taking a gamble. She just hoped the middle aged man knew what he was doing. When the Valintar asked the people of Inarta to accept these people like their own. The konti thought to herself, “I will.” Iosha turned her attention to the Alori and said softly not wanting to interrupt the two leaders, “Thank you for being concerned for my safety, Alori. It means a lot to me that you care.” Iosha turned her attention back to the great leaders and continued listening to to them.

by **Eilea** on July 30th, 2013, 12:46 am

"Well... I'm sorry?" Eilea tried to respond to Sira, but cringed at herself. "Okay it was a bad idea." She shot a glare at Kane. It WAS his fault after all.

Completely oblivious to any of the conversations taking place with the fish people and the Valintar and anyone else that was over in that direction, she actually found herself in a little predicament. If the fish people really didn't care that some strange Vantha girl had run over and poked him... Would they care if she moved over there again...

"No." She whispered to herself and looked at Kane again, who was apparently trying to ask her something.

"You're pretty." She said with a smile. "I dare you to go kiss a fish!!" A large grin formed over her lips. "Yes, you should really go kiss a fish... fish." She smiled. "Fish... kiss... fish kiss... fish kiss fish kiss fish kiss fiiiiiisssssssh."

Alright, the girl MAY have had some issues.

by **Elna** on July 30th, 2013, 3:32 am

Did that girl really just do that? So much for diplomacy. The girl had to be older then Elna was but she certainly wasn't showing it with that kind of maturity. Even most school children know you don't just start going around poking strangers. Not that it mattered much in the end, she got the scolding she deserved and the fish people didn't seem to care. On the bright side, between this and trying to climb without warning, Elna wasn't looking like the weakest link in the group.

As for the fish people, it seems what whatever fell from the sky destroyed their home. Now they were looking to freeload off the Thunder Bay Beach. Taking them in for nothing seemed highly against the the Inartan way of life. If they wanted to live here, they would need to provide for the city like everyone else. Unfortunately, the Valintar didn't see it that way. He couldn't be trying to take them in just out of charity right? She could faintly hear that she wasn't the only one who disagreed with the decision.

She didn't really know how to handle it. The whole point of this trip was to make the Valintar proud but this was just throwing everyone's way of life in their face. She couldn't just take that in silence. She may not have the authority, but something had to be said. Sira was already talking to him about it, so Elna waited her turn to chime in. "We aren't taking them in without at least putting them to work right? It's an insult to everyone who works hard here for their survival. Just please tell me you'd put them through the castes like everyone else? You are going to do that right?" Her somewhat repetitive questions came with a nervous twinge, she didn't want her new found faith in him to be lost so quickly.

Quest [Regional Quest] Stranded