Completed The Harvest Festival (Part 1)

[Sayana]

Fall 514 Day 24

It was rather fitting to see the leaves starting to change colour for the first night of the Harvest Festival. Various goods were being brought in by the wagon load from the Mithryn Outpost to be sold at the stalls behind the Welcome Center, while stages were being set up on the cobblestones in front of Traveler’s Row. Even the space behind the stalls was being used for contests starring the first prize animal or vegetable. Feats of skill in horsemanship and sparring would also be held in this area.

At several locations dispersed amongst the stalls were great fire pits. The smaller ones had many types of vegetables cooking: corn, potatoes, carrots, and squash to name a few. The larger ones had chickens, duck, rabbits, legs of lamb and mutton. The two largest fires had a whole pig and a deer being cooked over it. In addition to the cooking fires, many of the stalls were selling hot foods like meat pies, apples pies, and stews. Simply the smells from the Harvest Festival were enough to draw in the most reserved passerby. And if the smells didn’t, then the music certainly did.

The stages along Traveler’s Row had musicians and artists of all types. Various instruments were played, rowdy songs and ballads were sung, dancers graced the cobblestones, and more often than not people from the audience were encouraged to join in. Scattered throughout the festivities were artists who sculpted or painted in the moment with other works of art on display, and wares of all types were scattered throughout the stalls.

People of all types had come to festival and the area was particularly littered with children. Several knights were about to keep the peace and ensure nothing got out of hand, but more likely they were planning to enjoy themselves with the festivities just as much as anyone else.

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Sayana excitedly left the Herald’s Arms to see the excitement going on outside. It was only the first day of the festival but already the area between the tavern and the Welcome Center was filling up. The air was brisk and she dashed back inside to grab her cloak. She wasn’t used to the cool weather, having grown up in Eyktol, and her red blouse and skirt didn’t offer much protection from the chill either. Using her high arms to keep the cloak comfortably around all six shoulders, she wandered through the stalls looking at the various foods that still seemed quite foreign to her.

Despite all the sights and smells, it was the music that ultimately won her over and she migrated over to the stages where some of the performers were already in full swing. The catchy tune soon had her hips swaying and twisting to the music. She forgot about the cold and opened her cloak fully so she could move her arms in rippling motions for the slower songs, and clap or snap to the beat for the faster ones. For the average person, seeing all six arms going might have looked impressive, though most of her movements were paired or one after another and weren’t that tricky for an Eypharian to pull off. To Sayana, she was merely embracing the music and enjoying the start of her night.

[Garland]

Having spent most of their time helping Catherine's family harvesting their yield for the harvest festival. Garland had helped loading the cart for one of Catherine's sisters to drive the cart to the festival. The cart was filled with their fall produce, mostly pumpkins, corn, and a few eggplants. The cart itself was smaller than most of the other carts going into the city proper, but it was enough to sell their produce for a good while.

The sky had nary a cloud in it and the wind was cool and fresh, hopefully the smell of the festivities wouldn't attract anything large to Syliras, then again it probably wouldn't happen. He had ridden shotgun with one of Catherine's sisters.

When they finally made it to the city, the Ashe sisters quickly got to work and set up the stall. The girls worked like a well oiled machine, setting up the cart into a presentable stall in only a few chimes. Garland had his eyes set into the festival. He wanted to join in, maybe set up a prank for his patron knight, but he wouldn't go anywhere without said Knight's approval.

The stall-cart was painted in bright colors, with the vegetables lined up neatly in rows. The three sisters called over costumers loud as any other stall, but most of the male consumers came for the sister's looks, instead of the produce, which gave Catherine an irritated look.

Garland looked at his patron knight in a bit of wanting, wanting to get out and have fun in the festival. He had waited for this event for the better part of the season. Catherine gave the young squire a nod and shooed him along, she would be busy making sure, none of the costumer got too 'friendly' with her younger sisters.

He saw a strange sight for him, maybe not for everyone else, but he had never seen an Eypharian before, so the six arms were a bit off putting.

[Sayana]

As the song ended Sayana clapped heartily with her high and mid hands. She missed good music, even though this was quite different from that of her homeland. But it was time to move on. There was so much to see here that she felt like a child at her first bazaar. With a swish of her beaded skirt she turned to go, but then caught sight of man dressed smartly and with a sword at his side. Still unable to tell the difference between knight and squire but figuring that most openly armed people were guards of some sort, she approached him with a coy and slightly mischievous look on her face.

“Good afternoon, Ser,” she said with a grand flourish of her arms as she did a slight bow. “Have you come for the harvest festivities, or have you come to… keep the ladies and gentlemen in check?” She gave a smile and a suggestive shimmy of her chest, though at her left hip there was an ornamental dagger clearly on display.

[Garland]

Garland saw the six-armed girl coming to him. The rather revealing clothing was very distracting to even the most strongwilled squires would look, especially since she had shimmied her chest at him. "Well, a bit of both actually... And I'm just a squire, not a set yet." He was glad he had met a certain Kelvic earlier this season, he had more resilience to... Suggestive acts.

He noticed the dagger on her left leg, but he did not tense up like other young squire. He knew that most of the people in Syliras carried some sort of weapon, the knights can't be there all the time, and he was a citizen last season. "Aren't you cold?" He noticed the slightly baked skin of the girl. "Since you've come from the desert?" He met several travelers that have told him stories of six-armed people in the desert, he didn't believe in the stories, but he did now.

[Sayana]

“Cold? This is nothing,” she scoffed. “At night the deserts get far colder than this.” It was a bit of an overstatement even though there was a hint of truth to it. While the deserts could get quite cold at night, that usually occurred in central Eyktol quite far from Ahnatep.

“Here, take my hand and I’ll show you that I’m not cold,” she continued and reached out her mid right hand innocently palm up. She may have had a few goosebumps on the back of her arm, but the hand itself was still warm and she seemed determined not to reveal any sort of weakness. She also enjoyed pushing at people’s boundaries and often amused herself by seeing how people would respond to one of her race. The music behind her turned into a jig of sorts and she quickly glanced at the dancers with a playful glint in her eye.

[Garland]

Garland grabbed her hand, it was warm, but he wasn't so sure. He looked at the musicians playing a lively tune. What was she going to do? Join in on the dancing? Maybe jump up on stage? He didn't know, and he just didn't want to make a fool of himself... Again.

Though he was dressed for the occasion. He didn't have his usual plate armor on, but instead his regular clothes, only this time with a Knight's insignia, to tell that he's part of the knights.

[Sayana]

His hand was firm and strong, and she held it for perhaps a moment longer than comfortable. Her own copper-brown skin contrasted to his pale hand. She released it and heard the fiddle strike up the chorus of the tune. With a delightful smile she began clapping to the beat with her high arms raised above her head. In front of the stage the crowd had transformed into a circle of onlookers with people dancing in the middle. They danced and skipped with their partner, arms linked and going around each other. Every so often they would break away to switch arms and spin the other direction.

“Would you care to dance, kind Ser?” Sayana asked as she offered her mid and low right arms. They were firmly placed together as if it were a single arm and gently curved so he might link up and mimic the lively country dance. Meanwhile, her high arms had never missed a beat above her head, though now it was more of an elegant clap than a loud excited one.

[Saede Lare]

Saede followed the commotion to a large festival being held along the traveler's row. She gazed around her, taking in the music, dance, and overdose of food. The woods just starting to change color- which made a beautiful scene for the festival. Saede was eager to participate, even though she didn't quite know any dance or music. For a few minutes, she wandered about. All the people her were free to dance and buy without worry of somebody charging in and ruining it. In Sunberth, this would have been borderline impossible. But here, it seemed like a dream. Why not join in? She spotted several people leading a large dance. Mostly with partners. Saede bit her lip, she'd never danced before, and she didn't have a partner either..

To hell with it. She thought as she stepped into the crowd of people dancing. I'm far from the only one who has no idea what they're doing. She joined the country dance and attempted to keep up with the beat. It proved a bit more difficult than she thought. She was constantly looking around to make sure she was doing the right moves to find that about half the time she wasn't. Breathing a frustrated sigh, she decided the most effective thing to do was to at least stick with the beat. She started only moving her feet from side to side, then added a clap. Eventually she was crossing her feet and taking larger steps, but she didn't get any more complicated than that. After bumping into the people beside her for the third time, she decided that dancing just wasn't for her. She stepped off to the side, but it didn't seem like anybody really cared that she did so poorly. They continued without her just fine, maybe even better. She'd only been dancing about twenty minutes after all. By the end of it, she did notice that she was considerably better than before. She had stayed on beat most of the time, and executed the moves at a mediocre level. Still, she felt like she was bound to make a fool of herself or hunt somebody if she continued. Not that she was that bad, she just wanted to stay safe. At least, that's what she told herself.

Then a thought occurred to her. Maybe I should participate in sparring. She saw the people behind the stalls, holding contests for animals and foods, as well as some people preparing for what seemed to be a tournament. This would be much more comfortable for her.

[Garland]

Garland looked at the dance, well... He already made a fool of himself when he joined the knights, during the 1st of fall. He grabbed his 6-armed partner's mid hand. "Well... Just one dance, but I warn you. I have no idea what I'm doing."

He followed Sayana to the middle of the dancing crowd. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Garland, a pleasure to meet you." He then noticed a familiar face in the crowd. He had never met in person before but he did recognize her face. He smiled at her attempt at dancing.

She would have been a better partner, since she looked like she didn't know what she was doing either. He tried making sure his legs and arms were following the beat and the other dancers. Though he was doing a poor job of it, luckily all eyes were on his partner instead of him.

His steps were clumsy at best, completely uncoordinated at worst, but did learn best through experience. He followed the beat much better, and attempted to follow his partner's movement. He was doing a bad job of it, but not totally horrible.

The music was coming to a close, and he did notice that he kept up with the beat by the end of the dance, but he did feel like an utter fool next to his partner. He then noticed the girl again, the one with the large spear, she looked as if she was going to join the sparring competition. He wanted to join in as well. "Thank you for the dance, Milady." That sounded weird to him. "But I must go, plenty of attraction to go to."

[Sayana]

Sayana steered him through the dance and focused on the simpler moves probably for the sake of both of them. She had always been good at mimicking movements, but fancy footwork and acrobatics never appealed to her. And besides, this was one of her first times seeing the dancing of the north, and definitely the first time seeing the country dancing. Of course, she added in her own exotic flourishes, mostly with her arms, but that was almost out of habit than any true desire to show off. Here and there she was a beat behind as she watched to see what the next move was, but she enjoyed herself nevertheless for it was a fun challenge.

As the song concluded she smiled and responded, “Why thank you Garland.” But the light in her eyes faded, for he seemed in such a hurry to head off. She tried to follow his eyes and where he seemed to be headed, and spotted a tall woman with a large spear.

“Aha! I see. You two are together.” Sayana inferred as she looked at the snake adornment on the hilt of his sword and the snake decorating the woman’s spear. She totally neglected the fact that her own weapon had a cobra on its hilt.