PM to join [Orphanage]A New Game To Play

[Elann]

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Timestamp 34th of Winter, 515AV

Elann began putting the finishing touches on her artwork as she sat cross legged in the front of the classroom on the chair at the front. One of the children who had likewise been drawing a design for Elann's nature challenge, raised her hand. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted it and with brushing her hair back behind her ear, she looked up to the girl who sat there extending her arm as upward as possible.

"All done?" The child who was one of the newcomers within the last seasons like Elann nodded in affirmation. "Okay, let me see it. Is it dry?" A valid question when coloring with finger paints. Even Elann's hands were a hue of red and green, mixed into a sickly color and dripping wet with paint. The little girl shook her head no and lowered her hand. "Just blow on it like this okay?" With a few 'ffwoos' full of air blown on her own drawing, the little girl emulated her and began almost sputtering out pbbttbts at her drawing, arguably making it more wet than dry. One of the boys next to her helped out though.

Seeing how some of the children were finishing, she figured her own drawing should probably wrap up. Slowly but surely the children completed their drawings, receiving from Elann the go ahead to go wash their hands and leave their drawings on the desk. All of them knew what it meant to be done. It meant they could get changed and go out back into the small yard there to have fun in the snow. One by one they trickled out under Elann's careful eye, letting Aenysa, the caretaker, to catch up on much needed paperwork at the front desk. As Elann went to the hall to put on her own coat over her forest green, thick dress, she could hear Aensya greeting someone, saying in her casual bubbly voice, "Welcome to the Welcome Home. My name is Aenysa Tieran. I am the caretaker here. How can I help you today? Come to help a child find a home? Visit? Play?"

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Shadyn]

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Shadyn had been wandering through the impressive citadel with Lanira. The night before had gone relatively smoothly at the place called Traveler’s Row…the elegant apartment was rather well priced, and the extra rooms afforded Lanira privacy, and Xarrt room to roost…although fitting him through the door had been quite a challenge.

Today, though, he had merely wanted to go on a walk with Lanira. Their stay in Alvadas had only been for one night and then rushed with business…this was a time of leisure primarily, although Shadyn was also plumbing what the city would want in goods or services. He loved being able to show her the world for the first time…her total self-abandon was a joy to behold, and kept him in even better spirits than he usually was. Besides…having her arm through his was not exactly unpleasant. She drew admiring and envious looks from many men and women…and more than once Shadyn had fired off a stern look at some men who let their gaze linger just a bit too long. A few also seemed to wonder a bit at the man who only wore a thin shirt under his open katinu, and the woman who was leaving her whole upper body bare aside from the finely leather-worked halter-top vinati and her katinu draped over her shoulders. He chuckled as he realized that few people understood how comfortable the Inarta were at a wide range of tempuratures.

Abruptly, she tugged him over to an eye-catching granite building. Laughingly, he asked her, “What on earth are you doing, girl? What makes you want to go into this building so bad?”

Grinning, she pointed up to the sign and then to a placard by the door as they entered. ”It’s an orphanage, Shadyn! And it says that visitors are welcome! I love children…a few hours here would make my day!

Shadyn shrugged as they walked in the door, taking the time to wipe his boots on the welcome mat. A young woman at the front desk greeted them cheerfully. "Welcome to the Welcome Home. My name is Aenysa Tieran. I am the caretaker here. How can I help you today? Come to help a child find a home? Visit? Play?"

”Visit and play, I think…” Lanira looked over to Shadyn to see if she had said what she meant to say in Common.

Shadyn smiled and shook his head approvingly, then addressed Aenysa. “I think this girl has already made up her mind on what she wants to do today. We’re not in looking to adopt anyone, but I’m perfectly fine spending time with them.”

The woman looked over at Lanira, grinned, and winked. “Are you sure you’re not looking to adopt? There are some lovely candidates here…”

Lanira just beamed at her. Shadyn put his tongue in his cheek and slowly rolled his gaze over to Lanira, chuckling. “Her common isn’t all that good…but she better not be making any plans, spoken or otherwise…”

Aenysa laughed. “Well then, I only have one thing that I need you to do, and that is to leave your weapons at the front desk. We are quite safe here, unless you have a terrible fear of children, and don’t want any accidents happening. I’m sure you understand.”

Shadyn raised his eyebrows, but didn’t object. Not everyone was as comfortable having their kids around weapons as the Inarta. He stripped off his bow and quiver first, then reached under his katinu and pulled out both of his talon swords, ending with the removal of his tomahawk. He decided to keep the daggers on hand…you never know what can happen, and besides…no one had better be sticking their hands down his bryda’s waistband. Aenysa’s eyes widened a bit as she saw how heavily armed he was, and he smiled. “Where I come from, playing with knives is not a forbidden dangers for children, but an encouraged pastime. Just a habit to be well equipped.”

She took them and stowed them beside the desk. “Well, now that that’s taken care of, I think that you can just go straight down this hall beside me, where Elann, one of the volunteers here, is taking the kids out back for their playtime. Hope you enjoy your time here!”

Shadyn thanked her, then translated it for Lanira, who gave her radiant smile again. ”Thank you very much! Will enjoy. Hope I make them happy!”

Shadyn stepped back and let Lanira take the lead in walking down the hallway and out the open door, where a gaggle of kids were playing, along with an earthily beautiful woman in a green dress underneath a warm coat. Lanira’s smile brightened even more as laughter reached her ears and she waved to the woman. She exclaimed, “Oh, Shadyn! They’re so adorable!!” then trotted off towards the young lady, hair and katinu fluttering out behind her. Shadyn smiled broadly as well…after all, he was far from having a heart of stone, and besides…Lanira’s happiness was catching. He followed a short distance behind.




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[Elann]

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It was hard at first for Elann to speak with people when she herself first came to Syliras, but since then, her common had significantly improved. It was only some of the more complex words that she had difficulty with. Listening in at the small bits of conversation she could hear over the screams of the children, Elann wondered at the broken common. Her thoughts were rapidly dashed as one of the boys, Grayson came and took her by the hand, quite literally pulling her outside.

With a little resistance, Elann stopped herself from being pulled to quickly shut the door behind her and then continued on with a little skip. Her flat made shoes were not the best for playing in the snow, but worked well for sitting at a loom all day in a temperature controlled orangery, which was where she had just come from. Her work as a weaver kept her busy, but now it was time to release the feeling of tension within her. Nothing did that better than playing with innocent children.

The youngest of the children outside watched in silence, standing off to the side as others began to form a ring, sitting on what was left of the snow after building a rather large snowman.

"What are we playing?" The children cried out the name of a game similar to duck, duck, goose. A name that had eluded her the second time she was here in the fall, but now having visited more, was well known to her.

"Are you crazy? There is snow everywhere!"

Laughter left her mouth as she moved to sit on the snow along with the other children anyways, finding it nonsensical to argue with them. The white substance, something she had never seen before until the first snowfall began giving her instant wet-butt through her coat, and eventually her dress. Inside she was dying. She had only sat there a few moments before Shadyn and his companion Lanira were able to come out. The Benshiran was not used to the winter, and especially not the cold. Already she was visibly shivering and near clacking her teeth as the count began with a particularly tall boy.

Elann saw the two come through the door to view the children, and smiled as the young woman began bounding happily toward them. Delighted she gave a little wave hello, which was unfortunate for her because she was distracted. The boy naturally bopped her on the head, calling out the catchphrase of which Elann still couldn't figure out, but was something along the lines of Chickenbutt. With that, he was off!

With a little squeal and a slight slip on the snow, Elann finally got up and began chasing him around the ring of children; her wet, grey-colored coat now blackened in the area of her rump. The springy steps of Elann were nothing compared to the long legs of the young man who played this every day most likely, and before she knew it, after making another full loop around the children, he was already in her spot. The springy brown hair of Elann's came to a stop as she did and her eyes scanned over the selection of boys and girls. Before she started the next round though, she said, "We have some company. Let's make room." Eyeing Lanira, she asked in common with a slight Benshiran accent, "Do you want to play?"

Her ocean green-blue eyes trailed behind Lanira to Shadyn and she gave him a slight smile. Unlike the eyes of most human species, the Benshira's seemed almost to glow unnaturally as the light of what little filtered down into the yard reflected off of them. Their otherworldly shimmer was very piercing and beautiful, but her eyes were soft and far from overly intent or focused.

Some of the children, upon seeing Elann's attention toward Lanira and Shadyn, pulled at Lanira to sit down on the ground with them and wait her turn. It made Elann giggle slightly, and she wouldn't have been surprised if the girl Lanira had said no. As Shadyn drew closer as well, the same thing would happen to him; the newest victims of the antics of orphanage children and their games.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Shadyn]

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Lanira watched the antics of the young woman and the children for a moment, taking in what the gist of the game seemed to be. When the woman asked her to join, she smile broadly. “Yes!”

A couple of the older girls scooted over to make room, and she sat down, making sure to keep her katinu underneath of her as a waterproof barrier. Looking back to Shadyn, she patted the snow beside her, resorting back into Nari. “Come on, slow poke! You’re holding up the game!”

He laughed. “Do you realize how long it has been since I have played ANY game? Even then, I was not particularly popular with the other Yasi…but…I’ll give it a shot. Can’t hurt, after all!”

Shooting a glance over to the young volunteer, and addressed her in Common. “I’m Shadyn (Xarrt), by the way, and this is Lanira. We hail from Wind Reach…and Lanira decided that she wanted to spend some of the day here.”

He was interrupted by one of the children starting the game. This time it was girl…probably around ten or so. As often is the case with children, the curious looking strangers became the new targets. Lanira was the one she chose, and took off running.

This stranger, though, was quite used to spending time in snow, and managed to catch the youngster before she was fully around the ring. Lanira giggled, inadvertently shifting back into Nari as she cried out, “Got you!” The children, though paid little attention to this, the girl squealing at being caught, then starting to walk around the ring again as Lanira went back to her seat, smiling.

Shadyn patted her on the back jovially. “Good job, girl! You’ve got a good pair of legs on you!”



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[Elann]

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"Nice to meet you both." Elann interjected after he introduced himself. She listened as he began to say where they were from before he was untimely interrupted. With the seating of the new people and their acceptance to play in the game, it had effectively started over, and Elann herself had to sit. One of the children who was a bit shorter but one of those children who enjoyed thrill, stood up and volunteered herself to go first. She began her rounds, making it extremely hard to tell who she was going to pick. As she wandered about the circle of children in her little brown dress made of wool, Elann tried to discern the little blondes intentions, trying to see if it was going to be her. A sly look came over her face as he had passed closer to Lanira, and sure enough, bop!

Her hand came down and rapped upon Lanira's head, saying the catch phrase aloud, and with a little giggle, she began running. The snow had let up just briefly in their specific area but had been falling now for a while. It was particularly deep in the yard, even with them building a snowman and a couple snow forts here and there. The little girl's speed therefore was no match for the adult woman who seemed to have a good set of running legs and a knowledge of how to move in the snow. A little squeal came from the child as she was caught and now it was her turn again after Lanira sat back down in her previous seat.

Elann remembered the cry of Lanira, something she'd assumed would be "Got you" or "You're Mine!" and committed it to memory. The little girl, a bit more intimidated by the larger folk decided to pick on someone that she actually could outrun and had done so to in the past. One of the shorter girls was bopped on the head next and quickly she sped off. In no time the older taller girl was in the little ones spot.

Half sad she lost, and half excited that she got to bop people on the head, she began to mock the behavior of the last girl, only with a little bit more force. Her hand didn't know restraint, and while it was like being clubbed with a pillow, it did cause a jolt of shock in Elann when she bopped her head hard. Some of the children, less accustomed to pain, recoiled and held their heads afterwards. Around she went, prolonging her turn a bit longer than needed, just purely enjoying the bonking people on the head until she came to Elann, another couple children, and then finally Shadyn. Chickenbutt!

Already the cold had started to get to Elann, her body accustomed to the heat of the desert even still, and her knees pained her. Glad it wasn't her that got to chase the little girl, it was not much longer before she'd have to stand and bow out of the game. Already her nose had begun to freeze despite the fur-trimmed cowl she wore atop the dress. Coupled with her gloves and boots, she was much warmer than she could have been, but still it was enough to chill her to the bone. She sat there, enduring the cold with as much glee as she could muster for being in freezing misery. It was clear she loved these kids.

The little girl who ran from Shadyn was clearly not able to run at all and continually would keep falling down. The only reason he could not catch her was if he let her win.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Shadyn]

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Shadyn watched the little girl go round and round the ring, bopping everyone in turn. He chuckled to himself as she chose him. No sooner had she started to run then she slipped and nearly fell in the slick snow. Now, it was vastly against his heritage to deliberately lose anything…but he shook his head as he decided that beating a child would only serve to spread some happiness.

Thus, as he stood, he deliberately did so far more clumsily than he could have, and as he began to run, he shifted his feet so that they flew out behind him comically. Several of the older kids laughed, obviously realizing that he was doing it on purpose, but fortunately the determined little girl had not looked back to notice one way or the other. Twice he had to slow to a hilarious pace to keep from literally stepping on her as she skidded this way and that. Eventually, she plopped down into his space grinning broadly. Shadyn gave an exaggerated sigh of defeat, and began making his rounds.

One deliberate loss was enough for a day. He decided to pick Elann. Tapping her on the head and calling out the catchphrase, he spun on his heal and turned around backwards. He had seen her run once…he was not runner, but snow was his element. Fairness was the least he could do.

He grinned and spread his arms out to the side, using his peripheral vision to guide him around the circle as he moved in front of her, bryda and katinu flapping around his legs.

OOC :

Sorry for the short post…been quite busy IRL. Hope this is enough…after this, however, let’s peel off from the game. We should still be involved with the kids somehow, but perhaps a bit more loosely so that our chars can interact more. That much is your call.

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[Elann]

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It was cute, and Elann's heart was filled with love and adoration for how Shadyn worked with the little girl. If she had anything to say about it, it would be that he won at being a human being, or Inarta in his case. Eventually feigning in defeat, he started the count once more. Elann got ready, as ready as she could, and when he bopped her on the head, she spun around onto her palms and shot up after him with a giggle. She had a quick start, but he was good in the snow, far far better than the one who had never seen it before this week. It was close between the two of them, but in her stubbornness she wouldn't give in.

A hand outstretched and drew all the closer to tagging him, but in doing so, she lost her momentum. Seeing him pull away on the second lap she tucked in her outstretched arm and just focused on running in the circle. The children all had wide smiles on their faces as it was a close match, but eventually Shadyn won, sliding into her spot just barely before she could touch him. "Oh man!" she said playfully using the same words Lanira used previously, or at least what could have kind of been construed as somewhat close to them. The game was far from over though and for another 15 minutes she withstood the cold, playing with the children before it finally overtook her.

"Okay, I'm going inside. We should all go inside and warm up!" she said to the children, giving a short pleading and shivering look to Shadyn and Lanira. "I know what we can do. Lets have the girls take Shadyn, and the boys can take Lanira. We will have a dress up competition and I will be the judge of who is the best." Which was deviously said by her because the little girls loved dressing up boys in make up and lipsticks and really it was funny to her. The boys were good too, coming up with various fake swords and accessories to indicate knighthood for whomever they dressed up. A warm smile and a shimmer was in her eyes as she looked to the two guests before placing her hands over her face in an attempt to warm herself. She was going to make sure the girls didn't get too crazy with Shadyn if he agreed. Not many men enjoyed wearing such things, but she had become decently alright with removing some makeup they used up here in Syliras.

OOCNo problem at all, I don't mind short length at all. XD Hopefully that can steer it in a more social manner.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Shadyn]

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Elann’s attempt at Nari was hilarious, especially since her words obviously did not fit the situation…or at least, the words she did say. He did refrain from indicating this, however…no need to embarrass her. A while later, when she suggested that they do dress up, Shadyn stood readily, then caught himself as he realized what she said. He raised an eyebrow, a humored but wary smile playing across his face.

“The GIRLS will take me? Did I hear that right?”

When she nodded, he shrugged. “Oh well.” He helped Lanira to her feet, then translated what was going on for her. When he got to the part about which group of children would take each of them, she threw her head back and laughed. Shadyn mocked a frown of hurt, still speaking in Nari. “It’s not funny! Do I honestly look like a woman to you? Besides…the makeup probably won’t match my hair.”

At this, Lanira laughed even harder, apparently tickled by the mental image. Together, the turned to follow Elann inside, stopping by the door to let the kids lead the way. After Elann entered, they strode in behind her. After a walking up the stairs, the children separated into two groups, the boys taking Lanira off to one side, and Elann and the girls drawing Shadyn into another side room off the hallway.

Once inside, the girls hastily set to work collecting various makeup supplies, and bits of clothing. He took off his katinu and lontavs, since he figured that they probably wouldn’t want them on anyway…the katinu was finely decorated, but it had been damaged several times in combat and would not look “pretty”…not that he felt that adjective well described him anyway. When they tried to remove his waterskin and belt pouches, he gently stopped them.

“These don’t leave my body. Valuable.”

He hoped that they would not try to have him change his pants…his bryda concealed his daggers. Not that he expected to use them…but he was not particularly good at unarmed combat, and IF something did arise, having weapons…at least for appearance’s sake. Thankfully, with Elann supervising, that probably would not happen. Little hands tugged at him, and he sat down at a dressing table obediently. As they began the enthusiastic process of making him “beautiful,” he decided to find out a little bit about Elann. She was not terribly short…though her features did seem different than most people…especially her eyes. Intriguing…and certainly attractive. She was also quite obviously unused to the cold.

“Elann…where are you from, and what race are you? Are you from the southern territories?”




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[Elann]

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The fact Lanira and Shadyn spoke in Nari didn't offend the children or Elann at all. In fact they were kind of used to various dialects and languages being spoken within the city. What did get them excited was the laughter. As Lanira laughed all the boys surrounded her, and as Shadyn mock frowned, all the girls surrounded him, all too familiar with the torment they were going to unleash upon him. The youngest and newest of the children had no idea what was going on but seemed to follow along with mob mentality.

It wasn't soon enough that Elann got inside. Her fur-trimmed clothing pulled tight now upon her, she sought the fireplace in the side room where the girls were dragging Shadyn. It wasn't long before they pulled out a dress that clearly wouldn't fit him, and upon realizing this, it not even fitting over his head, they proceeded to give him scarves of bright colors, a sash, what resembled large fuzzy slippers dyed pink; all of which barely fit him if not constricted him. Eventually they would just wrap a sheet of linen about him to make a 'dress'. Still, at his request they did not mess up anything on his clothes nor mess with his waterskin and belt pouches.

The main change would come with the makeup, and the styling of his hair. Elann supervised, warning them not to mess with his clothing and constantly laughed as the girls bartered with each other for certain goods they had on them to ensure his beauty. The smile on her lips was seen wide in her eyes, and as he looked to her, asking her where she was from, she gave him a little nod.

"Mhmm. I am a daughter of Shlomet, of the Sons of Rapa. We are the Benshira, from the southern territory of Eyktol. My father's tents reside near Yahebah."

The introduction was kind, but internally left a sour note inside of her due to recently being disowned, not out of dishonor, but for her safety and continuation in Syliras.

"Where are you from? What language is that you use? It is very pretty."

As they talked, the girls would attempt to powder his face, place lipstick on him and even fit various necklaces about him. Lanira wouldn't fare much better. The boys had a bunch of wooden swords they would equip her with, roughly giving her eight swords to stick in her belt, and a helmet that a guard had come by to give them. They would also make sure all her muscles had leather straps bound about them because it made you look really strong. They had some sandals for her to wear that were strapped up to the knee and by the time they were done with her, they would try to get her looking like a strange version of a Syrliran Knight. Eventually all her hair had to be tucked up into the helmet to make her look more manly, but then one child suggested they tie it loosely across her face, making her look like she had a beard and mustache. It was hard to communicate with her, but they would try to work with her, the older boys trying to calm down the craze of the younger.

"I think he needs a little more lipstick than that," Elann would say, her devious side showing bright and clear.

Other's Words ~~ My Words ~~ My Thoughts

[Shadyn]

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As they continued to work, Shadyn decided to shift so that his back was to the mirror. No need to burn his self-image more than necessary. Most of Elann’s response meant little to him. When she addressed her race and where they were from, though, he made mental note. A moment of thought brought back maps from his world studies as a Yasi to his mind’s eye, and though he could not precisely place Yahebah, he did remember Eyktol.

“Ahhh. I see. Interesting…I have never met a Benshira before. I…we…are from the city of Wind Reach. It is located within a volcano by the name of Mt. Skyinarta. It is in the far northwestern tip of Kalea. We…the Inarta…speak Nari. Our language borrows much bird sounds…that’s why it’s so pretty. Birds are sacred to us. The greatest of birds are the Wind Eagles…birds many times larger than the largest man, with the mind of men and the power of telepathy. The rulers, providers, and protectors of Wind Reach – they are called Endals, like me – each bond with one of these, and then ride them. That is how we came here from many thousands of miles away.”

He had a problem with rambling, he had noticed recently. Get him on a topic he likes, and that’s the last you’ll hear of silence for a while. Fortunately for Elann, he was trying to curb this as of late. When she suggested that they use more lipstick, he rolled his eyes and made a face at her somewhere between exasperation and mirth. As what seemed like a score of little hands began to tug and shape and comb and twirl his hair, he laughed. I never did set much store by the Inarta fascination with hair styles…guess this is my just desserts for shunning the social norm.

“Be careful of the feather that is woven in there…that is mark of rank and bond among my people.”
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Lanira fared a bit better than Shadyn, since most of her decorations were superficial. The boys absolutely adored her katinu, vinati, and lontavs since all of them consisted of attractive leatherwork. Since her midrift was bare, they brought out a belt that must have belonged to a very plump soldier, for it wrapped around her three times before she could buckle the immense latch. A half dozen wooden swords were thrust through the concentric rings of this belt. They decided that she should take off the katinu, since they liked the design of her vinati better.

When they appeared with a helmet, she grinned and smoothed back her hair, winding it up into a makeshift bun. The sheer length and profusion of her hair, however, still made the heltmet stand six inches off the top of her head, forcing her to look through the mouth guard of the face-plate rather than the eye slits. The boys, however, all cheered at this, because they said it made her look much taller, but when one of the older boys said her face looked to skinny to be a good knight, they decided to pull it out and fashion it into something resembling facial hair. The settled the helmet in place…but it was a good deal larger than she needed, and thus bobbled this way and that every time she moved. Pulling off her boots, the tucked the ample folds of her bryda down into the tops of knee-high sandals, which, when laced up, finished the look. The went ahead and brought her out into the hallway, eagerly waiting for the girls to finish with Shadyn.




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