Introductions
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse... at last.
Buchek eyes Erk for a moment. No one has been so openly friendly toward him since he woke from his grave site, and his first inclination is to be mistrustful. There is something almost magnetic about this dwarf, though, and his grin in infectious. Almost in spite of himself, Buchek likes him.
Picking up his axe from where it leans against the wall, Buchek holds it out, inviting the dwarf to inspect its craftsmanship, but not letting it out of his grasp. "Nuhata", he says, indicating the intricately incised axe, "is the weapon of my ancestors. Their strength moves through it. When I die, if I am worthy, my strength will join with theirs."
From: Clara
Subject: At the Guardhouse
Kayla watches Erk walk into the guardhouse. She puts away her fiddle, and stands up with her gear. "Time to gather, I reckon."
She waves to Holn, Telwyn, and Bermid who are all standing nearby. "I'm gonna see if Buchek's awake," she calls out. With that, she walks into the guardhouse.
From: Jake
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse
Buchek has never seen a halfling before, and he stares as this one saunters into the guardhouse. His first thought is that she is a child, but from her proportions and bearing this clearly isn't the case. The old women of the Cushat told stories of the Grass Children, tiny, viscious, supernatural beings that preyed on those foolish enough to wander into the Tall Grass, but they said that when a Grass Child approached, brave men's limbs grew weak with terror, and the tiny woman before him didn't evoke any fear at all.
From: Clara
Subject: At the Guardhouse
Kayla is surprised at Buchek's startled look as she walks into the guardhouse. After briefly wondering why he was staring so strangely at her, she introduces herself.
"Heyya, looks like you've gotten yourself into a bit o' trouble. Hope you don't mind coming 'long with us! I'm Kayla." She grins and nods her head.
From: Jake
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse
Buchek sinks down onto his haunches, bringing himself to eye level with the halfling and stares at her, fascinated. "What...I've never...you are Kayla? What are you? Where do you come from? You can't be one of the Grass Children."
From: Mike
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse
OOC: Hey, just curious, but did you guys get my last email? Is Bucheck ignoring Telwyn, or did he just not understand him?
From: Jake
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse
"Hello. I'm Telwyn." He gives his best approximation of a knowing grin. "So, what made you decide to sneak up on a sleeping guard?"
Buchek straightens up from talking to Kayla, taking measure of the half elf as he does so, and mentally translating Telwyn's somewhat alien sounding tongue into Cushat. "Telwyn," he replies in Common, "I am Buchek."
Telwyn's way of carrying himself, his gait, and his dress all indicate that this is a man accustomed to the grass lands, familiar with the ways of the wild. Buchek feels relieved; he was afraid that he and Holn would have their hands full trying to protect and provide for their companions once they left the city. This one, at least, will require little watching.
"I snuck up on no one. As I neared the guard house, the man threw down his sword and fled before me."
"You're the one with the wolf," Buchek said, remembering Telwyn from the trial. "it is a fine beast."
From: Clara
Subject: At the Guardhouse
She stares back at Buchek with an amused look on her face, "Grass children? I'm a thief. I mean, I was a thief," she amended, "Came from Marakea, that's out south a ways. You mighta heard my fiddlin' outside just a bit ago. Tha's my playing, sure nuff."
With that, Kayla looks around for somewhere to sit. She spies a nearby table for the guards to use, and situates herself on top of it. Her bag and fiddle case rest by her.
"Hey Erk, what'dyou reckon we do with im?" she calls out, with a glimmer of amusement in her eyes.
From: Ty
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse
Erk smiles back at Kayla, "Be cautious, my little songbird. While we may have our way with him here in the city, I suspect that in the wilds our situations will be reversed. Is that not so, barbarian?" He says barbarian with a laugh in his voice.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: At the Guardhouse... at last.
Telwyn nods to Buchek, and speaks in Common. "Yes, he is. His name is Liwanu."
He regards the tribesman. Few words have passed between them, but already Telwyn is beginning to revise his opinion of the man. They understand each other for their similarities; both are more at home on the plains, in the wild, than on crowded city streets. And perhaps there is more they have in common; Buchek seems solitary, separate; it's a quality that makes him seem all the more familiar to Telwyn.
When Kayla asks her question, Telwyn frowns. Typical city arrogance. But he nods at Erk's response. "We are in your environment for now, miss, but soon enough we'll be in mine, and that means his as well." He jerks his head toward Buchek.
Telwyn leans against a wall and taps his foot idly. "I wonder when the commissar will be joining us."
From: Erik
Subject: At the Guardhouse
The dark shadows come alive as Holn moves from them. He approaches the cell, and addresses Buchek in his native tongue.
"It is a hard thing to see you thus, with the charms of the dead on your face. Not unlike those I put on Singard only a moon ago."
"I know of Sortani's visions. What did your mother see, out there on the plain? Where was she taking you and your family?"
From: Clara
Subject: At the Guardhouse
Kayla's slate-colored eyes darken at Erk's response, "Now, you'd better not take me serious-like. I reckon each of us will quickly prove worthy for this journey. I'd say we'd best call each other equals early on, 'fore pride gets a hold o' us."
Kayla leaps off the table and walks to Buchek. She reaches her small hand forward, just passing the bars. "Equals?"
-Clara
From: Ty
Subject: Re: At the guardhouse
OOC:
*grin* methinks Kayla has a bit of short man's syndrome.
IC:
Erk's smile does not fade, and he says only, "I do not doubt your worth, songbird. I only seek to warn you that those from outside the city reckon humor differently than you and I. Be careful how you tease this wolf, for we have not yet seen his fangs.
"Now I, on the other hand, may be the target of all your jests and mockery without any danger, for my sense of humor is unshakable, and my affection for the small of stature unassailable."
Before he leaves the room he says to Buchek, "Once we are on the road, I would like to speak to you of the grassland gods. Are you permitted to speak of them? If we are to pass through the lands of their worshippers, I would know their ways and customs."
From: Clara
Subject: At the guardhouse
(Aside: Kayla gives Erk a withering look.)