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Post by Horakhti on Aug 1, 2023 21:07:27 GMT -5
Horahkti strode off the gangway from the passenger ship, arriving for the first time on the shores of Capitol Landing. He looked up at the majestic view of the part of Sol City he could see from down here in the Gold Port. He stood in the middle of the dock for a long moment, taking into the immense scope of this place. “Nothing like Lilicors Village. Wow” he whispered to himself. Other travelers and dock workers glanced up at Horahkti annoyed with the sudden roadblock, bumping past and slipping around him.
“Hey! Need to move off the dock big man!” yelled one of the dock officials who finally saw the issue, shaking their head.
Horakhti’s face reeled as he was ripped back to reality, shaking off the shock. He walked up the dock to the main port area, scanning over all the people and stalls. He wandered the market for a while, looking at the selection of goods. It was then when a someone gently tapped his arm
A human woman stood next to him, smiling up at him. She dressed in clothes similar to the officers of the ship he just got off of, but in a style he had ever seen before.
Horahkti stepped to the side instinctively, and bowed his head. “Excuse.”
The woman laughed at this, and shook her head. The only thing he understood from what she said next was “request” and “friend” as she pointed back towards the docks, busy with the flow of moving cargo.
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Post by Mariana Eadburg on Aug 2, 2023 21:21:43 GMT -5
Back in Sol City once more...
The place was never boring, she knew that. It was always a hot bed of activity of every sort, from trade to politics to festivals, yet she'd grown up here and she'd left for a reason. What had brought her back here today was a letter from a friend asking for help with a strange development that required someone with her particular talents. She was on her way to the friend's townhouse when she saw a peculiar sight. Disembarking from a ship was a Lizardman that towered over the crowd, splitting those walking walking like a boulder does a river. Seeing the fish out of water look in his face and that he happened to be heading in the direction she was, she decided to follow him for a while out of curiosity.
He lingered in the market for a while, gawking at goods and merchants alike. The selection here was almost limitless, of course the prices were heavily inflated as well though... If Octavia, her griffon, had been here with her she would've been sniffing at the exotic animals and fruits presented in the stalls. Mariana had left Octavia, as well as her shield and helmet, behind at the inn she'd spent the night at.
She grew even more curious when a woman walked over with a look of assuredness on her face and tapped on the giant lizard's arm. Her dress was official yet foreign to Sol City and it's various organizations. Judging by the lizard's look of confusion as he looked back at the woman she had said something he didn't understand. Thinking she might be able to help, being a local and all, she approached to intervene.
As she closed on the two she heard the woman speak and realized that she had barely any idea what she'd said. It was too late to back out now though, she'd already met the woman's eyes and now stood only feet behind the Lizardman with a look of stupor on her face.
"Umm, excuse me, may I be of some assistance? Mariana Eadburg, at your service." She said with some uncertainty in her voice.
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Post by Horakhti on Aug 3, 2023 23:06:12 GMT -5
This place was a torrent of new things, almost too many to keep up with. Then another voice spoke up behind him, "Umm, excuse me, may I be of some assistance? Mariana Eadburg, at your service." He turned and stepped back for this new woman Mariana, shorter but very strong compared to the first one and easily recognized as a rider or adventurer. Now having shifted twice while hardly looking, he bumped into a corner of a stall and about a half dozen other things. The stall’s corner scraped against the ground as the assorted objects shifted and wobbled. He stopped himself as things teetered back into their place, looking in between the women and the poor stall completely overwhelmed.
The sailor woman started to come to the realization of their language barrier. Mariana looked like she would be the answer to this situation but not sounding like it completely. At least he could understand her. The merchant let out a their held breath, giving at him with an understanding but still slighting annoyed. Frozen in the moment, he finally took a breath and shook his head. He gingerly moved his bulk away from anything he could knock over and where he could speak with the two people asking him questions. The sailor woman’s face showed her apology as she motioned with her hand and said more words he couldn’t interpret, but a message he understood. She took a moment fishing for what to say, the process showing on her face. She looks back up, “ Forgive.” He made a gesture of acceptance “ Forgiven”, still clueless as to what to do next. He looked at Mariana for a moment with a pleading look, " Please,I have no idea what's going on." before looking back at the woman. “ Where… from? Uh, home?” Trying his best to kind his words simple and do his best to talk as much with his hand. She worked again to process his words and then to find ones to reply. “ White…town…”
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Post by Mariana Eadburg on Aug 7, 2023 8:14:36 GMT -5
As the lizardman bumped into the stall Mariana tensed a tad waiting for the crash that never came as the items atop it slowed their wiggling. Letting out a breath of relief she listened to the sailor's wave of apologies, at least she guessed that's what they were, before the word "forgive" cemented the meaning. As the Lizardman accepted the apology she stepped into a triangle with the two so they could continue to speak.
Hearing the woman's response Mariana ran through every possible location that could fit the description. It didn't take long for her to think of the Pale City in Frostgale. It was white, with snow of course, and the name was close enough. It also made more sense now as to why she hadn't the ability to understand the woman, she was likely speaking the local variety of elven. Had she paid attention in her schooling while growing up she'd likely understand far more of what the woman was saying...
"The Pale City, perhaps?" She said it slowly, enunciating to her best ability each word.
The sailor's eyes lit up and she nodded her head several times.
"You're speaking elven?" Mariana pointed to her lips as she said elven, attempting to breach the gap.
The sailor nodded once more and spoke a few words in her native language, pointing to Mariana as she finished and looking hopeful.
"I do not speak it... er, elven." She pointed to her lips and shook her head.
Mariana looked between the woman and the lizardman with a dumfounded smile on her face. This was not exactly what you'd call being helpful, perhaps she should've simply headed on to her task and let this play out without her. Too late now, she thought, she was in the thick of it.
"Con...tract?"
The woman broke the silence by pulling a piece of paper from her coat pocket and presenting it to them, the hopeful glimmer once again in her eyes. Though, as Mariana had expected, the thing was written entirely in some foreign script. Still, she moved closer to the contract, leaning in close to the woman and motioning the lizardman to do the same in hopes that they could together find some meaning in it. From her lessons on language she recognized some words, ship was written a few times and amounts of solars were listed near the word. Perhaps this had something do with a sale of a ship, or trade goods on a ship?
"Ship." She pointed to the word, garnering a head nod from the sailor woman.
"Looks like some sort of trade agreement, for what and with whom I'm not sure..." She said to the lizardman with voice of anything but confidence.
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Post by Horakhti on Aug 14, 2023 22:45:25 GMT -5
" Ship." Mariana said as pointed to the paper, " Looks like some sort of trade agreement, for what and with whom I'm not sure..." Her tone was not as sure as he wished as it could have been but it was far more than he could have figured on his own. He nodded to her and leaned his head in to look over the document. His life as an on and off as a contracted laborer was mildly helpful in this extra foreign scenario. He’d seen many different forms of this, but the language and format made it almost unrecognizable. It appeared more like an agreement for the transaction on something like an item or a good, but it still could have likely have been a working contract. “ I don’t think she’d get my attention for a sales talk, and I hardly have the solars for anything I feel like she and her people could be selling.” He stood up and looked at the Frostgale officer. He saw the mix of embarrassment and hope she had for her offer, looking for an inclination. “Contract. Work?” He asked. She paused to process the words, finally nodding to confirm.
"Work." She placed her hand on his arm, smiling up at him.
“ Well,” he says with a heavy sigh. “ I can only assume it is an offer for work. I hope it’s for labor and not some show. Do you know of any place down at the docks with people who could help us read this?” He looked at Mariana with a small bit of a wishful hope.
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Post by Mariana Eadburg on Aug 17, 2023 8:30:25 GMT -5
Mariana was sure she knew elves that visited, whether they spoke the same dialect as this woman was uncertain. She pulled the halberd into her hands and started to twirl it, her face in deep thought.
"Aha! I have someone in mind!" She halted the twirling and knocked the pommel against the street with a CLANG.
"I'm sure they could translate for us but they're quite eccentric..." She motioned the group to follow along, leading them to a particularly sordid looking alleyway near the docks.
The pavement here was cracked and broken, gaps in the bricks large enough to form puddles the size of men littered the way. A small canal with splintered timbers, trash, refuse, and a layer of algae flowed at a snails pace on one side. On the other stood a row of decrepit buildings, mostly foreclosed. The woman looked more than a little apprehensive and confused at their location. Mariana strode up to a building no less or more squalid than the rest and knocked loudly to a song's rhythm.
The door didn't open, instead a series of low creaks sounded from above them. Out of the windows, between boards nailed to them, stuck almost a dozen crossbows pointed at the group. The woman ducked behind Horakhti with a squeal and began to beg in her own language. Before Mariana could turn to reassure her a voice, high and crackly, began yelling from a tiny basement window to the left of the building's door near the group's ankles.
The voice yelled in the same language as the elf as far as she could tell, this brought the elf's head around Horakhti with a look of wide surprise on her face.
"Aaaaaiiii, Mariana! Who is this brute you bring along, and a girl who speaks THAT dialect, where did you find these people!?" The voice came from a rat man, black furred with a burn scar covering most of his face.
The crossbows went away and the girl relaxed.
"Woah, woah, woah, we don't trust that easy boys! Back out, back out!" He yelled.
The crossbows peaked out once more and the woman ducked again behind Horakhti.
"Now, big lizard! Who are you and why are you here? Same for you, lady! I shoot anyone I don't like the business of... well, not personally, but you get it!"
Mariana gave the two of them a soothing look, mouthed "Its okay." and motioned with her hand for them to speak. The rat was named Hissral. They'd met while working on a mercenary contract together, he'd been in charge of decoding and translating intercepted messages they brought to him.
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Post by Horakhti on Aug 19, 2023 23:43:24 GMT -5
Horahkti reacted quickly to suddenly being targeted by several bolts. His body swelled as muscles flexed, tendons tightened, and arms held out from his sides. Somehow making himself even larger than before, his lips pulled back and opened his jaw to let out a rattling hiss. The Marsh Flats had taught him how to respond to sudden, flashing fangs. His arm moved to cover the woman as she slipped behind him, pushing his body forward to goad their aim.
Before he could bear the full weight of his glare at Mariana, he turned his head down to the door. He quieted his hiss as he spoke with familiarity, still maintaining his stance. He almost started to relax as the bolts withdrew. When the ratfolk spoke again in yet another tongue he didn’t understand called them back out. Snarling at all the holes and slots that return their aim at him, he guarded the woman with his tail and held onto her so she remained completely in behind him.
"Now, big lizard! Who are you and why are you here? Same for you, lady! I shoot anyone I don't like the business of... well, not personally, but you get it!"
He snapped his jaw shut as he dared to look away back to the rat man in front of him. The thought of doing the same thing to his throat crossed the back of his mind, but that would remove his only option to figuring this situation out. He grunted at the reductive name.
“Horahkti. Need a translator.” He stated dryly with just a hint of a growl.
The woman squeaked just loud enough to be heard. “Sefiona…”
“Now, take them away and let us talk.” He gestured to the wall with his head.
Hissral twisted his face, “What makes you think I’ll do that? I still barely know what you wa…”
He was cut off as a groaning, bellowing rumble reverberated from Horahkti’s chest and body. Low and powerful, it engulfed the air around them. The vibrations moved right through people and walls, carrying along the ground under their feet. It lasts maybe just a second.
Horahkti’s voice was low and assertive. “Away. Please.”
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