"Language Lessons"
Log Date: 2/7/02
Intro:
It's a day or two after Kephissa woke up on this strange shore with even
stranger people. Most of them have disappeared, leaving only one to watch the
shipwrecked humans.
Cast:
Kephissa
Quietharm
Dancer Beach(#1537RAJL)
The white gleaming sands reflect the light of the [v(light-[u(timedesc)])]. The
bay is shallow and warm, and suitable for wading or swimming. A long ridge
parallels the beach along the edge of the dunes and shelters the beach from cool
winds off the mountains and from the view of folk who might walk by in the
forest. Here and there a gnarled madrona tree or a wind-twisted dwarf pine rears
its head above the horizon.
Evening at last and the first moon rises setting the beach aglo with the silver
light. The soft onshore breeze is warm and the tide is out again.
Contents:
Quietharm
Tern's Raft
(#10008Jabes$)
Shiver's Tent
Rock Spire
StormCurrent's Raft
Obvious exits:
Towards Mainland Beach On the Sea North along the beach(N) Southwest
to Strait Inland Trail(E)
Quietharm
Standing at a lithe 4'7", she has livid, almond shaped eyes of a dark
amber. She is fine featured, with elegant eyebrows high above the eyes, and high
cheekbones which give off an aire of dignity. A light, translucent webbing goes
a little past the first knuckle between her fingers. Her ears are smaller than
that of a normal elf, and naturally scalloped. Shiny, mahogany hair is to mid-
back and unbound, with a few errant strands of hair falling about her face.
Deeply bronzed skin of an almost golden hue marks her ancestory.
Abandoning the common dressing style of her sea home, Quietharm has now
opted for a rough, tawny outfit made of animal hide. The same pelt is used for a
halter style top down to the boots. Quite eclectic, it is form fitting and free
of any loose garmet that would hinder movement. A string of blue shells entwines
about her neck.
Carrying:
Knife
Having rested the day away, the human female is stirring now. She tends a small
fire, over which is roasting a crab like creature she found somewhere. She
occasionally sends worried glances to the human male, who does appear that he
has been up and about in their time on the beach, but is now sleeping again.
Kephissa has tried to clean up a bit, and there are several human tracks down to
the water and up to the forest.
The tide rolls in and out, a fairly monotonous movement that crashes against the
coast. Some seabirds careen capriciously through the air in a haphazard display
of aerial acrobatics, their cries ringing along the beach and mingling with the
sounds of the waves. Quietharm sits a few feet away from the two humans,
watching them with an unwavering gaze. Ever since Tern and Shiver had left with
Cadence in tow, she had stayed within the area, on the 'guard' as she was told
to. Every now and again her eyes would look to the male with what might be
constituted as concern, but she had a prime watch on the female in particular.
Kephissa glances occasionally over at the 'guard', and there's no question in
her mind that that is in part what the stranger is. But for now she's more
worried about surviving, and caring for her crewmate, who is at the moment the
only link she has to a far away home. She understands that the language barrier
might be a problem she's not feeling enthusiastic enough to initiate any
attempts to break through. In fact she's downright morose. Stuck on a beach with
an ill friend and strangers. She turns her stick over to roast the other side of
the crab.
Quietharm blinks once, breaking her prolonged posture to stand. Working her way
curiously over to the male human, she reaches out to nudge at his shoulder
before glancing up to Kephissa grudgingly. "Volneck Cut?" Her vocabulary in
these human's language was extremely limited at this point in time, but she was
trying all in her power to find out what ailed them. Her investigation continues
further, tugging at the human's ragged clothing here and there, or lifting a
lock of hair to study it closely with a strange sense of awe.
Kephissa eyes the stranger warily, although the poking and prodding doesn't
appear to be anything more than curiosity. She shrugs slightly at the question,
how to explain the aftereffects of three months lost at sea, battles with storms
and sea monster, being washed overboard, and near-drowning. She nods, "((Yes,
Valnek Cut))"
Quietharm nods, half imitation of Kephissa and half affirming Valnek's current
state. "Yes." Sighing, she backs off, pointing to the crab that Kephissa was
preparing. "Kephizza <>?" The last two words were in the elfin
language, and the dark complected female regarded the crustacian and human
inquisitively. "<>" The minute she spoke,
she shook her head. She must rationalize it out to the woman, so that she may
understand. Tapping her chin thoughtfully, Quietharm glances furtively around as
if searching for something.
Kephissa glances down to the crab, Ah its done. Is that what the stranger was
trying to say? She peers at Quietharm with a puzzled look. No clue what was just
said, although she assume it has something to do with her dinner. She removes
the crab from the heat, propping the stick up on a rock, to cool a bit. She's
done this before it appears. And then she turns to regard the strange female
curiously.
Quietharm narrows her eyes speculatively, but smiles, still undeterred. She
watches as Kephissa works to cook the crab, and admires the tenacity of the
woman that inclined her to survive so well. She points to Kephissa's dinner.
"<>" Awaiting a response, she again checks out Valnek, muttering in the
human's language, "Volnack Cut, Volnack Cut..."
Kephissa raises an eyebrow. We're back to attemptiong communication again? And
then she looks down at the crab. "Fod?" She pauses and points at it again.
"((Crab. Eat Crab))" And since Quietharm looks well fed, she's not inclined to
share. She and Valnek need all the food they can get.
Quietharm bites her lower lip with a murky expression, which falls apart as her
eyebrows raise with enlightenment. "Kerab. Eat Kerab." Smiling, she nods one.
"Yes, Kephizza." Broken words thrown together perhaps, but Quietharm strived to
understand them. Mayhap she might find them more substanance, they had to be
starved. Removing the dagger at her side, she motions to the woods and holds up
one finger as if to say 'wait here.' With that, she sprints off into the brush.
Kephissa manages a real smile at Quietharm's actions. Well, they're making some
progress, maybe. This particular local seems interested in trying some attempt
at language, although having Arnos the ship's linguist here would make it
easier. But he's probably dead with the rest of the crew. At that thought, the
smile leaves her face and she picks up her cooled crab, breaking the shell and
pulling out the meat. Focus, food, shelter, warmth. Get well, get Valnek well,
and than see if anybody else washed up on this shore.
After some length of time, the slight form of the female elf can be seen
returning from the woods, making her way past the brambles and branches that
tried to hold her back. When she broke free of the forest and alighted on the
sand, Quietharm is holding a dead ravvit slung over her shoulder, bouncing
against her back with every step she took. The weapon responsible for the
animal's demise is once again sheathed at her side, a bit redder and duller than
when it last made an appearance. Cheerful, Quietharm presents the dead creature
to the human by laying it at her feet. "Kerab."
Kephissa looks down a at the dead animal at her feet in confusion for a moment.
That doesn't look like any crab she's ever seen, but then comprehension dawns.
Just a little miscommunication here. She shakes her head and points to the
remains of the crab she's been eating. "((Crab.))" She says definitely. She
points at the furry thing. "((Rabbit.))" Food is a much more abstract concept
she really doesn't want to get into right now.
Quietharm blinks a little, and then nods, following Kephissa's earlier motions.
Gazing at the crab, she repeated the word almost perfectly, a large improvement.
"Krab." To the rabbit, she admonishes, "Rabbit." Putting a hand to her temple,
she dips her eyebrows and scrunches up her face for a brief second. Her head was
spinning a bit with all of these words, and she might just get a headache yet.
Shaking her head to clear it, Quietharm reaches for the ravvit and begins to
skin it for the human. If she was to look at herself now from turns ago, she
would have just been aghast at the audacity that she was helping humans. Yet,
these were just no ordinary humans, to be sure...
Kephissa is perfectly happy to leave the skinning to the elf. She's much more
familiar with the intricacies of preparing sea creatures for cooking than land
creatures. Well, she's managed to get across a few concepts to the locals. She
glances at Valnek a bit before finishing off the crab. If he wakes up hungry
she'll just find something else for him, such as the rabbit. He needs his rest.
Quietharm finishes her sloppy work, throwing aside the remnants of fur, viscera,
and fat. Grabbing a sharp twig at her side, she impales the meat before setting
it up to heat of the fire. The crackling flames dance and bite at the cooking
ravvit similar to a hungry wolf, but Quietharm is beyond noticing as she hurries
down to the ocean to clean up her hands. When she returns, she kneels near the
two again, pointing out to the water. Might as well get some basics down,
perhaps explanations might come later. "<>".
Now this is something Kephissa knows about. The sea is her life. But is the
strange female wanting referring to water in general or salt water, or the name
of the body of water. She looks out at the water and points, repeating the
word. "Oshan" Than she adds her own word, one of many in her language that
could refer to that out there, but a simple one. "((Sea.))"
Quietharm nods frantically, feeling she is actually going somewhere with this.
"Cee...See...Sea?" With a renewed purpose, she pushes away from the sand to
return to the water again, standing ankle deep in the shallows. Bending down to
touch the salty waves as they break against her legs, Quietharm raises her
voice to say, "Sea? Kephizza <> sea?"
Kephissa chuckles, simple concept. There aren't words enough to describe the
whole harrowing journey. Should she try. She points at the raft, though its a
much simpler vessel than the one she travel on, and tries just the basic words.
"Kephissa...Raft...Sea," pointing at each of those things as she says the words.
Quietharm giggles, a childlike grin forming on her face. "Kephizza...Raft.."
She touches the seaworthy vessel, "Sea?" She looks down at the bobbing water.
Walking back to the woman, she watches her with excitement, for any sign that
these words were correct. "Yes?" Getting an image of a bunch of humans on a
raft, which for all her knowledge was lost to them, Quietharm sobers. That
picturesque visual changes to the scenario now before her..castaways without a
home. But to believe that they came here on a raft, well, that would mean they
were far more advanced than the humans of the local area. Sure, they did look
different, and sounded that way too, but to believe they were actually a step
above? It was downright amazing!
Kephissa nods. "((Yes. Kephissa, and Valnek, Raft, Sea.))" She holds her arms
wide. "((Big Raft. Big Sea.)). Hoping to get across some perspective of the
difference in the scale of the vessels and of the far distance they covered.
The Raft/Ship is lost to them, but their home was lost long before that
probably. But without a ship it looks like they're stuck on this shore for a
long time.
Quietharm draws a deep breath, and arranges the human's language so that she
might get across she comprehended this situation to some extent. "<>
Kephizza, and Valneck," She taps the male on the shoulder lightly, "<> big raft <> big sea?" Boggling a bit, she then inquires, "Kephizza
and Valneck <> big raft?"
Not entirely sure what the connecting words are, Kephissa does pick up that
Quietharm is asking about the ship. She shakes her head, how to phrase it,
she's didn't see the ship go down, so she really doesn't know what happened to
it. But she does know it wasn't in good shape when she last saw it. And she's
not sure how it could have survived the sea monster. She picks up a piece of
drift wood. "((Big raft...Break. Sunk))" She snaps the piece of driftwood over
her knee and tosses it into the water with quite a bit of force. She'll miss
that ship, she spent all her adult life on it it seems like.
Quietharm starts as the driftwood snaps. Widening her eyes a bit, the elf shows
a huge interest. "Big Raft Break." Finding her own piece of driftwood, she
snaps it in two as well to illustrate that she understood. "Big Raft Break.
Sunk <> Big Sea? <> Valneck and Kephizza Cut?" She clasps her hands
in her lap, so tight she turns the four knuckles white from the lack of
blood. "Yes, Quietharm?" Nevermind that another being might see her speaking
in broken fragments, a story was slowly coming together.
For only being able to communicate in broken fragments, they've managed to
piece together a somewhat pared down story. So Kephissa tries to put it all
together in her own language, less fragmented, but with emphasis on the words
they've exchanged. "((Yes, Qytarm. The Big Raft Break. And than it Sunk in the
Big Sea. And Valnek and Kephissa were Cut when it happened.))"
Quietharm's eyes grow as wide as saucers, but she nods mutely. She was fuzzy on
the interconnecting words, but a few made sense. The last three words were
somewhat past her knowledge of this language, so whatever Kephissa had said to
that extreme was lost on her. Placing a hand on her chest, the female elf
states plainly, "Valneck, Kephizza..." She places her hand on an empty spot in
the sand next to her, as if trying to draw a significance that there might be
not just the two humans. "<>"
Kephissa frowns, she isn't quite sure what is being asked of her. "((Valnek,
Kephissa. What?) She shrugs and shakes her head after the last work to indicate
her confusion. And than tries to repeat the elfin words. "Anyon ese?"
Quietharm sighs and shakes her head to indicate that wasn't what she was trying
to get across. "Kephizza, Valneck... <>" She opens her arms wide, as if
seeking the presence of other humans. She repeats herself, still pretending to
search, "<> Kephizza, Valneck.."
Kephissa makes a guess at what Quietharm is asking. "((Soon. Soon, We Search.))
She puts her hand to her forehead and peers around as if searching. ((Search
for others. Like Us.)) She points back and forth between herself and the
sleeping human. ((Many others.)) She isn't quite sure how to get that across.
So she does the searching sign again.
Quietharm nods vigorously. She repeats one of the words Kephissa was using
often, linking it to her apparent gesture mimicking someone looking for
something. "Search. Search Valneck and Kephissa. Outhers." Placing on hand on
her chest, she motions to you both with a sincere expression on her face.
"Quietharm Search. Search Others <> Big Raft? Quietharm <>."
Kephissa looks earnest, and actually reaches out and grabs Quietharm's arm.
"((Others, Did you see Others?))" She points at her eyes with the word 'see',
hoping to get across that action. "((Where?))" She looks all set to drag
Quietharm to where she thinks the elf saw others of her kind.
Quietharm inclines her head to one side, large eyes gazing back in earnest at
the sudden indignative outburst from the human woman. Lowering her eyes in slow
increments to the large hand encompassing her smaller arm, she nods a bit.
"Quietharm see others. Others <>" Shaking her head and pulling back from the woman with
sympathy registering in her brown eyes, the elf sighs in frustration.
"Quietharm see others. Quietharm search."
Kephissa isn't sure whether Quietharm is just repeating her words, or if she
really has seen others. It's almost to much to hope, and part of her almost
wants to leap up and follow Quietharm to where the others are. But than
fatalism takes hold of her and she's pretty sure that the elf hasn't seen
anyone. Besides she has to stay here with Valnek. But maybe the stranger can
help. She nods. "((Qytarm. Search. Others.))" That will have to be enough for
now.
Quietharm throws a linger glance at Valnek. She was finding rather quickly that
the longer she stayed with these humans, the more she was growing to care for
their welfare. Worried, she straightens and stands up, patting Kephissa on the
shoulder comfortingly. She would leave the ravvit with them, and return with
fresh water and more food. But for now they needed rest, especially the woman,
considering her comrade was still out like a light. "Yes. Sleep, Kephizza."
With that, Quietharm leaves them there, to return shortly with more provisions.