"Yet More Strange Strangers" Log Date: 2/10/02 Intro: Kephissa awakens after spending the night in the Olbar camp. She must now decide whether to stay and attempt more information exhange, or leave, get back to Valnek, and continue on the search for her shipmates. Cast: Kephissa Coralfire Kephissa crawls out of the tent Xhosa insisted she use the night before, her focus on the sky, judging what time of day. Darn, later than she thought, Valnek is going to be wondering where she is. And less time for searching too. She stands up and smooths the wrinkles out of her tunic. What she wouldn't give for a hot iron to restore some semblance of order, although even mending is probably never going to get this piece of clothing looking presentable again. She looks around the camp seeing no sign of the people she met the day before, but wait is that a new one? Coralfire Tall and slender, the woman before you is a definite athlete. She has the lean lines of a swimmer, body muscled and toned, while leaving the feminine curves that mark her as female. Her complexion has been tanned a rich golden brown by the sun. The coppery waves that spill down around her face have been bleached to a lighter fire red and even touches of blonde in places, lending highlights and depth to the gentle waves. Her features are fine and delicate, set in a heart shaped face. A hint of natural rose colors her upswept cheekbones and full lips. Her odd, slightly pointed ears can be seen as normally she wears her waist length hair back into a functional braid down her back. Her bright blue eyes have the barest of slants, lending an exotic appeal to her face. She is wearing clothing made of a combination of styles. Green leather breeches hug to her slender, shapely legs, going down into sturdy, but supple leather boots of the same color. Both breeches and boots have some slight mottling to them to lend better camouflage. Tucked in the top of her boots are a pair of knives for protection. Her top is a mottled brown and green tunic made of softer sea elf fabric... though the style is definitely wolfrider. It is made for camouflage. Carrying: Coralfire's Tent(#1669AJe) If it's Coralfire you're seeing, yep, it's a new one. She's snuck into the camp on her own, after being out hunting for a good long while. It's something she's good at, and likes to do, besides. She is half keeping watch, half skinning the small whitetail she's brought down. A look up, and a curious wave, is given. She doesn't know all the details, but she does know there's a stranger in camp, and Xhosa knows about her. So it must be okay, right? "Hello." Kephissa stumbles a bit over the strange word but returns the greeting. "Hello." She looks around, nope no Xhosa, which means its almost like starting from scratch. She points at herself. "Kephissa." Than pauses expectantly. Coralfire tilts her head, and then smiles. Hey, at least she's done this before, well sort of. When she learned human, her teacher at least spoke elven. She blinks, not entirely sure what she should do. "Keffiza?" she repeats. is that a name, a greeting, or what? "You don't speak Olbar, do you?" Okay, then. How about a name? "Coralfire." Kephissa nods, she heard Xhosa say that word yesterday, although she didn't realize it refered to a person. She repeats the name. "Koralfyr" She looks around "Xhosa? Shelbor?" Wondering where the other members of this little band were. Coralfire shrugs. Xhosa is probably off looking after some poor animal or other, and Shelbor? Coral's never quite been able to figure him out. "I don't know." she says slowly. She finishes with the ravvit, and sets them up to wait for the others, making sure they'll be safe from dogs or other little pests. A moment to clean her knife and put it away, as well as wash her hands, and then she walks over to get a closer look at you. Kephissa tilts her head to one side considering. Its bad manners to leave without thanking your hosts, yet she really should be continuing on her search for any surviving crewmates. Quite a conundrum. She's doesn't have the right words of either of the two languages she's heard on since she landed to get her point across to Coralfire she thinks, and isn't sure she wants to start the whole language thing over again. Maybe Xhosa will come back soon. She eyes the other woman warily, as she comes closer. Coralfire stops without getting all the way to you, making sure there's plenty of space, so that you don't feel crowded. Has she run across wary wolfriders? Well, actually, yes. She crouches down, and watches for a bit. And then she shrugs. "I bet you need to learn more words, huh? Too bad I don't know which ones you've already got." She shrugs, and finds a boulder to sit on. "Boulder," she says, pointing to the rock she's on. Patience is a virtue, and it's one of Coral's strong suits. Kephissa sits down cross-legged in once graceful movement. Ahhh, so this one wants to do the language thing too. She repeats the word "Bollder" and than a comparable word in her own language. "((Rock.))" Well big rock actually, but that would be more complicated. She sighs. This is going to take forever. Coralfire will stop if you don't want to, but she knows very well how useful a language can be. If you like, she can teach you two of them. "Hungry?" she asks, watching you. She gets a waterskin and brings it over. "Waterskin. Water." she says, passing it to you. Food, well, that's a more difficult one, so she pauses to puzzle it out. Kephissa nods, the word water she actually knows. "Water. Yes. Hungry No." She takes the waterskin though, and takes a good long drink. Than she looks at the waterskin. "Water skin?" A compound word of some sort. "Skin?" Must refer to the type of containor. Coralfire nods ... and goes over to get the ravvit skin. Ah see. One side - "Skin." The other side - "Fur." She sticks to Olbar, so as not to confuse things. besides she doesn't teach Elven to just anyone. She touches her wrist too. "Skin." You know? it's that stuff that covers most live things in one way or another. "Ah." Kephissa breaths softly. Not the type of container but what its made out of. Makes sense. She reaches out a hand and runs it through the ravvit fur. "Fur." Than she pinches her own wrist, "Skin?" Wanting to make sure she understands the word correctly. Coralfire smiles and nods. "Skin," she repeats, and since she's on the topic, she grins, reaching a hand to her breeches. "Leather." Then to her tunic. "Cloth." While we're on the topic of what things are made of... Kephissa repeats the words, even fingering the material of her own tunic as she says "Cloth". She tries to remember if Xhosa used similar words when she handed her clothing last night, but so many new words are hard to remember. Emerging from the Olbar camp is an elf. This slender elf moves away from the camp, floating through the air, she pauses, but doesn't say anything, even if the only person that would understand her would be Coralfire. Coralfire is chatting with the strange human, who must be getting sick and tired of language lessons. Still, Coral has nothing better to do, now that she's back from hunting. And besides, if Coral lets her leave, Xhosa will no doubt be upset. Which Coral doesn't mind trying to keep her niece happy, some of the time. Her eyes glance around the camp every so often, keeping a watch. She might see Areelia, but doesn't say anything at the moment. "I bet you're sick of learning words, aren't you?" she says softly. "I'm not sure what else to do with you though. "Friends?" she asks, wondering if Xhosa managed to teach you that one. Kephissa's attention is no longer on Coral. Instead she's fixed her gaze on the floating being. She starts to inch backwards, a look of shock on her face. Any new words she's learned driven from her mind. She points at Areelia. "((Flying. Its flying, without wings! Magician!))" Maybe that explains all the strange things, they've landed in the land of the Magicians. Kephissa shakes her head on top of everything this is just too weird. And her companion seems to be taking flying people, without wings no less, in stride. How many flying people are there in this land. She searches her mind for the word to ask her question, and in her current state of mind its hard to keep track of the who speaks what language, so the word that comes out of her mouth is the elfin word "<>" She than frowns, mixing that word with the other ones Coralfire just said. "<> Glider Fly?" Coralfire does speak elfin though, and she blinks. "<>" she asks, actually more at home with it than with the Olbar tongue, truth be told. "Oh, Yes. Yes, there are more gliders. That way." She points towards Blue Mountain. "Many." Sure and they're not all friendly. "gliders not all nice." Whichever language you prefer, she can switch. At least between elfin and Olbar. Kephissa shakes her head, the switch of languages taking a bit to parse, although she can tell the difference between the two tongues. "<>" In fact she barely has the words to explain, her words a mix of her own tongue and elfin. "<> ((Strangers. Rescued.)) <>" She sighs in frustration she barely knows enough words of either language to string together a sentance. Coralfire just thinks about that, and then she just has to laugh. "Raft?" Oh, now that brings home memories, doesn't it. "Raft good." she says softly. Okay, so she doesn't know the middle words in the sentence, but hey. "Raft ... family." Okay, so they don't know her new name, but that's another story, isn't it? Kephissa nods. Yes the strange people with only four fingers rescued her and a crewmate on a raft. She's not sure why that would make Coralfire laugh though, and looks at her in confusion. Coralfire tries again. "<>" she says. Just let her go see if Sunfish-Moonfall is there. And all her friends from before she left. "<< go raft? >> " Kephissa nods, She could take Coralfire to where to where the raft left here. She gets to her feet. "<>" She needs to get back anyways, searching in this direction hasn't turned up anything but this little band. She's not quite sure how it could be Coralfire's home, but maybe she's not remembering the context of the word correctly. Well, most folks aren't at all sure about Coralfire, but that's another story. She's game to head for a trip though, always. Maybe she can get some new paints from the weaver there. She nods her head, stopping to pick up her bow and arrows, as well as some of the ravvit and the waterskin. No point going hungry. She gestures for Kephissa to lead the way, making sure she can keep a good eye on things. Coralfire is, after all, a huntress. Well, its certainly better than sitting around doing nothing. Kephissa makes her way out of the camp heading towards the beach and also a bit northwards. She looks up at the sky, judging that if they walk quickly they could get to her original camp spot before the day is over. Particularly since when she came this direction she was moving slower searching. Coralfire can move fast, even if she is as old as Shelbor. Her lifestyle hasn't been so hard as his, since she grew up with the elves. She keeps up with the other, at home in the woods. Not so good as an elf perhaps, but that she travelled with them shows. 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: Seafarer Signs(#2077) Silentstep 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) Seafarer Signs(#2077) This rock formation has a decidedly unnatural look to it. Several small rocks have been placed in a pyramid in front of a larger rock approaching boulder size. The point of the pyramid appears to be pointing to the face of the large rock where there are several new scratches. The scratches form symbols, unknown to most, above an arrow pointing south. Any of the newcomers upon this shore will recognize that the symbols form the letter 'K'. Coralfire approaches down the dry riverbed. Coralfire has arrived. Its a few hours journey back to the Beach where Kephissa first washed up on the shore. She looks back every once in a while to see if the other woman still follows, but she would keep going even if the other disappeared. Staying with the strangers was a nice break, but she needs to get back to business. Her eyes narrow as she nears the stretch of beach, she doesn't see anyone around. Where is Valnek? Out searching still? Coralfire is following without a problem. She knows the lay of the land and she actually pauses when she gets to the beach, awash in memories. It's been a while. "She glances at the rocks that have been set together, and arches a brow, though she doesn't say anything. She does head over to investigate the symbols, if she gets a chance. She then watches you, curious to see what you will do now that you're here. Kephissa looks around a bit, wishing she had some skill at tracking, so she could more easily follow Valnek, but no, probably best to just wait here for now. She does turn to look at Coralfire and points at the raft pulled up on the beach. Looks like Tern hasn't left either, whereever she and Cadence went to rest. "<>" Coralfire chuckles. "Aye, that's a raft alright." Coral can work one, though not so good as the elves. She can track better, if that's what's needed. too bad she doesn't know. "Who?" she asks, wondering if she knows the elves who brought you here. Her eyes continue to scan - if it's not someone who knows her, she might be in trouble. Kephissa stumbles a bit over the elfin names, listing out those she met here, as if by rote. "Quietharm, Tern, Cadence, Shiver, Kelp." Well Kelp was just a little one, but she does know his name. She doesn't know which of those pulled her out of the water and onto shore though. Coralfire thinks about that. She doesn't know if she recognizes any of them. This could be a bad thing. Then again, if they're helping Keffiza, it can't be all bad, can it? She nods, trying to remember those names. Tern. She was around Coral's age ... wasn't she? "Thank you," she says. "I scout." Well, might as well go see who's around and what's going on, right? Kephissa nods, as if she understands, which she really doesn't and goes about building the fire back up, and collecting more wood for it. She has an internal debate going on, stay here until Valnek gets back or go after him in case he got into trouble.