"Calm and Storm"

Log Date:
	7/14/09

Log Cast:
	Arnos (emitted by Wayfound), Vardeus (emitted by Wayfound), Wayfound, 
Tefin

Log Intro:
	As the camp of the Vraeyans heads east across the land, two of the 
elves that travel with it, Wayfound of Lostholt and Tefin of the Go-Backs, have 
taken to one another with great mutual joy--for each is the only elf of 
rational mindset the other has encountered. Both have also taken with great 
interest to the companionship of the humans from the ocean, and they're hungry 
to learn anything about them they can, for each new tidbit of knowledge makes 
the world richer and broader than it had been before.
	Wayfound has had more time with the Vraeyans than Tefin, but the Go-
Back has his own ways of learning things. Moreover, he's taken on a personal 
mission he finds as vital as knowledge and reason: that of teaching Wayfound to 
let herself relax and enjoy herself. And with the aid of a Vraeyan game, he 
thinks he's found the way to do it....

----------
Vraeyan Camp(#1655AJae)
This is a sizeable camp of approximately two dozen humans -- impossible to 
  miss from afar, regardless of one's race. There are simply too many of the 
  Tall Ones, and they are too noisy as well, to make stealth much of an 
  option. Obvious, too, are the impromptu shelters and cookfires they have 
  created for themselves in this camping place, and the smells of burned wood 
  and sod and cooked food, along with the general aroma of humankind, override 
  any subtler scents in the area. More astute observers, however, might note 
  that the camp is not occupied by humans alone -- for there are the scents of 
  elves here as well, and their smaller footprints intermingle with the bigger 
  ones of the humans on the ground in and around the campsite. For that 
  matter... perhaps most amazingly... the elves in the camp seem to be 
  dwelling here as equals to the Tall Ones, and not as prisoners.
Contents:
Shelbor's tent
Tefin
Coralfire's Tent(#1669AJe)
Yellow
Raven's Tent(#6222Je)

The Camp has moved again, heading steadily eastward -- and tonight, the 
  Vraeyan and Olbar humans and the elves that travel with them have settled at 
  the juncture of a pair of rivers. From the look of the place, others have 
  obviously camped here in the past; with a wide expanse of ground and a ready 
  supply of water so nearby, it's an excellent campsite indeed. But one which 
  leaves a lot of approaches to the camp that might be taken by any creatures 
  who might be on the attack -- and so, even though the camp has in fact 
  settled down for the evening, Vardeus has several of his crew on watch.
Several of them, but not all of them. The humans aren't trying for stealth -- 
  it's impossible to hide nearly two dozen humans and all of the things 
  they're carrying with them. And so Arnos has his instrument out, trying to 
  encourage Dharce and her infant to smile by serenading them; his rich, warm 
  voice rolls over the camp and calls up harmonies even from those members of 
  the crew occupied with evening work. Vardeus' baritone rises up periodically 
  to bolster Arnos' tenor, and for the first time in many weeks, the music 
  calls up a plaintive smile out of Dharce.
"((Until we strikes bottom inside the two sunkers, when straight to Catranides 
  Harbor we'll goooooo!))"
Wayfound has set up her own small camping place, and there, with the Preserver 
  on her shoulder twittering happily in time to the music, she gazes out 
  thoughtfully at the humans. Would it be so bad to sing and dance, Tefin has 
  asked her; she remembers it, quite clearly. And the thought of it brings a 
  sheepish little expression to her face that might almost be called a smile.

Occasionally Tefin can be seen weaving in and out of campsite after campsite, 
  each time leaving with just a small bag slung over one shoulder. His camping 
  place is slightly away from yours, but still nearby. After all, he did give 
  you that cute nickname for a reason; what good is it if he's no-where nearby 
  to use it? 
 
 "I promise I'll come play with you later, Arnos..." he says to the crowd of 
  singing humans who have noticed his little flute hanging from his belt 
  several times before. With a sheepish smile and a wave, he makes his way 
  back towards the campsite that he shares with you, his little bag in tow. 
 
 "Good evening, Riddle." Slowly he makes his way over to where you sit and 
  gestures to a spot by the fire. "Would you mind if I join you? I've got 
  something that you may be interested in."

That Arnos has made an overture of music at Tefin sits well with Wayfound; 
  she's noticed that the humans' Wordgiver, as she has come to think of him, 
  has been periodically eying the two of them with traces of consternation in 
  his lean bronzed face. He _is_ her primary friend among the humans, and the 
  she-elf does not want him and her newer companion at odds. Seeing Arnos toss 
  Tefin an easy nod that doesn't throw off the pacing of his song, she then 
  turns her attention to the Go-Back as he draws nearer to her. "Please do," 
  she invites, patting the ground beneath the tree under which she's sat 
  herself for the time being.
Fallberry on her shoulder perks up, fluttering cheerfully and piping as it 
  peeps over the top of Wayfound's shaggy head, /Hellohello busyhead 
  snowhighthing!/

Tefin settles comfortably on the ground next to Wayfound, but not before 
  playfully tipping Fallberry's hat a little off-kilter with a well-aimed 
  fingertip. "Hello Fallberry. I trust you are well?" he asks with a playful 
  smile, knowing that the wrath of this preserver isn't going to be aimed at 
  the elf who allowed himself to be wrapstuffed as a present to the little 
  purple bug. 
 
 "Have you slept well this evening, Riddle?" the bag he was carrying resting 
  on the ground with an interesting "clink"

"I drowsed on the raft," Wayfound acknowledges, "and Torgan was most careful 
  to keep those doing the rowing speaking softly to one another, for which I 
  was most grateful." She sits up a bit, that hint of a smile lurking about 
  her mouth as the Preserver giggles and grabs at its tiny hat, then flutters 
  up off her shoulder to investigate the fascinations of rock and leaf and new 
  spring flowers in the immediate vicinity. "I find," she adds earnestly, 
  "that the pacing of a raft on a smoothly running river is very soothing!"

"Torgan is very sensitive to our sleep requrments. It wouldn't be very wise to 
  have the watch falling asleep before the sun rose, now would it?" Tefin 
  replies, scrunching his back up and down the tree to relieve an itch right 
  between his shoulder blades. "Besides, I think that the humans have a hard 
  time staying awake on the rafts themselves. The rocking back and forth is 
  almost like swinging in a hammock or, better yet, in a mother's embrace." 
  Tefin offers a slight smile that mirrors your own. "You're smiling again...I 
  like that."

She is? Oh... she is. Wayfound seems surprised at this observation, and her 
  cheeks pinken a bit in the growing dusk; the smile, however, does not 
  disappear. "I greatly enjoy hearing the Vraeyans sing," she sheepishly 
  notes, when the Captain's vigorous baritone comes in again on the chorus of 
  the shanty Arnos is belting out for everybody in earshot. "I have not yet 
  figured out why, but the blending of their voices is very pleasing to my 
  ear. And..." She trails off a moment, till she recollects that Tefin _has_ 
  invited her to speak freely to him, and then she blurts, "When they sing of 
  their home... I try to imagine what it must be like!"

Tefin chuckles softly, looking over at Arnos and the rest of the group who are 
  all singing merrily, the lute and their voices blending together in a 
  racous, but pleasing harmony. "It may be pleasing to you because it reminds 
  you of the howling of the wolves, each voice part of the greater whole. Or, 
  it could just be that it's a new and interesting sound. They do sing very 
  well." 
 
 He looks up at the stars, his eyes closing momentarily. "I have wondered that 
  as well." A short chuckle. "Imagine how we would be welcomed if we arrived 
  in ((Vrae)), elves in an entire village of humans."

Wayfound's brows slant up, and she turns her head to look at Tefin 
  measuringly, before her brow crinkles and she confides, "And... from what I 
  have learned... their villages are _large_ indeed, and they have more than 
  one in their home!" With a slender hand she points, noting Vardeus as he 
  crosses the campsite with his lyre in his hand, coming over to join his 
  crewmate so that the two of them may play together. "The Captain is from a 
  place called Shalros; Arnos, from a place called Kalros, which he said is 
  named in honor of one of their ((gods)). Tiana and Kephissa are from 
  Catranides and Franni is from Notus... Rizon from Renssalaer. They seem to 
  have as many villages in their home as there are tribes of elves _here_."

Tefin lets out a low, slow whistle. "So many." he murmurs quietly. "And just 
  imagine that they all are probably as advanced as these humans are. It would 
  be very, very interesting to visit, to say the least. There would be so much 
  to see and to do...learn their language and customs, their ways of making 
  things, their games.." he stops, chuckling a little. "Now I'm wanting to 
  visit their home."

Wayfound slowly nods, for more than once she has wanted that very same thing. 
  It promises to be a dangerous undertaking -- who knows how the people of 
  Vrae, if they are as numerous in their homeland as the elves are in this 
  one, would react to discovering a whole new race of beings? "I do not know 
  if it will be possible," she admits, "as Vardeus and his people do not know 
  how to get home from here... but perhaps we will discover it, someday." Then 
  she cocks her head, glancing downward at the bundle the Go-Back has brought, 
  and she adds in a tone that for Wayfound might almost be called light, "But 
  you have brought something, and yes, I am interested. What is that?" Her 
  finger points, this time, at the bundle.

"Aye, perhaps we will, Riddle. A quest for knowledge across the seas; At the 
  very least, we will have to have Vardeus teach us the way he navigated his 
  way across the vastdeep. And this.." he says, hefting the bag with one hand, 
  "is why I've been running back and forth from camp to camp over the past few 
  days. I've been learning how to play." 
 
 And he lets that sentence hang there, tantalizing you...

Wayfound blinks. "Play--?" One of the Vraeyans' instruments? Certainly, 
  Wayfound has been more than interested in learning the intricacies of 
  Vardeus' lyre or of the oddly named cwrth that Arnos treasures -- but that 
  bundle is not shaped like any of their objects for making music. She leans 
  forward unthinkingly, eyes narrowing musingly, brows winging in over those 
  lambent eyes of hers. And then, in a tone that might have come out severe if 
  it weren't for the hint of humor glittering in her gaze in what is 
  apparently a rare high good mood for her, she adds, "If you have been 
  learning how to play ((dice)) from Virdi and Maerro, I must warn you that 
  they are both prone to attempting to gamble others into doing their chores."

"I never really was the gambling type...I lost too many times, but you are 
  right on target. It is a game...a very interesting one." He opens the bag 
  and withdraws a rolled oilcloth and several small wooden pieces, setting 
  them on the ground in between you and him, where they are illuminated by the 
  fire.

The Wolfrider maiden draws in a startled little breath, eyes widening out from 
  their prior thoughtful narrowing in her reaction. "Ahh--! High Ones, what 
  are these?" She scoops one of the wooden objects up into her fingers, 
  turning it out, and studying it intently; it is a tiny male figurine, 
  bearing in his hand what looks like a stylized bolt of skyfire. "This is 
  their Andros Skyfather," she breathes, and then she looks swiftly through 
  the rest of the pieces, till she finds the female figurine with her long 
  flowing hair and the shapes of tiny fish decorating the bottom of her robe. 
  "And this, Lerain Seamother..." Her face brightens, as comprehension dawns 
  -- and now a genuine smile, one that makes teeth flash in her countenance, 
  flares up across Wayfound's features. "These are pieces for Calm and Storm, 
  aren't they? Arnos told me about it but I didn't think anyone had the 
  pieces, who made them?"

"I wish I could take credit for all of them, but I only made the smaller ones. 
  Dharce carved Andaros Skyfather and Lerain Seamother" He holds up one piece 
  that you can see is not as well carved as the others, but looks as if he 
  spent a great deal of time on it. "Arnos told me about Calm and Storm and 
  how it was played and I thought, well, that it would be an interesting 
  diversion for around the fire." He unrolls the well-worn oilskin, carefully 
  dyed with the game-board for Calm and Storm, and lays it out on the sand. 
  "From what i've learned, it's a simple game, but it can take a long time to 
  master."

Despite the fact that the Vraeyans are quite short on the dyes to which they 
  are accustomed, the help of the local humans -- and, for that matter, the 
  local elves -- has brought to their disposal some of the natural dyes that 
  the locals are used to for decorating their clothing. And so although the 
  cloth board is not as colorful as one crafted in Vrae might have been, still 
  there are fancifully sketched waves and fishes on one side, clouds and a sun 
  and moon upon the other. The pieces feature several similar tiny fish for 
  Lerain, eight-pointed stars for Andros, and range up through matching pairs 
  of larger sea creatures... and clouds, rainbows, birds, a Mother Moon and a 
  Child Moon. At Andros' side, there is a single piece to represent the 
  Daystar... and at Lerain's, a great creature that the Raft Elves would call 
  a Deepsinger and which the Vraeyans have named a ((whale)). "So _this_," 
  Wayfound breathes, "is what they've had Dharce doing... it is well, she has 
  needed something to occupy her mind since her mate was lost...! It is 
  wonderful work!"

"Aye, it is. I had to set up bargains between most of the Vrae here to get 
  this made and to learn the basic rules. There's even a story to go with the 
  game." he holds up Andaros Skyfather and Lerain Seamother and begins to tell 
  the story. "Long ago, when the world was made, Andaros and Lerain, to pass 
  the time while the Vrae were growing, made this game. Using the creatures of 
  the sea and of the earth, the game ended when one side captured the other's 
  leader." he places the pieces in their appropriate spots and gathers the 
  rest, placing then where they should go in their colored squares.

"The Vraeyans say their ((gods)) are eternal," Wayfound muses, wonderingly, 
  and then she actively grins, a rare expression indeed for her. "If so, 
  surely, they must require amusements to pass their time. I expect that being 
  immortal would be boring, if you could not occupy your mind and body; that 
  is why I would not wish to spend my time in wrapstuff. How does one play?" 
  The young Wolfrider's expression grows noticeably eager as her gaze roves 
  keenly over Tefin's actions with the pieces. "Arnos would not explain the 
  rules to me, without pieces to demonstrate!"

Almost like offering a bit of meat to a hungry pup, Wayfound seems to be 
  nearly salivating over the opportunity to learn something previously 
  unknown. And really, who can blame her? It took Tefin the entirety of the 
  raft trip to convince Vardeus to show him how the board was set up, and how 
  each peice moved in relation to each other. "Allright, we'll have a game." 
  he turns the Sea side of the board to face you, righting the pieces that 
  have fallen. "there are six types of figures..." He holds up one of the 
  eight pointed stars. These pieces can only move straight ahead one space. 
  the only time they can move to the side is if one of the opponent's pieces 
  are diagonal to it." He places the pieces in relation to show how they 
  should sit.

Wayfound nods once, intently, her attention now so thoroughly seized that 
  Fallberry could be making a nest of her hair and she wouldn't even notice. 
  Her eyes flicker their gaze across the star pieces, noting that for all the 
  inevitable dissimilarity that comes from each being carved by hand -- and, 
  for that matter, one or two of them showing small subtle suggestions of 
  having come from two or three different hands -- they are close enough to be 
  easily grouped as a set. "I see," she murmurs, low and clear.

"Now, the pieces on the back row can move much farther than the ones in front 
  of them. The cloud, the one in the corner, can move in a straight line as 
  many spaces as you choose. The moon, next to it, can only move in a broken 
  line, one space forward and one diagonally, or one diagonal and then one 
  space forward." Each time he mentions the way a piece can move, he shows how 
  it moves in space, showing rather than explaining.

Each explanation is readily absorbed, and the uncommon lightness of Wayfound's 
  expression now clearly broadcasts how there is nothing she loves so much in 
  the world as to have a new kind of knowledge presented to her -- and it can 
  also be concluded that, somber and dour though she might generally be, it 
  takes but a bit of patient encouragement to get the reclusive Wolfrider to 
  engage in simple entertainment.

Explanations for the stars, who can only move diagonally, the whale and the 
  daystar, who can move where they will as long as there's a clear path, and 
  Andaros Skyfather and Lerain Seamother, who can move but usually do not 
  without provocation, are given, and the moves are shown. Tefin quickly 
  re-sets the pieces to their proper places, adds another log to the fire, and 
  sits, cross legged, behind Andros's mountains. "Lerain Seamother always 
  goes first, Riddle." The game has started! If I see an incorrect move, I 
  will tell you, but you must promise to offer the same courtesy. We can not 
  grow proficient in this game if we make the same mistakes over and over 
  again."

Wayfound is not incognizant of a bit of gentle irony that Tefin gifts her with 
  the pieces for Lerain; true, she is the female of the two, but thus far the 
  sea is almost entirely outside of Wayfound's ken, and what lore she has 
  managed to absorb about its creatures has come only from tentatively 
  ventured questions to Quietharm and Arnos and others on Vardeus' crew who 
  have taken the time to satisfy her curiosity. "Naturally I shall make that 
  promise," she says, looking up long enough to look Tefin square and earnest 
  in the eye, before her attention is inexorably claimed again by the row of 
  fishes arranged before her. Her mind begins to work at the possibilities; 
  what should happen, then, if she should move a fish _so_, and oh, a 
  question! "Can you move pieces on the back row before those on the front 
  have cleared a path?" she inquires.

The choice of Lerain's side for Wayfound was partially due to the fact that 
  she is the female of the pair, but mostly because Lerain moves her pieces 
  first, always. Ladies first! 
 
 "The only piece that can move out of the back row without a path is the 
  moon...or in your case, that dolphin, there and there." He points and moves 
  it, into position in front of the row of fishes "These pieces can leap over 
  the fish in front of it like this."
Tefin says "The others need a clear path."

Ah, so then the responsibility is in her hands: her first action will be what 
  starts off the intriguing chain of possibilities. But lest her thoughts run 
  too far ahead of her, Wayfound chooses instead to first learn from theory 
  put to action -- and moves her leftmost fish forward a single square. "I am 
  greatly intrigued that the Vraeyans make a game to honor their ((gods))," 
  she remarks as she does. "I wonder what train of thought led them to it?"

"My theory is that some of the people that were not affiliated with the 
  ((priests)) wished their own way to honor their ((gods)) while having fun at 
  the same time." Tefin moves the third star from the left one space forward 
  and awaits your next move. "Or perhaps it was a way to make a game seem more 
  acceptable to the ((priests)). Whatever the reason, it is a very 
  simple...but very complicated game. There are so many moves that could 
  happen, just in the first few moments."

"I can already see great potential for this being a fine way to exercise the 
  mind," Wayfound murmurs, and the rush of her words makes this as eager a 
  statement as she has ever uttered. How to proceed? Thinking to try a 
  strategy that lets some of her pieces stay behind to help guard her whale 
  and the Seamother, she moves her rightmost dolphin this time, making it leap 
  ahead over the fishes before it to wind up on the third row out, three 
  squares in. "The Vraeyans have no ((priests)) with them; I wonder if they 
  will choose new ones, if they stay here. Xhosa has acted as a ((priest)) for 
  them, but she speaks for the ((gods)) of her own people. You have noted that 
  the different humans do seem to have different ((gods))?"

Tefin nods as he slides his sun out into the third row through the newly 
  established passage, lining it up with your dolphin, but out of the range of 
  your small fish that only moved one space. "I have noticed that, yes. When 
  speaking with Vardeus, he told me of more than a hand of different ((gods)) 
  that his people belived in. Perhaps it is not expected to worship a single 
  omnipotent ((god)) but it is acceptable for each person or family to have 
  its own ((god)) to look towards." Maybe moving his sun out wasn't the best 
  move...Tefin's brows knit together as he ponders his next move. "Like 
  Vardeus follows the Seamother, because he lives and depends on the sea for 
  his livelihood. A farmer would perhaps worship the Skyfather, or a ((god)) 
  of green, growing things."

"Ah, but Vardeus swears by ((Skyfather)) and ((Seamother)) both, I have 
  observed; they are both great favorites of ((sailors)), possibly because 
  they look to the stars to guide their ((ships)) as well as to the waves to 
  carry them," Wayfound offers, glancing up at Tefin with a hopeful, slightly 
  anxious look about her face. Were she thirty turns of the seasons younger, 
  it would be the exact sort of look she would offer by way of hoping to gain 
  the approval of an elder by the displaying of a lesson learned. "Franni says 
  that in Notus, where she comes from, they worship a ((goddess)) called Seid, 
  who does seem in charge of green growing things, though." And oh yes -- 
  she'd better move, hadn't she? Is the sun threatening her dolphin now? She 
  squints one ambergreen eye, trying to discern whether by the rules she has 
  been given, the sun can rightfully move to claim her hapless wavedancer. By 
  way of sending it some support, she brings up one of her front fishes, 
  putting it into the space next door, three in from the opposite side of the 
  board.

She needn't try gain his approval for knowledge...he already has his respect 
  and approval many times over. "That is a very good point, Riddle. I hadn't 
  considered the option of following multiple ((gods))." He gives off a soft 
  mrrrf of annoyance at her move, though. his nice, safe capture of a dolphin 
  is now threatened by a little fish! Perhaps....ah. Tefin smiles and moves 
  his sun out of reach, leaving his front line slightly open.

"Moreover, they _all_ seem to call upon their ((Allmother)) in times of great 
  stress," Wayfound notes, while she cups the fine-boned point of her chin in 
  one hand and ponders what to do next. Conservatively she opts to move the 
  little fish on the other side of the dolphin forward, making sure it is 
  flanked on both sides... and while she might not necessarily need to 
  actively seek Tefin's approval, still, there's a bit of a blush in her 
  cheeks and a bit of a shine in her eyes, at the sheer fact that they have 
  this knowledge to exchange between them. "I do not yet have names for all of 
  their ((gods)), but I am most fascinated by where they have seemed inclined 
  to find them... Tefin, did they tell you they have _forges_? Like the trolls 
  do?"

"It seems that the Vrae have a god for nearly everything under the daystar..." 
  Tefin says quietly, moving his version of your dolphin out into the field, 
  ready to battle for his lord. his hand stills at the word about forges, and 
  he looks up, still holding the piece. "They can shape metal as the trolls 
  do? That's...wonderful!"

Wayfound nods enthusiastically. "You have seen Vardeus' armband, yes, and the 
  earrings that all of the adults are wearing? And Vardeus' daggers and sword, 
  yes? They are not the brightmetal, but they were forged in Vrae -- and 
  Aeolus, the large one who cannot talk, they say he is a smith. They have not 
  been able to make a new forge _here_... but Aeolus has the knowledge!" But 
  then she too goes still, and her brow crinkles up fretfully while her voice 
  drops to a low whisper. "Do you truly think it a wonderful thing? I cannot 
  help but think that almost all of the elves I know would be greatly troubled 
  to hear that there are humans who can make weapons of metal."

"I have seen all of these things..even the metal bits holding the hull of the 
  ship together before it was disassembled, and the fact that these people can 
  create such wonderful things, without trading with the trolls, is wonderful. 
  All knowledge is a wonderful, but it is the perversion of that knowledge 
  that can be dangerous...." He goes silent for a time, letting his piece 
  stay, unmoved, the game forgotten for now. "I have been considering the fact 
  that we are heading for the same group of humans that were instrumental in 
  burning the Wolfriders from their home." He glances up, face solemn. "I do 
  not believe that Vardeus would allow his tools...his knowledge...to be used 
  to harm those that helped him and his people in their time of need. These 
  are not the average humans that we are used to dealing with." he turns to 
  look at the group, who's music has drifted off to low, soft, soothing 
  melodies as they drift off to sleep one-by-one, turning back to Wayfound 
  with a nod. "These are not the humans that we are used to dealing with. I'm 
  an optimist; this group will teach the Olbar that we are not demons and 
  allow us to live in peace." A soft smile breaks. "I'm sure of it."

"I truly hope so, I do," Wayfound breathes, with a light in her eyes that 
  speaks of a conviction that burns deep within her heart. "I have thought it 
  such a wondrous thing, that there could be others in the world that think as 
  we elves do... certainly more than the trolls or Preservers seem to." She 
  half-grins, glancing off to where Fallberry has curled up in a 
  gossamer-winged ball in a little hollow in the roots of the tree. "I love it 
  dearly," she gruffly appends, "but I cannot say that Fallberry is a very 
  stimulating conversational partner." With that, then, the she-elf blows out 
  a breath, squares her shoulders, and fixes Tefin with a stare that can be 
  called nothing but challenging, finishing, "But we should give this game the 
  honor it is due, and play it out properly, my friend...!" It is not battle 
  of the sort that involves striking and slashing with a weapon, but it is 
  battle nonetheless, and it calls up a bit of the wolf-blood along with the 
  agility of her mind. "Let's _play_!"

[End log.]