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| Once upon a time on the Shepherd Fields...; Atzolek | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Wed Jan 15, 2014 1:31 am (2,374 Views) | |
| Norta | Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:59 pm Post #31 |
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Norta was as white as the chalk covering her by the time Atzolek put her down. She was shaking and her knees threatened to give out as well. She'd lost the frying pan somewhere, possibly when they'd hit that wall, but the wolf pelt was safe. She willed her knees to stop trembling. It sort of worked - enough so she could walk anyway. She took a couple of deep breaths and checked the skies. They were empty. They had not been followed. Norta looked about, trying to get her bearings. The trouble with the Plains is that most of them looked exactly the same - grass, hills, and the occasional rock. You had to go by landmarks, like the Gully, and if there weren't any, you were lost. She looked over at Atzolek, who was looking...a bit tired. At the very least a bit tired. "Ye well?" Norta asked. "If ye give me a moment, I'll see where we be." She climbed to the top of the nearest hill and looked around. She could see dark birds circling the sky in the direction of the Gully. They'd have to come back for their belongings later. A cloud of smoke wafted up from behind a hill. Norta stood on her tiptoes and shaded her eyes, peering. The top of a bright yellow smokehouse could be seen barely poking over the hill. Her mother had nearly killed her father when he'd picked that yellow paint for their roof, but Norta had never been happier to see it in her life. She returned to Atz. "Can ye walk? We're near t' family farm - jest a couple of hills thataway," she pointed northeast. She gave him a smile and a weak laugh. "Ye have good aim wit those wings, but how'd ye ken where I lived?" |
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| Atzolek | Fri Mar 28, 2014 5:48 am Post #32 |
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Apparently Norta was afraid of flying and hadn't at all gotten over it, even after Atz had made it comfortably out of the gully. He set her down on her feet, but he held her for a moment so that she wouldn't fall. Once she was reasonably stable, he let go, and she went to climb up a nearby hill. Atz was fatigued, but most of the exertion had been with his wings. He had taken a leg injury, but he was still able to walk on it. He checked his belongings and realized that he'd left his sword and cloak near the gully. He also noticed that Norta was missing her frying pan. He had the wolf pelt, though. Unless someone came near the gully--which seemed unlikely with the rumors floating around--Atzolek's items would be fairly safe. His first thought was to go get his belongings. He said, "Perhaps we should get our things first? I left my sword behind before flying down to get you, and you look like you're missing your frying pan." Once Norta told him about the birds[1], he said, "Probably best to stay away then. Yes I can walk. Might actually be preferable to flying at the moment. My wings are tired out from flying like that." He smiled at her. "You know where to go; lead on." [1] OOC: I'm assuming Norta will tell him about the birds, so I posted as if she did to keep the story going. I will edit if necessary. |
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| Norta | Thu Apr 3, 2014 6:31 pm Post #33 |
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The Kellcarin family farm actually sat on a hill itself - or really, part of it sat on a hill and the rest of it spilled over the sides and down into the valleys and up other hills. With almost 70 people living on it on a come-and-go basis, the homestead was a large one, even by Lowton standards. It had at least a dozen buildings (most of them with bright, sunflower yellow roofs), a well large enough to supply a town, a sprawling farmhouse, and a yard full of chickens. Though they mostly raised sheep, cows and pigs could be heard from their pens and, depending on who was home, the occasional horse could be seen grazing out in the field with them. When Norta and Atz were still a hill away when a sharp, two-toned whistle greeted them. Norta whistled back. A moment later, two lanky children appeared from behind a rock. One looked about 8, the other 6. They were both freckled, dark-haired, and blue eyed. They were both armed with slings and the other had a dagger at his waist. "Aunt Norta?" the elder asked weakly. "Aye," Norta replied, like she wasn't covered in blood and chalk dust and that the boy was a fool for asking. The children relaxed and the younger one scurried over the hill to the farm. A moment later, they heard a dog barking. "Ye been adventurin' again?" the boy asked. He tried to sound nonchalant, but curiosity was leaking out the edges like pressed cheese curd. He also kept looking at Atzolek, trying not to stare, but very much wanting to. "Aye, summat like that," Norta said, also trying to restrain the laughter bubbling up in her throat. "Coran, this is m' frien Atzolek. Atzolek, this is m' cousin, Coran Sobhan." "Good day to ye," Coran said, straightening up. He drew his dagger and saluted in a remarkably professional manner. ooc
Edited by Norta, Thu Apr 3, 2014 6:32 pm.
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| Atzolek | Thu Apr 3, 2014 7:32 pm Post #34 |
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Atzolek walked with Norta toward her farmhouse. As they approached, he heard a whistle, to which Norta whistled back, which led Atz to believe that the whistles were a signal of some kind. He couldn't blame the children for hiding, as Norta wasn't in the most recognizable state, and Atz probably wasn't like anything they'd seen before. He could clearly see that the children wanted to stare at him but were doing their best not to out of politeness. He was starting to get used to people openly and shamelessly staring at him, but he appreciated that they were trying not to. Atz replied to Coran, "Good day to you, too, Coran" He smiled and extended a hand for the child to shake. If the child shook his hand, he returned the handshake gently, making sure not to injure his hand. He might look unusual and come from a place faraway, but that didn't mean he couldn't enjoy being around children. |
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| Norta | Mon Apr 7, 2014 12:51 am Post #35 |
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The boy regarded Atzolek's hand with suspicion, not sure if the elf was being patronizing or not. Finally he took it and gave it a firm shake. Frowning at the gentleness of the handshake, he turned back to Norta. "Ye tell t'whole tale later?" "Aye," Norta replied. Coran nodded and climbed onto the rock. Norta led the way over the hill. Once they were out of earshot, she said, "Coran takes his job tae seriously, pare lad. Lost his pa during a bandit raid - his ma was my niece, but she dinna live much longer - broken heart, they tell me." She shrugged, but for a moment she looked very, very sad. As they were going down the far side of the hill, they were met partway by a half-dozen children and four lanky, adolescent puppies. The dogs sprinted ahead of the children, running circles around the two of them before coming up to sniff Atz and get loved on by Norta. The children weren't far behind them - this was a group even younger than Coran - and most of them lacked Coran's good manners. Or, perhaps, lacked the knowledge that they should have those manners. For a second, they froze, eyes wild. The smallest, a little girl of three, hid behind her five year old sister. Then the oldest, a boy of six, blurted: "Aunt Norta, what did ye brin' home this time?" Norta covered as much of her face as she could with one hand, "Len," she said, blushing red to the roots of her hair, "if ye dinna learn t'mind yer manners, I'll tan yer hide m'self. I dinna 'brin' anyone home. I make friens on my wanderin's and they have a right to our hospitality as much as anyone..." "Norta, luv," an older woman called, approaching the crowd of children, "What manner o'person ye brin' back with ye naew?!" Norta, who had been regaining her composure, blushed even redder than before. ooc
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| Atzolek | Tue Apr 8, 2014 4:44 am Post #36 |
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Atz was considering giving Coran something special, but of course, now wasn't the time. Sometime soon, though, he would probably have a good opportunity to give something to him. To be specific, he was considering pulling a dragon scale or two out of his chest and giving one to the boy. He was due for a good cleaning of his scales anyways, which usually included finding and removing a couple of loose ones. Just a minute later, they met another group of children, ones that hadn't been taught politeness as well as Coran. They seemed to be wondering who Norta had "brought home" with her. Glancing over at her, he could see that she was embarrassed by the questions they were asking her. He decided that he would answer the questions for himself. He said, "You can call me Atzolek." He gestured toward Norta and continued, "I met Norta just a few hours ago, and then..." He paused and raised the wolf skin for everyone to see. "...I climbed down the gorge and killed this. It won't be making meals of your sheep anymore." He could already hear people asking to hear the full story, but he didn't intend to tell it here. It would probably be better told later when everyone was around to listen. |
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| Norta | Wed Apr 9, 2014 11:26 pm Post #37 |
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Norta could have kissed Atz for jumping in with the story when he did. It wasn't a great version of the story - it missed pretty much all of the details - but it, and the wolf pelt, was enough of a distraction. The children stared at the winged elf and at the pelt, eyes wide, mouths open - then burst into a thousand questions. "Ye dinna have a weapon? How did ye do without a weapon?" "Can I touch it?" "What happened t' the rest of it?" "Why are ye all white?" "Why'd ye climb if ye have wings?" "What happened t' Aunt Norta to make her all white tae?" They were drawing a crowd. That was inevitable - word got around quickly on the farm and nobody wanted to miss out if something interesting was going on. Gerin Kelcarin, Norta's father, a broad-shouldered, hulking man, whose ginger hair and beard were both streaked with grey, pushed his way to the front, despite objections from everyone else. He took in both Atzolek and the wolf pelt in a swift glance. Then he looked over a his chalk-covered daughter, crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. Norta tried to look demure. Her father whistled for silence and got it. He turned his attention to Atzolek, "Ye kill this beast, lad?" He listened to Atz's answer with a thoughtful expression, glancing over at his daughter when the elf was done. Another whistle killed the murmuring of conversation. Gerin held up one hand. "In honor o'the man who killed t'Wolf of Benner's Gully, tonight we celebrate!" A cheer went up from the assembled and everyone started to disperse. Norta slipped up next to Atzolek with a wry smile, "That's me Pa," she said. "Likes to make o' good story outta things, he does." |
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| Atzolek | Thu Apr 10, 2014 6:38 am Post #38 |
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Atzolek could see that Norta appreciated his telling the story while she was too embarrassed to do so herself. However, the children seemed to have a million questions for him, including whether he'd killed the beast without a weapon. Atz didn't answer anything until a man came up and called for silence--and got it. To the question of whether he'd killed the beast, Atz replied, "Yes, I killed it, and I did use a weapon to do so. Norta and I can tell our full story later tonight when everyone can listen." Apparently, these people wanted to hold a celebration in honor of him and his killing of the wolf. Norta then mentioned to him that the man was her father and that he liked to make a good story out of things. Atz replied to Norta, "Well, this time we'll have a story to share with him. Also, I do have other stories, which will probably be enjoyed." |
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| Norta | Fri Apr 11, 2014 7:19 pm Post #39 |
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Norta smiled and hugged Atz around the waist. She was just about to offer to show him around the farm when a firm hand grabbed her skirt and gave a firm tug. "What in t'name o' t'gods did ye do t'get yerself lookin' like a bloodied ghost?!" came a sharp, female voice from behind her. The owner was a large-chested, gray-haired, motherly woman who bore more than a passing resemblance to Norta. "Nothin' ma," Norta said rather sheepishly. She hadn't meant to say that really - it was just a reflex. She also hadn't meant to sound sheepish - that was also a reflex. "Nothin'?! Ye'll not tell me it's nothin' later when it's t'yer benefit, I dare say." The woman turned on Atzolek. "Did ye get me daughter inta this or was it her idea? Nevermind," she said, before Atz could answer. "T'the bathhouse - both o'ye." She shooed them in the direction of a low, windowless log building at the bottom of a hill. "I'll have yer cousins come in with clean clothes fer t'two of ye. In the meantime, behave yerselves, ye ken?" "Ma!" Norta said, blushing again. Her mother smirked and headed back to the main house. "Come on," Norta said to Atz. She led him down to the bathhouse. I was a heavy looking-building with two doors covered by leather curtains and a chimney in the center. "Here's t'way it works 'round here - men on t'right and women on t'left," Norta explained, slipping in the door "Water runs from sluices that lead t'the creek. Tub should already be filled - ye add coals t'it to warm the water. When yer done, ye open the sluice on t'wall - it leads to irrigation ditches - and dump t'coals in t'bucket next t'the door. Then ye open the upper sluice t'the creek and fill t'tub fer the next person, ye ken?" And with that she ducked into the door on the left. The interior of the bathhouse was warm and humid, though there were vents in the roof to make sure it was not too humid. It was split in the middle by a wall of upright logs with the stove in the center. Each side had a large tub buried in the ground and water warped wood floors. The wall in center was just low enough so that Norta's eyes peeked over the edge without any trouble and if she stood on tiptoe it was easy to see over. She grinned at Atzolek and then turned around and began stripping off her clothes. "I'm sorry if my family seems..." she searched for the right words, "o'er frien'ly?" Yes, that sounded better than: bloody embarrassing. |
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| Atzolek | Sat Apr 12, 2014 3:20 am Post #40 |
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Atz returned the hug, wrapping his arms around Norta's shoulders. He could see that she was going to say something, but he also saw someone behind her. Once the woman got Norta's attention, Atz could see that she was an older woman and that she bore quite a bit of similarity to Norta. Atz guessed that the woman was her mother, and that guess was soon confirmed by the way Norta addressed her. She then asked whether he'd gotten Norta into this but then told him not to answer and sent them both to the bathhouse. Atz was used to using cold mountain lakes to clean up, so he wasn't worried about how warm the water was. He listened as she explained how the bathhouse worked. When he entered, he expected the building to be completely separated, but it turned out that the wall separating the two sides wasn't all that tall. He saw Norta on the other side and smiled back at her. For her, the wall was just low enough to see over. With his height, it was hard to not see over the wall, since it only came up to his chest. Atz replied, "I'm not going to deny it. They do seem quite friendly. Definitely more so than I'm used to. Your mother isn't the only one to tell her child to take a bath, though." Atz blushed as he saw Norta start to strip off her clothes. He turned so that he was facing away from her and took off his clothes. Once he finished with that, he added the coals to heat up the water. He didn't bother to wait for the water to get warm; he just climbed in and started cleaning himself. He said, "Can't say I'm used to having warm baths regularly. For me, washing up usually meant taking a dip in a cold mountain lake. Occasionally, we'd go to a pool fed by hot springs, but that was a few hours' flight away from home." |
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| Norta | Mon Apr 14, 2014 4:04 pm Post #41 |
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"Aye, we're lucky," Norta said, shoveling coals into the water. "But I dinna ken who thought o'the bathhouse. It was here a'fore I was born." She glanced over the wall at Atz, who was already in the tub. She gave lusty whistle - equal to anything she had received while serving drinks - then giggled at his expression. She grabbed a bit of soap from the box near the stove and slid into the tub herself. As she scrubbed her hair, she said, "I'm nae at home all the time, ye ken? I left home when I was three and ten an' have been here an' back again ever since. Pa says I got a wild rover's blood in m'veins. I've done my share of bathin' in cold mountain lakes an' hot springs." She looked at the water around her, which had turned at pale, rusty red, and sighed. She was probably going to have to soap up and rinse off if she really wanted to get clean. And rinsing off was always so cold. |
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| Atzolek | Tue Apr 15, 2014 4:39 am Post #42 |
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Apparently Norta didn't have nearly the sense of modesty that he did. Rather than trying to look away, she did precisely the opposite. She intentionally looked over the wall at him and gave him a whistle that told him that she thought he looked sexy. Naturally, this only made him blush even more, enough that it was pretty obvious even though the scales on his face. Once she went back to her own bath, he went to work scrubbing himself to get the blood and the dust off of himself. It was pretty clear that he was too dirty for the water to properly clean him once he saw the tint of the water. Still, he did the best he could. Atz said, "It'll probably be a while before I return to my home. I left with the intent to go out and see the world, and so far, I've seen a few different places, mostly in this part of Imythess. I'll probably head elsewhere before long, though." After being in the water for a few minutes, he got himself back out and set the sluice on the tub to allow it to start emptying and at the same time went to start rinsing himself off. The water was cold, but nothing he wasn't used to. After a couple minutes he was done, at which point, he refilled the tub for the next person to take a bath and brought the coals to the bucket where they belonged. When he finished with that, he found a towel and dried himself off. He then tied the towel around his waist and waited for someone to arrive with some clean clothing for him. |
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| Norta | Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:28 pm Post #43 |
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Norta shrugged, though she knew Atzolek couldn't see her. "I come home when I can, but I was t'stay home an' raise childern, ye ken? Daughters are nae suppose t'have wanderin' ways." She drained the tub and opened the sluice to the stream. "My clan's pretty fair with it - there are tae many of us - but some o't'neighbors dinna see it that way." The water was, as she had expected, freezing. She rinsed off the last of the soap and chalk and climbed out of the tub, shivering. "Aunt Norta?" a small girl called timidly from outside the door. "Aye?" Norta answered, squeezing out her hair. The little girl slipped inside, a bundle of a clothes held tight to her chest. She set them down on a stool by the door and slipped out again. Norta unrolled the bundle. There was a towel, clothes for her and several sets of men's clothing of various fashions and sizes. Obviously, someone was guessing on Atz's size. She set the whole pile on top of the wall and said, "Try tae find summat worth wearin' in there." She dried herself off and squeezed out her hair again before pulling on the white shirt and underthings that had been brought for her. The shirt was too big and the brown skirt was just an inch or two too short, but both smelled clean and fresh. She laced herself into a green bodice and wiped off her boots with the now soaked towel. "Ye ready tae head up tae t'main house?" she asked Atz. |
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| Atzolek | Sat Apr 19, 2014 5:28 am Post #44 |
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It turned out that Atz didn't have to wait long, as a girl soon came with some clothing. There were some things for Norta, and also some things for Atz to wear. Once the pile was placed on the wall, Atz walked over there and started looking through it. It seemed that someone had made a guess at his size. He first looked at the underclothes and put on something that was a pretty good fit for him. Once he got those on, he made a more thorough search of the pile. He ended up deciding on pants, a long-sleeve shirt, and a vest that was laced together in the front with strips of leather. The clothes fit reasonably well, although he could tell that they hadn't been meant for him. Overtop of everything else, he wore an cloak that was fastened near his neck but otherwise open in front and that fell almost to his ankles. Once he was dressed, he said, "Yes, I'm ready to head over there." With that, he put on his boots (which he'd cleaned when he initially arrived at the bath house) and left the building. He noticed that Norta's clothes made her look rather attractive, but he didn't comment about them. Once they were both outside, Atz let Norta lead the way to the main building. |
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| Norta | Mon Apr 28, 2014 4:06 pm Post #45 |
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Norta nodded and led him up to the main house. It was made of peeled, whitewashed logs with a bright yellow shingled roof and matching yellow door, much spattered with mud. Norta opened it and stepped inside. It led to large, vaulted kitchen. A dozen people, mostly women and children, bustled back and forth, rolling, chopping, seasoning and cleaning. Two large fireplaces blazed away, turning the room into an oven. Things simmered in pots, bread baked cast iron boxes buried in hot coals, any a leg of mutton turned on a spit powered by a small child. Everywhere there was noise and chatter and the smell of well cooked food. Norta's parents met them at the door, wearing a flour-covered apron. Her mother looked them both over. "Aye, that'll do," she pronounced. Norta's father clapped Atz on the back with a blow so hearty it staggered people. "A'right, lad - naew that yer cleaned up, tell me - what news from beyond t'Plains? T'last we heard, t'War wit t'White Quinn had ended, but we've heard naught since." He led the elf away, collecting two mugs of ale on his way toward one of the fireplaces. The women watched them go. After a moment, Norta's mother looked back at her daughter. "Comb yer hair, luv," she told her, producing a comb from out of a pocket. "An' dry it. Yer soakin' t'back o' yer dress." With a sigh, Norta took the comb and followed the men to the fireplace, where she started to pick the tangles from her hair. |
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2:37 PM Jul 11

