Social: New Community

The clouds are gray but lacking any real menace to them, simply fast moving on the cold wind that bites through clothing. It's midday with the sounds of construction, the clack of wooden implements, and the feeling of quiet resolve spiked with laughter now and again.

Smells start to waft, some good and bad, across the way. Stew in a cast iron from one, the scraping clatter of the lid closing; the smell of horses in the stable, with a whinny or talk of what care is needed; fresh earth from tilled ground, the questions of onions or spinach for a line as the seeds are sown; fire crackling with heat coming off, the people of various trades using one here or there or just to keep warm.

It's a small community that's growing together. There's a mixture of refugees and Arvek, and none of them seem to think twice of it. Where some places, not even that long ago, would question if they could get along so closely knit - that question has been answered here. With the drive to better themselves, both groups align with precision.

Humans and the Half-Sil & -Oruch with their natural drive to grow and diversity, and a hard desire to succeed drive them to fill out any roll that's needed. A couple Lucht families with their constant wandering, bringing back bits of needed goods just when they're about to run out. And, of course, the Arvek filling up most of the other half, their organization providing everyone an easy means to fall within and work.

It's not harmony, it's not perfect, but it /is/ theirs. A little mini-slice of Alexandria starting up their own community, lifting each other up onto their shoulders and offering a hand down to pull up the next.

Verna has arrived.

Gregor is here by the improvised stables, teaching a group of young Arvek how to shoe horses and other bits of the farrier's trade. He's a fairly new arrival in Alexandia, himself, and still a bit formal with the young folk. They are a mix of similar Arvek and more casual youngsters.

While some are here to just relax and have fun, Felicia has taken it upon herself to actually start to cook some food. Some meats, some veggies, all grilled on an open fire. Is it worth eating? Better believe it. One thing Felicia learned to do, was cook. She's not as good as some that do it for a living, but she make sure that the food is sufficiently charred so it's edible and not dangerous.

While others appear to be enjoying themselves, even some are keeping careful watch on the community and it's safety. A small task that Talion undertakes to ensure that everyone remains safe, even in relaxation. Regardless, the Paladin moves about, dressed in his armor with his...rather large sword adorning his back and a red cape flowing from his shoulder as the Half-sil moves about, helping people get food, making sure that requests offered to him are well-listened to, and otherwise, even Talion is having a fun time just talking to people.

"Say, Mister Gregor, how do ya know if'n the shoe's the right'un?" One of the human lads say as he tilts his head to the side and stares at the hooves. "Like, my shoes aren't the same as me brothers shoes, so is that the same with horse shoes?" He stands back up straighter and looks to Gregor, some of the other kids snicker as do some of the adults who Gregor has been teaching.

"Serriel be praised!" One of the people says as he walks by Felicia's stew. The Arvek leans in and takes a great big whiff of it, a look toward the Arvek with a grin. "I think you might've set the onion a bit long in the pot before ya added the base, at least you didn't scorch the garlic though. That's almost impossible to fix. And, frankly, it smells absolutely delicious.

Serraphine is walking down the street of the town, looking this way and that until she spots a familiar Arvek. "YOU!" she yells out, pointing toward a rather book-ish looking Arvek, a male, who promptly dives behind a cart. Serraphine chuckles and continues on her way, "Ahhh, never gets old."

"Well uhm...I hope we aren't going to have anythin' to do here," Kerbasi says out of the corner of his mouth, to Acleese. The geekgoblin is in full form, today. Someone's set up a portable desk, and two things have happened:

• He's doing paperwork

• He can hide behind the safe, hefty, fully wooden desk in case of sudden and random attacks by the Charneth or anyone else

Acleese nods, though continues to whisper to himself as he adds columns together.

And then dives behind a cart when Serraphine shows up.

Both priest and assistant are dressed formally, in Vardama's robes. The young priest offers a wave to newcomers. He also doesn't seem to have noticed the cart-diving. Perhaps this is just a thing that HAPPENS.

Felicia chuckles at Fi. "Oh hush. This was one of my duties when I was in the monastery, Fi. this never gets old though." She says as she actually offers a.....burger....to Talion. "Hello there. And Welcome to Alexandria." She says heading back to thegrill.

Talion turns to face Felicia when she offers him a burger. Smiling warmly to her, he bows his head thankfully and accepts her token of food from her with a gentle hand. "Many thanks, my lady. It looks delicious." he looks around then, spotting Serraphine for a moment when she shouts 'YOU!', giving a small smile towards her.

Gregor says to the lad, "Horses aren't quite as particular about shoes as you and I are. Or at least I am," he adds, eying the lad's shoddy footwear and drawing snickers from the rest of the group. "They're to protect the hooves against wear from stone streets and hard surfaces, but as long as they're between the hoof and the ground, you've got most of the job accomplished." They're best if they take up as much of the hoof as possible to spread out the weight and wear, but it's not an exact science."

Felicia says, "I am Felicia, Vanguard of the Maiden of Battle. She is Serraphine, Lancer of the Maiden of Battle. It is good to see another here." Then Serraphine bellows out with one word and FElicia rolls her eyes. "Have some more food.""

Serraphine hums softly and looks back to Felicia, "What? I didn't say anything about your cooking. And no, I'm trying to toughen up the lil' guy, he's too skittish." She reaches up to scratch at her chin lightly, then a glance back toward Kerbasi with a frown. A narrowing of the Arvek's eyes and then she starts to stalk off in that direction. She holds up her arm, sort of... 90-degree angle to her body as she passes by Talion, calling out "Hail Traveller!" to Talion in a very bland accent, before back to her usual. "How else can I take him on a date?" She asks to Felicia before looking to the priest and geekgoblin who's probably checking where Serraphine is going.

"So-" The lad says with a frown as he looks up at Gregor. He missed the little joke about his footwear, "-is that like. You mean they don't really care? So there are no different types of horseshoe?" He tilts his head to the side, obviously curious as his brow furrows deeper still.

The man who commented about Felicia's cooking gives a little laugh, the Arvek moving to grab himself a couple burgers and head off toward some of the others. The rumor is... there's going to be the side of a new longhouse erected today!

Talion smiles softly to Felicia, overhearing her introduce herself and Serraphine, though then Serraphine comes up to greet him. "Hail, and well met!" he tells her in return with a wide smile as he politely and delicately starts to eat his meal. and it's actually pretty good, at least in his own humble opinion.

Gregor eyes the lad, and says, "There are a few different types of shoe, though it'd be more correct to say that there's sometimes special things that modify how you fit a horseshoe. So always fit a horse with the shoes your master farrier says to use, if he tells you to use a specific set of shoes. Uneven hoof wear and chips and cracks sometimes need corrective shoes."

"I...oh! It's good t'see you," Kerbasi says warmly. He holds out a hand, with slender fingers. Blessed be the kittens, that expression reads. "I...ah, heh. I guess he's still running away," he says. Then,

"Have y'tried putting it on his agenda?" he asks, sounding serious. He offers a nod to Talion as well, and others present. "Just let me know if I can be of service!" he calls out.

"We're okay, thanks!" comes from one of the stone masons. Hurriedly.

Serraphine looks toward Kerbasi, a shake of his hand and a nod, "I did. Three times. He conveniently had other paperwork that had to bump it back and off his schedule." She gives a scowl, then slinks down behind the cart. Okay, so a large Arvek in fullplate not exactly stealth, but - you know - maybe all the noise? She clanks her way around it, waiting and biding her time for Acleese to settle back into his chair. A look over her shoulder to Felicia a Don't you start. look.

The Arvek Paladin turns back around to watch Acleese, and as he sat she sprang into action. A quick clank forward in her plate until she's behind the chair at his portable desk! She kicks the back of it and puts Acleese it what suspiciously looks like a modified chokehold, except instead she's holding him and tipping him backward into a dip-smooch. Yep. Nothing like the good ol' strangle-smooch, right?

The boy looks to Gregor and it's clear that this new knowledge has his mind reeling with the possibilities. He stares up at him and just nods. "So there's lots of different types..." He says and then looks down to the hooves, then his own shoe. A tilt of his shoe to the side, a look to the horse. Then his own shoes again. "Why don't they do that for people? I mean... if you kinda walk duck-footed, why not make shoes that help that?"

A few of the older boys and the adults chuckle at the kid. Ohhh silly boy, people aren't horses.

Felicia tilts her head at Talion. "So what's your name....." And she looks him over...."Sunguard....no, wait...you're better armored. Sunblade." She then looks to Fi and laughs. Though she's eating a burger of her own.

Gregor shrugs to the boy and says, "That's a question for a cobbler, not a farrier. Now pay attention to the job in front of you before your thumb winds up under the hammer...." He shows them how to use the largest size that fit the hoof, and he eyeballs the horses waiting to be shod, picking one out of the lineup. "Now you all can see what happens when an idiot hammers shoes on a horse any-old-way, and the horse turns up lame..."

Talion gives Felicia a small smile when she asks his name, nodding a few times. "Talion is my name." he seems to visibly chuckle a moment as she takes jabs and guesses at his name and type. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance." and he bows his head softly to her. "This burger is quite delicious."

"I..." Kerbasi's mouth opens like a fish, and he just shakes his head. "I'm afraid I have no idea..." he says, but Serraphine's got Acleese in a headlock now, and that seems to work.

He turns back around, his expression bright. "Heh, well. It's uh...good to uh. Well, yes. It's good t'meet another Sunblade around here. Mourner Kerbasi d'Bahjat, service to th' Gray Lady," he says as he holds out a hand.

Felicia smiles to Talion. "Thank you. I'm not thatbad of a cook, but I'm not that good either. I just make sure they're burned enough so you don't get food poisoning." She then chuckles. "Greetings Mourner! Glad you could make it!" She says handing him a burger....then walks around to place a burger near where Acleese is.

Serraphine tries to set Acleese back upright but... this doesn't work. He kinda slumps one way, then he slumps the other. In the end, she decides to put the passed out Acleese back in his chair in front of his papers with the burger resting on a stack of them as a makeshift plate. "Thanks." She says to Fe, then a move back to the rest of the group to find herself a burger.

The young boy nods his head to Gregor and then goes back to watching. His crowd of people pay attention, several of the humans keep looking between their own gear and Gregor's, as if double checking (then triple checking) they got it right. Seem they want to make sure no horse goes lame on their watch.

Talion nods faintly to Kerbasi as he approaches. "A pleasure, Mourner Kerbasi." he extends his hand. "Talion. A pleasure once more to make your acquaintance." a bow of his head then. "It's nice to see everyone relaxed for a change. A pleasant change of scenery." He turns his head then back to the group before him.

Gregor is pleased with the youngsters' progress by and large, and splits them into small groups to each take an animal, check the shoes and harness as he'd taught them, and to tell him the changes they'd recommend. He nods to each group, most of them are dead on, and the rest are pretty close, and he sets them to work taking the old shoes off, sanding the hooves evenly, and re-shoeing them.

"It's always good t'meet a new face," Kerbasi returns the shake with a smile. Then, "May I offer either of you desert? I brought a few extra," he says. The priest produces a medium-sized, black tin from his pocket. A flip of the thumb opens it.

Inside are several black sugar cookies, in the shape of coffins. They've been coated with festive, black-as-night sprinkles.

It hasn't been that relaxed lately, I s'pose. What's the latest from th' Tribune?" Kerbasi asks in general.

At his desk, Acleese slumps. The arvek gives a ghost of a smile, though, before it's firmly replaced with a FROWN.

"Ooo." Serraphine happens to pass by Kerbasi right as the tin was opening. Because... they're Kerbasi cookies. She snags two in her fingers and starts to happily munch on one of them. Turning to look back toward Acleese for a moment - nope still out - then back to the group. She stares at Talion, blinking as she pauses mid-chew. Then a nod and she keeps chewing her first bite of cookie. Munch-munch-munch-munch.

The sounds of sanding fills the area after the shoes are pulled off. Some are getting the hang of it more than other and the young boy just watches on holding tools for others, it's in spurts as they sand, check, look at Gregor, look at their own.

Gregor eyes the Arvek frowning at getting a thorough kissing. He grumbles a bit. "Some guys have all the luck," he mutters to himself, then doublechecks his horseshoeing teams. It's going pretty fast now that they're all on it, but he's sure to check all their work, because they're all new at it. "You won't have to do it this often, in practice, but these animals are all new to us, and you always check a new animal when you get it. The last guy could have been some chucklehead who can't tell one and of a horse from another, and you can find anything."

The clouds still slide over head as the people continue their work, the sun cresting down the other side and it starts to slow down for the day. A laugh can be heard from the fields as there's a bit of competition over the planting of seeds. A blacksmith catcalls to a half-sil as he walks by, she continues to hit the metal with her hammer as he blushes and continues off to the makeshift market.

The makeshift market has sprung up, and it is a family of luchts that have set up near a crossroads, a few human merchants setting up nearby but the luchts clearly have the run of the place. A couple do a short juggling act as another is playing the three cups game (though not charging to play).

The small market has general goods for purchase or simply supplied to the people who need it in the community, one of the humans is selling hot cider and another mulled wine. The cider (which comes in hard cider and cider variety) is selling far faster than the other. These people are down to earth and the idea of frills is nearly offputting.

A call down the street starts up as several strong and able bodied men and women start to pull on ropes, the side of a longhouse slowly rising with every step.

The group working with Gregor nod in agreement as they look to his guidance. They slowly start to absorb it, understanding that they won't have to always but trying to get the principles right. "I once saw a horse who had a shoe on backwards." Called a man, seeming to cement the idea that chuckleheads exist and they're back for horses.

Felicia looks over towards the longhouse and smiles. "and this is why we do what we do." She then grins as she watches. "This is worth the days of work...."

"It was those letters, wasn't it?" Kerbasi says. He's taken a bite of a cookie, himself. "Seemed a bit odd t'--" he starts to say. "Well, I suppose there are better things t'talk about. Have any of y'played the cups game?" he asks.

Gregor smirks at the idea of a horse with a shoe on backwards. "Well, we know what he'd had to drink before he set to work," he says. "Too much." He'll make sure all his students get food and water while they're working, paying for it himself and making sure it's passed out to all his assistant farriers.

Kerbasi goes OOC.

Kerbasi has left.

Talion smiles softly then at Felicia's words, giving her a soft nod. Then he gives a look to Kerbasi. "I have not.." then he waves at Kerbasi when it turns out he has to run. Regardless, the Paladin turns his head to Gregor, seeing what he's doing . Before he simply leans against one of the walls present, sighing contently in relaxation.

Serraphine munches away on the cookie, another quick glance back to Acleese with a whip of her head... nope, still passed out, then back to the others. She nods her head a few times and gestures toward the lucht and their games. "Mmm, yeah, I've played a couple rounds of it." She takes another bite of her cookie, "An' urr wight." She says to Felicia with a mouthful of cookie darkness, her head sort of bobbing in the direction of the longhouse as she takes in the little feat. Yep, they're doing well.

Gregor's students all thank him as he grabs the food and water. Many of them let it sit off to the side while they continue working on the basic shoeing techniques, a few of the Arvek and Humans really start to get the ideas down as they stop checking up at Gregor as often and instead focus on what they're doing. Confidence through practice!

Talion glances to Serraphine as she talks with her mouthful, shaking his head with a small chuckle. Regardless, he has some cookies himself if he can eat them, nomming with a small 'munch munch' to each one. Then he looks over at Gregor as he appears to have taught his students something important. Smiling at the group warmly.

Felicia says, "They'll learn that helping each other is a boon, and just doing for yourself is bad, but there are some that will take advantage...."

Gregor heads back over to Serraphine, nodding to Talion as he passes. "Well, the fellows who'll be working as farriers are set up, and they've gone over our initial lot of horses. Nothing too tragic, and they all seem pretty eager. We'll have some decent plowhorses out of this lot."

A slow nod from Serraphine to Gregor as he joins them. She holds out the cookie she hasn't set into toward him as she takes another bite. Ahhh Kerbasi cookie, she does so love those coffin-shaped confections of darkness. Even with festive black sprinkles. "Mmm." She says as she finishes off her bite of cookie, "Good. The small guard is set up too, they double duty. No courtiers here." She nods her head again and turns back toward Felicia, Talion, and then finally the longhouse.

"They're making progress." Serraphine adds. She points out the structure for Gregor as she takes a bite of her cookie.

Talion gives Gregor a small nod. "Hail and well met." as he passes him, turning his body then to face Felicia, Gregor, and Serraphine as they indulge themselves in cookies and talks. "Excellent to hear." he nods a few times as he remains quiet, letting the others converse and speak amongst themselves.

Gregor will accept the cookie, and takes a bite. "Hrm. Interesting flavor," he says. He chuckles about no courtiers, and agrees, "This is a working camp." To Talion, he says, "I'm Gregor Augustin. It's nice to meet you."

Felicia says, "This'll be an excellent yule present for the Dragonier refugees." She says patting Fi on the shoulder. "Still a good bit of work to do, but it'll work out in the end." She says starting to head back down. "I need to get some more supplies from the temple. I shall return.""

"HURRY BACK!" Serraphine calls to Felicia, scowling at her, but then it's back toward the others as she takes another munching bite upon the cookie. She blinks slowly and looks between the two still here. "Hmm." She jerks her head toward Talion and says to Gregor, "I think he's Tallon or... something like that?" She stares at the other man waiting to hear if she was right.

Talion gives a small bow of his head to Felicia as she runs off. "Safe travels, please." he blesses before he looks to Gregor, extending a hand. "I'm-" then Serraphine beats in with an incorrect form of his name sadly. "Close, but apologies, it is Talion." a small chuckle then to Serraphine apologetically before his attention falls back to Gregor. "The pleasure is mine, I assure you."

Gregor shakes Talion's hand firmly, and smiles. "Good to meet you," he says. "And glad to have you here. What's your trade?" he wonders. "I'm not a farrier, but I know enough of a farrier's trade to show these fellows how not to lame their horses."

Talion smiles softly to Gregor, and when asked what his particular trade was, Talion shrugs a moment. "A paladin. Sunblade of Daeus, warrior of the light. A pleasure. It is good for those like you to share your wisdom of such things to others, that they may also be able to properly lend a helping hand." a smile then. "So, if it is not being a farrier, may I ask what your trade is, teacher?"

Gregor ohs, and nods. "A Sunblade?" he says, and bows his head respectfully. "Good that you're here to help out," he agrees. "My trade? I'm ... I -was- a cavalry scout, in Blar, up until recently. With the army. But now I work mostly for the Explorers' Guild here in town." They're pretty well known - they hire out people to go on adventures.

Talion offers a small smile to Gregor as he bows his head and he returns the polite gesture with a bow of his own. "My thanks for your words. Hopefully I'll be able to provide a well-balanced hand to help." a nod. "Ah, a former soldier. I won't ask you what happened my friend, but I'm happy you're here to offer your expertise." a warmness in his tone.

Gregor arches a brow at not asking what happened, then laughs. "It's no secret. I mustered out of the ranks in good standing," he claims. "But no wars means not a lot to do for scouts, and no prestige in the job, not like the heavy cavalry, so I came here."

Talion nods a few times to Gregor. "Heh, was moreso attempting to be polite." a small laugh then. "But I see. Regardless, you are still needed, and you fulfill expectations accordingly." says the half-sil. Though he does tilt his head at Gregor for a moment in pondering of a question. He looks then to Gregor a moment, a smile touching his features. "Do you have a particular favorite kind of horse?" he gestures to the stable, no reason behind it, simply asking him a curious question as random as he was.

Serraphine sort of comes back to the present as the conversation moves to horses. The Arvek Paladin makes a face and looks back toward the stables as well for a moment. Though after her attention shifts to Gregor, while she's not exactly a fan of the creatures she is curious about the answer.

Gregor nods gravely. He understands the need to be polite at times. Like not asking an officer who's butt he had his head crammed into, if it wasn't stuffed up his own butt as he'd claimed. But military protocol frowns on asking officers those sorts of questions. As to horses, that makes him smile, actually. He /likes/ horses. "Well, just about any Blar-trained horse is pretty reliable," he begins. "The Corleonis from this area can be quite good as well," he opines. "The Isobarans are nice, too, though not as spirited as some."

Talion smiles softly as Gregor seems to understand his intention and go on a mini speech about which horses are and are not reliable. "Ah, I see. I happen to enjoy the Corleonis myself, personally. Though, I am perhaps biased, as I have the most experience riding with them than with others."he shrugs softly before he turns his head to Serraphine. "Ah, welcome back, my lady."

She listened to Gregor's idea on horses, she really did have much of a say on them. Arvek as she might be, it wasn't her forte. She listened politely and tried really hard not to zone out as they both started discussing horses then, nodding her head when Blar was mentioned. A hand reaches down, pulling out a cookie from a pouch she frequently keeps on or near her. A coffin-shaped cookie withdrawn. Munch-munch-mu... Serraphine actually stops mid-chew as Talion calls her my lady and then turns about to look behind her. Around. Her thumb jerks toward a human woman walking by, one eyebrow raised and another lowered.

Gregor offers a deferential nod to Serraphine as Talion greets her, and he admits, "My own horse has a lot of Corleonis in him. A bit of the rest is actually Veyshanti, and he's quite agile, as you'd expect for that. Veyshanti are normally a bit lighter than I prefer, but as part of a hybrid, it works well." He chuckles at her reaction to 'My Lady,' and says to her, "Yes, he means you."

Talion chuckles a little bit to Serraphine as she points to herself when he calls her 'my lady', shaking his head softly he nods a little bit to her. "Yes, I mean you. Would you prefer to call you someone else?" he teases, having known she daydreamed a little bit. Before he looks on over to Gregor. "Ah, I see. it appears as though we favor the same kinds of horses. A pleasure to witness, surely." a warm smile then for Gregor before he turns his attention back to Serraphine.

Another nod of her head, much longer on the up-swing and then a few short and quick ones on the down as she hears Gregor. -unch-munch-munch. A look toward the woman she previously pointed at and a wave of her hand. Nope! Nothing to see here, I was wrong. Then back to Talion. "I'm want to zone out on ocassion on talk of horses." She takes another bite of cookie, nodding her head as she listens to the two of them talk about it.

Gregor looks impressed at Talion's knowledge of horses, something he doesn't often find among non-Arvek, certainly. Not even among all Arvek, of course, Serraphine's lack of interest a pretty clear indicator of where she stands on that. He smirks at Talion's comment, and whistles sharply. A bit of an odd key, but one of the horses on the horseline perks up and walks over. It was apparently not tethered, but standing there untethered. "Traveller is his name," he explains, and Talion will see what Gregor had described. "You have other interests, of course," he says to Serraphine with a chuckle.

Talion smiles softly to Gregor, seeing his certainly surprised nature at how much he knew about horses. WHile his knowledge was certainly nowhere near Gregor's, Talion would smile softly to him. "Ah, traveller. Beautiful horse." he comments. "My steed's name is waker." though he doesn't call it. Probably tied down somewhere. Regardless, he looks to Serraphine. "Ah, I see." a small chuckle then. "We can change the topic if you wish?"

Serraphine shakes her head as she is offered a topic change by Talion, she holds her hand up, "No need, no need. Please don't stop on my account, I actually should see to a bit more of-" she gestures about "-this. If you'll both excuse me." She stuffs the rest of the cookie in her mouth and fishes out one for each of them in turn. Soon after she has to step away, mingling back into the crowd as she starts in on organizing the people again.