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Mikal - with Keiko and Kadri

His eyes flicker with interest at the mention of 'Rhoni' and he can't help but glance towards Cesare curious to know how he will react. He's been looking for other Rhoni for a while.

He listens to Kadri's reply with a small smile, having anticipated that she'd not be offended by curtness and honesty.

"Well, I will leave you two ladies to chat then", he says once it is clear daggers aren't likely to be drawn. "I should check in with the Guards, the horses need to be taken care of, and there's lots of work to do. "

He glances around the small group of buildings. "Lots of work....."

Keiko
Waverider's Watch, The Mill
Attaday, the Third Day of Yrick
Late Afternoon

Keiko listened to the words of Dama Kadri, hearing more the way her words rippled the currents than the specific words themselves — though these were not in any way ignored.

Any project, however great or small, that threatened her new friends could not be a good thing. It certainly would not be a good thing for her friends. And since these new folks brought the potential for chaos with them, Keiko would have to watch their activities closely, and consult her Cards more often than she might in other circumstances.

She snorted at the woman’s penultimate comment.

“Thomas is neither mine, nor is the assessment of his skills an observable truth... except that he does write most prolifically.” Keiko shrugged. “Thomas is his own man and I merely report the essence of the opinion he has of his skills.

“And your name is your name. Speak it as it pleases you, for only you can say what importance is to be placed on your many fathers.” The young woman returned the grin and wink with a mischievous smile. “The Amber Families place as great an importance on family lineage as the Rhoni — or such has been my observation and conclusion from the tales brought back with those who have traveled far and wide across the World. I have never found the reliance on paternity to be especially sensible, but all creatures of the World have their ways of being in the World. Rhoni ways work for the Rhoni. Amber ways work for the tribes of the Plains of Kaa. The same can be said, I suppose, for the Imperials, the Nobles, and for all folk.”

She had noted the glance Mikal made in the direction of the two companions who had made their way toward the farms... noting it, that was all, but it was interesting. But she gave him a harder look when he spoke of work to be done.

“Have a care for what you do, Mikal D’Allynne. The balance here is a delicate one and there are many currents to ride in this place — some will prove less auspicious than others.”

Glancing toward the west, Keiko shook her head. “Now is the time for dinner, not chatting.” She looked at each of them in turn before adding, “Tomorrow is Marketday.”

Storm... it had been the last Card she had laid out before leaving her tiny room.

“It would be improper for me to advise you to remain in the tower. But I will ask that you tread lightly through the currents if you venture out. These folk are my friends... all of them.” Then she shrugged again and smiled. “Missus Heatherson does make meat pies that make the excursion worth the effort of walking so carefully among the many currents.”

Then she turned to head back up the many stone steps to the Mill’s entrance and her waiting dinner.

She, of course, would be at the market the next day, and not only because it was something she had come to enjoy each week. Renyard had said that a plant had been found that might — and he strongly stressed the might — provide the right pigmentation for a more delightful shade of yellow that she sought for her Cards.

[OOC I believe Cesare is out of earshot currently ]

[This is my belief, as well. Keiko just figured Mikal was looking in the direction of the little farmhouses.]

(OOC - Yes.)

Mikal - with Kadri and Keiko

"You sound like another companion of ours, unfortunately not present. She was always warning me about actions and their impact on the future."

He turns and looks directly at the large and foreboding woods, then turns back to Keiko.

"But those kinds of actions are not for today. Lots of preparation to do first. Good day Miss Keiko. In a place this small I expect I will see you again."

He turns and leads the horses towards the base of the tower.

The Heartwood
Waverider’s Watch
The Dirkwood Foret
Attaday, the Third Day of Yrick

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal and Bekka

“Horses and supplies?”

The woman crossed her arms.

“That’s a fair number of critters ye ‘ave there. If he’s feeling generous and the weather stays nice, Ruri Heatherson might allow thee to rest them in ‘is cow barn.

“As for supplies, well …t’e morrow ain’t our Marketday. So donnae you be bothering folks. Wait until Restday and you can trade with the outlyin’ farmers and what few merchants t’e come through here.”

She returned her attention to Bekkah.

“Hurt? T’ats right kind of thee to be askin’. But nin … not at t’e moment; just thine everyday cuts and bruises. Sometimes we get a hurt One on Marketday but usually t’ey are t’e ones trading medicines to us. Otherwise, if’n you obey t’e One Rule an’ stay away from t’e Forest t’ere’s nae much ‘appening ‘ere to be getting’ hurt.”


And so it went …

The dairy farmer – Ruri Heatherson – was kind enough to trade an evenings help in the kitchen for a night’s shelter for their horses. Thus Twls was accounted for their first evening in the small hamlet.

That allowed the remainder of the group to make their way up the switchback stair to the watchtower. They were following in Kieko’s footsteps, though only figuratively. It had taken a while to settle the horses in. They passed her mill when they reached the top of the rock and then climbed the last stairs to make it to the watchtower at its very – for lack of a better word – peak. Yes the tower was tall, very tall, and commanded an excellent view of the surrounding territory. Its banner was worn and tattered and the Korie Noble Guard atop was so lazily ensconced there probably was no hope of tempting him down from his perch.

But that did not mean it was a very large place; all in all it suitably matched the size of the village it looked over. When knocked upon the door was opened by an average looking guardsman; well a guardsman only by reputation; he was not wearing any armor or even a sword and the only thing that betrayed that he was indeed a Korie liegeman was the heraldry on the worn surcoat he had thrown over a rather plain set of brown and darker brown tunics.

“What do you … oh. Thomas, are we expecting anyone from anywhere?”

Looking past, the door opened to a single room – which held a small fireplace where meals could be cooked. The fireplace was flanked by a pair of bunk beds nooked into the thick walls; the tower was obviously understaffed by one at the moment. One wall was lined with shelves, for food stuffs and other domestic items … the other was for four armor stands, four personal guardsmen’s chests and a rack for spears and swords.

In the center was a table with four chairs.

An arched opening looked through to the base of the tower, a single room with a stair spiraling up the perimeter wall. There appeared to be some unkempt bookcases and a handful of small chests which surrounded an equally small round table. Here sat, amidst a pile of parchment and vellum, the third guard, one who was furiously writing with quill and ink. He was a thin and dour looking sort, in tunics of green and brown, with straggly hair and a sharply cut face.

“Is one of them a lady? They’ve been shipping these chests down all regular like, marked for a Lady Korie. I suspect they are lady fancies and correspondence or maybe even some jewelry – because they rattle – that her Lord doesn’t want kept up in grand, grand Talantal for personal political reasons. I have written thrice now, asking if they need me to report back their safe arrival personally … but I suspect duplicity and the Seneschal not being shown my just and logical letters.”

Introductions were made; the one who answered the door was Jerris, Mikkie was the one relaxing above and Thomas was the scribe, a point made very apparent when Kadri was introduced.

“Lady Korie! Oh fair and wise and compassionate Lady Korie. As your noble gaze can most certainly tell, I am a true scholar, a stalwart guard and most loyal liegeman … who … quite certainly the victim of some cruel mistake. As you can see …”

He handed her a stack of letters.

“ … as you can see my hand is most excellent, my observation skills superb, my accountings and numbers impeccable, my insights and manner of thinking quite and imminently logical, and each one of those respectfully requesting missives sure proof that it was a mistake to post me here, that in doing so is a tremendous waste of Noble Korie resources and that I should – by all humble rights – be returned to serve in the City of Talantal.

“Please take these to your Lord, my dear Lady, so he can see the truth of these words and return me to the city of Five Rings!

“I have been sending these letters ever since I have arrived and am worried that they are not reaching their destination!”

The chests, upon observation, appear to be Kadri’s allowance and had been sent down by Lord Tray. They should be sufficient for the small sized troop she had predicted; perhaps a bit smaller if hiring costs needed to go up. Money, at the least, should not be a problem if matters were kept to a proper scale and thrifty manners.

Sleeping space was a problem; solved by some being banished to the out of doors this night. Not that there was anything hard about that; save the schlepping of gear from the Heatherson farm up the stairs to the top of the rock.

Perhaps over the next few days they could determine better arrangements; but that would have to be by their own conjuring and endeavors and not dependent upon the kindness of rangers.

[The Heartwood
Waverider’s Watch
The Dirkwood Foret
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal and Bekkah … and Keiko

The sun broke over the mountains to the oddest sight.

From the rock they could look down upon the hamlet. Three whole buildings, all set against the stone cliffs and all on the same side of a single faint trail. The trail was easily seen, running from the bridge at the west and heading off to somewhere eastwards.

Across this makeshift road was the Dirkwood Forest and the picket fence.

The one person who was able to claim the fourth bunk did not have a good night. It seemed that Thomas’ many talents included that of snoring. Very loudly.

As the sun rose towards noon the locals from the outlying farms could be seen arriving for market – most walking in, some pushing a barrow or pulling a small hand cart. There were even a couple ox pulled wagons filled with sacks of grain and a couple that were horse drawn – obviously merchants. Where there is a market one will always find the followers of Marrennen.

But it was strange.

They all stopped a couple hundred yards or so outside of Waverider’s watch – as if trading today was somehow distasteful. What they did was send only one member of their family, a younger son or a Marrennen apprentice, to set up a small stall on the path between Forest and farmhouses.

And then they waited.

They finally got settled, a pensive atmosphere covering the area, about midway between sunrise and noon.

It was a little bit later that their … customers … arrived.

They drifted in from the Forest. First one, then another further away, then another and another and another, flowing from the Dirkwood like a mist or swirl of leaves. They were similar in that they all wore similar rough, patchwork leather cloaks that hid their identity and appearance. Even beneath the hot sun their hoods ere pulled up and forward, casting their features in impenetrable shadow. The hems of their cloaks fell all the way to the dust, with huge bell shaped sleeves that also covered their hands.

They came in three sizes.

There were bigg’uns and lillil’uns and really lillil’uns

They rarely spoke, trading by mostly pointing and nodding. Two bigg’uns drifted through the small odd market like overseers, pausing here and there, as if shepherding these strange folks and helping to facilitate trade.

One bigg’un appeared about halfway up the stairs. This one had a very long sword hung over their back, definitely watching over the mercantile activities.

What was even more disturbing was that this bigg’un wasn’t alone. This one had companions. Companions which haunted the perimeter of the village, circling both town and market.

Keiko
Waverider’s Watch, The Market
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Although she slept well, Keiko noted as she slipped out of bed prior to Her rising that Mikkie had probably left the tower’s door open just a bit again — for even from her room in the Mill, she could hear the echoes of Thomas’ prodigious snoring. It was a powerful skill, that was certain. There were days such as this when Keiko wondered if Thomas’ greatest offense to the grand folks of Grand Talantal had been to snore so loudly as to rattle pans and pots in the kitchens. Likely not, of course, but the image brought a smile to her face.

Of course, it wasn’t something she’d ever mention to Thomas — or anyone, really — because he didn’t seem to find as much humor in life needed to appreciate it.

As the sun peaked over the Forest, Keiko contemplated the nature of the World and the currents that brought her here to see this sight. Many had been the times she’d watched Her setting beyond the Forest, but this was still a new enough experience that it was a delight. She knew it was her imagination, but sunrise seemed to come in sadder colors this far away from the Black Mountains. Yes. It was just a fanciful thought.

After breakfast, she returned to her room to watch the market being set up. Missus Miller seemed a bit grumpier today than her usual gruffness, and Keiko thought it best to let the Miller say anything that could be said to ease his wife’s newest sharp edges. Likely the newcomers set her a bit on edge. Hadn’t she been rather gruff when Keiko had arrived? And hadn’t they come to a more peaceable understanding?

She still didn’t quite understand the Marketday market but, in a general sense, it all seemed to sit well enough with her. No doubt complete understanding would come when it did.

She smiled — well, grinned, actually — when she saw the first of the lillil’uns drift from the Forest and, tossing her own cloak around her shoulders, she carefully made her way down the ladder again to the kitchen.

“Going to the market, Missus Miller!”

She neither expected nor received a response... she was just being polite. And besides, Missus Miller knew that on Marketday, Keiko was more often than not spending a penny on one of Missus Heatherson’s meat pies rather than returning here for lunch.

She picked her way down the steps, stopping a step above the Guardian... and even then, Keiko was hardly as tall as the Guardian’s shoulder.

“New folks.” She clucked her tongue against her teeth. “The Cards warned of many currents, and chaos, too.” Keiko looked at the great sword and nodded. “I remember the rule. It’s a good rule.”

She left the Guardian to watch over the market, catching glimpses of the others every now and again. Something about them... Well, she remembered her second Marketday here.

She was happy to seen Renyard and Lady and the others. Keiko had a new question for the Questioner, one she thought was simple... and one that she would likely discover was anything but simple. She wasn’t sure if most of Renyard’s questions could ever be answered... not really. But he did propose some interesting thoughts. And then Keiko would spend her free time thinking about some of those interesting ideas. Once, she had even managed to get a piece of paper from Thomas — not his special vellum on which he wrote his very important letters, of course — and had set out shapes and colors that seemed to be a tiny part of an answer to one of Renyard’s many questions. She wasn’t sure the drawing would ever be complete... not any more than his questions would have final answers.

But it was pretty!

A Rhoni cloak was not nearly as concealing as those the Forest Children wore, but there were some small similarities. When she had first arrived, she had interpreted the One Rule in a way that caused her to leave her daggers tucked safely in her pack... but it didn’t feel right to be without them. She hadn’t actually had to use them since leaving the Caravan — except that one time when the unpleasant bird had tried to take her trail jerky. She’d had the feeling the bird was laughing at her as it flew off. And maybe it was. But she kept her jerky.

She moved among the lillil’uns, greeting them and conversing as they might choose. She did not press her own conversations with them but engaged them as best she could. After two handfuls of weeks, she did understand them most of the time. Sometimes she didn’t. Even then, it was interesting... for she would admit to her ignorance and the individual she was conversing with would seem to shrug, as though her understanding was not something to be concerned with at that time. Sometimes, Lady or Renyard would just be there to explain, to help with her learning and understanding.

“A good day to you, Renyard,” Keiko said. “I have a new question for you today! I have come to understand your customs to some extent but accept that I may never fully understand. My question is regarding names.” She gestured to all the Forest Children around them. “Is it acceptable to know individual names? I have come to recognize some individuals’ cloaks... there is Triangle Shoulder Patch, and Blue Left Side Rectangle, and Intricate Zigzag Hem.” She grinned. “Fanciful names such as these can be as thought-provoking as your Guardian’s name, for I have often thought of the work that would be needed to create such an intricate hem pattern.”

Keiko looked toward the tower and then in the direction of the three small farms, wondering about the newcomers... hoping that they would wait for tomorrow’s market to do whatever trading they needed, and suspecting that they would not. Should Renyard have questions regarding them, she was not certain she would have any answers.

She looked back in Renyard’s direction. “It is respectful to address one as they prefer to be addressed, is it not? Oh! Unless that is not your custom, in which case, I will be pleased to better understand you and your friends in this small way.”

Cesare

As beds were short.. and the spare bed in the guardroom was unsuitable for Kadri, Bekkah and Twls, and he know Mikkal would be sleeping near to Kadri, he volunteered to take it. He thought it might produce some camaraderie or some information maybe.. but alas it only produced the most infernal noise he had heard for a long time. So in the very early hours of the night, he crept out and found a corner to sleep in where at least the noise was more distant.

This morning he is out early, watching the folk here start to go about their business, drawing some water for Twls and considering the forthcoming market. He suspects most folk will attend if they can and figures this would be a good time to investigate the river and see if he can find a private spot to wash of the trail dust downstream of the settlement.

Mikal

After settling the horses in, and thanking Master Heatherson for the kindness, he journeys with Kadri and Cesare to the top of the tower. He introduces himself and the others to Thomas and the guards and lets Kadri speak with Thomas regarding the crates that have been delivered and the communications back to Talantal.

In the meantime he looks out at the forest from the tower's top, and inside at the equipment available and it's conditions, knowing that you can tell a lot about the quality of a soldier by the condition he maintains his gear in.

He chats a bit with Jerris and Mikkie about what they've seen from the tower, what they watch for, and their daily routine. He expects that, with this land being assigned to Kadri, and he being Kadri's "Commander of soldiery", for lack of a better term, that these men fall under Kadri's, and thus his, command. However for now he isn't going to push that and leaves it unsaid. At least until he has a better feel for the situation here or Kadri chooses to enforce her authority.

As Cesare expects, barracks are no place for Kadri to sleep so he sets something up outside for her and himself and leaves the remaining bunk to Cesare.

Since it's been a long day, and Keiko warned about disrupting things during Market Day, he waits to start organizing things more than this.

In the morning, he rises early as usual and after checking on the horses and helping with breakfast he spends the morning sorting and organizing the things they brought with them and anything that was shipped here from Talantal.

He takes some time up on the top of the tower with Jerris and Mikkie as well. As the merchants arrive and stop outside of town, he asks the two men about it, since it is a curious thing and not like any Market Day he has experienced before.

When the cloaked creatures emerge from the forest he glances at the two men curiously, looking for their reaction, though he can't help but grip his sword hilt and look at his crossbow. However he remains on top of the tower watching, and waiting for a response, since the two men did not react to their appearance.

Kadri:

"Oh wise and clever Thomas my friend - it is indeed a crime and a travesty that your talents have been so sadly wasted and that is a crime that I quite intend to see an end to - but I have need of you right here. Also, oh wise and clever Thomas, it would be wise and clever of you indeed to not talk to me as if I were some other manner of being than human. Lady Korie I can deal with if you must. But apart from that I expect you to just talk to me. Your first order of business is to use your exc llent accounting skills to set up a ledger for these funds so I may best know how to spend them. "

She smiles winningly.

She sleeps well through the night: she can sleep almost anywhere - and in the morning watches - and observes - the merchants with curiosity and waits for an answer to Mikals question.

Bekkah

She'd visited each farm to offer her help if needed. [ooc: She would have visited the mill and tower as well, but we'll ignore that for now]

The next morning, market day as she'd learned, she woke early as she usually did. There was nothing more relaxing then early morning prayers as the sun first appeared in the sky. Even with eyes closed, Bekkah felt the immediate warmth on her face and she opened her blue eyes, greeting the sun with the same smile she offered all friends.

With a quick meal in her, she saw that the market stalls had been set up. Setup in a strange manner, still it was a market. Then she saw the denizens of the forest arrive to her surprise. Being who she was, believing the best of all, she did not run away in fear, she continued towards a market stall, to inspect it's wares at the same time as one of the forest people approached.

She was clad in her usual white robe, and clearly held no weapon of any kind. Her blond hair shone in the morning light and she had a bright smile on her face.
[ooc: Okay, let's see if we can get this party started ]

The Heartwood
Waverider’s Watch
The Dirkwood Foret
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Cesare, Kadri, Mikal and Bekkah … and Keiko

“Aye I can do that …”

Thomas answers the question with a despondent sigh.

“But I could do it better in Grand Talantal, aye? Where I would have access to all your ledgers and records and speak with the exchequer himself. Would that not be more to your benefit, Lady Korie?

“Speak the word and I shall return there to best serve you.”

Jerris simply shook his head and sat next to the cooking fire. He stirred the stew and in a grouchy manner, grumbling about having to wait an extra day before he could replenish their wares.

He was especially grumpy after being interrogated by Mikal, reminding him that this is indeed a punishment duty, a banishment for having committed a social rather than a martial faux pas.

“Forest. Fence. Fish.”

That pretty well summed up all that could be seen from this tower. The nearby Forest, which was a dark and foreboding presence; one could feel it upon the air like a contagion. There was a saying about nothing good coming from the Dirkwood, and this close it was something very easy to believe.

“And the fence is off limits at least one day of the week, that was made right bloody clear to us.”

After the last the guardsman glanced at the empty bunk before returning to his simpler tasks.

Up on the tower to Mikkie was comfortably sprawled. He did not rise when Mikal made his way through the trap door. He was quite comfortably set up; a crate had been hauled up to serve as a lounge chair. A small flagon, a plate of bread, one meat pie and a block of cheese speared by a dagger sat next to him on a half keg table.

He begrudgingly spoke about the Marrennen, the local farmers and Marketday, and that they stayed outside the hamlet on the week’s fourth day, sending in only an apprentice or a lesser member of the family to trade. He did not elaborate, but presumably on the morrow they would enter the Village properly to trade with each other, the here farmer families and have their grain ground at the mill.

“It may not be right, them kind taking over this place come Marketday, but that’s just the way it is.

“Might as well enjoy a perfect summer day. Better than the alternative … actually better than most alternatives.”

Cesare’s quest is a little more interesting. The problem, of course, was the river. The Blackwater cut through the Tarn just to the west of the rock but the bank was a washout about ten feet straight down. That and there were odd critters on the bank below. They looked like fish but they had pulled themselves up on the river’s rocky edge and they were using their spiked fore-fins to move themselves – to walk – along the single row of stone that lined the base of the steep bank.

They came in a horde, slipping in and out of the water and they followed below when Cesare walked along the river’s edge above. They eyed him.

They eyed him as if they were considering what to have for their morning meal.

Luckily, they didn’t seem to be able to climb very well.

Now if Cesare meant the mill stream, that was far safer. It fell from the top of the rock in a small crystal clear and cool fall into a tumbled pool at the rock’s base. Bathing here would be both unwise and against Rhoni custom – a bucket had been set up on a simple wooden lever for use to draw out water for drinking and cooking. Several of he merchants were taking advantage of the fresh water, haling buckets for their use from here to their camp just beyond the village’s border.

Bathing would happen further downstream.

While the stream wasn’t much between the rock and the Blackwater there were some places where one could sit its the edge and relax. In these places the water was about a foot or two deep.

Bekkah, however, went to market.

The market stalls - such as hey were, being mostly big wheel barrows of the back of a cart – were simple affairs. Most had a farmer’s harvest of vegetables, fruits and cheeses, things that obviously could not be found readily in a Forest. Finished goods, like bolts of rugged cloth, buckles and other tinker’s wares were also out for display.

Two of the Forest’s denizens had paused before one farmer’s daughter, who looked more than a little nervous. One was a lillil’un, in a rough patchwork cloak hat had an air of being slightly newer than the others. The second one was a bigg’un and one that moved with a sure and very sophisticated grace.

Both were completely concealed within their cowls and they were very careful to keep their gaze down, their identities concealed. The lillil’un was hesita, moving a bit awkwardly, like wounded thing. It’s attention seemed to be on a wheel of cheddar that was set on a plate.

“Go on.”

The words from the bigg’un were soft and feminine, encouraging. The lillil’un didn’t say a word, but what it did do was extend a bell shaped sleeve in the general direction of the wheel. The farmer girl nervously replied, as if she were talking to something unpredictably dangerous.

“You want a piece?”

The lillil’un’s cowl ducked, as if somewhere inside a head nodded.

The girl held out a small box.

The lillil’un’s sleeve moved forward again, to half cover the box. Within it’ shelter there came a clink clink and when the lillil’un pulled back a couple odd, barely recognizable coins had been let behind. Swallowing a bit girl sliced out a fair sized wedge and pushed the plate forward. The sleeve slipped forward again and this time when it pulled back he cheese had vanished.

The bigg’un knelt next to the lill’il’un as if listening to someone speaking very quietly. After a moment the bigg’u stood.

“This one says … thank you.”

A little to the side, in the shade of the Rock and beneath the stair bound bigg’un’s gaze the Rhoni girl from yesterday was talking to another bigg’un. As cowled and as secretive as the rest of his … clan … his voice was rough, gravely and odd but definitely masculine – perhaps even aged.

“You arrrre a bold one arrrre you not. To have a question for the questioner.”

The bigg’un did not look to Keiko but instead watched the awkward afternoon’s trading.

“Our names are not very imaginative. They are simple. They say what we are. No more. No less. At best our role or task set to us. Markers to distinguish one from another.”

He was then silent for a long while.

“Blue Left Side Rectangle”

His arms crossed.

“I believe she would find that a wonderful name.”

Again he was silent.

“A question for you. Three is an important number upon The Heartwood. Three things in the world have names. People. Places. Things.

“Of the three, which would never imagine that someone might care enough to give them a name?”

Any answer might have to wait. Because as the lillil’un stepped away from the cheese cart that turn almost caused a tumble into a certain Lady of Atterra. It was a rustle, a sudden chaos of movement that could only be described as panic.

A blink … a blink and the dynamics of the market had changed.

Bekkah was ringed.

Five lillil’uns now were circled about her, each one perhaps five feet away. The soft spoken bigg’un stood behind one of them. The one on the stairs stirred, suddenly rising straighter, taller, significantly more alert.

From the village’s perimeter two other bigg’uns slowly started to spiral in.

Keiko
Waverider’s Watch, The Market
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Keiko watched Lady and the lillil’un begin their transaction before turning toward Renyard again.

“Bold?” She chuckled. “Oh, perhaps. Inquisitive is what my brother would say, though the elders might have used the word bold once or twice. A week.”

Nodding at his explanation, Keiko did smile just a bit. A gift of a wonderful name! That surely was a reason to smile.

Ah, and now came Renyard’s question, which she considered for several moments... it was a weighty question, with an answer that was not at all as obvious as some might think.

She had been about to answer when the whole atmosphere of the market changed in less than a heartbeat.

Keiko didn’t move at all, standing as still as her companion as he whispered his words to her.

Chaos! And all she could do was ride the waves... She picked one and then relaxed.

“They know me. I will face the Imperial on their behalf. I will not break the One Rule. There is no need for harm to come to anyone.”

Slowly, as if she was a leaf riding a gentle breeze, she moved from Renyard’s side. Looking up toward the Guardian, Keiko tapped her breastbone and nodded... I will help. It went without saying that she would not break the rule, for she had made that promise many weeks ago.

She murmured softly to the Forest Children as she moved almost as easily as they did, her cloak pulled in tightly around her slight body... now a foamy crest of a wave that was aimed at the Atteran.

“Fear not, my friends. I will stand between you and the Imperial.”

She wasn’t sure she could ease their fear of this stranger, but she could try to restore the harmony, the balance of the market. Keiko paused for a heartbeat at Lady’s side.

“I will take her away, yes, yes? No need for fear, for she will come with me. Some things must be, so that other things will not be.”

Keiko stepped forward then, and the wave came to rest in front of the Lady of Attera. The Rhoni girl noted that the Atteran was hardly taller than the Korie Dama – and so hardly taller than herself – but she was an Imperial. And apparently, that was the worst thing to be.

“Lady Bekkah, I presume. You must leave here with me. Now. You will not argue. You are causing disharmony that may turn to chaos if you stay. So you will come away from here. Slowly.” She unfurled her cloak enough to point with one finger at the end of a slender arm toward the rock. “There. Stay close. Keep your eyes on me, please.”

Then Keiko turned and nodded to the lillil’uns. “I am taking her away. Please, please... finish your marketday.”

The Rhoni had to trust that the Lady of Attera would follow as instructed. If her Cards were going to continue telling her the same things over and over... well, trust needed to start somewhere. This was a lot of trust to place in a stranger who so thoroughly frightened her friends, but Keiko stepped forward slowly – the first step hesitant, as though testing the waters, but the rest more sure and steady. Almost as if each step was part of the Dance... all grace and precision and purpose.

When she reached the place near the rock where she could look up at the Guardian, Keiko knew that one could see the echoes of fear in her expression. But Keiko trusted the Guardian. When she turned to face the Atteran, her lips were pressed tightly together and violet eyes flashed with an instant of anger that was not necessarily meant for the Merciful One before she gathered her cloak tightly around herself again... and just looked at the Lady Bekkah Yurisdotter.

Cesare

He watches the creatures just as they watch him, trying to work out if they are hostile, good eating or something he could co-exist with. Unable to reach a conclusion, he looks at them enough to be able to describe them to someone else and decides he will ask back at the settlement.

Returning he investigates the other water supply but concludes that this one is not for bathing. A little frustrated he looks around at the mill to see if there was a local he could talk to.

Bekkah

Suddenly, she was surrounded. She'd barely noticed it. She did not fear them. She believed completely in her Goddess. So fear of pain or even death never entered her conscious thoughts.

She turned in a circle and her features darkened. Again, not in fear or anger, but in sadness. What she felt was inexplicable. Well not quite inexplicable, but impossible. She made no sudden moves, her arms remained at her sides.

She hadn't even noticed the one named Keiko approaching her. She heard her words and the strained tone beneath them. She did not understand the reasons why she spoke to her like this, but she knew this situation was far from ordinary, at least ordinary in her experience. So without a word, or a backward glance, she followed the girl.

When Keiko looked into her eyes, she saw the intense sadness in Bekkah's eyes.

"Is there nothing I can do to help them?" she said barely keeping her tone from breaking into a sob.

Mikal - with Jerris, then Mikkie

"And what dire deed did you perform to be sent here?" He asks Jerris companionably.

Upon looking out from the tower's top and getting the curt reply from Mikkie, he follows his gaze to the empty bunk, taking the man's meaning. However with forest denizens among the village he wants to be certain.

"You had a companion who was killed? By those of the forest?" His glances strays to the forest denizens now engaging with the locals, wondering why they were allowed here if they were dangerous.

At that point he notes Bekkah among the cloaked ones, and suddenly surrounded. He takes up his crossbow, knowing he cannot run all the way back down in time, but not willing to stand by inactive if she is threatened.

He sees the village girl, Keiko, enter the circle and speak to Bekkah, and then the two of them walking slowly out together and he lowers the bow, turning back to Mikkie. "Are they dangerous?" He finally asks the question aloud.

Keiko

Keiko shook her head and then looked over at Renyard and sighed.

His questions... this situation... and the famous Bekkah Yurisdotter... Oh, the Cards had far more than hinted at the multitude of possibilities here and the potential for Chaos! But this?

She sighed again as she looked at the Atteran.

“You are helping them by being away from them. They fear you. You might not believe that any in this World would fear you, but these Children of the Forest do. And if they are frightened, then the Guardian... Well, it is known that the Ladies of Attera do not intentionally harm others, and your name is known to many of the Rhoni. But even curiosity can be harmful here.”

She shook her head, bowing her head slightly and thus hiding her features for a moment behind her cascade of dark hair, the red streak catching the light and showing off its vibrancy.

“I am still learning to be a friend to them. But I know that directness is best reserved for the Guardian, for Renyard, for Lady. The lillil’uns are...” Keiko looked up again, her eyes now reflecting more kindness. “They are a people who are unlike any I have met before. They are a people who are unlike any I have heard of in any of the Rhoni stories. I think you may have never met people such as these either. To help them, you must first come to understand them.”

But then Keiko’s eyes glinted with a sadness of her own. “You are an Imperial. They fear Imperials. To them, Imperials are Death. It does not matter that your Attera is the antithesis of Jagnar. It does not matter that Attera’s mercy tempers Hastur’s justice. It does not matter than Attera grants her daughters the ability to heal what Rames’ sons have hurt.

“Imperials are Imperials. The Forest’s people know only that Imperials are Death. Not life.”

The young Rhoni shrugged again and looked over at Lady and the lillil’uns... her friends.

“I think... perhaps... you might help them if invited to do so. If you show that you are not someone to be feared. But that is not something to be accomplished in a single afternoon. And perhaps not ever.”

Shaking her head once more, Keiko breathed out something that might be considered a chuckle.

“The Cards said nothing of an idealistic healer who wants to heal all the hurts of the World... unless one construes that quest as chaotic.” She looked sidelong at Bekkah and smiled. “I will give you the same advice I gave the leader of your company, one Mikal D’Allyne... have a care where and how you step through the currents.”

Keiko’s smile grew to something that looked very much like fondness as she watched the lillil’uns settling down now that the Atteran was not among them.

“Riding the waves, moving with the currents of the World... this is much safer than trying to move crossways to them and drowning. It might not always be easy, especially when so many currents are converging.”

She tilted her head, remembering stories from her younger days that were told by the eldest of the elders about those who knew how to see which wave, which current might be most advantageous. These strangers could certainly use someone like that to keep them from walking off a cliff into a deep ravine in the middle of the night. Oh, well. If the Cards were right — and they not played tricked on her in many long years — she had some role to play, even if it was only for as long as these strangers stayed at Waverider’s Watch.

Today, she prevented the One Rule from being broken. It had made a famous Lady of Attera unhappy. It was all about choosing which currents and which waves to ride.

Bekkah

She kept looking back at where she had been as she listened to Keiko.

"And what would mark me as an Imperial? The white robes. I carry little in the way of insignias. Do I smell differently than the average farmwife?"

"I would help them if I can. Can I be of service to the others? And what are they exactly. There is an unnaturalness about them. They have suffered greatly."

Keiko

“Surely, the robes worn by the healers are an indication of who you are. I cannot say what other signs they might see or hear or smell or taste from the air.” Keiko could only shrug. That might be a question Renyard could answer for the Atteran, but she certainly did not know.

“What are they?” Keiko’s voice was sad and made Renyard’s question all the more poignant. “Do you not mean, my Lady, who are they? As for an answer, they are the Forest’s Children. The unnaturalness you see in them is balanced by the unnaturalness they see in you. They are who they are. You are who you are.

“Perhaps they have suffered. Have we all not suffered in some way? But only they can say how great their suffering is for them.”

Keiko looked over at Renyard, tilting her head in a way that was a question and then looked at the ground near her before looking in his direction again. It was her best approximation of asking if he would care to join the two of them in their discussion. But then she smiled at him. After these many weeks, he would know this was most definitely an indication that she would be quite pleased to speak further with him.

The Rhoni looked at the other woman, studying her as she would not study the people of the Forest. Her hair was golden, much like Fate’s... and for an instant she wondered how her far distant kin fared. But the blue of her eyes was something like a gem... or even the color of a few of the Thousand Towers. The healer’s distress was real, although it might be misplaced. Again, Keiko had only been among these Forest Children for... oh, not enough time at all!

“I think, my Lady, that when you are in a current taking you in a direction you do not wish to go, fighting it only brings more distress to you. The current does not care.

“Perhaps you might wait until you know that they need your services before grieving that you cannot give them your healings.” Violet eyes were shuttered with long black lashes as Keiko blinked. “I do not share the messages of my Cards with those who do not wish to know. Is this not similar? We each have gifts, but if the gifts are not seen as such then is it not best to reserve them until they can be appreciated?”

Bekkah

She listened, looking back over her shoulder at the small beings who had seemed to resume their tasks. Finally, she held the younger girl's gaze.

"I suppose I can see your reasoning. I am just so trained to ease the pain of all when I can. It goes against everything I am to do nothing. But for the sake of peace in a place, I clearly do not understand, I shall keep my distance." she added with a gracious smile.

"And thank you for your aid. I did not get the feeling they would have tried to hurt me, but I would not have wanted to distress them either."

She moved to a bench and sat down, crossing her legs to watch the strangers who had come in from the forest. There was a definite look of sadness upon her features.

Keiko

Once more, Keiko shook her head.

“I understand that your training, that the very essence of who you are, leads you on a path to bring healing to anyone you meet. But have there not been times when you had choose who to heal? What to heal? If a man came to you with a sore foot but you saw a malformation of his face... would your first thought be to change what has been part of him his whole life, or would you wait for him to tell you of his wound and then heal his foot so that the injury would not become so grave as to take his life?”

The Rhoni looked across the space of the market — seeing the individuals she had come to recognize, seeing some who perhaps had not ventured out of the Forest in the time she had been here, seeing all of them as part of the community of the Forest Children.

“I do not see the pain that you see,” she said softly. “I see people who are different from any others I’ve meet in the World, but does that mean their difference is painful to them? Perhaps it is. But is it a pain of the body that can be healed? Or is it a pain of the mind or the heart, the things that even Attera cannot heal? If they have not requested the easing of their pain, is it right and proper to ease it without knowing whether it is a healing that is in the best interest of the individual and the community?”

But then she shrugged. “I do not think they would have hurt you. They fear you, yes. But it is the Guardian who might have had to intervene. That would not have been good.

“I have come to like these folk. If I aid you, then I aid them as well. And, if I am allowed just a small amount of selfishness for a moment, by aiding both you and them, I do not fear that my welcome here will be revoked.”

She turned to the healer. “I have been welcomed here and it means a great deal to me. Except for the past half year, my life had been my Family’s Caravan... traveling, meeting other Families, trading.” Keiko smiled sadly. “I was never alone. I was never on my own. It is usually the sons who walk through the currents of the World. When I came to this place, I found a very different community than the Caravans.

“Different, Lady Bekkah. No worse, no better... merely different. I walked softly, I watched and learned. The Miller and his wife have accepted my presence in their home. The guards in the tower tolerate my questions — some with better humor than others, and I will admit that there is a strange sort of peace to watch the Forest be itself while sitting with Mikkie on his parapet. The farmers and their wives and sons and daughters accept that I am here. They know that Rhoni come and Rhoni go, especially here at the end of the Forest Path.

“But my heart was touched with gratitude when the Guardian said that Renyard had looked in whatever way he has of knowing things and pronounced that I was allowed to stay in the village.”

Keiko sighed softly. “Different is only different. If there is no reason to attach meaning to the difference, why would anyone bother? And perhaps — if you, too, walk softly, watch and learn — they might come to know that Imperial does not mean Death. At least not from you.”

The currents were many today. Keiko had seen unexpected things. She had learned more about the Forest’s Children from Renyard. It would be interesting to see what her Deck had to say about the waves she chose to ride today and the lessons learned.

“It is my custom, when the lillil’uns have completed their transactions, to fetch a meat pie or two from Missus Heatherson. They are quite good. Would you care for one as well, Lady Bekkah?”

The Heartwood
Waverider’s Watch
The Dirkwood Foret
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Mikal … and Jerris and Mikkie

Mikkie could not help but smile as Mikal moved up and down and up again, traversing from Jerris in the main room to his tower top perch. The two Guardsmen had very different opinions and natures.

“I arrested a merchant for skimming off the tax roles …”

Jerris looked both dour and harshly put upon.

“One that happened to be the High Seneschal’s second cousin’s brother in law. And to add insult to injury, when the first of the chests arrived we learned that the High Seneschal got himself chased out of the Keep. Fat lot of good that did me.”

He looked to the empty bunk.

“Kerry Sharpeyes, one of the Brother from up the Duchy Cathedral. Came down to investigate irregularities in our taxes … seems some of our trade is done with pennies that ain’t seen the light of day since the Imperial landings. Coins are coins as far as I’m concerned, it’s not like folks toss them in the sea or something, right?

“Well being a good Hastur, he weren’t too happy about not being able to go to market, nor that the kin from the woods claim this place once a week.

“So on the third Marketday he was here, he said to blazes with this kind of heresy and went down to see what matters was all about.

“Seems he got himself caught in a scuffle over who got to buy the best of ma’am Queeg’s strawberries. He tried to get one of them to look him square wise, not hiding like some thief or Jagnarian assassin. He felt a lesson was in order, on how to pay proper respect to an Imperial in Imperial lands beneath an Imperial watch.”

Jerris returned to his stew.

“Guess that broke their one bloody rule. Seems right hypocritical, we can’t break it, but they go no qualms about ignoring it themselves.”

He focused his attention at the stew pot.

“They dragged what was left of Lord Kerry into the Forest. It took three of them, cause he weren’t in one piece any more.”

When Mikal returned to the top of the tower he was able to watch the drama at the market unfold. The guard just shook his head as he saw the mercenary take his aggressive stance.

It was too nice a day here in the middle of nowhere, for that sort of thing according o this particular guard or so it seemed.

But he did answer the question.

“Dangerous? Nin …

“They are dangerous, vicious, brutal, unyielding, uncommunicative and you don’t want to be caught breaking their One Rule, cause they don’t have reckonings or court here and their sense of justice is a mite draconic.

‘The One Rule?”

He pointed to the bigg’un standing on the stairs.

“Go ask that one. It’s their rule after all.”

Down below, by now, the tension seemed to be dissipating. Bekkah had been pulled to the side and by all appearances was in conversation with a Rhoni girl. Slowly the Forest folk returned to their trading and the two bigg’uns spiraled back out to their hamlet encircling perimeter.

The one on the stair was standing a touch more relaxed.

Though another of the bigger Folk had decided to drift towards the Rhoni lass and the Atteran. What they were speaking, of course could not be heard by Mikal or anyone up on the watchtower.

The Heartwood
Waverider’s Watch
The Dirkwood Foret
Marketday, the Fourth Day of Yrick

Cesare, Bekkah, Keiko … and Renyard

The fish, on the rocks ten feet below, did not look very appetizing. They seemed oily, covered with odd sores and welts and sickly patches of scales.

And not of a temperament that would allow for peaceful collection to become someone else’s meal.

Looking towards the mill Cesare would also view the end of the market drama. A Rhoni girl was talking to Lady Bekkah and one of the forest folk was approaching the two of them. A pair of bigg’uns was hauling a set of large sacks up the stairs, obviously bound for the mill to be ground to flour. So there was, obviously, a miller up at the mill to do such tasks.

Unless he approached, overhearing their conversation would be difficult. However, Keiko and Bekkah could definitely hear the words of the cloaked one when he finally made it over to them.

“You are asking the wrong question, high and lowside healer.”

This bigg’un seemed familiar with Keiko spoke, a leather covered shadow haunting the two women.

“It is not a matter of how can you help us.

“It is not even if we need your help …”

This one’s words were ragged and almost hoarse; it was definitely an elder’s voice.

“So let me ask you.

“Are you just seeing symptoms again?

“And if so, what manner of poison hides not in a goblet of apple cider, but within a Forest?”

Presuming mikal went towards the big'un on the stairs, Kadri for the moment follows him.

Keiko

“Renyard,” she said as the elder Forest Child approached, “this is Lady Bekkah Yurisdotter... as I suspect you have somehow already divined,” Keiko added with a note of humor in her voice. “Lady Bekkah... Renyard, he of the many questions.”

She listened carefully to the question Renyard had for the Atteran. It was not Keiko’s question to answer, of course, but hearing it and contemplating it was not outside the bounds of propriety. She did know that Renyard’s questions ought to be considered carefully for at least three or nine or twenty seven handfuls of heartbeats — and sometimes even for days!

“Renyard asked of me earlier a most interesting question as well,” she said almost as an aside to Lady Bekkah. “As one who has accepted the boon of many of his questions, I would offer you a gift to accompany Renyard’s query...”

This time, Keiko’s smile was warm and friendly. Joy could be found in learning new things, even when riding uncertain waves.

“It is good — even pleasant — to consider his questions for longer than one might think usual. Even weeks later, a deeper understanding of the World is often seen through the lens of what some consider riddles.”

She tilted her head as she regarded the Atteran for a moment, then tilted it to the other side as her gaze settled somewhere in the vicinity of Renyard’s shoulder.

“Your question to me earlier is one that might be as a swift-flowing river, and the answer a journey in itself.

“I have never been to a place that seemed to care whether it had a name or not. I have never encountered a thing that minded what it was called or whether it was named anything at all.”

Her eyes narrowed a bit in thought as she studied his shoulder.

“As a beginning answer, I might say that only people have this sort of imagination you mentioned... and people who are not seen as people by others might not have ever imagined that someone might care enough to give them a name.”

She pursed her lips as she looked up at the Guardian, across the market as many of the Forest Children gathered around Lady, and then at the Forest edge itself. Looking at Lady Bekkah and considering the question asked of her, Keiko nodded as she faced Renyard again.

“It is a deep current, yet it moves slowly. I have much to think about.” She looked then at the lillil’un she thought of as Blue Left Side Rectangle.

She only appeared to be lost in thought while the Lady of Attera had the opportunity to give Renyard an answer to his question — or not.