Solo or RP Format Counts as 5 RP growth Points Solo word minimum is 750, RP post minimum is 7
A crisp breeze has rolled into Tendaji, bringing the temperatures down both on land and sea. Along with the shortening of days, this is a sign that it is time to harvest food and resources to prepare for the winter months.
Typically, harvesting is a community effort. Be it the family all coming together to ensure the produce is picked before it sours, or the community coming in to help till the fields, it is quite the event. Most don't mind stepping up, considering the hard work always pays off with a festival, but some do find it quite a burden.
Either way, if the community wishes to come together and survive another long winter, it's time for you to step in and play your part.
[ The fall harvest is back again. This time, you have been asked to play your part. Be it helping gather materials like wood and furs or plucking the fruits and vegetables from the fields, your task has been laid out for you.
When replying to this event, we are looking for your character to be actively helping with the fall harvest. Maybe it's a team effort with a friend, or a thoughtful reflection of what fall means. Take the time to explore how your character feels doing such work during this time of year. ]
During his brief stay in Matori, Nyko was trying his best make himself useful. He’d been raised to serve others and thus wasn’t as unused to physical labor as some might think, but it wasn’t as if he did much of it now. If anything he’d grown soft during his time in Belrea since most of his time and talents were spent doing other things.
So, when the village they were staying in asked for volunteers in exchange for a communal meal he’d signed up. Apparently the tasks were simple; all he needed to do was debone the fish laid out in front of him and prep it for others to salt. While the village was close to the ocean they had a tendency to have a lot of major storms throughout the ‘winter’ months causing a shortage of food so they did what they could at the end of summer to prepare for it.
He saw his fair share of bodies moving around the space, but what he hadn’t been expecting was a very pregnant iceling coming to a stop near him, whipping out a knife as if it were an extension of her arm and gutting a fish in one blow.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 9:52 am
Sylvirah was over this pregnancy and over Zyphire. Somewhere along the line she’d started growing irritated by his constant presence and when he asked her why she snapped. She couldn’t even say why she was so frustrated! It wasn’t as if she were mad at him yesterday, or even earlier in the day, but there was just something about his face in the moment that made her want to cut it off. So, instead of sitting around the hut and fuming in the heat Sylvirah had gone for a walk which led her to the village.
Finally; something was used to and could accomplish without others telling her not to. Maybe it was the lack of layers hiding her shape, but ever since this pregnancy had started she felt bigger than any other child she’d carried and with that came so many more limitations and –
Sylvirah subconsciously slammed the knife onto the table, cutting through the head of a fish with one strike and eliciting a gasp from the man beside her. When she turned a sharp eye to him he very quickly diverted his attention and she sighed. She was supposed to be here to help the locals, not terrify them.
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 9:55 am
“You…uh…I’m sorry, but would you like me to move?” Maybe she needed the space? Nyko was about as accustomed to pregnant women as he was Matori in general and having her this visibly frustrated, with that kind of knife skills, made his heart pound. The woman was shorter than him, in a flowered dress no less, but those arms; spirits above she could have snapped his neck if she wanted to.
Without as much passion as she had, Nyko expertly filleted the fish and separated it into sections before reaching for the next one. His years in the kitchen of his youth helped him, though now he was taking side steps away from Sylvirah.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:01 am
The iceling reached across the table, grasped the next fish and started to gut it with less ferocity. “No, you’re fine. I’m just in my head.” Looking over to his catch, she nodded to his work, “You’re practiced; that’s a chefs touch, not a fishermans. Are you part of the cooking crew?” She’d been around Zyphire enough to know what knives a cook preferred as opposed to rougher, bulkier tools used by those who worked outdoors. Besides the fact that he didn’t look as if he worked a day of his life outdoors.
There were a few others like him in the communal group they were in, but she didn’t see nearly as many with the same lean frames. He was muscular, but toned instead of bulky, as if he were doing it for the look of it instead of practicality.
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:05 am
“No, just a visitor.” Feeling a little more at ease with the situation, Nyko gave the blade a spin with his fingers and stabbed it down onto the table. Much to his amusement, the woman beside him smiled. “My mother was a cook when I was growing up and I spent a lot of time with her in the kitchen. Old habits, but – “ He made a motion toward her own work, “-I’d say yours are more recent. You’re not local, doesn’t even seem like your partner is-“ Otherwise he assumed they would have been here with her, “-so what brings you to Matori?”
After all, it wasn’t everyday someone with that thick of an accent made their way south. Her scars were older, like his own, but there were also fresher marks, made possibly before the pregnancy. Or during; she looked like the type to take on demons in that state.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:10 am
“My husband wanted to take me on a trip.” She mused while she worked. “Before this I had never left Zena and I was happy with that. He’s been trying for years so I…I don’t know, I guess gave in? We’ve had a lot of fun, but we didn’t know we had a third on our trip this entire time until we got here.” She reached down to pat her distended stomach with a fond smile. It was a surprise for sure, but not an unwelcomed one. Sylvirah had never been shy about expanding her family so to her it was the greatest souvenir she could have ever gotten from this trip.
“I’m just…unused to the heat and the constant sand. It was nice at first, but the burns…” She curled her lip. The swelling was also so much worse in the heat and that in itself was the biggest reason why she’d been related to ‘bedrest’ in these last few weeks. Unbeknownst to her family, she wouldn’t be confined, especially to a bed. “I needed something that reminded me of home; something to make me feel useful. So, when they asked for help, I came. What of you? You don’t fit in either.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:14 am
“My-“ Lover? Boyfriend? “-business associate wanted me to check out some options in Matori so I came. I grew up in Oba, but I’ve been living in Belrea until lately. It’s all an adjustment; especially the burns.” Either Belrea just didn’t have the same intensity when it came to sunlight or Nyko’s skin had gotten as soft as his heart. The first few days he’d spent here his limbs were so tight from the burn that it hurt to breathe let alone move.
It seemed like she was helping out for reasons that were so much better than his ‘free meal’ so Nyko chose to omit that part of his confession. “Is your husband from Matori?” Seems like that would make the most sense, especially since the journey they’d taken for a vacation was so long.
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:20 am
Oh just thinking about Zyphire again made Sylvirah’s blade chop harder through the fish. When an older Matorian came by to pick up their cuts the friendly smile faded into a concerned and slightly worried look that she passed to Nyko. No doubt they were going to talk about him as if he were the problem, but Sylvirah didn’t care. “He’s from Jauhar; his skin shifts with the moon.” And oh how he glowed under the moonlight, especially when he was naked near the water –
“He’s the most infuriating man I’ve ever met and even though this is our third-“ she slammed the knife into the fish again, “-THIRD he still thinks he knows more about what I should do than me. This healer they’ve called – midwife, bah – thinks the change in environment might make it ‘harder’ for me. As if I don’t know that already! I can hold my own! I’m here now, aren’t I? I’ve been working here all day with the fish and – “Then she trailed off into a tirade in her own, native language.
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:25 am
[5/7] The more her fire started to grow the more Nyko became convinced that whatever man had decided to marry him was either crazy, desperate or stupid. Maybe all three. She was a beauty, that much he couldn’t deny, but Gods was she vicious. A shifter and an iceling, on vacation in Matori, welcoming a third child into the world…
Gods, if he hadn’t broken things off with Thessia would he be in this situation?
“You have been, but even I can tell that you’re tired.” Okay, so, maybe he should have kept his own mouth shut. Still, there was sweat on her brow and he would have been a poor excuse for a soul not to call her out for it. “He obviously loves you and the healer is just trying to do what’s best. Maybe-“ Ah, she wasn’t even listening to him at that point. He couldn’t even begin to figure out what that language was.
“Hey, hey-“ Bravely, Nyko reached out to put a hand on her arm, “-You’ve cut so many filets those biddies with the salt can’t keep up. So, let’s take a break and get some water. Then we can come back.”
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:31 am
For a moment Sylvirah contemplated slapping his hand away from her arm, but even she had to admit she was tired. Spending the better part of the day under the heavy sun of Matori was hard on anyone, let alone someone as close as she was to giving birth. Her curls hung heavy against her neck and with a defeated sigh she nodded.
“Maybe that’s for the best.” She reached down for the longest fish bone she could find, then used it to twist her hair into a messy bun to keep it off her skin. Was that all it was? Really? Just Zyphire and the local healers trying to keep her healthy? She was doing fine, it was all going so well, but…Well, there was still so much she didn’t know about Matori and what if they had a point?
“You’re not going to send me back, are you?”
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:40 am
[6/7]
“No, but I do think it would be a good idea to send for your husband.” Nyko patiently led her to a shadowed area just beside a worn-down dock house. There were already several others huddled against it’s cool exterior, but one look at Sylvirah and room was made atop a makeshift bench. When he had her settled Nyko went after a few cups of water as well as some fruit that was being passed around the group.
“Here; figured you could use a snack. I’m ready for one.” Just so she didn’t think he was babying her, he took a bite of it and found the flavor to be bitter, much to his delight. “If you really have been gone all day and he doesn’t know where you are he might get worried. Besides, don’t want rumors going around that you’re off gallivanting with another man, do you?”
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:44 am
Sylvirah took the offered drink and drank from the cup greedily. She truly hadn’t even noticed how thirsty she was until she’d drained it. While the fruit’s smell did nothing for her, the act of having something in her empty stomach did help with her mood. What if she’d just been hungry when she was yelling at him? Wouldn’t have been the first time.
“If you do send for him tell him to bring the rest of the family. It started out as just us here, but our children are here now, as well as some of his clan, so they can help out.” Was she really about to put them to work on their vacation? Of course; too much free time would make them lazy.
The comment about the ‘other man’ had her snorting. If only he knew that Zyphire was the other man… “I think our reputations are safe. You’re a good man, but your arms are like wet stockings. You could never handle me.”
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Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:45 am
Wet stockings?!
Nyko’s cheeks darkened a flustered purple and he very nearly sputtered. “Okay, I’m tougher than that.” When she laughed at him, he couldn’t help sitting back like a petulant child until she reached out to pat his shoulder. As embarrassed as he was, Nyko knew she was telling the truth so a little smile crept through. “At least I’m here, right? Helping? That’s gotta count for something.” There was no way he would ever want to try handling a woman like that, but he was smart enough to acknowledge it. He could handle spoiled, bossy, snarky lovers, but those that were like a beast in a dress? Nah; that was all her husband’s prerogative.
“You’re one cold lady,” Nyko laughed. “Your kids are going to hate you for taking them away from the beach.”
Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2023 10:47 am
“Maybe, but it’ll be worth it.”
Keeping that sense of community, even if they were no longer around the Ild’vann, would serve them well in life. She had no illusions that her children would stay in Zena. After all, their father traveled yearly to Southern territories and as much as Sylvirah wanted them in the north she wouldn’t force them. All she wanted was to make sure they knew how to work for what they had and to help others.
After all, at the end of the day, gold wouldn’t save them. The family whom you helped prep for the winter storms, however, might.
