Tendaji is a rich and diverse land filled with many different cultures and languages. While most travelers are fortunate enough to speak a common language, sometimes one might find themselves in a village where they can't communicate with the local population. How do you manage? Do you find someone to translate, or fumble along?
[ Tendaji has many different languages that the locals speak, and sometimes you might find yourself in a village or town where no one is speaking your language. Use this prompt to explore that miscommunication - maybe thinking about how hard it is to get your message across. Or connecting with a stranger who is helping you translate so you can make that purchase you need. What happens when everything is lost in translation? ]
"Yelling at me will not make me understand you any easier!" Luleta groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. Here she was yelling at someone to not yell at her...
The Moakai had found her on one of the older paths of the forest. It was overgrown and difficult to see, and frankly a miracle that anyone unfamiliar with the area had been able to follow it at all. However, the Moakai had apparently reached the end of their ability to see it and was flailing around the forest looking for assistance.
At least, that's what Luleta suspected. She wanted to help the frazzled looking Kahikinan, but she couldn't understand a damned word coming out of its mouth! She sighed and made a sushing motion with her hands. "Caaaaalm dooooowwwwwn." Maybe talking slower would help?
Painted Moose
Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 10:48 am
Cornetified
When Ilsa went out to practice her jabs she wasn't prepared to come across an unlikely pair. Both looked as frazzled as the other, with hand gestures a plenty and as each side raised their voices Ilsa found herself leaning back with a grimace. Was it too late to walk away? They really didn't need her to get involved...
...or maybe they did? It looked like the Elarian was trying to calm the situation, as terribly as she actually was, and the Moakai looked near tears in frustration.
So, after making a slow walk up to the pair, the hybrid waved her own hand around for a bit to catch both of their attentions and offered a small, soft smile. "Um, anything I can help with?"
Painted Moose
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:03 pm
Now this was just getting uncomfortable. Maybe it would be better to just pluck the Moakai up right off their feet and carry them off to the port? That certainly seemed like a more appealing idea than trying to figure out what it wanted. It sure was tempting to Luleta. Just a little tap on the head to make sure it didn't spend the whole time screaming... "Pleeeaaase caaaalmmm doooowwwwn," she repeated desperately. If this didn't end soon, she was just going to end up leaving the poor thing stranded.
She looked up with desperate eyes when a voice that she could understand spoke up. "Oh, by Elzira, I hope you can." She looked over and gave the new stranger a big smile of hope and relief. "Do you speak anything of... whatever that is?"
The Moakai looked over at the new voice as well, but the arrival only seemed to increase their frustration. They turned to Ilsa with their hands out and rattled off some hurried words in a demanding tone.
Painted Moose
Posted: Sun Mar 12, 2023 2:56 pm
Cornetified
Ilsa awkwardly shook her head. "I don't, but I have an idea. I've had some experience speaking with a Menehune and I know it's a longshot but maybe they-" She nodded toward the Moakai, "-also know it?"
Her mothers traveled enough to pick up a couple of languages, though when Ilsa came into being they'd slowed down their travels considerably. Still, the dialect had been interesting enough to her to try and pick it up on her own so maybe what she knew was enough.
She held out her hands in a hopefully calming motion. "Me name Ilsa. You hear me?"
Painted Moose
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Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2023 9:11 am
"Hey, that's still better than me. I've got nothing." Luleta sighed and took a step back to give the strangers some space. "Hopefully, it will be close enough. I want to help, but I think I might be making it worse."
The Moakai wiped at their eyes as the hybrid approached and looked up desperately. Then.. Ah-ha! A couple words! Of course the Menehune language wasn't their first language, but they knew it well enough. "Name! Name Hosa!" They couldn't stop themselves from blurting out their story in rapid staccato words in their excitement and relief. The whole tale of poor little Hosa buying a keldari as a pet that quickly escaped and they got lost chasing it down.
Painted Moose
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2023 5:19 am
Cornetified
Oh! They might be getting somewhere! "Their name is Hosa." She translated back for the Elarian. It was much easier to follow when it was just simple things like that and maybe now they could get to the root of the issue-
-or at least she thought until they started popping off words super fast. Thankfully the way they were saying it helped Ilsa to keep up and what words she didn't know were able to be pieced together with context clues. "They bought a keldari as a pet and it escape. Now they're lost because they were chasing it." Really she couldn't imagine a more frustrating fate. She'd gotten lost in the jungles here herself when she'd first arrived, but at least she knew the language enough to get back out.
To the Moakai, she said, "Want help village or want help find it?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2023 3:59 pm
Though the majority of her stress remained in the set of her mouth, Luleta was able to sigh a breath of relief. "Okay. Hosa. That's a start." As the words began rattling out like an avalanche, she allowed herself to detatch from the conversation briefly and refresh herself. The frustration of being unable to communicate was new to Luleta and tested her patience like little else had before.
When Ilsa explained what was being said, Luleta couldn't help but to give Ilsa an impressed smile. "I am so glad you showed up when you did."
Hosa looked up at Ilsa expectantly. Their eyes narrowed slightly with consideration before they nodded. "Village. Find property and go to vill-" Hosa froze and raised a hand for silence, their head cocked to listen. Not far off, the rattle of a keldari's tail could be heard. "Keldari!" they chirped. Without hesitation, they spun and ran toward the sound.
Painted Moose
Posted: Wed Mar 22, 2023 9:58 am
Cornetified
Ilsa felt her cheeks darkening. She didn't like being put on the spot, and in truth it gave her more jitters than the garbled conversation itself. "Don't be; I might still mess this up."
When she heard Hosa speaking again, she turned toward the Moakai only to see the hand held up for silence. At least the sign was universal so she didn't speak; at least, until they took off into the wilderness. "Wait!" It didn't take a genius to hear the rattle of a keldari tail, but Ilsa had no idea if that was a friendly one or something wild!
"They heard a keldari and took off! Keldari venom can kill right? If they're threatened?" The last thing she wanted was for her first trip to Zinris to be marred by a death so Ilsa took off after them.
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:34 am
Luleta managed to hold back an amused chuckle, but still felt a light smile rise at Ilsa's reaction. "You are already doing better than I-" she paused at the risen hand as well, her head cocked to listen. Immediately, a frown crossed her features, and only deepened when Hosa took off. "A keldari's only going to rattle if it's already being threatened. Something else is out here," she quickly advised as she hurried at Ilsa's side, a blade already out in hand.
Hosa excitedly ran toward the rattling, determined to get their new pet back. They had seen the Keldari in the market and had just fallen in love with it, so they weren't leaving without it! They found the keldari curled up at the base of a tree and ran over without hesitation. "Keldari!" They scooped their pet up and turned back with a grin that swiftly turned into a fearful cry. A wirenth was crouched with its fangs bared in irritation at the interruption. It was smaller than the average adult, but still just as dangerous.
Painted Moose
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 8:49 am
Cornetified
5/7
Ilsa clucked her tongue and jumped over an exposed root as she ran. Thankfully the Moakai wasn't so far ahead of them that she couldn't visually follow, but she wished they would just stop. How had they come this far with such terrible self-preservation skills?!
Running straight toward a keldari that might not be theirs only to get caught up by another dangerous beast? Honestly! After a quick assessment of the situation, Ilsa went with her gut instinct and moved toward the Moakai. Weaponless but far from weak, she lifted the Kahikian and keldari combo into her arms. She had no clue what that other thing was, but she'd be willing to bet she could handle an attack better than this poor sod. So, she adjusted them bridal style, and looked toward the Elarian.
"You're the local; what's that thing and what do we do?" And to the Moakai she said, "Stay or I drop."
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 9:46 am
A curse slipped out through Luleta's lips when the wirenth came into view. Her mind assessed the situation quickly. "Wirenth. Would have attacked already if it wasn't alone." She tensed up to look as large as she could and snarled viciously to get the creature's attention.
The wirenth growled, but took a couple steps back as more competition arrived. It wasn't about to give up entirely on having a keldari meal, but it knew better than to attack a group on its own.
Luleta waved her hand back toward where they had come from. "Go. I'll make sure it doesn't follow."
Hosa cried out with relief and didn't hesitate to huddle into Ilsa's strong arms. "Don't drop! Don't drop!" they squawked out. One arm firmly held the confused keldari while the other slid to wrap as tighter as it could around Ilsa.
Painted Moose
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:53 am
Cornetified
6/7
"Won't drop. Hang tough."
Did that mean she was just supposed to leave the Elaria behind? It wasn't in her to back down from a fight, but Ilsa had priorities. The safety of the Kahikian was key, and yet the thought of leaving someone to cover her didn't settle with the hybrid. She'd never been able to trust someone with her back and a part of her wondered if this wasn't an elaborate play to attack both of them when they were turned away.
Logically she knew that if that were the case she would have been hunted much earlier than this, but a history of backstabbers was hard to dismiss.
"I'm only going to leave if you come with us!" That way she could make sure everyone was safe, herself included.
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Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:20 pm
The blade spun in Luleta's hand and she snarled sharply again. The wirenth hissed and took another step back. "It's small, but I'm not sticking around to fight it. I'm right behind you." She turned slightly to angle toward their path, but she kept her focus on the creature.
The wirenth howled out to make its displeasure known. Rather than follow the group though, it turned to scurry up the closest tree. From there, it glared down and growled its protests further.
Luleta walked backward with a firm glare remaining on the beast until it was out of sight. Even then, she kept watching should the beast feel emboldened as the distance between them grew.
Eventually though, she let out a long breath and she returned the blade to the sheath with an easy spin. "That was lucky. Are you both-" her gaze flicked to the keldari with resigned amusement, "are you all okay? ..We should get to town before they go running off again."
Painted Moose
Posted: Thu Mar 23, 2023 12:56 pm
Cornetified
Fin~
Ilsa didn't need more prompting to start moving. Even though she kept checking over her shoulder, she was quick to move away from the wirenth once the Elarian had made her intentions known. The last thing she wanted was to stick around the area long enough to give it a chance to double back and rethink it's plan.
"They look fine," When she turned to look at Hosa they were focusing on the keldari in their arms and she just shook her head with a tired grin. "I'll be glad to put all of this behind me though." From the stress of trying to translate to that entire situation with the wirenth...Yeah, Ilsa was done for the day.
