[Sindarin] A Warm Cove

For long, sailors from the fishing fleet of the Twin Cities had seen occasional lights in the distance from the central Island, but never had they sailed to take interest or investigate. After all, mere fishermen were not the sort to be explorers.

Resources were stretched thin for quite some time, and the masters of the Twin Cities had not the men to spare. But now things were more stable they had the means to send people to see if they could make contact with the mysterious folk of the central island. Vidkun had just the man, and thus sailing alone on a small craft, Fabian Iskandros  would go forth and see if he could find the truth of the settlement, the people that lived therein. 

The boat slowed as it reached the shore, the sails being stowed away before Fabian jumped off, pushing the craft up the sand such that waves on the shoreline would not drag it back out to sea.'

Disembarking he took stock of the land, straining out what little moisture had managed to get into his long red hair. He then looked down, his great boots sinking him deeply into the sand. Spinning this way and that now that he had a much better of the view of the geography, he realized that his attire was not exactly appropriate for the environment he was in. But, he wasn't about to stop for a change of clothes just about now. He had just landed on completely unknown grounds, at least he could discover the nature of a few hundred metres of this place. Rummaging about in a leather satchel he carried, he looked at his surroundings and made a very brief drawing to begin mapping what he had found.

He wondered briefly if he was wasting his time, if the mists wouldn't make any attempt to map this place futile. It was worth a shot anyway. Looking up from his drawing, he realized he saw a figure in the distance. Squinting for a second to get a better view, he eventually gave a friendly wave towards her.

The man tilted his head a little bit to one side at the woman. Her reaction to his arrival seemed... unexpected. She seemed skittish at first, but eventually she did return the wave. Well, that was good at least. If she had run off, he could only assume there would be some quite unkind people getting ready to ambush him the moment he stepped deeper onto the island's soils.

As he finished off his drawing, he noticed in his periphery the woman had entered the water. Well, he supposed it was quite hot. He'd wait for her to get out, and if necessary change given into something dry with his back turned to afford the woman some modesty.

Eventually though, he would walk towards her, trying to look as kind of a soul as he could. A pleasant smile, wide eyes, there would be just something artificial about the expression, but there wouldn't be really anything suggestive it was just a trap. "Hello!" he called, giving a smaller wave as he came yet closer. "My name is Fabian. Tell me, are you of this island?" the welcoming expression got a little inquisitive tinge to it.

"Is to be? Ah, you haven't crowned her yet. I would have thought harsh times like these do not call for ceremony!" He smiled after saying this, an effort to show he meant no real offence. "Yes, I would be most delighted to greet this Queen uncrowned." he would begin walking into the direction that Essa had pointed, assuming that she would lead him on.

"What is your name?" he asked curiously. "And, if I may, to what people do you belong? I am told people of different realms appear in this new world, as I am certain you now know too. Perhaps whatever your culture is, I have read of it before, or even seen it. I represent the Twin Cities in the straits out West, if perhaps you have seen them." he added, hoping his mention of his own origin would give trust.

"Essa. A good name, though I haven't heard it before. It is good to have met you, Essa." he tried to be forthright, yet kind in his tone, hoping to overcome the timidity of his counterpart. "The Usque. I heard of this in my readings, though I am not the most learned of that land. I suppose that would explain why I have not seen anything that I see of other cultures; clearcutting and the like. But I believe I have some idea of what to expect now. I suppose there are far worse neighbours that could have appeared here. I hope you come to see it the same way."

Strolling on, his heavy boots would make short work of any shrubbery and the likes in his way, while sinking deep in any sand or mud they came across.

Fabian noticed that Essa was looking at him quite often. He wondered why. Was she scared? Making sure that he wouldn't make a move to strike at her? Or perhaps more expertly she was sizing him up as a threat, wondering if to lead him into some sort of trap or into a real meeting. Well there was no way to find out, so he might as well trust her at her word. Ah, but there it was. Civilization. Smoke, the penultimate indicator of industry, of artifice of human hands.

As he walked on, he noted that everything was freshly cut. He wondered which of the theories this supported. That something wholly innocent was going on, or that he was to be lured into ambush? At the end he reckoned he had found no answers. Every so often, he would stop to scrawl a little bit of geography he witnessed.

Still, the man couldn't help but be surprised by the sound of some apes hollering. He had never heard a sound as that in his life, and his hand descended to a blade at his waist for just a moment. Surely a peaceable beast could not make such a sound? Still, eventually he relaxed. "Well, we could always cut through. But I will trust your discretion." he said, nodding appreciatively. "Nasphie?" he asked, raising a polite, curious eyebrow hoping for elaboration as to who this was.

"Well, if you say so. It is your land, you would know better." he said, flatly, following to the letter. He reciprocated the smile, pushing aside some of his hair that fell upon his face. "I see." he replied when told who Nasphie was. He was much more interested as Essa elaborated on who this leader was. "She is a healer, you say? Does she not find any issues when these two tasks come to a head?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I take it there are not particularly many of you about, then." he said, reckoning this had to be the case if people had to have many jobs as such. When the woman seemed in pain, he hurried over. "Are you unwell?" he asked. "I am something of a healer myself. I might be able to help." he continued, trying to look helpful.

She was humble, covering up the pain. But it was clearly still there as an issue. As they approached the settlement, he nodded in understanding. They had arrived here a lot more recently, it was understandable they were disorganized as so.