Eccentric Workmen
1- The wagon homes of the Er'Aelva, which can be pulled by one to four horses, depending on size.
2- The Er'Aelva equivalent of mocking someone.
3- Er'Aelva for "child"
4- Ged/Dwaervi slang for "idiot"
As the cart pulled onto the cobblestone streets of the city, Riona knew her first day in the city was starting. She'd been anxious ever since the wee hours, when her father had stirred from his bed across from hers. She had heard the sounds of the horse being hitched to the cart, and felt the eventual pull of its movement down the bumpy trail. The soft chirping in the forest, the eventual sweeps of wind through the grassy fields, all while she struggled to wake. Her body had resisted every attempt as they made their way through the calm of nature. Soon the menagerie of sounds was joined by the hoofbeats of other travelers.
The ensemble of light traffic lasted all the way until the rising sounds of civilization could be heard, the gentle synchronization of multiple horses and what Riona assumed were other avaru's1. The ambiance was overtaken by bustling streets and the clapping of cobblestones that grew louder. The loud yells and smells permeated the cozy cabin she had called home for sixteen years, putting her sharp nose and pointed ears in unfamiliar territory. She'd never been to the city, though her father had many times. He always went around this time of year to work with the other Er'aelva who came here. Surviving off the land was a large portion of their livelihood until the winter months rolled south of the mountains.
The constant pace soon petered to a slow halt, and the sounds of her father's worn perch creaked as he hopped down. The slap of boot on cobblestone thumped along rhythmically with the her cascading thoughts. How did the city look? What were the people like? Her thoughts were scattered as she heard her father knock on the door.
"Rie, are you awake?" her father's voice asked in a soft lilt.
"Ay, I'll just be a moment." She rushed to put her new shoes on, the ones her father had bought for her to wear into the city. He'd said the stones would ache her feet as they did his when he first came here years ago.
"Don't take too long," he said as his voice grew farther. "You don't want to be late."
As she opened the door to the cart, her eyes were struck by what she saw. It was unlike anything she could've imagined, even after her father had explained it to her. The large buildings the people here had built made Riona's home look like a vurm amongst the scorpiose of south. The stone and wood infrastructure cast deep shadows against the still waking sun, and the looming building in front of her did so deeper. As she walked, her eyes caught the movement of the other migrant workers heading to her way, standing out against the few citizens up this early. The tight-wrapped headdresses that covered their hair and ears, the plain wool and leather garments, contrasted the brighter dyed dress of the cities inhabitants.
Riona's father, in his light blue foreman's headwrap, waited at the top of the concrete platform to the warehouse. Next to him stood three other men, all unfamiliar to her. They chatted amongst each other, all vastly different. She walked up to her father as he spoke to the assembled men. Riona knew enough of the common tongue, having been taught the basics by her mother.
"-The owners are asking for more production from the migrants, but they cannot compete with the machines that Aaren has installed."
"Tis true, they canna sow as fast as the hobs contraption can." a smaller man said. His accent was as coarse as the hair on his body.
"The contraption spits cloth out as fast as ten seamstresses, and with half the whining." another said. He was similar to the furry one, with a pronounced set of horns and a prominent snout. To her he resembled a goat, and the little one his child.
"You say that as if you'd sow just as fast as them," Riona's father said with a chuckle.
"Ay, well why not ask the lass behind you," the shorter man pointed. "Do ya think you could out-sew me, little lady?"
Riona stared back as if she didn't know how to respond, with the man waiting. Her father, who had since turned around, fiddled with the small blue pendant in the side of her headwrap. "She's a bit shy," he spoke. "just like her mother."
"I'm not shy, I'm just not sure if I should insult him by saying yes." she said as she pushed his hand away, fixing the mussed jewelry. The goat-like man laughed loudly, rubbing the head of his shorter co-worker. This earned him an aggressive slap away.
"She's shy alright, Finn." the short one spoke. "As much shyness as a liquored up Eropi."
"Good thing she doesn't look like her father," the goat-man smiled at Finn, who smiled back with a finger on his nose, and his tongue sticking out.2
The third person stood watching the others, not a word uttered. His onyx-black skin glistened against the cresting sunlight. Riona's eyes met his, the sharp pupils cut the air between the air leading to her soft hazel ones. "She not see Ayam before?" he growled. She slightly stepped to her father's side.
"She hasn't, aye. She's only been around other Aelva since she was a shovi3
The massive lizard-man snorted, whether from contempt or dismissal, she wasn't sure. "Tell her it rude to stare. Ayam eat challengers, especially young ones." his teeth bared in a devilish snarl. She made no move, stiffly positioned behind her father. Never breaking eye contact for what felt like an eternity, the man broke the standoff with a laugh that sounded like a roar.
"Civri's knickers, Ikni, you'll scare the girl out of her skin!" the goat man yelled
"I think no. She is strong like Daibidh, but not much hair."
"Aye, she may not be as hairy as me," the little man replied "but she's sure to have a mane to her knees like her old man. Plus it's a sign of good health in Geddeman and Dwaervish culture, just ask Hugh."
"It's a sign of good health if you take care of it, you lice-herder." said the goat man.
"No one asked you, you overgrown grazer!"
"You just told them to amidun4!"
"Alright fellows," her father said with his hand on her shoulder. " I'm going to escort Rie to her post, and make my rounds. I'll see you all at the noon bell." and with that, each gave her father a goodbye as they made their way through the large oak doors.
"How do you know them, da?" Riona looked about at all the other workers inside the area as they walked. Most were hard at sowing together various clothes, from shirts to tunics, to dresses.
"They're foremen as well, or they take care of the factory in some way."
"Are they your friends?"
"Why, did they make you uneasy?" her father's voice seemed somewhat joking.
"No, I was just curious. They aren't anything like what I thought they would be. Nothing here is."
"That's because you've been listening to missus Aeba too often, she never has something useful fall from her arse, let alone her mouth." Finn turned to his daughter as they walked down another row of tables. "Just don't tell her I said that." he winked as he said this, causing her to giggle.
Near the back, where an empty few desks sat, Finn directed his daughter to one next to the only other person. "This is your desk." he said with a hand proffered to it. She walked to the small wooden chair pulled out by her father, which made a long, low creak. Looking about, there were various spools and needles scattered about.
"You'll work on sowing simple shirts at first, nothing fancy, just make sure your stitching is tight. I'll come by to get you at noon-break." he fussed with her pendant one more time before walking off.
As she watched her father leave, the strange place she found herself in began to dawn on her. There were hundreds of people in here, and not one did she recognize. Some seemed to be from the city itself, with their finer clothing and cleaner appearances. Some were small and furry like "Daibidh", the small foreman. Others had horns and snouts similar to the goat man. All manner of horns, all with decorative designs on them, and the various colors and adornments were a far cry from any she'd seen in Aelva caravans.
The girl next to her for example seemed to be one of the so called "Geddeman" Daibidh had spoke of. Her small horns curled up and inward, like the curly brown locks put up in a bun. Even her ears looked like a goat's, to her amazement, and occasionally they flicked at the air as she needled the tunic before her.
"It's rude to stare." she said, her eyes never even moving towards Riona's
"I'm sorry, I was just trying to look at the symbols on your horns."
"They're runes," the girl rebutted. "Not 'symbols'. They're meant to ward off evil and misfortune."
"Oh, I didn't know." Riona squeezed her hand around the spool of thread closest to her. Were most of the people here so brash in their attitudes? She couldn't remember her mother being this coarse, though she'd grown up in this city. "I'm Riona," she eventually said, extending her hand.
The other girl didn't seem much older than her, but Riona couldn't be too sure, though she acted stand-offish for someone so young. The girl looked from her work to the aelven girls hand, and limply grabbed it. "Corsia."
"It's nice to meet you, Corsia. Did you grow up here? You sound different the man I met outside."
"No, I'm from from Fort Kivri."
"Is that far?"
Corsia looked at Riona with furrowed eyebrows. "You don't know where that is?" Corsia's response was the helpless confusion in the aelven girls hazel eyes. "Yes, it's quite far." Corsia turned back to her work with more concentration than before.
Riona followed suite, sowing the simple cloth into what was to be someone's protection against the elements. "There's time to make friends," she said to herself, "I just need to get used to this place."
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