Of Elves and Shrieking 9th of Slate
I was working on navigating the specific work order forms to requisition historical statues of the seven founders, when I was informed a small caravan approached the farm, with pack horses but no wagon. Odd. I hadn't been expecting one, but gave the order for the market to be stocked with many parcels of egg meals anyway.
The arriving traders were elves, carrying a variety of goods, although only as much as two horses could carry. I came to the market to meet these people who stood tall and thin like swaying reeds, with sharp points on their ears and teeth. I had never seen elves before. It is an uncanny experience; their friendliest smiles are uncomfortably eerie. However, they approached us in peace, and brought with them timber to carve, and wooden and cloth goods.
Elvish timber is bizarre to look upon and to hold. It seems to be frozen in the midst of flowing, like obsidian. Nevertheless, it seems solid and sturdy, and I am very pleased to have another chance to procure lumber even though we have no good axes. Not only will we have beds this summer, we will have wheelbarrows and bins, and our industry will be more efficient!
In addition to the raw timber, the elves brought weapons made of wood, fit for sparring, if not much else; shields, chests, splints and crutches; animal cages; some trinkets and instruments; a few lumps of clay; and clothing and armour, but those were useless due to their proportions, stretched out and thin for elf wearers.
They brought two ranged weapons called bows as well. They look like half of an oversized crossbow; big, simple tools controlled and aimed entirely by hand. At my request, one of the traders showed me how they are drawn, and how the bolt is balanced against the body of the bow, only the bolts are called arrows. They are longer and thinner, like the bows, and like everything about these people. They are a strange new weapon, not dwarf-like in construction or style, but I think our people can learn to use them.
I had a quiet conversation to one side with Eric, and at my urging, he traded generous portions of our meals for everything the elves had brought (except for the elf clothes and armour) and traded friendly words with the merchants, urging them to return, and bring more with them next time!
Even while generously offering more than the elves' goods were worth, we traded less than half of the duck egg meals we had prepared and ready for sale.
After overseeing things at the market, I wandered back toward my old office to contemplate my meeting with the elves, but stopped and entirely forgot my purpose when I spotted Ash working feverishly with a piece of timber at the crafting workshop in the bone and jewelry sector. I couldn't tell whether it was elf timber or one of the old lot that hadn't been used yet.
"Ash? What are you-"
"Shut up, I'm busy, no time for foolish talking," snapped the doctor, measuring a length of something with medical calipers. Startled, I almost jumped back, and left him alone. My contemplation had an entirely new subject of focus. Eventually, though, I managed to wrest myself out of my worries and get those order forms finished. I've never known Ash to work wood, but he's free to try something new. I know he's been sitting idle a lot, and perhaps he tires of it a little.
The season of new life brings us some. Cog Glacierglaze our mechanic has a sweet baby boy named Nil, and more ducklings have hatched. We have actually nearly doubled our duck population already. The ducklings number 39, and some of the first hatched are starting to lose their fluffy yellow fuzz for proper elegant brown feathers. It will still be some time before they are mature enough to lay eggs of their own, but as our population expands, I have been preparing and organizing the construction of a second pasture, laid out to prevent the ducks from fighting, and built around a natural pond.
The farm greets children, and also more travelers seeking a new home. This is the largest group that has come to us yet. I will have a lot of work cut out for me in finding roles for them all. On the upside, though, this will doubtless give us an opportunity to make greater use of our expanded hall of industry.
Oh, he's finished with his project. What in the world is a gabet?
... My god, it shrieks... Ash, you madman,
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? The cry of this thing hurts my ears and carries through air and stone. It will ruin my temple of silence. How could you betray Alod like this, Ash? You were my first and most faithful brother in prayer!
He sees the shock on my face. He smiles at me, and hands me the instrument. How did he make it sing without goring his hands on the spikes? How did he conspire to make a working air bag out of
wood!? This is a work of strange, dark madness... But Ash seems very calm. He takes the strange instrument in hand again, and does... something... to it. The box bleats. My ears ache. A small group of ducklings waddle closer to investigate the sound. The songs of this impossible contraption seem, somehow, to make them happy.
I walk away, holding my head. I have seen too many strange things already this season. Feri comes to Ash with a smile and kisses his cheek. I must have been too caught up in my work to notice they'd fallen in with one another in quite that way. But I suppose this explains... something. Somehow.
I may have to dig a tunnel far, far away from the rest of the complex of Lanlargomath to establish a new temple to Alod where her silence will be maintained.
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Topic: BirdLegend (Read 3266 times)