Assessing The Travelers

JP with Omni, Lorem, and Winteroak

When they had caught up to the convoy, but still at a distance, Gonyaul excused himself from Voah and rode on ahead alone. He assessed these people carefully as he neared, looking for any signs that he should turn and flee. He was optimistic they would be friendly as a default, a naive way of thinking in this hostile land.

He wasn’t trying to hide himself, that would have been impolite. Instead, Gonyaul was riding casually and trying to welcome their attention with a friendly wave. When he was within earshot, he called out cordially ‘hello’ in Vauxian, Odsier and Helias. He hoped one of those languages worked for them.

He must have looked like a patch work of cultures at this point. He was riding bareback in an Odsier style, with the coloration of his inner Arisha Ikeburer dyed to match their tents. His hair was braided in a most intricate and elegant fashion with Voah’s jade comb as an ornament. His youthful features, as a whole, were unique. He had the staff from the mines with him, though he hoped he wouldn’t have need of it.

These people reminded him of what Voah told him about her traveling childhood. Perhaps they were similar?

Before he rode off toward the travelers, Voah had to remind Gonyaul that he was Zovyan if names came up.

To cover her bases, she had given him the wooden staff from the ruins to wear while she wielded the bow and arrow and watched from a distance. The holy sword was hidden beneath cloth in her bundle on Litany, but Voah was poised to spur on her horse and ready arrows if there was any danger.

As the travellers noticed someone approaching a few men disengaged themselves from the caravan and came out to see what the rider wanted. The rest of the group carried on their voyage.

The men didn’t look friendly but neither did they look aggressive. They appeared calm and collected, offering no signs of how they were reacting to the riders. Gonyaul could see any weapons on the men.

Voah’s black scarf and strands of newly dyed hair rippled gently in the wind as it swept across the plain. She waited patiently, one hand on the reins walking closer and the other on her Odonine bow.

Gonyaul brought Amu on course to intersect with these greeters. He stopped Amu far enough away to have a conversation. New to bareback riding, his stops were still drawn out and choppy.

Once again he tried a cordial ‘hello’ in the three languages he knew; Vauxian, Odsier, Helian in that order. He bowed his head, needing one hand to hold onto the horse for balance and the other to hold the staff. It was slightly annoying not being about to use his hands to sign.

Gonyaul smiled, he looked about as non threatening and eager as a puppy dog wagging its tail.

The men looked on at the rider with passive expressions. They kept an eye on the other rider further back.
One of the men, the only one riding a horse returned the greeting in the language of the Odsier but neither made further attempts to engage with the newcomer, waiting to see what the strangers wanted.

Gonyaul’s cheerful disposition remained unfazed by their bland reception; which was as inviting as hugging a rock in his mind. He recognized the language of the Odsier and went with that. He knew basics from Tiponi’s tutoring and experience with the Red Hand. Gonyaul tried to explain that he and his ‘wife’ wanted to barter, or buy, supplies and or food. He hoped he was saying and gesturing it well enough.

In Odsier, “Good day … me … wife … food … clothes … tool … buy??”

The men looked at each other and seemed to whisper to one another in low tones that Gonyaul could not make out.

"He are camping soon. A few miles down the path. Come and join us and we will discuss trade." The man on the horse said putting his hands together in front of his chest as if in greeting, bowing his head slightly.

Gonyaul inclined his ear towards the man’s words and pieced together what he said like he was finishing a puzzle. Smiling he bowed and expressed that he understood.

“Thank you.”

Gonyaul let the staff slide in his right hand so that the end rested on the ground next to Amu. It was the agreed upon signal to Voah that things were safe and to come join him.

Seeing Gonyaul's signal, Voah let out a sigh of relief. "Thank Kupen." she said aloud and cupped her hands to her head and kissing them before pushing her prayers out to the sky God. The last few days were stressful in ways both good and bad. This chance meeting would hopefully be fortunate, maybe even for both parties. Voah and Gonyaul needed supplies or safe passage through the help of these travelers and thankfully she still had something valuable to trade. Voah maintained seven pearls, two of which she had distributed to her fiance for friendly incentives, careful not to keep all the valuables in one place.

She urged Litany forward to catch up at a reasonable and non-threatening pace. They were a team, 'equal but different' as Gonyaul said, but Voah's plan was to remain subservient to Gonyaul in front of these travelers until such time as she was sure of their customs. Besides, he had proven a better figurehead for communication sake and she spoke very little Odsier.

She approached Gonyaul with her head slightly bowed in submission to her 'husband' as their hosts rode back to their convoy.

Gonyaul was not accustomed to Voah behaving in a submissive role. He knew it was the agreed upon behavior and was trying to suppress a bashful smirk. He had to admit though that there was something about her coy performance that made him want to pounce.

Gonyaul explained to Voah, in as much details as possible, what his interaction with the men was like. What they said and how they behaved. It seemed a favorable situation; however, he was hoping for less indifference in their first impressions.