The Dauntless

"These are Nova and Fleur, they're wargs that we've been teaching and training this last month or so," Dorrak introduces them.

Nketiah blinks and Jahsi lets out a heavy laugh. "That is an unusual thing," he chuckles. "But very like a paladin, from what they tell me."

About an hour later after everyone has finished freshening up and treating wounds, Jahsi bows out with an apology to take a patrol shift before the feast and Nketiah leads the group out as well. After only a few minutes of walking she points out an Ekujae with long, curly hair whittling what look like arrows near a small cluster of other elves to Suki and Antoinette. "That is Akosa. He is a bit... prickly with new people, particularly outsiders, but he warms up quickly enough. He'll appreciate you helping on the hunt." She then turns to Dorrak and Django. "As for you two, I'd love to give you a proper tour of Akrivel."

Quirking an eyebrow slightly, Django replies, ”I appreciate the offer, Nketiah, but if it’s okay, I might hang back here and try to get a little rest in before the shindi- ah, the party. Tonight. You guys have fun though.”

"I'd gladly have a tour," Dorrak adds. "All I've seen from this continent at all are what traders would bring to the markets in Absalom."

Antoinette, now in human form, bows to Nketiah once more. "Thank you for the assistance. Shall I go introduce myself to Akosa, or would it be better to have you introduce me? Does he speak any language I would know?"

"He'll respect you more if you introduce yourself," Nketiah says. "And you should be fine with Taldane."

Antoinette nods and approaches Akosa. "Greetings, Akosa. I am Antoinette. My companion Fleur and I would like to assist with the hunt for tonight's feast."

Suki accompanies Antoinette and Fleur. "And I am Suki. I would also like to assist with the hunt."

Akosa looks up from his fletching, gives you both a hard stare, and pushes himself into a standing position before responding in rapid fire Ekujae Elven.

Django starts heading back, but realizes very soon after splitting off, that he wasn't paying nearly enough attention to where everyone was going and quickly gets himself lost. He looks around for a familiar sight or an Ekujae that he can ask for directions (and can communicate with effectively), but as he's looking he spots an unusual sight: there is a lion lounging on a particularly thick tree branch above the walkway.

Nketiah leads Dorrak through Akrivel, pointing out various locations and sites of interest and explaining them in a remarkably thorough and informative manner. She pays particular note to a number of weirdly-shaped trees that have been planted at the level of the city, explaining them as "record trees," which are cultivated to form specific patterns that function as a system of writing. She's in the middle of reading a short passage from one, a tale of a keledi slaying a demon that threatened Akrivel, when a pair of teenage girls approaches and waves hello. One of them says something in Ekujae to Nketiah, who responds back a little more forcefully than necessary, and the girls giggle before the other one says something else. Nketiah blinks a few times before a sly grin appears on her face. "Well, Sir Dorrak, it seems Mauuko and Senyo want to get out of preparing vegetables for this evening, so they're challenging us to a bit of a dancing game. Shall we indulge them?"

Dorrak listens carefully along the tour, particularly enjoying the tale of demon-slaying, then listens curiously at the exchange with the teenage girls. When he hears Nketiah's explanation, he chuckles. "Of course. I should warn you that I'm not much of a dancer, though," he replies. "What's the game?"

Nketiah translates and the girls giggle again. Senyo pulls out a set of four brass rings and hands two to Nketiah, one to Mauuko, and then slips the fourth onto her ankle. Mauuko shouts something to the people around, who begin gathering into a small crowd. A few come outside from their homes after a minute carrying drums of varying sizes as Nketiah explains. "These rings make distinct notes when tapped together." She strikes one ring with the other and a single note peals out. "But they're designed in a special way. The notes are different for each pair, and different depending on which ring does the striking and which is struck." To emphasize, she does another strike with the opposite ring, and the note is distinctly different. "The game puts us each into a dance contest with one of them. You have to dance to the beat of the music, while also chiming your ring against your opponent's. The first team to five points wins, but if you miss the beat, you lose points, and if you mess up enough you can just be out of the game altogether."

"With all due respect, Akosa, we don't understand," Antoinette replies. "We are from far away and have little exposure to your language."

Akosa responds once again in Ekujae, though this time it's a bit slower and Antoinette can pick out a few Elven phrases. "You... of course... dunce..."

Dorrak nods his understanding at the rules, and then they quickly set to the game. To everyone's surprise, especially his own, he doesn't embarrass himself, having a decent natural sense of rhythm and a swordsman's talent for footwork. He occasionally stumbles in the dancing, but makes himself very hard for Senyo to hit, strength letting him move with agility in his armour. Mauuko and Nketiah have rapid back and forths, occasionally landing good blows on each other then dancing away, at one point with Nketiah scoring her fifth point but suddenly and dramatically losing her rhythm in her excitement. The game actually comes to an end when Dorrak twists out of the way from Senyo when she over-commits, making her trip to the ground and leaving her out of the game.

He blinks twice in surprise then smiles wide and offers a hand to help Senyo to her feet, "Good game, I enjoyed that."

"I got a bit more that time," Antoinette replies. "I am aware this may not be your preference, but I assure you if you give us a chance, we will perform admirably."

Nketiah pouts. "Ah, I was so close. I always mess up the last point." Senyo, for her part, smiles a little shyly as she accepts Dorrak's hand and stands. Though she doesn't speak Taldane she seems to understand the sentiment and responds with something that seems in the same vein.

The crowd seems enthused by the performance, golf clapping politely at the appropriate moments and applauding much more voraciously when Dorrak pulls out a win. There's a bit of a bustle within the crowd as a large elf with pitch-dark eyes and what look to be intentionally drawn, stylized scars along his arms steps forward and points at Dorrak.

"You are very good. Skilled to beat children. Want a round with a real competitor?"

----

Akosa stops for a moment, then sighs. "I am fucking with you," he says in Taldane. "But you take the fun out of it by being earnest and polite. What do you want to eat?"

"Beginner's luck for the most part," Dorrak replies modestly, "But if you'd like to go a round, I'm willing. My name is Dorrak," he adds in introduction, wiping some sweat from his brow after the previous round.

Looking around for anyone to ask, Django eventually settles for gesturing with a cocked eyebrow and a quizzical look toward the lion to the nearest Ekujae.

Antoinette blinks a few times then smiles. "Ah, I see. I like boar quite a bit. Are there wild boar in the jungle around here?"

The elf cracks his neck. "Kadija," he replies, sliding his own ring onto his ankle. The second the beat starts, he and Dorrak strike out simultaneously. They strike each other's rings in perfect sync, but in a fancy dance move Kadija spins and pulls his leg back, hooking Dorrak's ankle and knocking him off balance, causing Dorrak to fall on his face. He lets out a good-hearted belly laugh. "First rule of daikada, sweep the leg. Second rule of daikada, watch for the leg sweep." He offers a hand down to Dorrak as the crowd laughs along with him.

The elf follows Django's gaze, then looks back to him. "Harriet," he says simply. "Uh... friend."

Akosa nods. "We have red river hogs, that is close. Follow close, and keep quiet."

Dorrak laughs with him too and takes the hand up. "I've learned that lesson now. I have to imagine agility like that would be useful for more than just dancing too," he adds, thinking of the speed and grace Kadja just moved with.

The hunt starts off well enough with Fleur finding the distinct scent of swine, leading Antoinette and Suki to a set of tracks. You follow the footprints to a watering hole where a number of red-skinned boars are drinking. Akosa signals the hunters to take positions, but unfortunately, the Dauntless are not known for their light feet, and they clumsily make noise while moving up on the boars, who are on alert. When the hunters attack, it's neither quick nor clean, and the angry, tough boars managed to land some serious blows, two even managing to get away. When it's all over, the elves are panting from exertion, several bearing minor but still noticeable wounds. Akosa himself is unharmed, though not for lack of trying on his quarry's party. He casts a look at the group. "... you are not good hunters, are you?"

”I’m usually much better at the part where I kill it,” Antoinette replies. ”But I am definitely not the best at the stalking part. Fleur and Nova get... a bit too excited sometimes.”

"Well, I won't say this wouldn't have gone better without you here," Akosa frowns. "But we still got the kill, and I respect the effort nonetheless. Now let us get these back to town."

”Interesting...” Django says, then turns to the elf and says, in elvish, ”Lions aren’t typically jungle cats, are they?”