Arrival

[Kura Wolfsdotter]

Timestamp: 17th of Ashan, 718
Location: Andaris Docks

Kura looked down at the water below her as they made their final approach to Rynmere. The Scalv Sohr Kahl had carried them the whole trip, despite her misgivings, but it was time for them to put their game faces on. Craning to look at the beast carrying her sister, Kura nodded at her, then let their mount handlers guide the beast down to land at the docks. They had discussed their plan for when they landed at Rynmere before they arrived at the island, and once the handler for her mount nodded, she slid off the great winged beast and approached the dock handler that was currently trying to figure out the new arrivals.

"Greetings. My name is Kura Mareth, Councilor of Foreign Affairs for the nation of Scalvoris. I would greatly appreciate it if you could send word of my party's arrival to someone who is meant to handle foreign dignitaries." she said, her tone formal. When the dock worker, whose eyes had grown very wide at her title, stuttered a bit, she smiled. "Come now, man. You and I both know that this sort of thing is well above your occupational rank. We are not your problem, so send word to whoever is supposed to deal with political situations." she said, her tone kinder. The man gulped and nodded, then took off nearly at a run. Kura turned to her sister and the mount handlers and grinned slightly. "Well, we made it here. Now we just need to be waitin' for the appropriate functionary. We'll need to stay here until they get here though." she said, before turning to look back at the crowd. She was dressed simply, as her more elegant clothes weren't suited for flight, but she did carry papers that would identify her, her sister, and the handlers for their mounts.

Looking directly at Ela, Kura grinned again. "Enjoy the flight, pup? You did always say you wanted to fly." she said, laughing slightly.

[Doran Cooney]

The chill of winter had never sunk its hands too deep into his flesh during his early years, and as such he had never found himself to possess much of a tolerance for true winters. Though he wrapped his woolen cloak about him all the tighter, the bite of the air still managed to permeate its way through, nipping at the skin of his wrists where his shirt didn't quite cover and at his ears and neck. It wasn't necessarily unpleasant, but the longer he was out in the cold, the more difficult it became to recall what exactly it felt like to be propped up beside a fireplace with book in hand. When the crowd around him gasped in a near comical unison, he found his preoccupation with the weather's frosty specifics to quickly dissipate in favor of wide-eyed curiosity at the creature that had already begun to descend upon the docks.

There had been talk of the delegates from Scalvoris for quite some time, and even Doran would have had to have been particularly oblivious to have not found something about their arrival to pique his interests enough to plan a stay in the city so he might catch a glimpse of them. It wasn't their status that intrigued him so much as their garner of the collective attention of the citizenry - enough that there was a significantly large crowd but not so much that it might be considered an impromptu holiday of some sort. He couldn't help but wonder what sort of oddities the foreigners might bring with them, and in the moment, he was hardly disappointed. There were several excited whispers nearby, close enough that he didn't have to strain much to make out their particulars.

"So that's a Scal Sohr Khal. Wow. I knew that they're native to Scalvoris Mountains, but I never thought they'd be flying- flying in on one! Gods, I wonder how long it took to train..."

"And here I was worried you might be enamored with delegates."

Doran grinned at that, letting the couple's words drift back into the fray of chatter as the Scal Sohr Khal descended, its wings beating back against the chilled air and sending little flurries of dust and frost about the docks as the crowd collectively backed away, allowing the creature a wide berth. It was an elongated beast, from the length of its wings to its neck, tail, and even - unnervingly - arms; everything about it suggested it was something far more dangerous than mule or horse. The eyes, too, betrayed its intelligence and predatory nature. Doran found himself transfixed by its gaze as it surveyed its new surroundings. Enraptured as he was, he failed to notice the riders descend until the crowd rippled with chuckles at the woman's words to the nervous dock worker, half out of mirth and the other relief that it had not been them she'd addressed.

Her words had a sort of drawl to them that Doran found more friendly than he might have expected from someone with a title such as she, and it seemed invitation enough to him as he pushed his way through the quietly murmuring crowd. Though they had parted like water and oil to allow a corridor for the dock worker to quickly dart through, Doran had no such authority and had to rely on his own angular elbows and wispy "Excuse!" and "Pardon." to make his way to front, finding resistance less and less the closer he approached, until he finally stood about five good steps away from a comfortable conversational distance of the woman, and about three steps closer to the beast, whose handlers had already begun the process of checking and stabling the creature.

Bowing politely, as he had only his own nation's customs to guide him in terms of formality, Doran unflinchingly blinked curious eyes at first the winged Sohr Khal then to the first woman who had descended and finally the second. There was a resemblance between the women, but not so much so that he thought anything much more than that they seemed similar. She that had spoken first, Kura Mareth, was his rough equal in height, but her confidence alone, even slightly hunched as her shoulders were, made her appear far more his physical superior. Seeing as no one else had stepped forward, he offered a welcome on their behalf. "Andaris is curious to have you, Councilor. I hope our gawking faces are not too unwelcoming?" He grinned wide, not bothering to glance over his shoulder at the quiet murmur of surprise. "While you wait for those more worthy of your audience, Doran Cooney is at your service, as you like." Without missing a beat after his own airy introduction, he blinked at the Sohr Khal, all the more impressive without the heads and bodies of the crowd to obscure it. "Does she have a name? Is she a she? Or maybe a he?" Glancing back at the dark haired Kura, his smile was nothing but genuine, bald-faced curiosity. "What's it like to fly?"

[Ela Wolfsdotter]

"Seems unnecessarily complicated for a couple of people talkin' about a few things" Ela growled to Kura, aggravated from how long she had been away from home. Her bloodlust somewhat increased when she wasn't constantly surrounded by prey animals to feast on whenever she felt like. At a young age, the girl had eaten her own father. Right now, even Kura started to look edible, though she had enough control left in her to know that wouldn't prove an issue just yet.
"What is it with politicians and their fancy meeting shit anyway?" Ela asked, never understanding Kura's chosen path. Living in a cave was comfortable, with very little to bother you but the occasional passerby. Even then, they were either polite enough to leave or easy enough to kill, most of the time. So why in the name of the Immortals would anyone opt to deal with this irritating bullshit that involved 'papers' this and 'meetings' that, the Mortalborn asked herself.

Taking a deep inhale, the girl tried to calm herself down. It wasn't like her to behave like this in front of her sister, but being this far from home made her skin crawl. However, Kura made a good point. Ela had always wanted to fly and now she had. Something about it proved fascinating for the Mortalborn, the freedom it offered. However, those wings were not her own, meaning the pup was underwhelmed by what she had experienced.
"Well, when someone finds a way to grow wings, I intend on being the first to take them up on it. Having that kind of freedom on standby would be great" the predator admitted, finally breaking a small smile at the thought of it. Kura knew Ela enough to know what taking her from home would do to her, so if it was that important then Ela would do her best to take care of her and handle things gently.

Putting a bump in that plan, however, came a man. Definitely local, and formal too. Another politician perhaps? That would be Ela's luck, another one. As if the people she would already be dealing with wasn't enough. Ela stood herself up straight, staying somewhat behind Kura while making her claws clear and on display. She was here to protect her sister, and protect she would. If this man made any attempt on the woman, Ela would be waiting - ready.
As he asked all of his questions, she quickly realized that there was probably no need for the intimidation act. He seemed innocent enough. But that wouldn't let her lower her guard. You couldn't trust anyone here, in a new place with random people that could be anyone or anything. Hell, that was the curse of towns. You could walk past the worst man alive and never know it. This could be the worst man alive.

Welcome to Andaris, aka. your worst fucking nightmare she thought to herself, her bloodlust growing ever so slightly.