Cephirian Walkabout (Social/Closed)

Inkormine slid on his tight dark green shirt, like the color of the fields he'd sometimes worked among, having finally recovered from the nausea that the people crewing this ship had called 'seasickness' when he had gotten aboard, settling the shirt down neatly, the short sleeves letting his guild mark show. The trip on the ship had taken a few days and he'd been a bit under the weather for most of it, but luckily now as they were approaching the harbor he was feeling better, so he could at least greet the city without feeling like throwing up.

He'd come out to this new continent to look into the West Fiore Trading Company that was headquartered out here on the new continent, apparently. Seemed odd to move off continent when your name was directly based on the continent of your origins, but then again they had apparently basically single-handedly paid for the exploration that had been done of the continent so far so they could apparently afford the change. This was something of an introduction to both the wider world of which his education was rather limited, and to one of the staunch allies of his new guild Silver Wolf.

But now it was time to go, leaving him to turn and walk over to the bed. He hadn't used it, too small and awkward, but he had been explicitly asked NOT to leave any webs or the like on the ship, so he'd been just sort of curling up on the floor with both the blanket and pillow being a pillow for his head. So the trip had been kind of not great, but it was only for a few days, and he could handle cramped spaces. He had pretty much repacked his backpack and travel bag already, beyond what he needed to finish fixing up his hair, then putting on both bags and walking out of the room onto the deck of the ship.

Inky quickly went up the wall a little way to get out of the way of a sailor rushing along the deck almost in front of the cabin he'd been in, then climbed up onto the cabin in the back of the ship where he would be out of the way, so he could watch the city rolling along the coast alongside the ship as they started pulling towards the harbor, resisting the annoyance as he heard the man on the guide-boat that had pulled alongside freaking out as he saw a giant spider scuttle on top of the cabin of the ship, quickly calmed down and explained at by the sailor talking to them to guide the ship towards the harbor.

Luckily there were no other incidents as the ship sailed into the harbor, slowly cruising along as Inkormine took in the sights of the city from off the shore, and the various vessels docked at the harbor, markedd with various seals, but the overwhelming majority bearing the crest of the West Fiore Trading Company, since they almost owned this city. Which was kind of part of why he'd come out here, he wanted to see what this city was like, run by this group of wealthy traders. Find out how they were. Were they in the majority, or the rare few that cared? But for right now, they were lowering the sails of their ship, ropes being flung across by more experienced folk who didn't bawk at him aboard the ship, pulling it in to its mooring and tying it off. Inky headed for the gangplank, thanking the ships captain for the trip, ignoring the rude tone of the captains response about how he seemed to think Inkormine was a slob who would have left excretions all over his cabin or the like. It was an independent ship, not affiliated with the WFTC or Silver Wolf, so there wasnt anything for it. Although he was getting awfully tired of the response of people out here among... well, everywhere but home and the Silver Wolf hall. At least now he was back on land, although he staggered a bit as soon as he left the ship, having to adjust to no longer constantly adjusting too the sway.

The day had begun like may other days for the mixed blood. Shower, dress, cook, eat, clean the dishes, make something for after work, do some work, go to the hospital, then go after and eat the food packed. Nothing challenging had appeared during the job, nor did an event happen that stuck out. Now at the time where the sky was darkening and full of color, the demon had finished a lot of reading and decided to leave his home to eat outside. It was the perfect time, most rush for getting home had already ended. Also, the sky still had some colors left bleeding through it. Over his shoulders was a sizable white bag filled with different things that the man intended to use. There was a walk around the dock area briefly to see if he could gather information, these walks helped him figure out when new shops popped up, or if something special or different was being sold. In this case, he found out a spider person had just popped up around the docks.

This hadn't interested the young looking man, not until he actually saw the person. The stranger wasn't a sort of spider person one would normally find at a dock. Actually the half dragon never expected to even see one outside of the storm lands. Almost silent steps calmly walked over, the heavy white bag quiet against it's owner. One could say Omaras didn't know how to move with stealth, but he just wanted to be heard. The storm lands was a sort of place where sound could tell people more about others were. He knew in that culture it was seen as polite for strangers to make themselves heard. What kind of person was this? "You aren't blind so you aren't one of the desert warriors, but your hair color says that you are related to at least one." The entire situation was interesting. How would walking on wood feel like? Or the night to not mean getting to a freezing low temperature? The ice blue skinned person walked a bit closer, making sure his steps made some sound.

The mixed blood was wearing white slacks, dress shoes, a white vest, and a grey dress shirt. They didn't realize that this person was someone he had met before, years ago. A tinier, younger version of that person that had no adult markings, nor adult features. A spiders carapace was light in color as a whole before puberty. "Sorry for being rude, I'm just not used to seeing your people outside of the stormlands. In my thousands of years of travel I think you are actually the first one I've run into outside of their native land." This was the polite way to greet, only hold your hand out if you have met them before, yes? Deep sapphire eyes looked to the dark skinned person. The land time they had met Haraka had on a similar outfit, only the vest and pants were black, the vest had on his mothers family crest of the lobster tail. Though that had been what he had worn under layers of fabric. His skin was lighter and healthier looking, horns longer, both straight, and healthier looking.

But the gentle soothing calm voice was all the same. The shape of the mans body was the same, as well as the general age. "I'm Haraka Omaras, son of Doctor Fennos Omaras. Would you care to join me for dinner? Food is always better with company, and my baby pet has already eaten and tucked himself in for the night."

Words: 600
Group Total: 1305

Even as he adjusted to the sway, Inky could see the light fading away from the buildings around him, the sun nearing the completion of its descent into night, the soft song of the moon singing over the horizon to him as it was beginning to rise. The swaying stopped as Inkormine took a deep breath, then coughed a little. This city was huge, and not the nicest smell. Not the nice clean scent of the desert after a rare rainfall, thats for sure. But it was tolerable. He didn't have the faintest idea the best way to describe it though, maybe he should see about getting a book or something of the sort, since in his pocket sat the jewel of two months labor at home, gotten from helping a nice lady with her shop for a day and a jerk who'd bet he couldn't stick to something. Him. Seriously, what was the guy thinking?

Inkromine was stretching his arms out after the cramped boat trip and just settled a leg back down when he heard soft footsteps, hard to hear normally, he only noticed since they were coming his way, and the city noise had died down, although Inky didn't realize this was died down, and was more wondering why it was still so busy this late in the day. Didn't the people out here rest at night? He thought that was what the people outside the deserts did, instead of resting through the noon and midnight hours like sensible sorts to avoid the worst of the temperatures. Inky had needed to work some really hot noons though, when nobles pay extra for immediate things what was he supposed to do? He managed to avoid heat stroke at least, although others hadn't been so lucky. Anyway, that aside, he turned to look toward the sound, eyes already well open and pupils visible, which was about as large as they got for him. A deep soulful stare into his eyes would reveal the tiny magic arrays behind his pupils, a passive effect of his magic activating, channeling the moons light to his eyes, allowing him to see in this darkness without disturbing others, or breaking any stealth he might have. And this reflection threw off his assessment for a moment of the man approaching. The man's build was familiar, although Inky couldn't place it through the aura haze gently brushed over everything, since the last time he'd seen them had been in the middle of the day, walking away with a kind word and a small bottle of water left in the young childs hand to help them through the day.

But then they spoke, and Inkormine would never forget that voice, not after what he'd done for the spider man and his sister. And now that Inkormine recognized him, the haze didn't stop him from looking him over. The man looked almost identical, his gait was slightly ddifferent, although that was probobly the walking on wood instead of sand, and his clothes, while similiar to what he'd worn before, were different colors, and he seemed to be wearing a bit less in terms of layers, odd out here in the chill non-desert air. Of course his statement of thousands of years of travel helped seal that deal. Noboddy else lived that long that the spider had ever heard of.

"Good evening Doctor Omaras. I see you haven't aged a day since you left." Inky said, smiling at the man who'd saved his life a decade ago, offering a hand to him, as was only polite and expected for a long lost freind. "My little sister was supposed to be part of the desert warriors, but she decided she didn't like that plan and left. You already know how rare it is for any of us to leave though." The instants hesitation that he knew was coming already told Inky that Haraka must not recognize him. Then again that made sense, he hadn't even been approaching puberty, and even people of his own species could have trouble identifying an adult from their child form after the final molt of puberty if they hadn't seen them at all during puberty. "I'm Inkormine Talea, we met when I was a child, during the plague outbreak."

This definitely was more surprising than what the mixed blood was expecting. This person actually knew his name, already knew him as a doctor, and seemed generally more familiar than one would be with a stranger. Had the two met? That man sounded so certain they had. The young looking man took the reddish brown skinned youths offered hand, giving a gentle grip into the handshake. This person was certainly interesting, both siblings left that city? He didn't really make a connection on one possibly being related to the other immediately. Most siblings had parents or other family members, making them less likely to try to find a sibling if they flee. An expression of slight confusion spread on his face until the name was spoken. Ah, it was an easy to treat sickness that most other places had long since made vaccinations and treatments for. To call it a plague outbreak felt exaggerated to Omaras, but at the same time he couldn't blame the arachnid for calling it to. It must have felt like a plague with as deadly as it was on the isolated city those years ago. Who this person was suddenly fell into place within the half dragons mind. The realization arrived not long before white draconian pupils started to appear, affected by the coolness that was starting to set in.

"Inkormine and Song." Last time he had seen this person, he had been so small. The carapace had a light color back than and the person had all the other physical signs that they had been a child. This persons younger sibling, Song, had been a baby. She was already supposed to be part of the desert warriors? But it would mean she was at leave twelve years old. 'Has it already been so long?' The demon contemplated briefly. "I actually wasn't a doctor until very recently. Back then I really was a cook passing through the city, just..." He trailed off. How does one explain this? He just had to try. He decided to use his free arm to take off his necklace, letting the dim blue light pour from his body. The necklace was stuffed away under his vest within a pocket, unseen but not forgotten. "To fully explain how I knew what to do, it might be better to go somewhere more comfortable. This is such a surprise though. It's really been at least twelve years? You look so adult." But now he also started to understand why Ink left after  song had. Their little family unit consisted of just the two of them, unless they had been both adopted. Somehow it didn't seem likely they had been at this point.

"So your sister left in order to avoid permanently loosing her only family, and you left to find her?" Of course, the father had been the only one who had died from the sickness. But the mother? He certainly couldn't count her. Did the younger one even know what happened? That would be such a difficult topic to breach. "Wouldn't you like to talk at a restaurant, or find a nice place to sit at and watch me cook some dinner? I know where the most quality and fair priced places are to eat, but I also feel my own cooking can be quite amazing... only free." It would be nice to catch up with the other. This was so amazing. "How old are you now Inkormine? 18? You look so adult..." and yet Harakas guess for adult age was the minimal number.

Words: 592
Haraka's Total: 1,192
Groups Total: 2,611

Inky smiled a bit when Haraka said his and his sisters name. He had some idea that their city was not big, and for someone like Haraka, not even the most memorable despite the unique inhabitants. But the man still remembered him and his sister, despite a scene he'd probably watched play out multiple times during his time in their city. Before he responded, he watched the man as they seemed to loosen up ever so slightly for a moment, getting that accidental relaxation of distraction as he presumably was thinking hard about something, then the focus was back.

"Even so, you helped a lot of people, more then most of our doctors were able too." Made him sound like a doctor in Inkormine's mind, at least. Sure, that wasn't how it worked, but still. He was curious about the necklace and its glow as the demon-man tucked it away while repeating his offer of food, this time more as a request to do so, like he was uncomfortable? Well, thinking about it, it could be awkward having a private reunion conversation in the middle of a seedy dock after the sun sets... huh. That made sense actually.

"But congratulations on becoming a doctor, I know it's not easy. It has been over twelve years since then, yes. You must have had some busy times?" The question about Song still stung a little, even though it had been a while, he still wasn't comfortable with the turn of events, even if his life had improved drastically almost immediately after leaving his home. That first time life-giving water poured out of the sky on him had felt like a literal miracle. Although a few days later someone had explained that it was just common weather out here. "Glad you think I look like an adult, I certainly dont want to be mistaken as a kid at this point!" Inkormine said with a laugh, only a little forced around the covering of his troubles, quickly subsumed back into his general consciousness.

"Well since you offer, sitting down for some dinner does sound nice. The food on the ship was alright, but." Well they hadn't exactly offered him a lot. Even if he wasn't working he was something like twice their size... And for eating, resturants were nice, but that was nothing on spending some time and sharing a nice meal with a freind. Or at least old acquaintance. Also, even if this wizarding thing paid so much better out here, he wasn't exactly going to shake off a lifetime of extreme frugality overnight. The spider-man, turned a bit, steps clicking softly on the ground as he subconsciously made sure to have his carapace touch the stone politely, so the other in the conversation knew he was moving as he turned to face into the town a bit, looking sideways to Haraka. "I am certain you know this town much better then I do, so please, lead the way. As for age, i'm actually 19 now. Even if that isnt a big difference." At least not to Haraka. Inkormine saw the year as a big one, full of change and trials and, eventually, reunion. But someone who'd been around so long likely didn't even notice a year unless something big happened. Maybe meeting up with him again would make Haraka remember the year, at least a bit?

The mixed bloods face flushed a bit. It was hard to hide the embarrassment, it wasn't something he could exactly deny either. It felt like a compliment he needed to battle, it would be strange to be considered such. He started walking again, the dim light radiating from his body leaving the way. The stride was slow, making sure that the Talea would have no issue with the ever growing darkness. "Most doctors can get needed information or supplies by having open communication between hospitals in different areas. Your home was too isolated for that. It only struck your people so harshly due to your bodies never having to fight against it before." The first issue was thankfully something most countries had less worry on these days. Most hospitals and doctors have had a better time at receiving help for awhile now. It's due to the lacrima starting to be used for communication, as well as the evolution of traveling vehicles as a whole. He didn't want to be seen as better than the doctors there merely because he was an outsider with outsider information. The congratulation... once again made him feel a little embarrassed. This wasn't something the half dragon immediately commented on though. Instead, he was quiet as they left the docks. His gentle light lit the way, making anything nearby more clear for anyone who needed illumination to see their steps. The streets looked clean and organized, but he wasn't leading the spider to a restaurant.

Shoes gentle tapped against the ground as their owner brought the two to a nice clearing of grass, trees, and things near the guild. This was where the young looking old man had led them. "Here we go, a nice area for a private conversation. Just enough out of the way of the guild and the busy docks." He opened up his large bag, grabbing out a glass item. He unfolded it, the glass item becoming a table meant for sitting without chairs. The arachnid could sit his spider half down, yes? Hopefully this wouldn't be an issue. "I only had to learn how to use modern tools to officially become a doctor. I was originally raised by Doctor Fennos Omaras until I reached around eight and a half years of age before she and everyone else I knew died. She was the greatest doctor of her times and I was naturally lured to her work and often helped her in her clinic, unless there was a deadly disease or another form of emergency. Even if I was too scared to pursue my original goal of becoming a doctor for a long time, I still studied and learned new information as it came out into the world. I didn't need to work hard, I already had so much time... What I worked hard on was perfecting a form of glass making from my home country that uses a type of root as its main ingredient. I made this table, every glass bolt. When the glass is made perfectly, it becomes tough." He wanted to undermine his accomplishment and the work.

By using the term time, by bringing up his long lifespan, it was a hope to make it sound like something almost like a hobby that simply came to a task. This wasn't the truth, but the truth was easy to blur. All you have to do to get people to believe a non truth was to say the truth in a certain way. It can have all the information, but still seem a different way. He started putting down small cylinder old heaters. The place to set the fuel was far enough from the table to burn, it could hold a pot high enough that it wouldn't damage it but still heat the item. In each one he started placing fuel that were cylinder in shape, made of wax, animal fat, and oil. "I'm still so glad that you and your sister survived. You are right, it has been around twelve years since we first met. Honestly, my life only got busy after I joined the west fiore trading company. Before than I was too busy running and being afraid. I had no time to be busy. Do you any requests for dinner, or would you like me to surprise you?"

Words: 721
Haraka's Total: 1,913
Groups Total: 3,896

"Isolated or not, I doubt treating our troubles would be the same as those of the humans who populate most of this country..." But, Inkormine could see that the man was embarrassed. If you knew how to look, he was as easy to read as other people, and at least that blush seemed the same as everyone else Inky knew, for why it would be there. He didn't seem to want to be recognized for his work... But he couldn't just retract what he'd already said. "But i'm sure you... uh, had, help." Right, help, when Inky knew how he'd been treated by almost all the doctors. Smooth as a sandblast, Inkormine.

Inkormine followed a polite, to his norm, distance behind Harakas as they walked. It was too far back to talk comfortably, especially since Harakas didn't have eight legs and an abdomen needing that kind of gap behind him. So it was an awkward distance if they were trying to still talk, although they both seemed content to stay quiet for a minute, giving Inky time to look around the cities night streets, to feel the smooth stone under his feet... and to process what he'd been hearing and learning from Haraka. The man's unusual glow was helpful as they walked, although the stars coming out were starting to shine down onto the world, and their light was starting to reveal everything to the spiders widened pupils, lending that glowing sheen to everything as it did every night. And, like many other nights, the gentle glow of starlight over everything brought a small smile to his face. The city was so big and tight and in some cases strange or unattractive, but in the glow of starlight, everything seemed a little nicer, newer.

He was therefore surprised when they turned a small space and suddenly there was grass there, in the middle of the city. Seemed like there was a little natural space there, and that was where the demon man had led them both. Inky looked around at his words, and oddly enough, it did seem very empty, a solitary person walking down the street past the small area like it wasn't even there. That seemed odd, ignoring such a pleasant space on such a fine night like this. But, maybe the man had other things on his mind. Cloth rustling brought Inky's attention back as he saw Hara pulling out some sort of transparent boxy shape from his bag, and starting to unfold it? "This is a very nice spot. I wonder why nobody else is here, its not so late." Said the spider who worked at night as much as the day. The unfolding thing revealed itself to be a transparent table, low to the ground, like it wasn't meant to be used with chairs like all the others outside of his home that Inkormine had seen. Good question was, why did Harakas carry around a folding table like that?

Inky stretched out his central four legs as he crouched down with the others, settling his abdomen lightly to the grass and stretching the others out, settling himself in a nice stable seat. He was partly hoping the relaxed gesture would help Haraka loosen up a little more, people didn't usually stretch out like this unless they were quite comfortable, as it took time to get up from without special training and workouts, much like going from lying on their back to leaping straight onto their feet was extremely difficult for most humans. And, something of a double whammy for Inky, he couldn't move to the rhythm of the heavens like this. Sure he could a little, but almost all his spells were unusable like this. In a strange city like this, that was more of a guard letting down then his seating ever was.

Listening to Haraka speak, left Inky thinking in two minds. In the one, he was sad, the mans story was sad. Dead family, dead people, fear to pursue dreams, it was all stuff that was sad and made him feel sad. But the other, the more analytical one, the one that loaned itself ever so well to various aspects of his life, especially his new guild, was picking out things. Things left unsaid yet said, spoken but not meant to be read into. Learning to use modern tools, implying he'd been fluent in previous tools, that matched up seeing as he was visibly at least 30-something, if he'd ever experimented in his childhood with the tools of the time. Then again, that seemed unlikely, implying even older. The woman who raised him and everyone else he knew dying, he might not have said it but, that seemed to imply a certain amount of cultural destruction at least. A town, or even city gone, if not more, depending just how immensely old he really was. 'Greatest doctor of her time'? At least fifty years, that wasn't a phrase that was really used often.  Helping in her clinic implied he'd lied about his age that he'd been when she died, or else he'd been extremely active and mature since he was like, four. His saying he learned doctoring not because of hard work, but just because he had so much time, and implying that his glassworking took at least as long, even the most talented medical students studying constantly took at least five years to learn non-magical medicines alone, or so he understood. Without that work that was going into the decades as well... This math was adding up to put Haraka at hundreds of years old... That couldn't be right, right? But it added up...

Inky shook his head a bit, hoping the distraction of his hard thought wasn't to obvious, trying hastily to cover it like he'd been studying the table that was apparently actually made of glass? Honestly it only took a moment of looking to realize how nice a piece this was. As he touched the table, feeling the contours of the curving sweeping looping patterns, something clicked. This table, and Haraka, were similar. As he spread his hand out, going from a finger along the single lines to feeling the breadth of whole images carefully, cleverly hidden in the designs, his mind spread out, reaching beyond the details to the contexts beyond them. Symbols and even a carving of a person bent over a desk with a single candle and a feather pen came to him through his hand, while his mind grasped that, this table couldn't have been made by someone idly practicing over a long time. This was a product of love and effort of learning and making. But then, so was the kind of knowledge and caring of the man's medical works that everyone in Cephiria had known like its own small gospel, the Savior Angel. He tried to sound like he hadn't truly worked at it it, but that couldn't be true.

"I can see you put a lot of effort into this table, Haraka. It's impressive." Was he only referring to the table? No, of course not, but then, speaking openly and immediatly to the man about what he thought would be unbearably rude at the least, maybe offensive. Probably offensive. And while he didn't mind that quite often, freinds and nobles he tried not to get that bad against. Well, not nobles who were totally out of his reach. "Believe me, your not the only one glad we survived. Although without the help... Your with the trading company?" That was a surprise, he hadn't known the man had, or indeed would have, joined a guild. Something there must have convinced him he could settle down, and stop trying to outrun whatever it was he was afraid of. Not a physical thing, likely his own past. "How remarkable, I just recently joined Silver Wolf myself!" He smiled a bit at that, their guilds being allied meant they would likely not have to oppose each other during jobs. Which he was glad of, too much history already there, at least to him. Even if he was only a pleasant footnote...

"For dinner?" Inkormine asked. He hadn't really been thinking about it, being too focused on the conversation to really consider what the food would be, only that there would be eating and time with the man. But, thinking, he didn't really crave anything from home. There were many good things out here, and he didn't have any especial favorites he couldn't get or make without too much trouble in Magnolia and presumably other large towns. But then, he had a bit of a thought. A curiosity, of many sorts, and the glint of the moon over the horizon seemed to encourage the thought, making him lean forward a bit. "Actually, I have a bit of a preference if its okay. I'd like to try something from your original native country." The man didn't seem to have major reactions referring to his first home or the events that transpired there, so the spider didn't think such a request would cross any line. But he was curious. Curious of the taste, the style, the scent, the way Haraka would react. It seemed almost rude, thinking so hard on the past the man was somewhat trying to conceal, but it was so much, like almost everything he thought he knew was clever artifice over the mans true life... The man who had done so much for him, and was so guarded and... maybe hurt, beneath that.

Haraka nodded a bit as he lit the fuel cylinders then grabbed out two clay pans, and a glass kettle pot. "That's true, different ingredients have slightly different affects on your people. It was pretty easy to make the modification though... I always try to make sure I know a few alternative ways to make things due to allergies and other different complications that can pop up. If I didn't take species into account, I probably couldn't treat myself." He had never been human, so it made sense that he had to take a lot of things into consideration. Ah... he had help? That made the man smile a bit as he filled the glass kettle like item with water and a fruit that looked a lot like snow white colored tiny grapes, only the seeds were shaped differently,  round, and looked much like tiny white specks in the semi translucent fruit. "I had no help, but I certainly had a few people making it harder. It's sad when people place currency over the lives of others, but not surprising." He slipped in some slightly bigger and fairly bumpy skinned fruit that were colored a slight pinkish purple. It was also semi translucent, but only had one seed in the middle. After that, he placed some herbs in the water than closed the lid. This would be the first step in making a traditional iced drink from his native country. He wanted to make something a little fancy and special, since the other had requested. It was the first time someone had shown interest in his cultures native cuisine. It wasn't exactly the only drink in existence with multiple steps.

Ah, the spider wondered? "Most people are busy doing one thing or the other at this sort of hour, leaving this area secluded much of the time." It wasn't that people didn't notice that it existed, it just wasn't something people normally took note of. There were so many exciting things to do, places to eat at, things to buy or sell. The idea of sitting somewhere quiet and a bit away from all that just seemed like a less exciting perspective to many and he knew it. Still, he had to smile at the adorable position the spider took. Part of him couldn't help but to imagine a much smaller version of the young man moving and making the same sort of sitting position. His shoulders loosened a bit, tossing a little butter into one of the heated up pans. after that? He started making and cutting up potatoes, a white root, then a little water and some of his own blue salt. In the other pot he decided to add a small bit of water. He created a squash white white skin and blood red inside. "This squash may look unusual, but evolving like this allowed it to grow in my home climate. It was a massive country made almost entirely of ice. Areas under the layers of snow and ice that had soil was rare. The fruit is called nhee iejir naushindcal, or sweet blood fruit. Safe to say, it's a sweet squash. I'm going to make some stuffed sweet breads for dinner. The base of the bread is going to be the potato and root, the squash will be the filling. I will add flower to the breads base after these have softened enough.

I'll be using rice flour, wheat didn't grow in my home land so anything with a bread generally used some amount of rice flour. There will be a desert after, but that's after dinner." Focusing on this, thinking about these foods, cooking, all of it put the man more at ease. He put lids on both pans in order to let them cook up faster. This is why he thought less about chatting on information, about covering his information up with deceptive wording. "Thank you. I learned the traditional arts after my country sunk to the bottom of the ocean from some books. After that, it was a matter of mastering it and trying to learn how masters made the perfect glass. Those masters sadly never put their secrets in any books, at least none left. Learning it helped me feel closer to my mother. She was so nice, she didn't have to be so nice. She wasn't my birth mother, nor a native to my homeland. It was so amazing watching how she helped people and made them better. I wanted to be like that too, probably why I knew how to make a few medicines before I could even walk. Even so, sometimes I would nibble on some ingredients I had been warned not to because they smelled so good. If the affects were minor, then she would let me tough it out so I would learn not to do that again. I wish history books hadn't removed her fiery attitude, or her scars. She was really amazing, really wild. I wish... the modern world had more of her than just books that try to make her look as saintly as possible.

She was so amazing! The clinic couldn't even fit a dozen people, but she made amazing use of what space we had." Though most of that had been about the might Fennos Omaras, it still leaked a bit about Haraka. The mother he had clearly been named by, who had raised and loved him. She wasn't his birth mother, nor did she share his culture. But he also had a natural talent for medicine. Having her as a parent was almost perfect, as she would have been the best in helping him find his natural talents. Then again, she probably would have had a hard time keeping her child from helping if she tried.

Words: 966
Haraka's Total: 2,879
Groups Total: 6,451

Inkormine had been spending a lot of time lately in the Silver Wolf library, ever since finding out where the main one was. That much writing in one place, and all bound in books instead of scrolls? How could he not be interested? Normally, this wouldn't be relevant to the conversation at hand, at least not until Haraka mentioned history books as he cooked, but Inky was already suspicious,. and had been digging into his history memory from the books to try to figure out why all this sounded familiar. With Haraka providing more information regularly, it didnt take long to realize. Everything pointed to him talking about the ancient country of Xarzith! Well that was a shorter name for it anyway.

Even considering the demon man was distracted, though, he seemed to be sharing a lot. Then again, he'd been hiding a lot of stuff for an extremely long time, it seemed, so... It kind of made sense that, at least subconciously, he'd be wanting to talk about it with someone. Most people were social, at least a little, by nature, and would want someone to talk with. So that might be why, while distracted, he'd been saying and sharing so much. And Inky didn't want to ruin that with careless questions. "You could tell the world about her from your experience. About the work she did, the people she helped, the person she really was."

As for the food... "I can honestly say ive never had anything like what your describing, but it sounds pretty good!" Growing up in a desert like he had, an arctic native dish would never have made its way to him, even traders had never brought anything from that opposite extreme all the way to their city.

Could he tell the world about his mother? Omaras shook his head a bit, getting a sad look. "I only knew of her life in my home land of ice. I don't know what country she originally came from, or why people compared her to a wild animal before she settled down. I only know scraps of details... Does her homeland even still exist? I think.. it likely stopped existing far before she ever came to my home country. My reasoning has to do with her magic. She was a plant user from a long line of plant users during a time where magic wasn't touched in most countries. The few plants that were specifically passed down were ones she said were extinct when she had received them from her mother." The squash was skinned before its flesh was shredded, placed to the side on a piece of fabric. After that? The half demon took out a glass bowl with a glass bowl and a glass pestle out of his bag. Creating rice, he started to pound and grind it. A blender would be faster, but this was tradition. He wanted to taste something familiar, and to share that nostalgia with another being.

What did he know about her besides those scares things? The kind of person and mother she was. "I don't want to share her story unless its complete. Does that make sense? Otherwise I only have the information from a son. My love and respect for her gives my view of her a rose tint, I don't feel that's fully reliable." The grinding was going good. Bit by bit, it as getting closer to resembling rice flour. "What foods have you tried before?"

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Groups Total: 7,031

"A wild animal? That might be misunderstandings between cultures. I've had a few of those just on my way to this continent." Inkormine said, resting his hands lightly on the table in front of him, now that he had stopped inspecting it and trying to pry Haraka's secrets from it, it just kind of felt nice. Soft curving patterns on the smooth surface. And he got to take a moment to just watch Haraka work. Idly using his magic to summon or create things he needed, practiced motions going into preparing the mixture of familiar and not foodstuffs, it seemed he had a lot of practice, and the activity relaxed him. For that matter, he'd never seen Haraka this relaxed when he was a child. The demon doctor had been so stressed and strained, trying to save an entire city despite the opposition of its upper caste, and then not even getting proper respect after... It saddened the spider, then a boy, but still now as a man.

But, sad wasn't the goal here, the goal was to enjoy some time with a long missing associate, maybe even freind. "I do understand, actually. When you want to really tell the story of a person, you want to tell it all, and tell it right. Your missing a lot..." He shook his head at that too, why were so many sad details cropping up, besides that he was looking for them... wait, that might be it. Bad Inkormine, focus on being positive! Speaking of which, Haraka's question made him smile a bit as he thought. "Don't laugh, but one of the most exotic things ive had was ice water. Its water, but so cold some of it is solid! But, ive had some of that rice you were talking about, it seems to be a staple out here, but I heard it takes a lot of water too? I'll have to visit a farm someday if i'm near one. Beyond that, a few of these meats they grow out here, I think they said they all came from 'cow'? The guild hall had a big stew once not long after I got there, there was this sweet pastry, cake. White bread, bagels, dumplings, I think it was Leona who gave me something that originated outside Fiore, a Baguette." He didn't have any sort of fascination with bread, no way. Especially not with the side-eye he gave a bakery that was partly visible well down the street he'd noticed and was going to raid so hard in the morning.

Then his eyes glazed over a bit and he chuckled a little. "there was one other thing, this really fascinating thing I heard about from Haley, and got to try later on. It's this cold, almost frozen but not quite, thing, called 'ice cream'. It was... wow." Even someone without either of their empowered nightsights would see the shiver running down the spiders body, the splayed out legs visibly moving a bit from the memory. After a moment, he blinked and suddenly spaced back in, a little embarrassed. "Er, w-what about you, Haraka? What have you... well, im sure youve had a lot. How about, what would you say were some of your favorite things that youve eaten?"

Shoulders shook in bits from the quiet laughter that sprinkled from pale ice blue lips. The thought of it being a misunderstanding was just that amusing. It wasn't a bad thing in his eyes though, the animalistic side his mother had. "She didn't love her home land or home words, so she never shared it. It was the only thing she wasn't open about." Her old family, if that existed. Her home land, anything connected to it. He didn't know why, nor where that refusal to talk of it came from. It was almost like a ball of unforgiving rage arose up anytime she was asked about it. What miss Fennos did with it depended on who asked. Thinking about how she would loom over a patient that tried to buy her had always been a bit amusing, being reminded of that was heartwarming. Once the rice flour was finished he opened the pot with the white root and potato. They had become soft, the butter melted, and the water soaked up. Making a wooden spoon, he started to mash the ingredients in the pot to a watery pulp. "It wasn't an error in understanding between languages or cultures. With how often people from all over the world flocked to seek my mother out, I always got to see people trying to bribe her and coat her in riches and gifts. I also once saw her almost choke someone out with a gold chain. She was one that didn't let her morals be bought even by royalty and nobles. She was unafraid of speaking her mind and fighting back, and back then? The very idea of a low class peasant acting anything like her was considered wild and animalistic. She didn't accept over pay because she knew they were trying to buy her freedom, not just pay for her work.

She was unafraid to beat the crap out of anyone, regardless of rank. Someone like her living thousands of years ago? She was an anomaly coated in scars, but I'm so glad that she raised me. If she was a lesser person I wouldn't have been raised in a small clinic, but I also wouldn't have met other people who were like family to me. An inventor that nobles never listened to and mined raw ores came into my mothers clinic frequently. She helped keep his lungs clean and healthy, and he told me about the history and lores of the land. He was a low ranked person, but more kind and intelligent than the majority of nobles I had met at that time. He was exactly like a grandfather to me. I didn't need a blood family, because my real one wasn't made by bonds of blood. My grandfather had replaced missing body parts with metal he had shaped, placed magic markings on, and animated with his lightening magic. I'm glad that Fennos had a personality that caused people to compare her to wild animals." The mashing, stirring, and slowly adding the flour slowly turned the soggy toot mush into what was looking more and more like white dough. Not all the rice flour was added to the mixture, but most was. He knew how much he was to have had a 'wild animal' as a mother. The human woman had stood for her own morals because she had the strength to. A person who didn't trust those who offered a lot of wealth, she had willingly hit away the fine things in life to keep her freedom intact. It probably seemed strange that Omaras was thankful to have been raised by someone that lacked riches.

The dough was pulled from the pan as soon as it was fully mixed and made. "I don't think I ever had a culture shock, though I've had small time shocks as it were. It felt so strange and unnerving to slowly watch the remains of my own culture fade away in generations after my country sank. People I had become close to aged, had kids, grandkids, great grandkids, died... It took a long time for me to get over that shock. For a long time I felt less like a participant of the world, no matter how much I participated, like time was moving along without me. Opening myself back up for the possibility of happiness removed that sensation." How different a culture could be from yours was something he had grown up around. As an adult? It felt almost like it punched his face on a daily basis. The lid was removed, the spoon coming into action again. It mashed and mixed the red fleshed squash with the bits of water, making it into a thick moist mixture that would look at home in a pie. With both the dough and filling completed, he made a piece of fabric. Putting it on the table, the man rested the dough there. After that was pulling off a piece of dough, beating and moving the bit until it was thin. After that he placed some filling inside in a stretched cylinder shape. After that he folded the dough around it until it looked like a normal uncooked bread roll that could be cut and stuffed after its cooked, no outword suggestion that it had a filling. Thus he started the process again.  Talking about bread... "It's nice that this will be the first taste you have of my culture than, a bread. I was actually a little worried you would be upset over a lack of variety.

My favorite foods are that of my native land, specifically foods from my fathers home region, the black mountains. But... even now the idea of cooking those foods for others feels a little forbidden. " He paused a bit, trying to smile off the uncomfortable feeling it gave. "It wasn't a hated culture, but it was treated as something forbidden to share around those not from the region. My grandmothers family typically acted very insulted when I would..." He could feel wind getting upset as well as himself. Why would it bother him anyway? It was so long ago, but it was exactly why he still to this day had trouble calling that person his father to everyone. "Sorry, I guess it's still a little drilled in. I'll just say it was forbidden for one from that region to share their culture with those outside that region due to how commonly those from that region ended up in a military or guard sort of job. It wasn't all they were, but it was... all many saw them for, so their culture was treated much like one would treat a sword without a sheath. Would you like me to make you an ice cream and a bread from there? But you would need to prepare the rest of the sweet breads. All they need now is to be stuffed. After that just rub them with rice flour then put them in a pan and close the lid." He wasn't expecting the spider to agree to it. It was a weird thing to ask of someone after inviting them to enjoy food with you, to cook for them and share with them.

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Haraka's Total: 4,365
Groups Total: 8,779