157
Read to everyone:
A shriek rips through the darkening night, bringing the already low murmur of conversation in the communal dining area to a silence. The shriek is followed by a second, then the shattering of clay dishware dropped to the ground.
You look around to see a Carja family, mother, father, and daughter, all staring at your party. The parents both have hands pointing at you, faces contorted in terror, while the daughter just looks confused.
Seeing you turn to face them, the parts screams fade away, and they begin to scramble in the other direction, the father scooping up the daughter to carry her as they head down the hill. Grethe runs past you to catch them as they disappear around the corner. She returns with the family several minutes later, though it is obvious from the body language of the parents that they are barely participating of their own accord.
Grethe, seemingly more bemused than anything else, drops onto her haunches to get eye level with the daughter, who still seems confused by all the fuss.
“My name is Grethe. It is nice to meet you. What’s your name?”
The girl brightens, answering quickly: “Unira.” She is maybe five or six years old.
Grethe uses the tip of her finger to draw little half-moons under her own eyes, before pointing at Unira. “I like your make-up, Unira. It’s a very pretty design. Did you do that, yourself?”
Unira is flattered but thinks Grethe is being silly, shaking her head.
“Unira, I’d like you to meet some friends of mine. I’m trying to get enough houses built so that everyone has a warm place they can sleep and feel comfortable at night. I’m sure your parents love telling you stories around a fire at night — I do the same thing with my daughter. These people have come from far, far away to help me build more houses. Do you understand?”
Unira likes the part about the stories and warm fires, but doesn’t seem to understand where Grethe is going with this.
Grethe points to the Tenakth. “This is my friend Yenever. Yenever has to be big and strong to help carry all the wood it takes to build our houses. And (pronoun) (is/are) very nice. Don’t you think (pronoun) has pretty make-up, too? Would you like to see it up close?”
Grethe motions for Yenever to squat as she has done. The parents are visibly uncomfortable with this, shifting their weight back and forth on their feet. Whatever Grethe said to them has them here for now, but they don’t seem to like it.
Your Tenakth party member (Yenever, or other) would know that Carja from the southern end of the Sundom have a rocky history with the Tenakth. The Red Raids saw a number of incursions, reprisals, and bad behavior on both sides, and local farmers and trappers were often caught in the middle. The child is too young to have been around for this, but the parents clearly were.
Grethe, knowing this history, seems to be attempting to disarm the prejudice of the parents by appealing to the innocence of their daughter.
If you’re willing to play along, continue on to entry 164. Otherwise, go to entry 171.