#treowa

Now this was something Roderich was definitely not used to in the slightest. He so rarely interacted with anyone, let alone someone with this sort of… personality.

Caught off guard, the siren failed to find words for a moment as he tried to process the fact that a faerie who he’d literally just tried to kill was acting smug and flirting with him. “Don’t– You cannot simply make comments like that! I’m only not attempting to end your life because I find you confusing and I needed answers to why you could resist my spell.”

With a huff, the siren shifted in the water, his tail swishing anxiously beneath the surface. “And don’t push your luck. You do not know the extent of your power. Perhaps my song is stronger than your magic, if I persist at it. You are not yet safe.” In fact, one more comment like that and Roderich might just decide to drown him regardless.

“Okay.” Francis shrugged his shoulders and held up his hands in mock surrender. At least he knew when his advances (jesting or not) were welcome. He’d rather not have to fight with this siren--not that he wasn’t confident he could hold his own, but because he wanted to talk, at least. They were turning out to be a rather interesting character.

“Maybe,” she said, eyes still following bird, “maybe not.”

She turned her attention to him, “in Wixen society, the things I do ain’t seen as great. So I don’t really think about the worth of it. I just do it ‘cause it feels right, and ‘cause it makes me feel better.”

A pause, “it’d be nice to be seen as a wonderful Wix, though.”

“Oh..” Francis frowned, putting a hand on the Wix’s shoulder. “That sounds awful.” He looked down as he further processed what she’d just said.

“Ah…. so you believe that others will trust his word over mine? And if they do… would I really want them here? I would rather be known for standing up for my staff than being walked on by customers who complain about nothing.” She noticeably gave a glare in the angry customer’s direction.

“I am glad that you won’t cause any trouble. Most of my customers are regulars, anyway. They won’t leave just because some man says lies.” While she didn’t quite smile back, the menacing look seemed to disappear as she attempted to return Francis’ friendly smile. “Not that I prefer the cafe to be empty of patrons, but a small number suits me better than a very busy day. I like to know who I’m cooking for. It’s not like I need the money or business anyway as long as I have a few people who enjoy my cooking.”

“Well--” He couldn’t get a word in. Yes that was a possibility, though it sounded almost unthinkable when Natalia put it that way. It seemed typical that a concerned suggestion from him seemed to have elicited a scolding from the establishment’s owner, but that was just her being herself and there was no malice anyway.

Francis definitely picked up on the softening of her expression later on. He felt it wouldn’t simply be playing devil’s advocate to say that his complaints, whatever they were, could have been valid but..ah well, Natalia made her point.

That last bit caught him off guard, though. For someone who came off as aloof, she seemed to care about cultivating a close-knit community. All of a sudden he felt a bit guilty for prejudging her, though he was also pleased that he’d learned something new and a bit endearing to her.

Maddie has history books on Anuipuk about Pebbles' people who lived in the cave system on Orvunos, so there are records (from the outside looking in) as to who Pebbles' people are. It's possible that people have looked for this 'lost tribe' of Orvuns without success of finding them for years– because her tribe secluded itself intentionally, because the cave system is basically a labyrinth, or because of some kind of magic barrier, it's unclear.

Pepper's tribe has always lived in a cave system on Orvunos as far as she knows, but her ancestors used to be in contact with other Orvuns until they disagreed over whether to maintain contact with the newly discovered island (Treowa). Pebble's people probably knew that if they went to war with Treowa on their own, they'd lose, but they no longer had the support of the other Orvun tribes, so they closed themselves off... and either intentionally or unintentionally forgot about the rest of the world.

I'm not sure how long ago it was that Orvunos came into contact with Treowa, but there may be other records of her people (outside of Maddie's book shop, especially on Orvunos), though. Just Pebbles' tribe has kept no record of the outside. Again, it's unclear whether that's intentional on behalf of her tribes elders and her ancestors or if it has simply been lost.

                                                     𝓣𝓻𝓮𝓸𝔀𝓪

The celebration is the transition between seasons; the shift from Spring to Summer is highlighted by the exchange of ‘responsibility’ between Earthly Elemental Sprites and Fiery Elemental Sprites. 

@perennialardency

Clumsily packing his pipe, Andrei took a moment to squint up at the sky. He didn’t know why, he already knew what it looked like. “I know. Nights like this have always been unsettling,” he mumbled in reply. “Peaceful to many, I guess; but they’ve always been kinda…off. From a scientific perspective I know it’s fine; but some things just stay with you, ya know?” He lit his pipe and brought it to his lips. “I prefer the stars personally.”

Francis tilted his head. “Science only represents one facet of reality; it is complementary to the rest. As magical beings, neither you nor I would discredit something simply because it cannot be explained by science, no?”