On the knees of Mount Ojin, at the place where the mountain is level to the foothills that surround it, there is a column of green stone erected by the ancestor Ojin.  It is as taller than a tall male who stands on another tall males shoulders.  There are runes carved along it, but they are so old and so weathered, no one really knows what they mean anymore.  It is just an old collection of greenish stones, stacked atop each other since before anyone was born.

It is the place of leave taking for your high village.  When it is time to head to the lowlands, your village descends the mountain by paths that have been worn into the stone by countless generations of pilgrims going along them.  When the leaders bring you to the Ojin stone, the village makes camp and there is one last night of celebration.  Or perhaps it is mourning. No matter how loud the songs are sung or how much is drunk, there is a sense of mourning.  Of goodbye.

Because when the time to wake arrives, the high village is no more.  Each family will depart from that place, silently.  Not looking back.  They will head on their own paths to the doors of their homes in the deserts.  From the moment they wake up, each family is of their low village.  Until it is time to climb high again.

For the first time, you are not following your parents.  Instead, you trail after a couple of families you know slightly.  They look back at you now and again, to make sure you are still there.  They offer you food and water when break time comes.  But mostly they leave you alone.

It is always awkward when a new face shows up.

If you had just been married, it would be slightly different.  Your spouse would have come to your high village to retrieve you.  And they would be walking with you, to guide you to your new home.

But you don't have a spouse.  Instead, tucked into the small pack you carry, you have a small finger bone.  It arrived by a messenger two months ago.  Along it's length is written a message from a family in Cool Shade Low Village.  Hiyal bids you come and work.  That is all it reads.  But it is enough.

You had spent a year carving a crystal the color of rose into the shape of a uko, paying careful attention to the delicate legs and wings so that the crystal looked like the insect it was based on.  You packed it carefully and sent it by messenger to the Hiyal family in their high village.  You didn't send a note.  It would have been rude to do so.

Were you nervous as you waited those long weeks?  Were you scared?  Whether you were or not, you received your answer.  And much sooner than you would have thought.

Hiyal sent you an ancestor's finger bone.  It gives you the right to enter their low village, to approach the ancestral tomb and to place it back where it came from.  Once you do, a Hiyal family representative will meet you at the entrance to the tomb and guide you back to their home.

From then on, until such time as you have repaid your keep and their favor with your labor, you will apprentice.  Hopefully to Matah of Hiyal.  But even D'osk of Hiyal would be good.  To be able to learn crafting at the feet of a Hiyal...

This isn't a dream, is it?

OOC:  I'll stop here and let you ask any questions or react.  Thanks

Migrations were always a weird time. For the changes they brought, for the pretty much constant daylight with Vainia and Seipra tirelessly relaying each other in the sky... This time, as always, Ailith wondered if she liked it. There was always the fact that she pretty much wasn't able to work on anything for the whole trip, to say nothing of how tiresome if was of course. Even though it wasn't that bad going down at least. On the other hand, there were so many things to see and do that were unique to those times that she often arrived home with ideas that would last for a good part of the season.

This time... There was still all of that of course, but muted, shadowed by concerns and hopes that would be unique to this particular trip: leaving her family despite her young age, going to a village she had never seen...and finding out what was waiting for her there. In a way, it was better than the weeks between when she had sent her carving, and when she received an answer: she had been counting the days while trying to estimate how long it would take to get there and back, alternatively sure of herself and her work then a few minutes later convinced it would never be good enough...

According to her family, she had been...difficult. Though her brother had used other words of course. It had been made worse for them by the fact that she hadn't revealed what was happening of course: she had paid for the messenger with her own resources obtained  thanks to little works she had done here and there. Simply because she hadn't wanted them to hope too much... to tell her not to bother - even though she knew her parents would have encouraged her - and also because she didn't want her brother to tease her. Even though he had taken his revenge of course.

But now... Now she knew that something was waiting for her. What, or more exactly who, she didn't know but she tried not too fret about it. Mostly unsuccessfully, but... One last time, she turned to her family, waving in their direction and watching them disappear behind a big rock. Finally with a sigh, and the conviction that if nothing else she would be able to send letters, she jogged to catch up with the families she was following to what would be, at least for some time, her new village.

At the first break, she thanked those who offered her water and food, taking advantage of the occasion to ask for any kind of information they had about...well, a lot of subjects, ranging from the village itself to how many apprentices there were, how they lived and so on.

In reply to Ailith (msg # 2):

There are two families.  The family of Kadeen of Husla Vag is the one feeding you.  They apparently agreed with Hiyal to insure your safety on the road.

Kadeen is a broad woman, smiling mostly but speaking in rather stern words to her numerous children.  Her husband and their eldest son are carrying thier goods in large packs, so neither of them really says much during breaks, instead trying to nap.

"If I had to describe the Hiyal..." Kadeen considers a moment.  "I would say they are very meticulous.  Our threshold is close to theirs, and they have a grand compound.

"Matah is still head of the family.  He sent us word about you.  But I would say his children D'Osk or Hannu are probably the ones doing most of the work these days.  Do you know which one you will be studying under?"

Just as she asks, as if on cue, there is a roar in the distance.  Everyone at the camp stands, looking excitedly at the sky.  It's the roar of one of the Interlopers flying villages.  What they supposedly call spaceships.  You have never seen an interloper.  One of their villages passed by your high village once.  But it was such a distance away, it looked more like a shooting star that moved parallel to the horizon than anything else.

But this time, the roar is louder.  And there aren't any mountains in the way.

From over the top of the foothills in the distance, you can see a long silvery looking tube rising.  At one end is a glow like fire seen through a pure orange colored crystal.  The tube rises, without any visible strings to hold it up or hands lifting it, and stays hovering in the air a moment.  Then it slowly rotates until it is facing away from you.

It suddenly speeds off into the distance, disappearing from view before you can consider it gone.

Kadeen chuckles as her children begin to whoop and point.  "I suppose the negotiations have been completed."

She looks at you.  "The ancestors are favoring you.  I do not know if you were told:  Hulsa Vag has finalized a deal with the Interlopers.  They are very interested in our village, particularly because of Family Hiyal.  You will probably be seeing some of them in person."

Ailith watched the skies, her mouth half-open. She, all at the same time, was surprised, awed, and felt a touch of fear, but most of all she couldn't help but wonder how it all worked and wished she understood... the things they could do with things like that... What had they done to make an entire village fly in the sky like that? But also... why?

With a start, she blinked a couple of times and focused on Kadeen when she talked again, “I didn't know, no.” For the past few months, she had been mostly focused on the last details of her carving, to make sure it was perfect, then agonizing over what the answer would be, “I hadn't really paid attention to it.” Which wasn't exactly true, but it wasn't like there had been all that much to say about them after all.

“To answer your question, I don't know yet.” She looked to the skies, pensive, “Maybe there'll be a test or something before they decide on that?” she looked back in the direction where the interloper had disappeared. “What were the negotiations about though?” She frowned slightly, really wishing it wouldn't interfere with her apprenticeship...

In reply to Ailith (msg # 4):

"I think they were keeping talk about the negotiations softer than meyo"
Kadeen says, referring to the silken threads so much of your clothing is woven from.

"I have no idea how the Hiyal will decide such things.  But they will not keep you in the dark long.  Matah is fairly straight forward.

"As for the trading agreement...well.  You know the Assembly has decided the Interlopers may only trade with a set number of villages.  Old Burrows village lost their contract before the last summer.  So the Interlopers were very keen to negotiate with a new village.  It was between us and Unburnt Grounds village.  It seems we have won."

Kadeen sighs.  "I hear the Interlopers want to trade for our artisan's works.  They also like to trade for meyo and vezze.  Why they would want such things..."

She shrugs. "Anyway.  If your work is good, some Interloper may pay a high price for it.  Wouldn't that be an honor?"

The journey resumes the next morning.  Kadeen is busy shuttling her younger children along, but she makes small talk with you when she can.

A little after noon, you spy the walls of Hulsa Vag.

There's a reason this place is called Cool Shades.  Part of it is built under an overhang of the mountain closet to it.  In the morning, the sun shines directly into it.  But as the day progresses, the overhang spreads a shadow over the village, and by the second hour of the afternoon, most of the village is shaded by the overhang and the mountain.

A good place to live.

Kadeen stops you.  "We will rest here a moment.  Have some water.

"Here is your veil.  You will walk the rest of the way by yourself, but we will keep an eye on you.  Approach the gate and present your token.  Past the gate is a street running straight back towards the mountain.  You will know you are on the right path if you pass a fountain that is colored yellow.

"The path will turn to steps.  Climb them until you reach the tomb.  Once inside, you should be able to find the shrine easily.  The Hiyal will wait for you outside.

"Be as quick as you can.  Matah will be impatient if you tarry.

"Do you have any questions?"

“I, uh... see?” Ailith commented about the negotiations, but she didn't sound particularly confident. She smiled thinly when Kadeen suggested her work might be bought by one of the interlopers. “For now, I'll focus on doing good with... well... whoever will have me I guess?” Still... She seemed pensive for a moment: what if she asked for knowledge as a payment? Wouldn't that be nice? Though of course... she'd need to get a lot better if she wanted to have a chance at that. In her village... in her old village, it wouldn't have been difficult as there weren't many who were able to craft anything of note. But in Cool Shades... Well, she certainly hoped she wouldn't be the last of them, but she had no illusion of being better than most...even if she hoped it would change of course. That was the whole point of her coming after all.

The next day, when they paused close to the village, Ailith took the veil tentatively as she listened carefully to the instructions she was given. She grimaced slightly when told that she needed to be quick - she had considered looking around on her way to the shrine - then nodded, “Yes, but...” She looked around for a second then shrugged, “I suppose they all can wait...” Or to be more precise, while she really wanted to know more, the last thing she wanted was to give any reason to Matah to be unhappy with her.

So instead, she bowed, “Thanks for your help. I guess I'll see you around?” With a last smile, Ailith started to walk in the direction of the gate while she put the veil on, then took the token in her hand to present it to whoever she'd find there.