[Italics are Onnen language, bold is Lindani language]

Cameroon was bustling with people today. It was trade day. A large shipment of goods from the other continents had arrived. The various tribes from around Sahel would be sending contingents to trade for both exotic fare from far away and common necessities alike. Among these tribal representatives was a small group of three hooded individuals. They silently weaved through the crowd on padded feet, trying not to draw attention to themselves. This was the trading party of the Lindani, the tiger people.
Walking just behind the other two was Kay’li. She was glancing left and right, trying to take in as many of the trinkets and baubles from the lands beyond Onnen as she could. While the other two were only here to trade, she had a different goal in mind. She wished to leave the tribe.

For months she had been enamoured with the amazing items that occasionally made their way back with the usual shipment of goods. The thought of places outside of Sahel and even Onnen filled her with wonder and amazement. She had to see it all. Someday she would return to the tribe and tell them all about her travels. But they would never let her leave by herself. So she had resolved to sneak away after the day’s trading had been completed.

“Kay’li, go and purchase the rice for the tribe. Have them deliver it to our cart at the lift. And don’t get swindled.” That was Korun. He was the usual leader for the trade day groups. He had known of Kay’li’s fascination with the outer continent’s goods and thought it might be good for her to see them on trade day. His hope was that it sated her desire to have them so she would focus on tribal matters.

“Yes, Korun.” Kay’li broke away from the two and made her way to the nearest stall selling rice.

The vendor she came to was an annoyingly smug looking Bifada. A pangolin. He stood amongst a large number of massive bags of rice. As she approached, his eyes locked with hers and he smirked.

“Why hello there! And what may I do for a pretty lady such as yourself?”

“You may sell me 10 large bags of rice for my tribe.”

His nose twitched slightly before his face eased into a look of feigned distress.

“10 bags? That’s an awful lot for a starving tribe. I’ve probably got other customers coming today that I regularly do business with. But I’ll cut you a deal. For 10 bags, I’ll part with them for 100 silver a bag.”

A snarl formed on Kay’li’s lips. “100 silver a bag! That’s ridiculous and you know it! Those bags are worth no more than 20 silver a piece and you know it!”

“Well I suppose if my price doesn’t suit you, you could try to go to one of the other rice merchants, but rice goes quick and I know for a fact I stock the most. They are probably all selling out as we speak. So you can take your chances with them or buy from me.”

Kay’li stuck out a hand, extended her claws, and growled low. “Or you could be reasonable and sell them for the regular market price and be thankful for the business.”

The Bifada shrugged and turned away, unperturbed by her claws and aggressive stance. “Move along, girlie, I have another customer headed this way.”

Enraged by his demeanour Kay’li tensed strike and began to move closer.

Sat astride her war horse Kythe’s emerald eyes flickered to the rope walkways hidden amidst the canopy of the trees above her. In her years she had seen a great many cities and villages of all shapes and sizes but the ingenuity of people never ceased to amaze her and this city amongst the trees was one such place that struck her with awe. Smiling softly, she slapped her hand against Corvix’s muscled neck as she dismounted, tying his reins to his halter so that he could wander without them catching to anything.
Leaving her stallion to explore she made her way up the rope walkway that led to the main part of the city; the Minadrian woman sticking to one side to let the bustling crowd get past her as she watched the comings and going of the various traders.

Kythe had come to this place to seek out individuals who might wish to join her; since coming to Revaliir without her family and without true purpose she had forged her own idea and refined it alongside her adopted son – she had been lost at first but this would offer her a purpose and distract her from the loss of her husband, children and Bondmate.
Nossë. It was the Elvish word for family, clan, house – it was everything that Kythe had lost when she had been expelled from her homeworld into this one and it was everything that she was looking to regain as well. It was the Guild that she and Kiba were looking to create; already she had begun to seek out individuals from a variety of tribes and groups across Revaliir to join them in their goal and it was why she had come here to Cameroon – to put up their flyers and seek out anyone who might be interested in becoming a part of their family.

As she strode through the canopies she remained ever alert to trouble – it was an old habit that was extremely hard to break out of and one that had served her well over the many lifetimes she had lived. While Kythe did not know all of the languages of Revaliir (she was still new and therefore still learning a great deal of them) she had learnt enough of some to understand snippets of what was said – more importantly however was her ability to discern the tones of those speaking around her. As such the heated exchange between the Tigress and the trader caught her attention. While she did not understand the entire exchange she knew enough to realise what was going on between the pair moments before the Tigress extended her claws.

Heading in their direction Kythe pulled herself tall to her full height of six foot, wings half furled against her back to make herself more imposing as she stood directly behind the Tigress, her emerald eyes (usually bright and full of life and laughter) dark, almost shimmering with annoyance as she looked down on the trader. It did not take much to know that he had purposefully raised his prices once the girl had asked for the rice – one thing Kythe did understand in the Onnen tongue was numbers and how to ask for prices in general so she was more than a little aware of what injustice had followed here.
Putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder she moved her out of the way of the trader, giving the Tigress a wink that one she would see as she looked at the man before her. ”I will take 10 large bags of your rice; I have come from Lord Lokir’s Fort, the God of Strength requires the best rice for his garrison.” She stated sternly, one hand lowering from her chest to motion for the Tigress to stand down – Kythe would deal with this fool herself.

Kay'li sensed the presence behind her as it grew larger. But before she could turn around and strike in defence, she was gently moved aside. The person who did so was an incredibly imposing woman who exuded both confidence and authority. She stood just a little taller than Kay'li, but her wingspan definitely gave her the advantage in terms of size. A good thing when warding off beasts who wished to cause trouble.

The woman was clearly from the other continents though. Her Onnen was a bit imprecise, but declaring herself the ambassador of a deity's fort was something unheard of in these lands. Kay'li put her claws away and stepped back. She was intrigued by this woman. Annoyed that she did not have the chance to handle this issue herself, but also grateful for the help. Her tribe needed the rice and returning empty-handed due to poor bartering skills would have been unacceptable.

The Bifada, for his part, seemed rattled by the woman's presence, but also quickly picked up on her being an outlander. The pangolin flashed a quick smirk at the tigress and turned back to the winged woman. He nervously grinned and switched to the Common tongue for outlanders.

"Why yes, of course, madame. And my apologies for being so presumptuous, but allow me to speak in your people's tongue so as to better facilitate this transaction. The going price is 120 silver per bag. However, as I can see you are the representative of a deity, I will drop the price just for you to 110 silver per bag. I hope that this price is acceptable and that the god will see favour with me for my service to him.” He bowed low and smiled politely.

Kay’li, for her part, understood barely any Common. It was still new to the people of Onnen and as her tribe was isolated, she could only pick up the few words that the traders brought back with them. But of the words she had learned, she understood “ten” and “silver”. So either he had lowered the price to ten silver per bag, which would be lower than the usual price, or he had -raised- the price for this person. Given how much of a low-life this particular Bifada was, she guessed it was the latter.

She reached out and tapped the woman’s shoulder. Her Common was poor, but she had to at least try and speak out about this shady seller’s practices.

She pointed at the trader and said, “No silver ten….high….mmm…” She pointed to a bag and thought back to her limited knowledge of Common numbers. “Silver twenty.”

The pangolin flashed Kay’li a quick look of anger, but knew he had the upper hand in terms of language skills.

“I’m sorry, madame. This woman is a Lindani. They don’t usually interact with others much, so she probably didn’t understand my pricing in Common. I believe she was trying to correct me by saying that 110 silver isn’t high enough as she would normally pay 120. I can assure you that I am able to accept 110 as the price per bag so as to favour the god of strength.”

A small, knowing smile crossed Kythe's face as the pangolin spoke to her directly in commoners tongue. What he seemed to have failed to grasp was that out of all the Onnen language numbers had been the one thing Kythe had excelled at in terms of her learning. What he had originally wished to charge the Tigress compared to what he was trying to get out of her had risen and she knew that the rice was not worth that - she had spent a long time bartering for food for her armies, she knew what food was worth… She been about to speak when the girl reached out and touched her shoulder. She listened to the woman and smiled softly at her, nodding before she looked back at the trader once more - how stupid did he honestly think she was?

"Able to accept…" She repeated, turning her gaze back on the trader though all of the warmth was gone from her eyes; the once vibrant emerald now dark yet somehow seemed to be filled with flickering, angry flames. "I doubt any God would give favour to a trader who dares to lie to one of their ambassadors do you? Let alone a trader who attempts to extort money from them as you have. 110 silver pieces per bag when originally you offer them to this Lindani for 100? Not only have you dared to raise the price because I have come from the God's halls but you were already selling your wares at a price far higher than this rice is even worth. I am older than I look and I am not remotely stupid despite what you may think. Now. Would you like to sell me these bags of rice at the price they are worth or should I report back to the Conclave as to what you are trying to pull? I'm sure that Lady Angela would love to hear how her gift of good growth has gone to waste where you are concerned, in fact I'm quite convinced that my dear friend Angela might even ensure that you never have rice to sell again." Kythe added in a sickly sweet tone as she smiled. 

Stepping towards the man she pulled herself to her full height and unfurled her wings. "Now. You are going to sell me 10 bags of rice and 40 silver a bag and you are going to smile and be happy about it. Am I making myself clear?" She knew she was probably giving him too much in her bargain but she was happy to use her silver to help out the girl. 

The Bifada’s eyes grew wide as he realised he’d been had. Today was not his lucky day and he’d be going home with much less silver in his pockets than usual. 

He bowed his head low in fear. “Yes, of course. A thousand apologies ma’am! 40 silver per bag will be acceptable to me. I shall have it loaded for you at once!”Kay’li saw this change in his demeanour immediately. He had lost the negotiation handily to this strong-willed woman. She smirked at the Bifada, but he didn’t dare cast her a nasty glance now. She stepped forward and pointed out where the Lindani cart was stationed. “Load the bags onto that cart, and be quick about it!”

Since this woman seemed to know a bit of Onnen, Kay’li decided to try her luck with communicating that way.

“Thank you for your help. This greedy Bifada was trying to get more money out of us because we do not normally leave our home. He assumed we needed the rice badly enough to pay whatever price for it. My name is Kay’li and I am a Lindani. You look very strong. Do you really hail from beyond our land?”

There was a bit of excitement in her voice. An outsider was very interesting and a potential means of escape to the lands beyond.