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The Urk Expedition: Aggressive Negotiations
Talinn had, like many of the crew, largely stayed inside his cabin aside from his duties as Captain as the Hide left the more temperate waters of Vulpinsula and made its way into the far colder ones surrounding Urk. On most vessels, the chill would have seeped in anyway, but he had authorized the careful use of the limited coal supplies aboard to keep the interior of the ship comparatively warm via its steam pipes. In war, such a luxury would not be not be permitted due to the need to use it for enhanced maneuvering and speed, but for this journey morale was a concern and perhaps because he was growing a little soft in his old age. The shrews, by all accounts, were numerous and vicious, and he was unsure if he could negotiate with them peacefully.
When land was sighted, called down from the unfortunate beast covered in layers in the crow’s nest, Talinn dressed himself in his winter clothing, left the comfort of his cabin, and stepped into the biting and chill wind.
‘Gates, it’s as cold as Northern Fyador the one time Alexei took me there. How beasts survive this year after year...
He marched towards the quarterdeck on the stern of the ship, up near to where the helmsbeast was, and took out his looking glass, surveying the island. Snow, rock, little inlets and the occasional small grouping of pines. A seemingly desolate place at first glance with no civilization to speak of. But he knew better.
Directing the helmsbeast to continue on a north-easterly course around the island, he eventually spotted what he was looking for. A few small plumes of smoke on the horizon. That was it. Finding the nearest crewbeast, he called for the lieutenant of the Hide’s marine complement, Lieutenant Tultow. He and the young stoat talked for some time before the junior officer hurried off and soon the full complement of the battle-hardened soldiers were lining up alongside the starboard side of the ship, crossbows being loaded and then held at the ready.
As all of this was occurring, a small, but still respectable, settlement alongside what passed for a river came into view for most of the ship, comprised of what appeared to be a mismatched assortment of stone and wood longhouses, some covered with turf, and smaller tents and what appeared to be some kind of round structures made out of snow. This vaguely matched the accounts of the lone survivor in the records, although he had mentioned that this was just one of more than a dozen or so across Urk. The correct one would have a totem pole with some large canine figure at the top...and...there it was! A rare smile flitted across his face. The day was off to a good start.
As he continued observing the settlement, it seemed their presence had been noticed, with a surprising number of shrews pouring out from the various structures in the village, all grabbing various tools, implements, and weapons, and seeming to form into groups. A small group of shrews, approximately twelve, entered six canoes and then began to paddle their way towards the Hide.
Talinn ordered the Hide to stop some fair distance away from the village, one of its sides facing it, and for the anchor to be dropped to stabilize the ship. Moving over to the starboard side, he awaited the arrival of what seemed to be the greeting party, such as it were, and took out a scroll from his jacket that, purportedly, stated in their language that they were there to offer gifts, trade, and simply look around for a little bit, and a very brief kind of dictionary, based on what could be reconstructed from the account of the lone survivor, then shook his head.
I have no idea how to speak anything other than Vulpinsulan or Fyadoran, I do not even know how to pronounce this. Ideally, we could simply...mostly…peacefully land, swipe the idol, and leave, but…
He scratched his head, then remembered looking through Seabeast Morgan’s file after the incident with her that she was considered something of an expert, at least, what passed for one on the Hide with languages. He gave instructions for her to join him.
When she arrived, he quickly explained the situation to her, handing the scroll over to her.
“Seabeast Morgan! I trust you are doing well. See those shrews coming up to us in their little canoes? You are the closest we have to a translator. This scroll contains, such as it were, what we have figured out of their language, and some lines to indicate that we come in peace. Do you think you are up to the task?”
As if to accentuate his point, the shrews in their canoes stopped a little way away from the Hide, warily eyeing the marines and the crewbeasts who had come out to look at them. One, wearing some kind of headdress, shouted up in a strange language.
“Kikkuuvit amma qanuimmat nunattinnuaqsimavit? Uqallakauqturlutit utirpaglutilluunniit qaitillutit!*”
*Who are you and why have you come to our sacred land? Speak quickly or go back from whence you came! (Language Skill Required: Very High).
@Morgan Liu @Vihmastaja @Gyles @Ralynn Waverunner @FinnianBrightfur
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