Post by Nai-Ran on Jun 8, 2014 22:25:05 GMT
Delicious smells wafted through the air of the dining chamber. A stone table draped in elegant cloth sat in center of the room with various dishes of food displayed atop. There were roasted tubers, some type of large rodent that had been grilled, broiled lizard, bowls of bright orange soup filled with chunks of vegetation, as well as several different dishes consisting of bizarrely shaped fruit. To any non-native of Appodorra, there was a decent chance that the little banquet laid out on the table wouldn’t be all that appetizing. To Nai-Ran, on the other hand, it was a feast like no other!
The young Ryashi woman sat upon her long, coiled tail at one end of the table glancing excitedly between each plate of food with her crimson eyes. Had she not actively been remembering to carry herself like a lady, drool would practically be flowing from her mouth like a waterfall. “Happy Birthday, Nai-Ran,” came a gruff voice from the other side of the table. Sitting across the way from her was a large Ryashi man with deep red eyes. He was nicely groomed with his dark grey hair up in a slicked back pompadour style and a cleanly shaven face aside from a thick, handlebar mustache.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Nai-Ran replied as she finally tore gaze away from the spread in front to look up at her father, General Kan-Basu. On the surface this was a joyous celebration of when a Ryashi youth was finally starting to bloom into adulthood. Unfortunately, this particular occasion had a slightly somber undertone to it. This was to be the last dinner together for this father and daughter for quite a long time. Tomorrow morning, just as the blazing sun was rising over the Nibea mountain range to the north, Nai-Ran would be setting out on her Ritual of Discovery. “Everything looks absolutely fantastic. You didn’t go through too much trouble putting it together, did you?” the young woman asked, trying not to think too much about what tomorrow had in store for her. This was supposed to be her birthday celebration, after all.
The general laughed heartily at her question and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry yourself with that, young lady. Shall we dig in?” Nai-Ran didn’t have to be asked a second time. She reached out and took hold of one of the bowls of soup, carefully placing it in front of herself. However, before she could reach for her spoon, her father spoke up again.
“Actually Nai-Ran... I’ve been thinking about something for the past few days,” he began, carefully stroking his mustache. She was obviously eager to start in on her soup, but had far better table manners than to eat while someone was trying to speak with her. “Oh?” was all she managed to reply, a bit disappointed over the sudden hold up. If it were anyone else interrupting, she would have probably snapped angrily at them. Nai-Ran held far too much respect for her father to do such a thing to him though.
General Kan-Basu continued to stroke his moustache thoughtfully as he observed his daughter sitting across the table from him. “It’s about the Ritual of Discovery. I believe I’ve finally come to my senses about the whole ordeal and feel it would be best to call the whole thing off...” It was a good thing that Nai-Ran had been polite enough to hold off on eating. Otherwise, she would have likely spat her soup out all over the table in shock. “D-Daddy? What are you talking about?” she asked, completely flabbergasted. Her father had never been all that great at telling jokes, but this was completely off the wall.
The young Ryashi woman wasn’t exactly thrilled to be undertaking the old ritual. She didn’t really want to take on the responsibility of stepping up as the ruler of the Rujju Sands, either. However, tradition was tradition. Her father would be horribly disappointed if the position was passed to someone that wasn’t of his lineage. The general didn’t have any other children to turn to as possible heirs, so Nai-Ran was the only one there to pass the baton to. Though, as much as he wanted her to keep the Rassuto clan in power, the man had been very clear in telling her that her abilities weren’t up to par for such an important position.
“The ritual starts tomorrow. Why change your mind so su-“ “In fact, I was recently in a conference with the current leaders of all of the other regions,” he interrupted. “We’ve come to an agreement that we should all unite as a single nation! It’s been decided that you shall be the one to lead said nation!” Nai-Ran face went white as a sheet. She stared back at the general with a completely dumbfounded look upon her face. “Umm... Daddy? Are you even listening to what you’re saying? Have you been chewing on serachi flowers or something?”
Before Nai-Ran could question his sanity any further, several Ryashi crowded into the dining chamber from the open archway. Every single one of their faces was distorted and they chanted her name over and over in unison with voices that sounded completely devoid of any life. Nai-Ran slithered backwards in a panic until her back was pressed up against the wall. “What IS this?! Get away from me!” More and more faceless Ryashi continued to filter into the room, eventually filling it so full that there was a large pile of bodies flung over the top of the panicked young woman. She couldn’t even breathe anymore; it felt like she was about to pass out.
“Destination Arrived. Time to wake up.”
“Mmm,” Nai-Ran groaned softly as she stirred from her slumber. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal that she wasn’t in a dining chamber at all. She was in the small space pod that she had taken off in shortly after bidding one last farewell to her father back on Appodorra. What a crazy dream... “Destination Arrived. Time to wake up. Destination Arrived. Time to wake up,” repeated a robotic sounding voice over and over again, signaling that it was time to come out of hibernation. The pod’s hatch door was open revealing that she had indeed touched down upon a new world.
Nai-Ran hoisted herself out of the somewhat cramped metal ball to get a better look at the planet she was going to be spending at least the next several years living on. Her white scales slid over cool grass while she took in her new surroundings. Wherever it was that the young Ryashi woman had been sent, it was a lot greener than she was used to. The pod had landed in some sort of grassy field. It was a lot softer than the grass back on Appodorra. Nothing could beat the feeling of hot sand against her scaly tail. This new environment wasn’t bad, per say, but it was certainly colder than what she was used to.
Nai-Ran crossed her arms over her chest as a slight shiver went down her spine. The tip of her tail flicked back and forth as she contemplated her situation. “So this is it, huh?” she mumbled to herself. How living on this new planet for a while was supposed to prove her worthy of taking over her father’s position was beyond her. However, her father had constantly assured her that the Ritual of Discovery would do the trick. The general had proven that he was wise beyond his years time and time again, so Nai-Ran would just have to trust his judgment on this one.
With a sigh, the serpentine off-worlder locked up the metal pod and slithered off into the grass. She would return for it later once she found a suitable place to make a temporary home, preferably some place warmer. Beggars can’t be choosers, unfortunately, so it all depended on what she found while scouting the place out.
The young Ryashi woman sat upon her long, coiled tail at one end of the table glancing excitedly between each plate of food with her crimson eyes. Had she not actively been remembering to carry herself like a lady, drool would practically be flowing from her mouth like a waterfall. “Happy Birthday, Nai-Ran,” came a gruff voice from the other side of the table. Sitting across the way from her was a large Ryashi man with deep red eyes. He was nicely groomed with his dark grey hair up in a slicked back pompadour style and a cleanly shaven face aside from a thick, handlebar mustache.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Nai-Ran replied as she finally tore gaze away from the spread in front to look up at her father, General Kan-Basu. On the surface this was a joyous celebration of when a Ryashi youth was finally starting to bloom into adulthood. Unfortunately, this particular occasion had a slightly somber undertone to it. This was to be the last dinner together for this father and daughter for quite a long time. Tomorrow morning, just as the blazing sun was rising over the Nibea mountain range to the north, Nai-Ran would be setting out on her Ritual of Discovery. “Everything looks absolutely fantastic. You didn’t go through too much trouble putting it together, did you?” the young woman asked, trying not to think too much about what tomorrow had in store for her. This was supposed to be her birthday celebration, after all.
The general laughed heartily at her question and dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Don’t worry yourself with that, young lady. Shall we dig in?” Nai-Ran didn’t have to be asked a second time. She reached out and took hold of one of the bowls of soup, carefully placing it in front of herself. However, before she could reach for her spoon, her father spoke up again.
“Actually Nai-Ran... I’ve been thinking about something for the past few days,” he began, carefully stroking his mustache. She was obviously eager to start in on her soup, but had far better table manners than to eat while someone was trying to speak with her. “Oh?” was all she managed to reply, a bit disappointed over the sudden hold up. If it were anyone else interrupting, she would have probably snapped angrily at them. Nai-Ran held far too much respect for her father to do such a thing to him though.
General Kan-Basu continued to stroke his moustache thoughtfully as he observed his daughter sitting across the table from him. “It’s about the Ritual of Discovery. I believe I’ve finally come to my senses about the whole ordeal and feel it would be best to call the whole thing off...” It was a good thing that Nai-Ran had been polite enough to hold off on eating. Otherwise, she would have likely spat her soup out all over the table in shock. “D-Daddy? What are you talking about?” she asked, completely flabbergasted. Her father had never been all that great at telling jokes, but this was completely off the wall.
The young Ryashi woman wasn’t exactly thrilled to be undertaking the old ritual. She didn’t really want to take on the responsibility of stepping up as the ruler of the Rujju Sands, either. However, tradition was tradition. Her father would be horribly disappointed if the position was passed to someone that wasn’t of his lineage. The general didn’t have any other children to turn to as possible heirs, so Nai-Ran was the only one there to pass the baton to. Though, as much as he wanted her to keep the Rassuto clan in power, the man had been very clear in telling her that her abilities weren’t up to par for such an important position.
“The ritual starts tomorrow. Why change your mind so su-“ “In fact, I was recently in a conference with the current leaders of all of the other regions,” he interrupted. “We’ve come to an agreement that we should all unite as a single nation! It’s been decided that you shall be the one to lead said nation!” Nai-Ran face went white as a sheet. She stared back at the general with a completely dumbfounded look upon her face. “Umm... Daddy? Are you even listening to what you’re saying? Have you been chewing on serachi flowers or something?”
Before Nai-Ran could question his sanity any further, several Ryashi crowded into the dining chamber from the open archway. Every single one of their faces was distorted and they chanted her name over and over in unison with voices that sounded completely devoid of any life. Nai-Ran slithered backwards in a panic until her back was pressed up against the wall. “What IS this?! Get away from me!” More and more faceless Ryashi continued to filter into the room, eventually filling it so full that there was a large pile of bodies flung over the top of the panicked young woman. She couldn’t even breathe anymore; it felt like she was about to pass out.
“Destination Arrived. Time to wake up.”
“Mmm,” Nai-Ran groaned softly as she stirred from her slumber. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal that she wasn’t in a dining chamber at all. She was in the small space pod that she had taken off in shortly after bidding one last farewell to her father back on Appodorra. What a crazy dream... “Destination Arrived. Time to wake up. Destination Arrived. Time to wake up,” repeated a robotic sounding voice over and over again, signaling that it was time to come out of hibernation. The pod’s hatch door was open revealing that she had indeed touched down upon a new world.
Nai-Ran hoisted herself out of the somewhat cramped metal ball to get a better look at the planet she was going to be spending at least the next several years living on. Her white scales slid over cool grass while she took in her new surroundings. Wherever it was that the young Ryashi woman had been sent, it was a lot greener than she was used to. The pod had landed in some sort of grassy field. It was a lot softer than the grass back on Appodorra. Nothing could beat the feeling of hot sand against her scaly tail. This new environment wasn’t bad, per say, but it was certainly colder than what she was used to.
Nai-Ran crossed her arms over her chest as a slight shiver went down her spine. The tip of her tail flicked back and forth as she contemplated her situation. “So this is it, huh?” she mumbled to herself. How living on this new planet for a while was supposed to prove her worthy of taking over her father’s position was beyond her. However, her father had constantly assured her that the Ritual of Discovery would do the trick. The general had proven that he was wise beyond his years time and time again, so Nai-Ran would just have to trust his judgment on this one.
With a sigh, the serpentine off-worlder locked up the metal pod and slithered off into the grass. She would return for it later once she found a suitable place to make a temporary home, preferably some place warmer. Beggars can’t be choosers, unfortunately, so it all depended on what she found while scouting the place out.
One thing was for sure. This was going to be a looooooooong journey.