Otjag Heya guys and galls, I just wanted to tell you the reason behind writing the approach of Sveck from both parties POVs. I simply couldn't decide if I wanted to write the whole thing from Kai's POV or Sveck's, but either way I wanted to have Kai's thoughts on the matter written down. In the end I decided to write from Sveck's POV, because it is that much more interesting, at least in my opinion. Though that means that chapter 50 and 51 are in the wrong order and I need to adjust a few things for Kai's chapter at some time. Now you know why the chapter order might feel a bit weird.
Thanks for reading!
Sveck looked at the 8 insectoids, cold sweat forming on his back. He hadn’t just said something offensive, had he?
Hopefully not, but the reaction of the other party suggested that he had at least said something weird.
Sveck wasn’t that confident in what he was doing at the moment. Sure, there was a protocol in place that gave instruction on how to approach unknown sapient species, but an event such as this wasn’t exactly common.
As far as he was concerned this was only a thing because there were sometimes non-hostile sapients in old dungeons and cooperating with them was more profitable than fighting them. He was only a lowly silver adventurer though, so he wasn’t privy to information like that.
Finally, there was a reaction from the tallest of the other group. The woman looked up at the position of the sun and back at him before she shrugged.
So, he did say something weird in the end. Sveck could only punch himself for not learning more than the bare minimum of the ancient language.
The small person next to the woman, the child?
The child poked the woman that was quite possibly the mother in the side and the tall woman straightened her back, presenting herself in an almost regal manner. “Greetings stranger. You are aware that it is considered polite to introduce oneself first, yes?”
She was speaking slowly and clearly, making it easier for Sveck to understand her, even if he didn’t know all the words. The woman was pronouncing every t quite hard however and always punctuated them with a click of her mandibles, which was distracting enough for him to need a moment until he managed to discern the meaning of her question.
She wanted him to introduce himself and he didn’t see why he should deny her request. “Ohh. Uhm, my name is Sveck.”
The woman cocked her head. “Only Sveck?”
The question confused him greatly. What was she taking him for, a rich merchant or noble?
His name was Sveck, nothing more and nothing less. He wasn’t important enough to have a surname.
Then he realized that he was literally dealing with unknown people that likely didn’t share his common sense. “Yes, only Sveck.”
The woman nodded, having come to some kind of conclusion herself. “Right, Sveck. I’m Kai Antana and I would like to say it is a pleasure to meet you, but your arrival makes things a bit more difficult.”
The children around her exchanged some amused glances for reasons unknown to Sveck. He had other problems at the moment. While Kai Antana hadn’t declared her hostility towards him, she made it clear that he wasn’t exactly welcome either.
She looked or rather stared sternly at him. “Now, I assure you that we do not intend to harm you so long as you do not intend to do us harm, but you came here at an inconvenient time-”
Miss Antana looked at the position of the sun, which had started to slowly dip behind the horizon, again, making Sveck realize how late in the day it already was. “And as such you force us to offer you lodging and food for the night.”
He was confused. Just because someone arrived at your home late at night you didn’t have to offer them a place at your hearth, even if there were monsters ravaging the land. No, especially when there were monsters ravaging the land you didn’t invite any unknowns into your place.
Miss Antana offered him a forced smile and pointed at his shoulder. “Because of this I would kindly ask you to put down your weapons and that bag before you take 5 steps back.”
Sveck immediately focused. She wanted him to disarm and separate himself from his bag of holding, though she didn’t seem to be aware of what it was.
The thing was, Sveck didn’t want to do that. These people were unknown and might just be trying to lure him into a trap, and even if it was just a safety measure for them, he didn’t want to separate himself from his equipment with the Xanai around.
Sveck took in his surroundings, noticing that more of the giant ant things had appeared and came to a decision he didn’t like. He would follow the suggestion that was clearly an order for now. Miss Antana being the exception, he should be able to fight and win against everyone else barehanded and would be able to escape, especially if he didn’t go for kills.
The reason for this was really quite simple. While the guildmaster was someone Sveck could reason with, the baron was not and he would rather escape from these people than deal with the noble that could simply take away his hunting rights, forcing him to go back to adventuring to make a living.
Sveck slowly put down his daggers and bag before he took five steps back. Two of the glaive wielding girls picked his things up and carefully walked around him where they took a guarding position.
He looked back to Miss Antana and found her smiling genuinely for the first time. “Your compliance is much appreciated, Sveck. We won’t take anything from you, I promise.”
She looked at the children fondly. “I simply can’t endanger my daughters by taking you in, I hope you understand.”
Sveck could, but that didn’t make his situation any better so he just nodded.
Miss Antana shook her head and sighed. “Well, if you would please follow us, we will show you your room for the night.”
And with that they started their track to where their settlement was likely at. Sveck could only guess since he had no idea. The six glaive wielding girls quickly surrounded him, keeping just enough distance so he wasn’t in reach of their weapons, but close enough that they would only need a step to close the gap. In addition to them the furry ant creatures scurried through the undergrowth all around them.
They traveled in relative silence and only Miss Antana and the child next to her were speaking in hushed whispers. Much to Sveck’s disappointment they were using a language he didn’t know.
“Muss ich mein Schauspiel aufrecht erhalten?” (Do I have to keep roleplaying?)
The child grinned at Antana. “Niemand hat je gesagt, dass du dich verstellen müsstest, um mit Situationen wie diesen fertig zu werden, und von uns allen weißt du am besten, wie man mit Menschen umgeht, Mama.” (Nobody said you have to craft some political persona for situations like this, mum and amongst us all you know the best how to deal with humans.)
Miss Antana squinted her eyes at the girl and retorted something, but Sveck didn’t bother to listen since he couldn’t understand it anyway. It also didn’t help his paranoia that the people around him quite obviously didn’t trust him, even if that was probably the right thing to do from their point of view.
Instead he focused on the nature around them, searching for good hiding spots and escape routes. He also made it a point to observe the weird ant creatures.
Alone, they didn’t look like much of a threat and were probably less dangerous than a dog of equal size. He reasoned that you could simply take hold of the mandibles and thus disable their most dangerous weapon, something that was much more difficult to do with the maw of a dog.
What Sveck feared more about the drones was their teamwork. Sure, dogs could hunt and fight as a pack, but these ants didn’t move as a pack, they moved as one. Their formation around him was eerily perfect, not giving him a single weak point he could abuse. It was this discipline that made them dangerous and he realized that should he have to escape, he would have to avoid long confrontations because the moment he stopped moving he would be encircled with no way out.
They walked for about 20 minutes before they stopped again. There were tracks everywhere and while Sveck couldn’t see their destination yet, he could hear a weird humming sound and the occasional laughter from up ahead.
Miss Antana looked over her shoulder at him. “We are about to arrive at our home. If you treassure your life I recommend you don’t do anything stupid.”
Sveck simply nodded in understanding and they continued. He wasn’t some kind of politician and he for sure did not plan to draw the ire of his host. Speaking of which, he didn’t even know what they were. “Uhm, may I ask a question?”
Miss Antana nodded, switching from cold and threatening to encouraging. “Sure, go ahead.”
She was a lot more casual now, as if the earlier display hadn’t been more than an act and Sveck discovered he was a lot more confident with this. “So, what exactly are you? I don’t mean your name, but your species. I’m a human for example and belong to the subraces of lizard-kin and feline people.”
Miss Antana blinked for the first time before she gave him an amused smile. “I know what you asked for, Sveck.”
At the exact same moment they walked around a last group of tall bushes and laid their eyes on a clearing around one of the giant trees. Miss Antana gestured at herself, the children and the ant drones before she looked proudly at what lay ahead. “If you must know, we are Antanoid.”
Otjag Heya guys and galls, I just wanted to tell you the reason behind writing the approach of Sveck from both parties POVs. I simply couldn't decide if I wanted to write the whole thing from Kai's POV or Sveck's, but either way I wanted to have Kai's thoughts on the matter written down. In the end I decided to write from Sveck's POV, because it is that much more interesting, at least in my opinion. Though that means that chapter 50 and 51 are in the wrong order and I need to adjust a few things for Kai's chapter at some time. Now you know why the chapter order might feel a bit weird.
Thanks for reading!
Sveck looked at the 8 insectoids, cold sweat forming on his back. He hadn’t just said something offensive, had he?
Hopefully not, but the reaction of the other party suggested that he had at least said something weird.
Sveck wasn’t that confident in what he was doing at the moment. Sure, there was a protocol in place that gave instruction on how to approach unknown sapient species, but an event such as this wasn’t exactly common.
As far as he was concerned this was only a thing because there were sometimes non-hostile sapients in old dungeons and cooperating with them was more profitable than fighting them. He was only a lowly silver adventurer though, so he wasn’t privy to information like that.
Finally, there was a reaction from the tallest of the other group. The woman looked up at the position of the sun and back at him before she shrugged.
So, he did say something weird in the end. Sveck could only punch himself for not learning more than the bare minimum of the ancient language.
The small person next to the woman, the child?
The child poked the woman that was quite possibly the mother in the side and the tall woman straightened her back, presenting herself in an almost regal manner. “Greetings stranger. You are aware that it is considered polite to introduce oneself first, yes?”
She was speaking slowly and clearly, making it easier for Sveck to understand her, even if he didn’t know all the words. The woman was pronouncing every t quite hard however and always punctuated them with a click of her mandibles, which was distracting enough for him to need a moment until he managed to discern the meaning of her question.
She wanted him to introduce himself and he didn’t see why he should deny her request. “Ohh. Uhm, my name is Sveck.”
The woman cocked her head. “Only Sveck?”
The question confused him greatly. What was she taking him for, a rich merchant or noble?
His name was Sveck, nothing more and nothing less. He wasn’t important enough to have a surname.
Then he realized that he was literally dealing with unknown people that likely didn’t share his common sense. “Yes, only Sveck.”
The woman nodded, having come to some kind of conclusion herself. “Right, Sveck. I’m Kai Antana and I would like to say it is a pleasure to meet you, but your arrival makes things a bit more difficult.”
The children around her exchanged some amused glances for reasons unknown to Sveck. He had other problems at the moment. While Kai Antana hadn’t declared her hostility towards him, she made it clear that he wasn’t exactly welcome either.
She looked or rather stared sternly at him. “Now, I assure you that we do not intend to harm you so long as you do not intend to do us harm, but you came here at an inconvenient time-”
Miss Antana looked at the position of the sun, which had started to slowly dip behind the horizon, again, making Sveck realize how late in the day it already was. “And as such you force us to offer you lodging and food for the night.”
He was confused. Just because someone arrived at your home late at night you didn’t have to offer them a place at your hearth, even if there were monsters ravaging the land. No, especially when there were monsters ravaging the land you didn’t invite any unknowns into your place.
Miss Antana offered him a forced smile and pointed at his shoulder. “Because of this I would kindly ask you to put down your weapons and that bag before you take 5 steps back.”
Sveck immediately focused. She wanted him to disarm and separate himself from his bag of holding, though she didn’t seem to be aware of what it was.
The thing was, Sveck didn’t want to do that. These people were unknown and might just be trying to lure him into a trap, and even if it was just a safety measure for them, he didn’t want to separate himself from his equipment with the Xanai around.
Sveck took in his surroundings, noticing that more of the giant ant things had appeared and came to a decision he didn’t like. He would follow the suggestion that was clearly an order for now. Miss Antana being the exception, he should be able to fight and win against everyone else barehanded and would be able to escape, especially if he didn’t go for kills.
The reason for this was really quite simple. While the guildmaster was someone Sveck could reason with, the baron was not and he would rather escape from these people than deal with the noble that could simply take away his hunting rights, forcing him to go back to adventuring to make a living.
Sveck slowly put down his daggers and bag before he took five steps back. Two of the glaive wielding girls picked his things up and carefully walked around him where they took a guarding position.
He looked back to Miss Antana and found her smiling genuinely for the first time. “Your compliance is much appreciated, Sveck. We won’t take anything from you, I promise.”
She looked at the children fondly. “I simply can’t endanger my daughters by taking you in, I hope you understand.”
Sveck could, but that didn’t make his situation any better so he just nodded.
Miss Antana shook her head and sighed. “Well, if you would please follow us, we will show you your room for the night.”
And with that they started their track to where their settlement was likely at. Sveck could only guess since he had no idea. The six glaive wielding girls quickly surrounded him, keeping just enough distance so he wasn’t in reach of their weapons, but close enough that they would only need a step to close the gap. In addition to them the furry ant creatures scurried through the undergrowth all around them.
They traveled in relative silence and only Miss Antana and the child next to her were speaking in hushed whispers. Much to Sveck’s disappointment they were using a language he didn’t know.
“Muss ich mein Schauspiel aufrecht erhalten?” (Do I have to keep roleplaying?)
The child grinned at Antana. “Niemand hat je gesagt, dass du dich verstellen müsstest, um mit Situationen wie diesen fertig zu werden, und von uns allen weißt du am besten, wie man mit Menschen umgeht, Mama.” (Nobody said you have to craft some political persona for situations like this, mum and amongst us all you know the best how to deal with humans.)
Miss Antana squinted her eyes at the girl and retorted something, but Sveck didn’t bother to listen since he couldn’t understand it anyway. It also didn’t help his paranoia that the people around him quite obviously didn’t trust him, even if that was probably the right thing to do from their point of view.
Instead he focused on the nature around them, searching for good hiding spots and escape routes. He also made it a point to observe the weird ant creatures.
Alone, they didn’t look like much of a threat and were probably less dangerous than a dog of equal size. He reasoned that you could simply take hold of the mandibles and thus disable their most dangerous weapon, something that was much more difficult to do with the maw of a dog.
What Sveck feared more about the drones was their teamwork. Sure, dogs could hunt and fight as a pack, but these ants didn’t move as a pack, they moved as one. Their formation around him was eerily perfect, not giving him a single weak point he could abuse. It was this discipline that made them dangerous and he realized that should he have to escape, he would have to avoid long confrontations because the moment he stopped moving he would be encircled with no way out.
They walked for about 20 minutes before they stopped again. There were tracks everywhere and while Sveck couldn’t see their destination yet, he could hear a weird humming sound and the occasional laughter from up ahead.
Miss Antana looked over her shoulder at him. “We are about to arrive at our home. If you treassure your life I recommend you don’t do anything stupid.”
Sveck simply nodded in understanding and they continued. He wasn’t some kind of politician and he for sure did not plan to draw the ire of his host. Speaking of which, he didn’t even know what they were. “Uhm, may I ask a question?”
Miss Antana nodded, switching from cold and threatening to encouraging. “Sure, go ahead.”
She was a lot more casual now, as if the earlier display hadn’t been more than an act and Sveck discovered he was a lot more confident with this. “So, what exactly are you? I don’t mean your name, but your species. I’m a human for example and belong to the subraces of lizard-kin and feline people.”
Miss Antana blinked for the first time before she gave him an amused smile. “I know what you asked for, Sveck.”
At the exact same moment they walked around a last group of tall bushes and laid their eyes on a clearing around one of the giant trees. Miss Antana gestured at herself, the children and the ant drones before she looked proudly at what lay ahead. “If you must know, we are Antanoid.”
