Brynmor had ventured out of the waste that most people viewed the tundra to be, not realizing the beauty that not only the snow brought, but that which lay just below the surface, because he was as very rarely was the case, low on supplies. It had become almost a yearly journey, spending most of the year out in the tundra, and venturing into town once or twice a year both to check up on the area, and to gather things he had run low on, and trade away things he no longer needed.
This particular trip, he had no need of resupply, but wanted to both survey the area to make sure all was working as it should, and to check for those newly born or just raised to maturity, who may or may not be interested following in the druidic path.
His slow and meandering steps led in no particular direction, save vaguely towards the center of town as he wove in and out of the spaces between houses, peering through doorways at startled occupants, then moving on to the next house, or to a random pile of snow, pushed aside for ease of travel, checking for signs of troubled life, or the sad lack thereof. His path, to an outsider, unused to the workings of his mind, or the sight of him wandering about, would have almost said he appeared to be drunk.
From the top of a frozen snowbank, Zurna watched the weaving figure below in amusement. The stranger, whoever he was, reminded her very much of the time she and her brothers had gotten into their father's "medicinal purposes only" crate. They had acted like fools running around hooting and hollering in the middle of a blizzard. They had paid dearly for the silliness as well. Two weeks of the flu and nearly a year of extra chores. Zurna smiled in memory. 'That was the year when nobody was able find food and we had twice our normal catch. I don't think mom has ever worked us all as hard as then since.'
A familiar shriek up ahead drew Zurna's attention back to the present. Apparently the drunken stranger had frightened her sister-in-law and her twin nieces. 'So much for not having to deal with Sonia ' she thought hoping down the bank and towards the scene of commotion.
From what she could see, Sonia was furious. 'Not that it takes much to bring that about,' Zurna thought snidely. Her sister-in-law was screaming at the stranger at the top of her lungs as if he had murdered her. The twin girls smiled upon seeing their aunt's approach, the more outgoing of the two running up to take her hand. The shy one continued to cling to her mother's skirts.
"Aunt Sir, why is mama mad at that man?" the extroverted one asked.
"I don't know, Cara. Why don't we go find out?" Zurna suggested, her eyes intently watching the weaving man being followed by her screaming harpy of a sister-in-law.
After peering into one of the houses, a woman follows him out and begins to shriek at him, much like he had just stabbed one of her children or some such thing, which was odd, considering just his head had entered the house, and only for a brief moment, at that. For several moments, he continued to poke into snowbanks, searching for something that only he knew, before turning towards the shrieking woman.
"Hello madame, what can I do for you?" he asked, seemingly oblivious to the volume of her shrieks, and obviously not bothering to attempt to understand their contents. "You seem overwrought. Do you need assistance?" His voice is crystal clear, if containing a small accent, belying the presence of alcohol in his system.
He notes the approach of bystanders of varying ages, and conceals an inward sigh, thinking of all the ground he could have covered, had he gone a different route through town than this one, and resolves to himself to be patient with the lady.
"Enough Sonia!" Zurna barked. Taking her sister-in-law's wrist in her own she pulled the screaming woman aside and ordered her home. "I'll take the girls home, just go. You are making a scene." With a huff Sonia grabbed her things from inside and headed home to the family tents just outside "town."
Turning back to the stranger, Zurna at last addressed him. "Please forgive her. I'm afraid she is newer to these parts and does not take well to strangers yet. Is there some way I can help you sir? You seem to be looking for something?" she more asked then stated, eying the man warily again. Her arms around the twins' shoulders tightened ever so slightly on them. 'He may seem harmless, but I'm not taking any chances. Even a drunk can cause a lot of damage.'
"I live around this area, I can point you in the right direction to whatever it is you need. Food, drink, bed, supplies, you name it, I can lead you to it," she offered.
Brynmor watched as the new woman shushed and removed the other from the area, and continued to gaze at her calmly as she turned and addressed him. "Thank you for the consideration, young lady. However, I am just checking to see that Hyoite has not upset the natural balance of things. If you believe you can help me with that, then I would be glad of the assistance."
Continuing in his role as observer, his expression remained unchanged as she pulled the younger generation closer to herself, as if frightened of what he might do. It was mildly saddening to see that even way out here, where the constant harsh conditions made living difficult, there could still be fear of random brutality, even from old men.
"Balance? I'm afraid I don't understand. What do you mean?" She asked tilting her head to the side like a puppy. Zurna's fingers absentmindedly caressed Cara's head, playing with her dark brown hair. The other twin, Aliyah, moved closer to her aunt, tugging on her cloak. Indulging the shy child, Zurna knelt down to hear what the sweet girl wanted.
"Aunt Z, who is that man? Why does he act all funny?" the girl whispered loudly, closely watching the elder gentleman.
"I don't know Ali, why don't you introduce yourself and find out," she encouraged.
Cautiously the little girl left the safety of her aunt's arms and stepped in front of the man. "I'm Aliyah and that's my sister Cara and my daddy's sister, Sir. Who are you?" Having completed her mission the girl quickly ran back hiding underneath Zurna's cloak. "Scaredy deer!" Cara yelled at her sister.
"Girls!" Zurna barked. "Enough, you are being rude. Cara apologize to your sister." Turning her attention finally back to the stranger, she also apologized for her family's rudeness. "I'm Zurna by the way."
He is about to reply to the older girls question, when one of the youngsters runs in front of him and blurts out a barrage of words, before running back to where she started. A small altercation occurs, which makes him feel like quite the old man, seeing as he never had the opportunity to do that, even way back when he was a child.
Lifting a gloved hand to scratch at the skin of his head, near his receding hairline, he replies slowly to the small girls barrage of words. "Hello Aliyah, hello Cara, hello Zurna. My name is Brynmor." In the middle of his short speech, his head tracks to the side, and he continues to talk to them as he walks off, peering into the doorway of another household, before returning to his place in front of them, all the while continuing as if nothing had happened.
Remembering her words, his head jerks up, meeting her eyes, and he replies with "Apologies. I was distracted. I am just making sure that everything here is roughly the same as it was last year, and the year before that, and the year before that, and the year..." His voice trails off and he mumbles for a few moments before shaking his head a little bit.
'What a very strange man.' Zurna thought as she watched Brynmor wander off and return again. "What kinds of things are looking at to be the same and different? Perhaps we could help you. I mean I have lived here my whole life. I might be of more assistance to you. If anything I could prevent further episodes like that of my sister-in-law from occurring. Some people do not take too kindly to strangers poking around their business you see. You are kind of precieved as suspicious. Not of course, that I am saying that you are suspicious or that we should be suspicious of you. Or at least I don't know if we should be since we just met but-"
"Aunt Sir you're doing it again! You're hambling!"
Zurna paused looking down at Cara before giggling. "Rambling Cara, and thank you.
"We would be honored to assist you if you will have us Brynmor."
"You could say that I'm looking for life and death. Life where it should be, death as well. My primary concern is for Death or Life where it shouldn't be." Having finished his lecture, he considered the rest of her statement. "That's strange. It is good to meet you. Perhaps I have not been doing as good a job as I thought recently, as I don't remember ever meeting you before, and I have been doing this every year for longer than you have been alive. I would as such appreciate any help you could give."
"You or the children." he says, crouching slightly to get nearer their level, his head tilting to the side, life as new as theirs' fascinating to him, as always had been so, as he attempted to plumb the depths of what it meant to be alive.
"We are glad to be of service, aren't we girls?" Looking down Zurna watched in amusement as Aliyah cowered further within the cloak and Cara decided to be bolder. Extroverted Cara walked right up to the man placing herself literally nose-to-nose with him. "Your eyes are really green," she stated before taking off skipping around the trio.
"What is the best way to be of help? Should we tell you who has been born and died within the past year? Or is there more to it than that?" Zurna asked feeling calmer around Brynmor than before. 'He's still a crazy old man, but at least he's harmless. I hope.'
"Thank you Cara." He says calmly, before standing to continue his conversation with Zurna. "Such a list would be a good place to start, as my only other way of checking is by looking into houses, as you saw. And sometimes I forget who these people are." He chukles self depreciatingly, looking around. "At least the landscape hasn't changed since I lived here."
"I can understand how that could be difficult. With most of us being nomadic, keeping track of us all must be very difficult for you. I'm impressed you even manage it. It is not task I would wish to regularly undertake. Perhaps it would be better if we headed to my home. It would be warmer there and you could sit down. My family would be happy to welcome you into our humble tent. If that does not work for you then I can come back and meet you here. I would just prefer to get the girls inside before they get sick. Summer is so deceptive here," she laughed.
"Cara come here! We're going home soon," she called out to the running child. "Stop that, you're going to get hurt and I'm going to get in trouble with your mama." Upon hearing mention of her mama the girl immediately stopped, looking around. Walking meticulously over to Brynmor she whispered conspiratorially to the old man, "you mustn't tell mama about the running. She yells a lot. Just like she yelled at you earlier. She's no fun when she yells. Her face turns all red and her eyes bug out. It reminds me of the toads that daddy catches for us sometimes," the girl chattered on. Pausing as she looked at Brynmor, Cara seemed to come to a descion. Nodding her head curtly she took his worn hand in her own and demanded that he come home with them.
"Alright Cara, I won't tell your mother." Smiling indulgently, he stands and lets her lead him over to the others. "I guess I am accompanying you to your family's tent. Thank you for your generous offer. It is not often that I get to simply sit and relax indoors."
He looks down at the other little girl. "Are you ok over there, Aliyah? Would you like to hold my other hand? I might have something for the two of you, if you want it later, when we're at your home." He wants to make friends with the screaming lady from before, and the best way to do that is always through the children. He happens to have some small stone carvings he's done while walking in his pack, that he intended to give away when he got here, and what better recipients than some children?
"It is our pleasure, Brynmor. Isn't that right Aliyah?" Aliyah continued her hiding behind her aunt. "Come on Aliyah. It's alright, you can trust him," Zurned coaxed. Slowly the girl emerged from her hiding place and cautiously took his hand. But, she refused to let go of her aunt's hand as well.
"How did you get started in this research Brynmor? I have never heard of it's ilk before. Of all places why did you chose the tundra? Wouldn't population statistics be better conducted in large cities like Arca?" Zurna asked, making conversation as the four walked along home.
Taking Aliyah's hand gently, he talked to Zurna over the little girl's head. "Ah. I see I have not explained myself clearly enough. I am not conducting population statistics research. I am making sure the balance of life and death in the area is as it should be. I am a High Druid of na Talun, and this is my area of expertise, since I grew up here long ago."
He gives the girls hands gentle squeezes from time to time, to let them know he's not ignoring them, even though he's only talking to Zurna.
Blushing, Zurna apologized for being silly and not understanding. "A druid? I've heard of them but, you mean they actually exist? I thought they were just stories," Zurna looked at him in awe. The stories from her youth were still as much a part of her as ever. To her the druids were a mysterious but wondrous group of people.
Her warmed as she watched the girls giggle and squeeze hands with Brynmor. "You're really good with children," she smiled.
She fell silent for awhile just watching and being in the moment. From up ahead she saw the rising smoke columns of her family's fires. Her peaceful moment was broken however, as she listened to Sonia beret Yotar. The closer to the huddling of tents, the more irritated Zurna became. The words were spoken quickly and angrily in Connlaothian. 'That means Sonia is really angry. Wonder what he did not to upset her.' She almost pitied her brother's fate until Sonia turned and caught sight of her. Then the barrage of accusing statements were being hurrled at her.
Ignoring her sister, she turned to Brynmore she introduced him to her home. My parents, my twenty-five brothers, their families, and I all live here together. Come, I'm sure there is still some food left on the fire," she beckoned gently.
Brynmor walked with the three of them to their home, a series of tents with cookfires nearby, and rolled his eyes at the antics of the woman from before, now yelling in some other language that he could not understand, first at a man he assumed was her husband, then at the young woman walking with him, Zurna, he recalled after a short moment of thought.
Giving a nod to the man and woman, he turned to Zurna as she turned to him, and listened to her explanation. In response, one of his eyebrows rising to where his hairline might have been when he was younger (he couldn't quite recall), he said "Twenty-Five? That must have been an enjoyable childhood." In response to her becon, he held up one finger.
"Just a moment." Taking his bag off his back, he rummaged around in it for a few moments before pulling out two small figurines, one a representation of a polar bear, another of a seal. He then knelt down to the twins level and held them out. "One each."
'My childhood was something, that's for sure,' she thought remember the good times and the bad.
She paused, curiously looking back to see what was holding Brynmor up and smiled warmly. Her eyes lit in wonder at seeing the beautifully carved figurines that her nieces were being gifted. Each girl thanked him kindly; shy Aliyah even kissed his cheek before running to hide behind Zurna. "Come on Ali, let's go show mommy and daddy!" Cara beckoned excitedly.
Zurna bowed her head in thanks to Brynmor. No words could be said to express all that she felt like saying. But, the happy moment was not to last. Sonia's screeching tones once more rang out, this time against the girls. "Where did you get those?" When the girls pointed behind them to Brynmor, Zurna saw the rage in the woman's eyes. Snatching the carvings from the twins, she threw them as far away from them as she could. "You stay away from that man! You hear me?" she screamed at the girls, making them cry as she pushed them inside.
Zurna was helpless to it all as it happened in matter of seconds. She watched her brother turn away cowed and follow his daughters inside. 'Coward,' she accused. 'You should not stand for this!' Sonia angrily made her way towards the lone two as her other brothers began peaking their heads from inside the tents. Culturally, they would not interfere and neither should she. It was not her place to interfere unless she could draw the blame to herself.
Steeling herself, Zurna stepped into Sonia's path. "You are disrespecting are elder guest, Sonia. It was I that invited him here." Any moment now things were going to get bloody. Zurna just hoped that did not mean literally.
His eyebrow rose even further in response to the woman hurling his carvings so far into a snowbank, and he began to walk unerringly in the direction she threw them. Easily, he found the jangling wrongness of the obsidian amongst the granite shelves in the area, and then he picked them up, dusted them off, and pocketed them, and started walking back in the direction of the tents. Due to this, he missed much of the interplay between members of the family.
When he turned back in their direction, he saw the unpleasant woman striding towards him as if on the warpath, and his young acquaintance Zurna stepping in the way. He then began to move faster, steeling himself for the wrath of an ignorant and foolish young woman, too secure in her life to know that there are higher things to be concerned about.
Zurna had been expecting an outburst from Sonia, but not the physical one she received. Her sister-in-law was a former Connloathian nobleman's daughter before she had been disowned and chased out for being a magic-user. She was a constant thorn in Zurna's side as she commanded and demanded without ever helping. She always expected things to be done for her, and complained when they were not up to her standards.
Sonia had always preferred to resort to verbal insults and berating rather than dirty her hands. If that did not work then petty magic attacks would plague Zurna. A glove would be missing, an arrow would not fly straight, a crate would trip her up, Zurna was used to Sonia's childish antics. Up until now she had for the most part dealt with it.
For Sonia to grab Zurna in a choke-hold meant she was beyond furious; she was out to kill. Shock paralyzed Zurna into place, wasting life-dependent seconds of her limited air supply. When she could finally think semi-coherently she let herself go limp, forcing Sonia off-balance. Together the pair dropped to the ground clawing and grappling for a better grip. Realizing she was not going to win against her stronger opponent, Sonia resorted to dirty tricks. She used her magic to lock Zurna's limbs, rendering her efforts useless.
Pure terror warred within the chocking girl. With her body no longer obeying her commands she had no hope for survival. Even if her brothers came to defend her they would be too late. A tear escaped her as her vision turned black and she thought, 'She always wins.'
He spent a moment watching the catfight between the two women, but immediately acted when he sensed the jangle of wrongness wrapping Zurna's limbs, coming from the other woman. He strode closer, ditching his backpack quickly. His appearance seemed to shift; though he didn't change features at all, he seemed taller and more forbidding, an aura of anger around him.
Reaching out, one of his hands starts to try to pry Sonia's away from Zurna's neck, while with the other, he slaps Sonia across the face, hard. "That is a disgusting use of power, and you should be ashamed of yourself." His green eyes, while still deep, are filled with fury. "I wasn't going to interfere, but then you disturbed the natural progression of things."
Sonia's grasp, both physical and magical, released on Zurna in surprise at being struck. Gasping and sputtering Zurna crab-walked away from Sonia. She clutched her throat as white pain coursed through her, arresting her breath.
Her chest heaved as she tried to breathe. After a few stressing seconds, her body cooperated allowing her to function once again. The pain did not recede and when she tried to thank Brynmor she found herself entertaining more pain. Tears flooded her eyes as she stood and faced Sonia. Her stance placed her protectively in front of Brynmor despite it being him who had helped her.
The act of speech may have been excruciating for her but she had a few choice words for Sonia.
When the wrongness eased, so too did the grip both his hands had on the girls, and he took a step back. Still standing tall, fury radiating outwards. He watched as Zurna moved in front of him again, tearfully, nursing her throat. Maybe, a hundred years ago, he would have moved to help her, but he had long since learned both of womankind's strength in painful situations, and of the balance that held all things, how violence was naturally followed by pain, and attempts to avert it usually ended in disaster for those involved.
"You are foul. You are a spoiled little brat pretending to be a princess, who if she doesn't get her way throws a temper tantrum. Do you realize what you have done? You could've killed me and I wouldn't put it past you to believe that that was your intention. Do you forget who I am? I am the sister of your husband. The man you swore to love and work beside! Beside, Sonia. You do nothing for this family but bring it grief. You knew we had no money, that we were simple and yet you chose Yotar as your life companion. You may not like it Sonia but, I am the stand-in matriarch of this family. What I say goes unless unsupported by my parents," her voiced cracked as tears continued to stream down her face.
Looking around her she saw her entire family was gathered around listening, waiting for her judgement. Despite the pain she gave her ultimatum. "This is you last chance. Decide carefully Sonia, do you want to be a part of this family or do you want to be apart from this family? Leave and you will not have your daughters or our support. You will be cast out and abandoned. Stay, and you will work with this family. You will do the tasks we do. You will learn and learn properly what you do not know. You will apologize to my parents for your ways. You will not stop your childish temper trantrums and behave as the adult you claim to be. Is that understood" Zurna asked her voice finally giving out.
Sonia looked around at those gathered before her eyes settled behind Zurna. "How can you trust that thing? He is dangerous!" she screeched.
Brynmor stood quietly through the lecture, fading back to his usual self, the old man with white hair and knobby joints, the air of authority mostly absent. He let the tirade run its course, and faded into the background as much as was possible being that he was an accessory to the incident, and standing in the families field of view, behind their matriarch.
When the overwrought woman looked at him and screamed again, he merely raised his brow, crossing his arms, and looked as much like a harmless old man as he could, just after slapping the woman across the face in full rage mode.
(Ignore this, plz)
"Enough Sonia!" Zurna's mother Minali called out. "Have you not done enough with your accusations and actions? You have injured my daughter, the child that I prayed desperately to the gods for! Do you think I will just let you get away with it because you are married to my youngest son? No. Zurna is right, you must make a decision. You will have three days of solitude to decide. Now get out of our sight!" The older woman commanded it her voice all the while sounding sweet and motherly despite her words and the anger showing on her weathered face. Humiliated, Sonia fled with tears in her eyes.
"Go inside Zurna. I will make you some tea with honey for your throat No protesting!" she added as Zurna opened her mouth. "You did well daughter, you bring us all honor," she reassured. Zurna bowed her head before moving to beckon Brynmor to follow. Minali stopped her. "I have some things I wish to discuss with the man that saved my sea-daughter's life." Sparing one last look for Brynmor, Zurna nodded her head and went inside.
The rest of the family began to disperse going about their business. Many of the men could be seen entering the larger main tent, checking on their youngest sibling, reassuring themselves that the child who had brought their family joy was going to be okay.
"I do not think in my near hundred years of life I have ever been grateful to another person than I am to you today sir," she said addressing Brynmor. "Zurna is my little girl. She means more to me, to us than anything else. I feared we were going to lose her today." Tears formed in the older woman's eyes as the severity of what almost happened impacted her. "Sonia is not usually this way. She and Zurna have always fought. I do not what caused this escalate into such violence. Perhaps it was my seemingly indulgence. I believed if we ignored it, then it would pass. It seems I am wrong. Thanks to your help I think that Sonia will now realize her mistakes and will end this foolishness." Taking Brynmor's hands in her own she kissed the back of each. "Thank you. Thank you for preserving my little one's life, as I could not."
Smiling she continued, "I think we best get inside. It really is too cold to be out here when there is a warm fire and a hot meal inside. Will you join me, Mr...?" Minali queried with a motherly smile once more gracing her features.
Brynmor continued to watch the final moments of the confrontation, and afterwards, the older woman taking charge, telling his guide to go inside, dismissing the evil woman, and then her approach on him. He listened, patient and interested, through her talk of her youngest child, her only daughter, and how his intervention may have helped them. He did not reply with how, if Zurna had died without the application of magic, he would not have moved to help. He did not tell her that in essence, Sonia's use of power had saved Zurna's life. He knew when to speak and when not to.
The old woman took both of his hands in hers and kissed the backs of them, then invited him inside, promting him for his name. "My only name is Brynmor, child" he said gently, wiping the tears from the woman's cheeks with one of his hands, after gently pulling it free of her grasp. "I would gladly enter your home and enjoy your fire."
"Child?" Minali laughed. "Should it not be I calling you child? You cannot be much older than my eldest son!" Still laughing Minali led Brynmor into the warm tent. Inside the brothers each in their own way checked on their sister. Some like the triplets were trying to make her laugh while others placed their hands on her head and arms, reassuring themselves that she was really there and alright.
Zurna sat on a cot by the fire looking sad and tired as the twins bounced around on her lap. "Out! Boys you have chores to be doing if you want dinner tonight," Minali chastised them. As the boys left Zurna reached forward smacking one on the leg smiling at his mock offended look. "Zurna leave your brother alone and drink this." Zurna nodded taking the bowl of steaming liquid from her mother. When her back was turned Zurna grimaced and made faces as she drank the vile concoction.
"How would you like us to start Brynmor? What information would be best given first?" Zurna croaked.
Minali turned at glared. "No more talking until you have finished that. All of it!" Zurna winced but obeyed.
The twins bounced over from their spot on Zurna's cot to Brynmor. Surprisingly, it was Aliyah who reached him first. Crying she hugged him around the middle. "I thought mama was going to hurt you. She was bad, really really bad. But Aunt Z put her in time out so it's okay now."
"Come on Aliyah," Cara called pulling on her wrap. "Let's go find the carvings mama threw. I bet I can find them before you!"
He let the woman laugh, grinning inside, glad he still looked like a spry young lad of 60, and followed her into the tent, watching the ordered choas of so many bodies moving around at once. Zurna attempted to begin the conversation thay had originally come here for, but was immediately shushed and ordered to drink and get well by her mother.
When Aliyah hugged him, he was surprised, but laughed inside a little bit at the little girl's description of what had happened to her mother. He called out to Cara before she could finish getting her wrap on, and said "Wait Cara, come here to me and Aliyah. I have something to show you."
When she did so, he reached into his pockets and pulled out both figurines. "Look what I found, out in the snow!"
Cara turned around and gave an excited squeal as she saw the carvings "You found them!" Together the girls jumped around screaming and shouting. Together the twins ran about the tent showing everyone their precious gifts before finally being shooed outside to go play.
Zurna stood up still holding the bowl and headed over to Brynmor. She pointed to a set of elevated furs indicating Brynmor should sit down. Checking to see if her mother was watching, Zurna dumped the medicine into the fire, diving when it flared up in a column of fire.
"Zurna!" Minali barked.
Zurna just laughed before re-asking Brynmor her previous questions. Her voice while not nonexistent was still crackly sounding. It was obvious it still pained her to swallow and to open her mouth wide but she was being stubborn. 'I made an offer and I am going to stick it come near death experiences or the world's end.'
He could do nothing but chuckle helplessly as the small children ran screaming around the tent, and could do nothing but continue to chuckle at the interplay between Zurna and her mother, nearly laughing outright when she dumped the medicine into the fire. He then had to stifle another chuckle at Zurna's stubbornness, lest it be mistaken for a chuckle at her pain.
"To begin with, I would like to know of all of the people who were born or died in the last year, no matter whether their births or deaths seemed natural or not. If your mother objects to your speaking too much, and is not very busy, she can assist you."
"You will most certainly not!" Minali growled waving a wooden spoon at her daughter menacingly. Zurna just raised her brow in challenge and began to iterate a long list of the new births and deaths. Occasionally, Minali and others that came in and out of the tent would add this or that name to the lists.
It seemed that Brynmor's presence had created quite a stir. Many of members of the family made this excuse and that just to pop their heads in and catch a glimpse of him. By the time Zurna finally finished the list, her throat was very sore again, her voice barely audible. The sun was setting and dinner was being served. The twins were back in the tent and began to chatter about their day to any that would listen. They had both insisted that Brynmor stay and eat with the family, which Minali and Trafford both seconded.
He listened to their lists as they talked, and talked, for a lengthy period of time, many people helping. He nodded to himself from time to time, mentally noting people he may want to explore more information on at a later date, but mostly he just sat and listened intently, for his memory often had holes in it, and he would have to try hard, to make sure no such holes occurred in this particular memory until much later, when it became no longer useful.
Acceeding to the demands of the children first, the adults second, it was determined that Brynmor would stay for the family dinner, which Brynmor was sure would be one of the most chaotic family meals he had ever had the fortune to be a part of, assuming that all of the brothers would be involved. This was notwithstanding the fact that the majority of them were well into adulthood.
Dinner was always an organized yet chaotic affair. It would have to be when the hearth welcomed such a large family. The wives laughed and joked with each other as they passed around the food. The children bounced around and were scolded for their efforts as the mothers corralled them out of the way. To Zurna it was a normal affair. She kept the children occupied and out of trouble as much as she could. Occasionally, she would swipe a bit of this or a bit of that from the plates and share it amongst the little ones. The elders would catch her and tell her off saying she would spoil the children's appetites but then purposely leave more tidbits for the taking.
The tent was large enough to house them all and then some. When it was at last time to eat they each sat in an orderly manner around the fire. A took a few moments for the children to settle, as all insisted in sitting in Zurna's lap. She looked like a massive pile of limbs and giggling little heads by the time they all settled down.
The tent then became very quiet as all looked to Zurna. Even the youngest child stopped her giggling and waited. Zurna began to softly croon a prayer of thanks to the hearth and to the manaia. When she was finished she cast into the flames the finest morsel of food on her plate before helping the little ones to do the same. Every member of the family, young and old alike, did the same. When the ritual was over the family became lively once more.
Zurna sat feeding the younger ones as she also ate. "Why do you need to observe the balance of life and death Brynmor?" she asked. "What purpose is there for that? What even is the balance?"
As expected, the dinner was ordered chaos, much more going on at once than he could possibly keep track of, so he had just sat and let it all wash over him like background music, the music of life. The family observed their rituals while he sat silently, watching with some level of detachment their dedication of food to the flames.
Eating slowly and carefully some of the food prepared by the wives of the many menfolk of the family, he repied to Zurna's queries, watching with interest how she managed to feed herself, several of the youngsters, and talk to him all at the same time. "The balance is the presence of life and death, without equal measures of both, the world would descend into a kind of chaos, where either things lived much longer than they should, or things died well before their time." He Decided not to address the issue of early deaths in a company so full of life, and instead went on to say "Imagine a world where the fish you caught out on your boat could not die from lack of water. If they just flopped around in the bottom of the craft until you chopped them up, and even then their fins kept flapping."
He left that image there for a few moments before continuing "I have been charged with ensuring that such a thing does not happen in this northerly section of our land, and if it does, to stem the tide as best I can until help can arrive from my brothers and sisters to the south."
"Do you find reason for such concern? I ask out of curiosity not fright. I have confidence that things will run their courses as they are meant to. Things going wrong is just a life lesson. But should such a thing happen, how long could you hold it off for? I am sure it would take some time before your brothers and sisters could come to your assistance in such a situation, could you stem the flow that long?"
Zurna froze, realizing how rude she was being. "Forgive me, I overstep my bounds. I disrespect my elder by asking you so many questions. Is there any way I and my family may be of more assistance to you?" she asked her cheeks still on fire due to her embarrassment.
Having listened to enough youth in his time to gather a supply of patience larger than was probably evident, given his previous episode in the settlement, rather than getting angry, he just sat and listened to her questions, even as they grew more and more invasive. When she broke off and began to apologize, he smiled briefly at her dicomfiture and replied fairly simply.
"As earlier, just telling me how things have been here in my absence is plently enough. If you wished to do more than that, the best way would be to venture to the druidic homeland and apprentice yourself there, though I do not know how welcome a suggestion that would be to the matriarch of such a respectable family, so far away."
Zurna opened her mouth to respond but, was cut off by her mother. "You are right in that assumption. It is not a welcome suggestion," the elderly woman stated. The family matriarch moved up behind her only daughter and placed her hands on the young woman's shoulders as if to protect her from being stolen away.
"Mother, really now! You don't have to act like he is going to up and steal me away." Zurna brushed off her mother's hands and once more focused on Brynmor. "My duties unfortunately require me here. I take care of the young and old in the family, keep the hearth going, watch over the young wives until it is my own time to become one. None of that is likely to happen if I am studying to be an apprentice."
She shrugged her shoulders resignedly. "Besides, I wouldn't make a good apprentice anyway. I'm stubborn and willful, not to mention I can't read. I wouldn't be any good or help to your people. I think it better that I stay here and try to fulfill those responsibilities first before I go trying to add more things to my plate."
A soft albeit somewhat regretful smile played at Zurna's lips as she thought of her own situation. It quickly brightened though as she looked up to Brynmor once more. "Will you be staying the night Brynmor? Or do you need to travel on immediately. You saved my life, I think we owe you that much."