Sherah and the Saplings: Initial exchanges

It has been a week since the Risuners went into the sapling forest and they were making themselves at home. Saplings had a mixed but overall positive view of these strangers and are now seeing them as friends and very nice helpers. Sherah overlooks a settlement bustling with life and activity and smiles as her task is being fulfilled. Her bag has notes detailing all of the unique cultural practices the saplings do as well as their use of any magic.

Both Risuners and Saplings are in fact very alike in many ways but there are some glaring differences. Sherah already know that both of them use magic a lot more than other nations and that they are behind when it comes to technology. Saplings get some of their better tools from hoomans and formerly Sanalites while Risuners have 3 nations trading with their coastal cities. In many ways, the Risuners felt right at home with the exception of having to watch out for not turning into a plant.

From behind her came Visus, who just finished one of his ranger patrols.

"I see that you are enjoying your stay so far?"

Sherah turns to him as happy as can be "Well yes actually. It was not very hard considering we live in quite similar fashions."

Visus replied "I think I can see why you want our magic. It must be a pain to have to chop down trees and shape the wood into houses and bridges when instead you could use something like livingwood. I could not imagine how tiring all that must be"

Sherah sighs at this obvious fact. She knows that it would be exponentially easier to just order the wood to grow into houses and fences. If she had the option she would fill the outside of her nation with fortresses to ensure security. She thinks of ths only for a moment before Visus continues.

"There has been something that I have been curious about. You tell tales of expeditions that would seek out nations both far and wide in order to both explore different people as well as hunt for new gemstones. And these gemstones you then somehow use them to create magic. But would you really need to do so if you had kept to yourself?"

Sherah looked at him with a somewhat annoyed face but managed to keep her posture for the most part. "Well the world did attack us first. It was a natural response in my opinion. If we cannot defend ourselves then we must learn better ways of doing so. So we learned how to make cannons, guns, iron weapons, and better fortifications. And once we are fully able to harness our gems we will be unstoppable. At least I hope so. I mean no offense when I say this but your people as far as I'm aware never had strangers take away families and force them into an unknown fate. That is why we are ultimately here. But you already know this of course."

"I feel bad for you my dear but your people from what I understand are doing much better now. Anyway there is no point discussing this further, lets talk about right now. You Risuners are amazing runners and your teeth are able to crack nuts easily. That alone is very impressive. I also saw a few of your people climb our trees just for a snack. That sport you showed us, soccer? You excel at it compared to us and are pretty good at hiding as well. What do you see in us besides the magic?"

Sherah looked at the village and noticed all the obvious examples. Saplings have much higher quality toys and dolls. Their crafting abilities are far superior and they of course make much better use of the land.

"See that little girl over there, the young sapling with a single flower sticking out of her head?" She points to a girl with her parents as they walk towards a nearby structure, presumably their home"

Visus saw where her finger was pointing "Yes what about her?"

"I was told yesterday that she made that doll herself. That many saplings when very young learn these skills. You are all seemingly natural artists and some of the things you produce look lovely. Sure we have many wooden carvings in Risu but we dont have this many people dedicated to the craft. Those little games with the rocks that you people came up with are rather fun."

Sherah was speaking of some of the saplings smoothing out rocks and creating games that involve counting, puzzles, and other inventive ways to be both fun and educational. Being a far more peaceful nation, Saplings have had the luxury of not needing to focus on weapons and are able to enjoy simpler things.

As they continued this conversation Hamdani came up to them both. They both turned their heads to her.

"Sherah, the first of the risuners are making their way back to the hooman camp now. Small amounts of green hair have started to be spotted and we do not want to take any chances. Also I will be dealing with the Hoomans back there. They seem to be getting more curious as to why we are here and why we intend to be here for so long."

Sherah nods and dismisses her to let her do her duties. She turns back to Visus who begins to speak again

"Seems like she will be rather busy. Anyway I do hope you keep doing what you have been doing. I admit that I have had some fun with you guys around and in the next 3 weeks if all goes well then I am sure Sycamore will be happy to try to teach you some of that magic I know your craving. Personally between you and me I hope you will try to learn some of the art and crafts the kids do. If you cant learn magic for whatever reason then you should at least make the risuner children happy back home with something. And if it ever gets bad as you say then it is good to have something to hold on to. Best of luck to you Sherah."

Visus begins to walk away as Sherah heads back to the village. There is still a lot to learn and she could not be any more excited. The crafting of little toys sounded nice but she also thought it might be a good idea to get into their entertainment more. Dancing, singing, parties, and religious practices always did personally interest her. She made note of these things on her list and would tell the risuners to learn about them soon as she wandered back into the village.

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Pub: 13 Feb 2023 18:58 UTC

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