#RuinsOfRakhana – September 13, 2016

Renala unseals and removes her helmet in an attempt at returning the gesture in kind. "Renala," she says, pointing at herself. She waits a few seconds before putting on the breather.

Korio follows suit, removing his helmet to be more personable. "Korio." he chimes in, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Seriah. We offer you our thanks for allowing us into your home."

Nathan sighs and rolls his shoulder. "Sure, boss," he mutters in reply to Renala before taking off his helm. He takes a moment to run a hand through his sweat-addled hair before smiling at the drell and tapping his chest. "Nathan," he says simply. "And, uh, what Korio said. Thanks. Sorry for... touching things...".

Seriah stares at the two aliens apprehensively, hesitating for a moment before gesturing at the corner of the room that holds the fireplace. A few crates and remnants of furniture covered in what's likely 300-year old blankets, making for sitting space in a semi-circle around the crackling fire. "A ron a boraris. A thian dra qiare. Ara a foran qara?"

Korio's gaze follows her gesture. "I am sorry. We do not understand..." he says, taking a few slow steps towards the furniture, "Are you asking us to take a seat...?" he asks. He looks to Renala, "She seems the friendly sort, though I am not sure what we will gain without being able to communicate... Perhaps your plan is the only option we have." he sighs.

Nathan remains standing for the moment before putting his helmet back on. "Man this is awkward," he mutters looking back and forth.

Renala walks over to the fireplace area and takes the rightmost seat available. "I think a hologram is more likely to work," she says. "Melding for the first time can be challenging, even without the language barrier." Renala puts down her helmet and enables her omni-tool, starting on the simple hologram.

Seriah seems immediately fascinated by the hologram even in its earliest stages, watching intently, although her gaze breaks away briefly as she grabs a bottle from a shelf, walking over to a metal tank sat on a crate and opening a valve. There are sounds of splashing as the bottle fills with water, and once full she hands it to Korio with a faint nod before taking a seat and watching Renala.

Korio bows his head appreciatively as he accepts the bottle. "Thank you." he says, taking a large sip from the bottle. "We have been out in the heat for a long time. This is a most welcome gift."

Nathan shuffles on over and takes a seat furthest to the left. He manages to lower himself to the ground with a grumble, welcoming the chance to give his feet time to recover. He stretches his legs out, sighing lightly. He continues to gaze around the woman's home, tapping a finger against his leg.

Renala moves the 3 pieces around to complete the diagram. The result is not a work of art by any means. A long cylinder with half-circle 'waves' going outward towards what looks like a turian frigate represent an antenna. The antenna is connected with a curved line to a generic blue asari in a red and white dress. "This is what I intend to do," she says, "but our problem is..." She taps a button and the antenna disappears, and

Seriah raises an eyebrow at the hologram, but nods as Renala speaks. She points at the window and mimics a craft taking off by putting one arm horizontally and sweeping upwards with her other hand, even making a swooshing noise to go with it. "A kronka fen fa [skies]... driat a qona fio ba an. A fan sio... kreron ah [friends]?" she asks, pointing at the representation of the antenna.

Korio tilts his head to the side as he watches the exchange. "Do you think she understands...?" he asks, taking another sip from the water provided.

Nathan shrugs. "Let's hope so...".

Renala ventures a nod to her question, hoping she understood the answer correctly. "I don't know," she says. "I think she did, though." She hides all other objects in the hologram aside from the antenna.

Seriah shoots the two aliens another long look, first the asari, and then the human. That was the really odd one. Its skin looked turned inside out, and then there was the hair... she turned away and decided to focus on the less unsettling of the two as she walked over to the shelf and grabbed the Eclipse helmet, pointing and it and then at them with a questioning look. "Ara fasha ah fara? Kin a krenka faris teh fan?"

Renala raises a brow and shakes her head. "No," she simply says.

Nathan taps his helmet's chin, looking at the Eclipse helmet curiously. "I wonder if she got that from a wreck? I mean, I think we saw another Eclipse armour piece back in the wastes. With the... arm still in it. Giant bug ate the rest...". He shrugs. "Anyway, what I'm saying is, Eclipse landed here, right? So if she knows where they landed previously, we could

Korio looks to Renala, then to Nathan. "That is not a bad idea." he says, looking back to the helmet, "If the Eclipse mercenaries who were here did not manage to make it back to their transportation, then it may have everything we need to get a message out. Or even, perhaps, return to Pilgrim's Haven. I do wonder, however, how long it has been since their arrival given the state of that helmet. With the wind and the sand of this

Seriah looks between the strangers as they talk, unable to understand them, but it seems like a word or two from Korio makes sense to her. She nods repeatedly after he speaks. "[Transportation]." she repeats, using the same word as Korio. "[Transportation] sio fa fon. Fa [sky]."

Renala nods. "I agree," she says to others as she disables her omni-tool. She poins to the window and gives the drell a questioning look.

Korio looks to Seriah with a nod. "Yes. Sky transportation. We are seeking sky transportation." he says. "Perhaps you can show us where it is...?"

Nathan nods eagerly, the faint glimmer of hope finally reigniting in his chest. "Yeah, transport, much appreciated."

Seriah nods again, a small, hopeful smile forming. She gestures at herself and then goes to mimic a spaceship again before looking at Korio again. "Fara in u fin... u [transport]... A kroll fen a, in a fenkisha sio sora tha bin a." Her gaze moves briefly to Renala before going back to Korio.

Nathan cocks his head to the side. "Wait, wait, wait... is... is she saying she can find one, fly one or wants to come with us on one?"

Korio cocks his head to the side once more, looking somewhat confused. "I.... am not sure." he admits, "Though the liklihood of her being able to fly one is quite low." He looks to Renala, awaiting her input.

Renala glances down to her omni-tool arm, contemplating making another diagram. "I think it's the latter," she says. "Unless she's simply happy about the fact she might have understood us."

Korio looks to Seriah, studying her for a moment. "If she can lead us to a method of getting home, I see no harm in bringing her with us if it is what she wishes." he says, "The question, however, is can we communicate that question to her? Does she know where they landed?" He looks to the helmet, lifting a hand and pointing to it, "Transportation?" he asks, "Did they have transportation?"

Seriah looks between them as they discuss among themselves, but as Korio adresses her she nods, still gripping the helmet.

Renala takes out her almost empty canteen and uncaps it. "I think we're on the same frequency now," she says before drinking what little remains in it.

Nathan claps his hands together, nodding. "Well then, let's not waste any time! This could be our break! Home, sweet Christ, home!" He laughs, glancing between them all. "...and a hot bath."

Korio allows a small smile to cross his face, giving Seriah a quick nod. "Can you take us to it?" he asks, pointing at the helmet again, "To the transportation? So we can-..." he points upwards, raising his hand higher as if taking off. He makes a noise with his mouth, doing his best to emulate thrusters, shoooooo. It isn't very good.

Seriah furrows her eyebrows for a moment before nodding. "A kroll sora a sio fa fin. Senkeren. It in toh, a bin fan rhan, an tan." she says before retaking her seat and looking over the lizard skewered over the fire, turning it over carefully.

Korio watches the drell for a few moments. "I... suppose she wishes to eat first." he says with a glance towards Renala. "I hope she understands..." He brings the bottle of water up and takes another drink.

Nathan looks between them all, itching to go. Buuuut if the woman has to eat, the woman has to eat. "...Oh shit."

Renala shrugs and puts her canteen down beside her. "I'll wait all day if I have to," she says. "The Ecplise ship could be the only chance we'll have at finding working comms equipment."

Korio nods in agreement. "Well worth the wait. Perhaps it will even give us a project to focus on if it's in good enough condition for us to get it running. It could keep us occupied in the coming days. Getting it working could prove useful and- should we succeed- maybe we will even be able to return to Pilgrim's Haven ourselves." His smile grows slightly, "And, should Arashu see fit, perhaps it will simply be in working order when

Seriah gestures at the water bottle in Korio's hands and then to the other two. "Thora riara a an fat fare an bohah. Kararohyall in fa kuoyn an fa kashan borarah." she says before deciding that the lizard is done being grilled, removing the skewer from the fire. She glances between the three of them and then hands it to the fellow drell. "Kinikha it an a bon. Kroll fa aran at it?" she says, although as she hears Korio speak to

Nathan glances back and forth, simply remaining silent since the drell woman has chosen to address korio almost exclusively.

Renala frowns. "The problem is, none of our pilots are on this mission," she says, but she remains quiet as the drell addresses Korio, hoping he understands more of it than the few words her translator picks up.

Korio accepts the grilled lizard, giving a gracious bow of hiw head. "My thanks." he says, picking at a piece of meat from the hindquarters of it before passing the skewered creature to Nathan. "This would be much easier if we could understand one another." he sighs, giving a confused shrug of his shoulders. "I believe she's granting permission to refill on water...?" He looks over to the water tank, then gestures to his friends,

Nathan takes the lizard, eyeing it skeptically before removing his helmet and making to take a tentative bite.

Seriah nods in response to the implied question, a small smile flashing briefly across her face. She watches the human pick at the food for a moment, interested to see if the alien is able to eat it without ill effects. When there are no obvious side effects she reaches for a battered old plastic bowl from a nearby shelf, untying the string that seals the cloth lid, and gently peeling it off, revealing a green goop of chunky

Nathan chews, humming slightly. "Not bad," he says as he passes it to Renala.

Korio pops the piece of lizard meat into his mouth and chews it up for a few moments. "Refill your canteens." he says after swallowing, gesturing towards the water tank. "I believe she has given us permission. Who knows how far this 'transportation' is. We may still have a large amount of travel in front of us."

Renala takes the bowl with a nod and puts it in her lap before taking the offered skewer. She tears a piece off it and extends it towards Nathan again. "Thank you," she says, a small smile showing up.

Seriah looks at Renala, repeating the eating motion, although this time without any food of course, and then relaxes, grabbing and unscrewing the lid on her own canteen, gulping down some water before simply watching the strange people eat in silence.

Nathan plucks up his canteen, giving it a quick weigh before slugging back the last of the water. He then stands and slowly makes his way to the water tank, looking back to the drell woman as if asking for permission.

Renala sighs and puts the piece of lizard ontop her canteen. "One thing at a time," she mutters while removing her armored gauntlet on one hand. Once it's off, she digs a tentative amount from the bowl and eats it.

Korio begins the process of transferring the water from the bottle he was given into his canteen. Once emptied, he passes the bottle back to Seriah with another bow of his head. "As much as we appreciate your hospitality, our friends are waiting on us and will grow worried if we do not return." he explains to the drell with an apologetic tilt of his head, gesturing towards the window. "It is important that we seek out this

Seriah listens to Korio, a focused frown as the tries to make sense of as much as possible of what he's saying. "Ba kroret fio sio fa [transport] fen. Fa [weather] bin fet aren it. Senkeren. [Next day]. Qen [distant] ara fa rhan an ah [friends]?" The final question is followed by another gulp of water.

Nathan furrows his brow and fills his canteens to the brim. "Fine, just ignore me," he grumbles under his breath.

Renala grimaces at the taste, but removes her other gauntelt and takes a large chunk of it in her hand regardless. "Is she telling us to wait until tomorrow because of the weather?" she asks, looking at Korio.

Korio frowns in turn at the implication that they must wait until the following day. He nods to Renala, "I believe so. It sounds as though she's expecting rough weather and the journey to the Eclipse ship may be long." he agrees, "Perhaps we should ask her to return with us to the bunker so we can speak with the others about this. Maybe it would even be wise to approach Kell's camp once again and attempt to get a copy of their

Nathan sighs and turns around, taking a sip of water before replacing his helmet. "Well, you can be the diplomat," he says with a shrug, taking his seat once again.

Seriah tenses up at the mention of Kell, looking to Korio in confusion. "Fot in ah krerabyall sio Kell? San tha. Qona a [fought] qin?"

Renala tilts her head at her reaction to Kell's name, but she leaves that to Korio while she continues to eat.

Korio shakes his head a few times at Seriah, placing a hand up. "I'm sorry, I don't understand. Kell? A fight...?" He looks back to Renala, "I'm getting the impression she isn't too fond of Kell's people. And that seems consistent with what we have seen, given the body we found near the tarp trap." He looks back to Seriah and shakes his head, "We have no association with Kell." he says, his head shake persisting through as he

Nathan remains silent as he observes, tapping his leg idly.

Renala nods. "And their people probably feel the same about her," she says.

Seriah settles down a bit, nodding faintly. "Kell in korarion. Qa bin sora fot a qona, an fin a in a rhashin." she says simply, before standing up and heading over to another part of the room as the others eat. She unslings her rifle and raises it to her shoulder, peering out through the scope.

Renala glances at the drell woman a few times, but resumes eating the meal once she sees her watching out the window.

Nathan furrows his brow, glancing back and forth. "Soooooooo...?" He starts, hoping for some of this to be explained to him.

Korio bows his respectfully head to Renala. "You may, indeed, be correct. And, while I hold no ill will toward Kell or his people and understand why they found themselves unable to help us, I also hold little interest in the 'why' of their problems with one another, if that is the case. My interest lies solely with the fact that Seriah may be able to guide us towards a ship. And I believe that to be our best chance at returning

Seriah is still looking through the scope of her rifle, although she has moved to one of the other windows now, sweeping slowly across the vast expanse outside the tower.

Renala takes another handful out of the bowl. "That won't be a problem if she's coming with us," she says. "I hope they bring vehicles if they come for her, though."

Nathan sighs and stretches out, craning his neck. "Well, we gotta chance it, right? Not like we have much choice."

Korio gives a glance back at Seriah. "Considering we don't know very much about whatever dispute they may or may not have, I don't think it's worth worrying about such things. Their problem may be over and done with, with only bad blood remaining. We can leave that sort of thing to the others to figure out, I believe. For now, we merely return with a little bit more hope than we left with." he says, rising back up and moving

Seriah looks away from the scope as she notices Korio's presence, glancing at him. "Fot?"

Korio offers a bow of his head and a smile. "We must be returning to our friends." he says, gesturing out the window and in the general direction of the bunker. "Friends?" he repeats, pointing sharply towards the bunker. "We will set out the next day for the transport, but we must return to our friends. You-..." he points to her, "...Seriah, should come with us." he gestures to himself and his two companions, raising his hand and

Renala nods, but doesn't say anything more than that before he walks off to converse with the other drell. She takes another chunk out of the goop before extending the bowl towards Nathan.

Nathan looks at the gloop, then back to Renala, then back to the gloop. "...does this have locusts in it?"

Seriah 's gaze follows Korio's hands as he gestures, and she listens intently to what he has to say. When he's done she remains silent for a moment, but soon feels confident that she understood the gist of what he meant. "Arin. A bin fan renka sinka sio fon." she says before slinging the rifle back over her shoulder and looking around. She lets out a sigh and walks up to a big crate, leaning over behind it and pulling out a

Renala shrugs. "I don't know," she says. "Taste's... not great, but food is food out here."