Loamhedge Orphanage

A room used mostly for free time when orphans are done with chores -- though sewing and weaving sometimes happen here as well, as there is a loom and it's a cozy place to sew. There are a few books, a large, warm fireplace, fairly comfortable seating (mostly pillows and blankets) and, truth be told, the majority of the orphanage's toys seem to find their way here. Typically, the favourite spot for most, students and staff alike, during cold conditions.

After a meager breakfast of porridge (breakfast seemed to always be porridge) Bialis had retreated to the common room -- though it was still quite chilly outside, the room was rather warm, and he had positioned himself far from the fireplace. In fact he was sat with his forehead pressed against a window, staring out with dull distance in his eyes. His chores neglected and ignored for the moment, hands grasping and tangled up in his thick blue scarf -- which upon occasion he brought to his lips and kissed.

So... basically normal behaviour, for him.

"Biaalis, Bialis, Bialis Bialiiiis!" The string of the other boy's name came like a chant from the drow's mouth as he skipped over to see what what was fascinating about the window, placing the book in his hand idly upon the floor without any care to put it where it came from as he came closer, letting his white hair trail along the floor.

"What are you doing? What's outside?" He inquired with quiet curiosity as he tried to see what was outside, evidently intent on bothering the other till answers were given.

Bialis' eyes shifted to the side at the chanting of his name -- it was a strange name for a human, an Elvish one (and the boy didn't look even a fraction elvish) but the orphanage was populated with so many different races that few gave it a second thought. He sighed. He hadn't wanted to be bothered, but he would humour the young drow.

"... Smoke an' wind, all the smoke an' wind..." came the quiet response. It was technically accurate -- smoke blew at all hours from the multiple chimneys of the orphanage -- but then, very little if any smoke was visible from that window. "'m jus'..." He trailed off, hands coming to rest on his lap, as he pried his head away from the cold window to regard Ethelian, changing the subject rather abruptly.

"You wan' me to braid yer hair so it don' drag on th'floor?"

Poppy entered and heard Ethelian chanting, she looked quite worn out and dropped herself down onto a pillow facing the fireplace. She crossed her legs and positioned her hands on her lap. She'd gaze into the flames and hum a tune. "Too cold for me to cause any mischief today." She'd yawn and then play with her plaits. She'd hear the word 'braid' and look over, "I want to help too." She'd say, standing and stretching.

Having left the grounds of the orphanage, raven walked back inside and I to common room and glanced around. She saw bialis, ethelian, and poppy all there. She raised an eyebrow as bialis offered to braid his hair and poppy Wanted in. She smiled as she walked over.to a corner and got out paper and some paints. She then goes next to the windowsill, and proceeds to make a landscape painting

The small toddler enters quietly, rounded chubby cheeks giving away her young age. Tiny palms flatten upon the ground below, shuffling forward by crouching instead, rather than toddling or even crawling. Crimson hair an odd six feet in all, flowing down the child's back and either shoulder. The messy strands drag far behind her with each odd step, golden hues drifting around the faces present. Some are a little familiar, others not so much.

Ethelian was somewhat disappointed there was not a massive troll outside or something a bit more riveting then 'smoke and wind' but merely nodded a bit boredly to Bialis's answer, looking at the floor for a moment before darting his head up and contemplating the offer.

"..Sure! But don't touch the top, I'd have to kill you!" Ethelian accepted with a grin, pulling a stool (and half trapping himself on his hair while he was at it) giving a few giggle as he spread his long white tresses out for the other two kids.

To him- and really in drow society, it was quite normal to joke about having intent to kill someone- or at least that's what his older brother had told him..

"Also don' worry Poppy, there's always fun in freezing some things." He giggled at the thought, giving himself a mental reminder to play with some frost magic or an open window and trip someone. He did not notice the other two present- or at least who they were, merely hearing footsteps and having his vision obstructed by his copious amounts of hair. A gentle wave of his hand was given anyway- hoping they weren't one of the more..feral folk.

Shuffling footsteps heralded the arrival of the burly badger woman, the sound of her heavy claws scraping against the floors. Here comes one of the "feral folk" that Ethelian was so looking forward to seeing! Her tail lashes behind her in irritation as she scans the corridor for her "prey."

"Kalene? Kalene!" Marle's brusque voice echoes. "Where did ye get tae, lass?" She peers around every doorframe, to no avail. The wild green girl with the ginger mop shouldn't have been so easy to lose!

"Och, there ye are," she muttered as she spotted the tips of Kalene's red hair rounding the corner into the common room. Before the girl could get too far inside, the badger hurried up behind her and bent down to grasp her under each armpit. Despite the size of her claws, her grasp was gentle, and a series of comforting chittering sounds escaped her. "Now now little one, t'is nae good tae run off like that, ye ken?"

Bialis wasn't much in the mood for laughing, but he forced a soft chuckle at the drow's words -- which, for whatever reason, actually did strike him as funny; perhaps it was the youth of the one they came from, or the perceived absurdity of the statement.

"'Course, course..." He gave a sidelong look to Poppy. He wasn't incredibly familiar with her, due both to his newness at the orphanage and the lack of a shared dormitory. But shrugged; apparently he'd let her help, and positioned himself behind Ethelian to begin to separate out the long veil of white hair, allowing Poppy room beside him.

He frowned, briefly, in looking up to Raven, with whom he was also unfamiliar -- the paints, he hadn't seen someone paint since -- they reminded him of something pleasant but long-gone, and he looked quickly down again as if disturbed by the memory's unwelcome appearance. It was a look likely familiar among all the orphans, or most, a look many took at different times.

Still, when the strange green creature entered, he tensed again, even before looking behind him -- when he did, a slightly more natural laugh sounded in his somewhat hoarse voice. "That one migh' want braidin' even more, heh..." He could hear heavy footsteps following, and remained watching to see the appearance of the infirmary's keeper. The lad bit his lip and turned back to the drow and the braiding with Poppy.

Golden hues had landed upon Ethel specifically, if only because it's rare to see another with such long hair! Yet her attention soon sweeps elsewhere, oblivious that the ends of her own strands had given away her position. Dern! With a goofy little smile, a squeal escapes her once Marle lifts her up from the ground below. Chubby lil' legs dangle there, while both arms rise upwards now, offering grabbyhands immediately. C'mere, you. "..'uddle." Kalene requests simply, her Common understandably limited thus far.

Like most days, it takes very little for that insane length of hair to become messy, even picking up smaller objects along the way. Her smaller smile content, relaxed and comfortable with Marle in particular. She's a good one! Kalene shall have to keep It. Both arms remain lifted rather stubbornly, content to keep making grabbyhands her way.

After heading down from the boys' dorm with his arms securely holding a pile of used parchment against his chest, Kiro made his way over to the common room and stopped outside. He could hear voices ahead... perhaps the room was busier than he hoped. Of course it is, you idiot... he thought to himself. It's winter. Sighing, he peered through the doorway awkwardly. Thankfully, it seemed a member of staff was indeed present. Albeit apparently busy with a younger child. He supposed he would have to get the implements himself, but he still needed permission.

"E-excuse me..." Kiro said upon clearing his throat. He awkwardly made a few steps into the room. "Miss Marlemier? Um... may I have a quill and some parchment?" He asked. "I can get them myself if you're busy... I-it's just I want to work on my spelling..."

The sound of that familiar brusque voice had Ethelian's dark grey ears lower defensively as he knew whom that belonged too. That old, furry thing- probably a monster. He had been raised with seeing spiders and lizards as safe, friendly creatures, anything with fur was a beast and his brother had made stark sure to remind him that when he came home from his trips.

Still the braiding of his long hair had relaxed him somewhat, he made sure to feel if any hands wandered to close to his scalp, his parents- before they disappeared and his brothers had touched there! It was sacred that no hands disturb it.

"Oh hey Karlene, 'n Kiro. Spellings easy! " He greeted, making no attempt to signal any manner of hello to the badger-- freaky thing beast. Nor the stranger.

"'Specially Underdark hehe." Ethelian added with a grin, in his younger years there had not been much to do aside from reading books and learning in the countless hours of lonliness he had speant in the old empty cave house. But now it was applicable, and something to boast about!

"Did you know we drow use spider web and goblin blood for our quills~?" He teased with a mischievous look, it was untrue of course, but the others did not have to know that.

Kiro peered around Marle and caught sight of Ethelian. He wasn't too fazed by the mention of blood or spiders, though he was a bit envious of the drow's boasts about literacy. Whilst Kiro was not in any way bad at writing, his life on the streets went as far back as he could remember, barring a few flashes of imagery that he couldn't quite work out from his infancy. That meant very little in the way of education, at least until he was taken to the orphanage. Kiro's main care when it came to his studies was mathematics, but he knew that it took an element of literacy to be involved in any academia.

"A quill made out of spider web...? That sounds... kinda cool..." he mumbled, trying not to get too distracted. "Maybe not the blood though..." he wasn't squeemish, but the idea of writing with blood... especially goblin blood... was... a little gross in his view. "U-N-D-E-R..... D-A-R-K...." he continued, this time mostly to himself. Underdark was as easy as Ethelian said it was; it was two simple words stuck together. He was more concerned with those common words that he always failed to get right. Words like 'though', 'theivery' and annoyingly enough 'intelligence'.

Bialis was quiet. The lad was usually a little distant and quiet, really -- focused on braiding the drow's hair, though he did look around as people kept flooding in. He oughtn't be surprised. It was likely the warmest room in the orphanage -- save for the kitchens and the dreaded laundry room (most hated chore of all to almost everyone).

"Spider web?" He frowned. "Don' see how that'd work... wouldn' it not be stiff enough...? An' goblin' blood... eughh..." Looking to Kiro. He wasn't really familiar with the odd-footed fellow, but he was sure he'd seen him before. But he offered no input on spelling, shrugging -- though he'd been at the orphanage a few weeks, it had been hard to gauge his level of education. Sometimes he had answers, sometimes he seemed dumb as a post.

The long haired drow shook his head at the notion of making the actual quill out of the web, giving a small snicker at the presumption as he shot a hand out to illustrate his point.

"Not the actual quill- that's made out of desiccated spider legs. When a spider dies we take their legs off to use as quills- depending on their size." He elabourated,this time, it was true what he said, and not just made up for poking at the other's minds.

Tilting his shoulders a bit boredly he realised he had been sitting down for far too long and decided to satisfy the need to move by shifting his legs, glancing briefly to Bialis- which may have tousled a few strands out of place, he didn't care his legs needed the small stretched and so did his neck.

"Hehe, that's jus' the word 'Underdark' Kiro, not the language. Dos colnbluth." Ethelian spoke, feeling quite proud of himself and his knowledge that he knew how to speak and write more than one language without issue. Compared to others, Ethelian was fairly fortunate as he had at least had a guardian who was there every now and then to look after him and give him a formal education.

"Do you know any other language Biaaalis? What about you Raaaven?" Ethelian inquired with a grin, the surface dweller names were funny, the drow had decided, they rolled on the tongue and amused him.

Raven had been ignoring their conversation for the most part, as she knew that not many people in the orphanage would talk to her. It may have been better than home, but she couldn't help but feeling award around everyone. This feeling increased when she hear her name, as she looked up and looked over at ethelian. Her eyes just widen a bit as she stops her painting. Another languagr? She thinks for a moment before answering.

"Actually, I od wnok rehtona egauganl. "

She says smiling somewhat akwardly as she contributed to their conversation. She spoke in this other language to further prove that she could.

She'd walk over and drop next to the two. Poppy looked at Bialis and squinted, "We've never officially met. Poppy, Poppy Windmore. Call me Popps if you'd like. Your names?" She'd ask as she braided Ethelian's hair. "Spider and Goblin blood? Sounds dreadful." Poppy was quite literate for a girl who lived on the streets for most of her life. She'd look at Kiro and Raven. "I don't know any other languages. " She frowned, "Ooo, Marle is here. I like her best out of all the carers." She'd whisper. Poppy looked at Bialis and spoke, "So, How'd you like it here? Its been quiet yes, that's cos its cold and I can barley get up to any mischief. The cold tires me out a lot." She'd cross her legs and continue to braid.

Raven glances at poppy, as she stops her painting and watches them braid someone's hair. Her hair blushes and paints itself red as she glances down at her painting.

"I'm raven..."

She looks at them and nods in agreement that marle was probably one of her favorites. She just looks at poppy and her face blushes again.

"M-maybe...when your done braiding his hair...w-would you braid mine as well?'

With everyone hair-playing, it's no wonder the green babbu wishes to join the fun, given her own insane hair of six feet. Her head turns enough to gaze over the many faces, chubby little arms now lifting towards them, offering all the famous gesture of grabbyhands. Still, it's likely that the little one remains in their caretaker's arms! Kalene pouts lightly, golden eyes cast Marle's way now. "Pla.." What she is trying to say is up for debate, though she certainly appears determined, considering wiggling free already.