Pentad of Un

Chapter 19 - Luss

     Luss took every single book from the shelf, even the ones he already owned.

     He figured that there was no point in leaving an incomplete set behind, so he took them all and shoved them into his storbles, noticing that the containers got ever so slightly heavier with the addition of the books.

     Still, they were hardly a burden to carry. They just felt like marbles made of heavy metals or the like.

     Luss hurried back downstairs, surprised to see the rest of the group loitering in the area as though they were waiting for him.

     "Are we ready to go?" Jelro asked, glancing around to make sure he got affirmatives from everyone in the group.

     Luss kind of liked how Jelro had accidentally become a sort of leader for the group. The merfling had initially seemed like the least likely out of the group to know what they were doing while traveling to complete a task, but he was comfortable with keeping everyone in check and focused on the goal.

     "Luss?"

     "Huh?" Luss jumped.

     "Sorry." Jelro turned up his palms. "Are you ready to go?"

     "Yeah. All good."

     They headed out.

     "So, question—" Luss said, "how much do you all know about Asbvajian customs?"

     "Only what you've told us," Jelro said.

     "Ditto," Shayrow said, and Adif echoed him.

     Kestek said nothing, but her expression was easy enough to read.

     "Great, I get to sound smart for a few moments," Luss said. "First of all, greeting-es are kind of a big deal. Forget everything you know about bowing here in Yaruid. Asbvajians do stuff way differently."

     Luss explained the three main types of greetings—"obvsah," "svjad," and "arovjis." Obvsah was the term used to greet anyone that posed a threat and you needed to show respect, meaning it was to be used in the face of anyone wearing a lot of jewelry or carrying a weapon.

     "Do we count?" Adif asked, pointing to her sword, then at Shayrow's blade, and then at Jelro's bow.

     "Yeah." Luss shrugged. "You guys could easily murder someone if you wanted to. You'll prob'ly be hearing obvsah a lot."

     He went on, explaining that svjad was the typical greeting that was used to indicate you were about to introduce yourself.

     "Asbvajians aren't super big on randomly socializing," Luss said. "Being-es only talk to strangers if they have a good reason, like challenging someone over the hand of their fiancé, that sorta thing. Oh, and when bartering with a merchant."

     "You're making it sound like Asbvajians are barbaric," Kestek remarked.

     "I did say that strength is valued above everything else there," Luss said. "That doesn't mean Asbvajians are barbaric."

     "What does arovjis mean?" Adif inquired.

     "Oh, if anyone says that to you, draw your sword." Luss shrugged. "It's basically just saying hello, but as a threat. They're prob'ly about to try to mug you."

     "Good to know." Adif uneasily traced her fingers over her sheath.

     "Do they even speak Segaugnal in Asbvaj?" Kestek asked.