Dragoncrest Cliffs Coffee Shop Playlist

Kaertok was like un unsinkable ship among rough seas. His tone was steady and deep, even as he questioned the young firebrand. “Kind of,” Njord said with a duck of his head. His straightened posture broke down a bit. He wasn’t afraid to admit his shortcomings, unlike his brother who was saturated with ego and pride (so Njord thought). Yet, at the same time, he hated to appear weak or useless in front of Kaertok.

“I’m from an island,” he started to explain. “The prey here, on the mainland, are strange to me. When I came ashore I could not hunt them by myself.” The deer and elk were far too large to be taken down by and the small, fast game like quickly outwitted the youngster. Even on Meares island, they hunted seals in teams. As a loner in a strange new land, Njord didn’t have a good chance to last through the winter on his own. Maybe he should have paid better attention to the hunting lessons given by his grandfather, the patriarch. “I want to be better,” Njord said, rallying. I want to be better than my brother, was what he really meant.

Kaertok also challenged his longevity with Rusalka. “That’s what I was thinking of, at first,” the islander pondered. “But then I saw the cliffs and hunted with Erzulie and… this could really be home for me. I swore myself to our leaders,” his voice lowered here. They saw me as my own man, he thought to himself, out of the shadow of my family. “I like it here,” he added, “its what I wanted. What I was looking for.”

He coughed, not wanting to appear to feely or sentimental. “What about you?” he asked, “have you been with Rosalyn and Erzulie a long time?” Njord was slowly putting the pieces of Rusalka together.