[Jazzy]

The breeze brought the smell of sea across the rolling farmlands. Kiirweyä rolled her shoulders, making sure the water-proof skin was secure around her glider. Being this close to that much water made her uncomfortable. While water was good, sacred to her god Ningii, this water was not like the streams and rapids of the Peaks. This water was salt, poisonous, and deeper than anyone could see. She was grateful for the hillsides obscuring the view.

"Why do we walk?" One of her traveling companions was of the flock of Nukanaami. The winds were their home, and the current mode of transportation had been a point of contention all morning.

"You are welcome to try your luck from these hills," Kiirweyä said and nodded to one of the nearby hills. "But the earth-bound ones find this way of arrival more agreeable. In times like this I fear we might get mistaken for enemies if we arrive by air."

Her companion grunted unhappily and mumbled a short incantation to the skies, bemoaning their current state. The wind flapped their robes as if in agreement.

However, they didn't have to travel so for much longer. As they crested the next hill, there it was. Giant pinnacles of white, like cliffs of a great massif, although these were made by hand. Trees, green, white marbles, and people beyond comprehension. They'd heard the stories, but it was another thing to see it for themselves.

"The earth-bound abandoned the wild cliffs to build their own," one of her companions commented, trying to muster some disdain for the more civilized lifestyle, although it was hard to deny the splendor of the sight in front of them.

"So they did," Kiirweyä said and started walking again, using her walking stick to nudge the previous speaker in the side. It wouldn't do with such speak once they arrived. "And there's no denying they have prospered from it."

They traveled the rest of the way to the city in silence, identifying themselves to the city guards and so getting escorted to the meeting. On the way through the city they marveled at the sights. None of them had any further remarks beyond amazement. The buildings seemed to reach for the skies as if they were mountains, and among them grew trees and flew birds. It was a grand thing, and not even the most cynical among them dared say otherwise.

When they arrived Kiirweyä motioned for her companions to stand back, handing over her packed up glider to their care. She surveyed the others already present. It was an odd bunch. There were many humans dressed in the identical clothes of the earth-bound. She always found them odd. All this breadth of expression, and they all chose to look the same. Someone had mentioned to her there was special significance in the small variations between them, but she'd yet to figure it out and so it was probably safest to assume whoever the others deferred to was the one in charge. That would be the woman, surrounded by the serious-looking people. And the man with the green and red companions.

They were not the most eye-catching in the room, however. That would be the woman with her giant companions. Kiirweyä put her head to the side and looked them up and down. She'd been aware of the other peoples of the warren, but she hadn't actually seen many. She looked forward to making their acquaintance. But first, she had a job to do.

The Queen was already surrounded by the others so she waited her turn. When the opportunity presented itself she stepped forward, nodding politely. "We haven't met before. I am Kiirweyä, cleric of Niingi, and here to speak for Sorrow Peaks. It is only my companions and I, from the Peaks. We are not warriors, but anyone with a glider and knife can and will fight for their home. But we have to know how to help, and this is why I am here. So let us speak. All of us."