FOR: Marielyn Glevissig

Just as it was with other members of her family, Andrea had a hard time settling herself in one place. She loved Vanyar, and would always think of it as home, but lately with her personal life up in flames, things were a bit different. Staying with Katya and her husband was supposed to be temporary, but several years had passed since they had taken Andrea in as a wild teenager. She had grown into some semblance of an adult since then, but they continued to treat her as if she were the orphan they brought home after their parents had passed.

That fact - combined with the destruction of her romantic life forcing her back into their house - had been driving her mad for some time. A fight between Andrea and her older sister had led her to seek other options, which led her into finding a makeshift home in the military. It wasn’t something Andrea ever expected to enjoy, but her skill and history with riding and weaponry lent itself well to the group and made her excel. She hadn’t seen an active battle yet, but felt with more time and practice there was a chance she would be prepared to face it.

It wasn’t Andrea’s first time celebrating Solstice, however, it was her first time being there with a group - at least tangentially. She had been sent with some others from the light cavalry, despite having only been with them for a short time. She had spent most of the day with the others, both getting to know them and learning about who she would consider potentially befriending. When evening broke, Andrea decided to break away from the group and attempt to find her brother. She wandered about the festivities for a short time before entering a nearby tavern, the music and singing drawing her attention.

Andrea made quick work of navigating through the crowd, the throng of people growing thicker the deeper inside she went. She spotted a barmaid a few feet away, giving her a wink and a nod in order to gain her attention. “Two pints, please!” She nearly shouted over the noise of the tavern, giving the woman a few extra coins as she set the drinks in front of her. Andrea figured two drinks at once was a good idea considering the people and the intense need she had to unwind.

The tavern had several long tables set up in community style seating, but instead Andrea made her way to the area where people had gathered to dance. She tipped back one of her pints and finished it in a matter of moments, setting it down on a nearby table before disappearing into the moving group of people.

In a far corner, deep within the throng of people, there was a small round table that would have seated all of four very close friends. But it didn't seat friends, it seated rivals. Marielyn sat across from a royal navy sailor, both with cups full of dice playing a betting game that was one part skill and three parts bloody luck. Bidding outcomes, haggling one another, and then ultimately producing an over/under formula that would determine a win even if they both rolled identical results... they shook their cups and slapped them down open end first. They pulled their ups to reveal their dice, people did their maths, and Marielyn roared in victory as all the tightly packed folk around the table either joined her in victory or her opponent in defeat.

There were no hard feelings, she wasn't rich and her foe was far from destitute, but she gave his lady friend a wink as she stood and finished her own pint before heading off to find another cup and a new distraction. Wearing the uniform of the heavy cavalry had gotten her free drinks, open challenges, and more than a few friendly maids willing to let their bottoms be patted in play. It was, all in all, turning out to be a great festival. Hopefully they would do this again before she was too old to enjoy it. She managed to edge around a small gathering of ladies dressed just well enough to be slumming it who were listening with rapt attention to a handsome blond man in beaten up armor and wearing two swords telling what was most likely a bold-faced lie of a story and then almost ran face first into a lass she half recognized.

She wasn't drunk-drunk yet so it only took her a moment to pick out the face as one of the new recruits over on the light cav side. "Oh... you're... the new lass. Private... Door?" Marielyn made a face that said even she didn't like that guess but figured it was the best she was going to come up with so she gave a hopeful smile to go with it. The girl didn't fall under her direct command so it was fine to fraternize and that was good enough for Marielyn to strike up a conversation in the moment. "How are you liking being in the saddle-backs?" She used one of the nicer and thus more common nicknames the war elephant mounted heavy cav had for the horse soldiers.

FOR:Marielyn Glevissig

Andrea was more than happy to watch others dance around her and imbibe by herself, as it was her plan for the majority of the evening. She had loose thoughts of trying to locate her lunatic of a brother, but he was quite skilled at avoiding his family and she figured Solstice was no exception to his rule. Her expectations for her own fun and debauchery were quite low, but she had no problem watching others get what they needed from the few days that they were granted to promote celebration and festivity.

She was just about to finish her first (second?) pint while listening to a man weave a tall tale - one she was shocked had people hanging on to his every word - when she saw a semi familiar face directly in front of her. Andrea paused with her glass halfway to her lips. “It’s pronounced dey-or, but close enough. I’ve been called worse.” She paused, a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips at the nickname for her fellow riders. “I love it, honestly.” Andrea briefly explained how she had grown up with horses and it was second nature to her and made the most sense when she joined that she would be outfitted there.

“I can’t say I’ve ever been on an elephant though. Has that always been your place…” she trailed off, her ale riddled brain unable to help her remember the woman’s name. Even on her best day she probably wouldn’t have been able to pronounce it without making a fool of herself. “Glevsig?” She attempted.

I've been called worse."

"As an insult or dirty talk," Marielyn asked with a knowing grin and a wink before knocking back her own mead stein. Making light of it meant they didn't have to go down any dark roads on a day of celebration. That would kill the mood and ruin everybody's chances of a good time. The gal spoke of loving the service and being with the light cavalry, Mari nodded right along. "Good, good. Not everybody adjusts well. There's a strange mix of freedom and subjugation to the whole thing. It's not like being a mercenary, those guys are all self-disciplined and it shows more often than not but sometimes that's a better fit for a fighter."

She laughed with delight at finding out the other woman had been raised around horses. "I grew up on a farm in a family that has been raising Kaimma for generations untold. Train them for work, train them for war, and let the belligerent ones out into the wild to keep the population up and diverse. Great beasties, smarter than most people imagine, and they never forget you for good or ill. My Bertrand is also a shameless flirt, don't know where he gets it from," her smile and the wiggle of her eyebrows said that was a lie. Another swig as she glanced around the pressed room. "Sgt. Major Marielyn Glevissig, but you can call me Mari when we're not on duty... would you like to go for a ride on an elephant?" She raised an eyebrow as her own mind worked through all the different interpretations her question could be subject to.

FOR: Marielyn Glevissig

Andrea couldn’t help but chuckle at the other woman's reply - perhaps she wasn’t going to have such a boring evening after all. She took a long pull from her tankard, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She paused, breaking eye contact to set her now empty tankard on a table before settling her fresh one in her right hand. It was clear that Miarelyn was easy enough to talk to, and not bad to look at if she was being honest, though it certainly wasn’t her intention to get into anything during solstice, least of all one of the elephant folks, as they were so lovingly called.

“Right, it hasn’t been a horrible shock to the system, really, aside from the forced teamwork.” She joked, having been a pretty independent person for most of her life and now being placed into a group of people that most definitely relied on one another.

Drea listened intently as the other woman spoke, picturing the pair of them growing up in different places and yet ending up at the same Solstice gathering. She told Marielyn as much, excited to hear about being raised around Kaimma. “Bertrand?” She asked carefully, looking past the woman and into the crowd. “Is that your paramour, Kaimma, or elephant beastie?” She asked, but was quickly taken aback by the follow up question.

“I’m sorry Mari, was it?” She shook her head. “Did you just ask me if I wanted to ride on one of the creatures that are at least six times the size of my horse? Casually?”