Vavaren

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Vavaren is a richly forested planet with large bodies of water. It's cold, not cold enough for snow but cold enough for frost to form overnight. The oxygen levels are high.

There are no mammals, only lizards, insects, arachnids and some birds. Everything is huge.
Their oceans are populated by giant squids, immense fish and various other enormous and terrifying creatures of the deep.

The Vavare have built large webbed communes in the trees.

Visitors are not common, Vavare tend to do most of their business off world but those who visit are welcomed warmly.

Ships will dock at a small simple space port which is surrounded by their capital "city", if you can call it that.
It looks more like a vast marketplace.

Visitors are advised to wear rebreathers when leaving their ship, dress warm and to avoid any flames, sparks or static buildup.

Enjoy your stay honored friends, welcome to Vavaren.

[It's simultaneously fascinating, and terrifying. ] Kay agreed, looking up at the ship. [You all did a good job, and nobody broke their neck which is a relief.]

Esk looked at the ship as well, she seemed even more massive when you were standing here like this. It was messing with his head, he shook his head and went back to watching the distant birds.
"I'd estimate about the size of a personal shuttle, big enough to grab someone anyway." He shrugged. "We'll stay away from the birds." He watched James. "Is it the heights, the spiders or the great outdoors in general your scared of?" He asked flatly. He glanced to Kay as well. "And are you still unreasonably scared of heights?"

Kay frowned. [It's a perfectly rational fear] He contested.

"No, fear of falling is rational."

[What's the difference?]

Esk shrugged. "Your true form has wings."

[That doesn't mean I can fly.]

"Maybe you should learn. Leap off something, see what happens." Esk smirked.

[You'd love that wouldn't you? ]

Esk shrugged. "Nah it'd make a mess. I think the spider people might consider it rude."

Kay shook his head and turned his attention back to Asher. [Ignore him, i'm fairly certain he's trying to get a rise out of me and I refuse to play his game. ]

"We used safety harnesses," Asher said with a smile. "Can't have people invading our sickbay, right?"

James gave Asher a 'you guys are ridiculous' look, then in answer to Esk's question, waved his arms in a grand gesture that encompassed the entirety of the outside world. "It's huge. Look at it!"

Asher patted James' shoulder, looking amused. "You'll get used to it, don't worry. The outdoors are fun!"

James looked unconvinced.

Asher ignored Esk's unpleasant comments by Kay's request. "We can try to find enclosed areas on the ground to look around," he suggested.

"What do you think it's going to do?" Esk shook his head, nope, he couldn't wrap his head around being scared of the outdoors.

Kay shot James a sympathetic look of support. Yeah, he was just as wary but for slightly different reasons.

"I don't think it's gonna do anything. It's a place. As long as I don't get grabbed by a bird, I'll be fine," James told Esk. "Phobias aren't rational."

Asher nodded. "It's not much like a space station here, which is where we grew up. It's very, very unfamiliar, even if you know it isn't dangerous to you."

"well try not to get eaten, the captain will get pissed." He told James. "I'm gonna go see what there is to see." He shrugged and left the three of them to chat.

[Maybe if we stick really close to the trees it'll be alright.] Kay mused.

James nodded. "Oh yeah, because Captain never gets pissed otherwise. I'd hate for him to be angry for the first time ever!"

Asher rolled his eyes at James' sarcasm.

"Yeah. Stay near the trees, but not up in them, and use Asher as a living shield if something big and mean attacks," James said. "I like this plan, Kay."

"Hey!" Asher protested.

Esk snickered. "That's the spirit." He called back to James as he walked away.

Kay looked amused. [Not sure i'm entirely happy with using him as a shield though. I don't think he makes a very good one.] He smiled at Asher.

James looked at Asher critically. "I see what you mean. He's made of metal and stuff, but he's not exactly threatening."

"I vote we use James as the shield. He's bigger," Asher said, nodding sagely.

Kay shook his head. [Or we just avoid being attacked by things, negating the need for a shield in the first place.] He shrugged. They were probably perfectly safe here in the city right?
Except for the dizzying heights, eugh.

"Too sensible," Asher said, laughing. He lead the way toward the city, sticking to areas with trees.

Kay was definitely staying close to the trees and well away from the edges of the platforms. He didn't look overly comfortable up here and going over the swaying bridges was a little too much. He reached out and clung to Asher's hand out of fear. This was frustrating for him, he was somewhat ashamed of how badly scared of heights he was, but damnit he didn't want to fall and the way these things swayed made him panicky and dizzy.

Asher held Kay's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He was a bit surprised just how bad Kay's fear of heights was, considering he had never heard about it before.

James pretended not to notice, instead admiring the spider people and the crazy architecture.

Yeah Kay definitely didn't talk about his fear of heights, or go near heights... Nope. The ground was good.
He looked apologetic.

Armin had managed to escape his mother and aunt and talk about babies, eugh. No thanks. He left Trygve and Berit to have that FUN and deal with their mother's horror and dismay at their insistence on maintaining an unnaturally monogamous relationship.
He'd found something to eat and was wandering about the market, which had grown a great deal since he remembered it. Everything had changed so much in the time he'd been gone, it was strange and somewhat depressing.

He noticed the androids and a terrified looking Kay and scuttled over, smiling broadly and waving. "Hello again friends." He tilted his head in concern at Kay, who was trying very hard NOT to just cling to Asher, much as he wanted to.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Kay nodded grimly.

Asher attempted to communicate that it was okay to be scared and he totally understood, without actually saying anything out loud, which would just be embarrassing for Kay. It probably didn't work. "Hello Armin," Asher said warmly, "are you enjoying being back on your home planet again?"

Armin grimaced. "It is... strange. I have not been back here in many years, so much has changed. Our mother thinks we have spent too much time amongst the bipeds and certainly being back serves as a stark reminder of how much time really has passed."

[How long has it been?] Kay asked, edging a little closer to a tree trunk and away from any edges.

Armin thought about that. "8, perhaps 9 years?"

"That's a long time to be gone. I guess you must be experiencing a lot of culture shock," Asher said.

"Yeah, that's gotta be weird," agreed James, "Have things changed much?"

"Oh yes, the market has grown substantially since I was young. In fact, only the temple seems to have remained unchanged. " Armin shook his head.

[Still, it must be nice to see your family again]

Armin nodded. "I have many more siblings and cousins now." He laughed. "oh! There will be a celebration tonight, in honor of your arrival. Expect much dancing and music, it should be highly entertaining. I myself look forward to nightfall, it has been too long since I have seen these stars. "

"That sounds wonderful," Asher said.

"Exactly the sort of thing Swarm would want me to show them!" Said James happily. "You guys are way too nice, did you know that?"

Armin smiled broadly. "Thank you friends." He bowed his head. "It is unusual to get visitors, The Vavare conduct the majority of their trade out among the stars. Your arrival here has caused quite some excitement in the locals. Your ship is full of fascinating and unique species, many of whom people here have only ever heard spoken of in stories. "

"I guess everyone is getting to see something new today," Asher said happily. "Being among the lucky few who have been here is quite a privilege. Also it's nice to see what you guys look like without the masks."

"Just keep away from large bodies of water or clearings. The wild beasts here are large enough to take a fully grown male and severely injure a female." Armin smiled broadly at Asher's final remark "Is it at all what you expected?" He asked.

"I told you open spaces were bad," James said smugly.

"No water or clearings. Got it," Asher didn't look disappointed. He smiled, "I did some reading on your species after you joined Vestia, so I wasn't entirely surprised. Still, medical illustrations hardly do people justice."

"The birds tend to avoid the cities, they do not like the webbing or the tree cover. " Armin smiled.

Kay shook his head at James' comment, amused by his smugness but remaining pretty much pressed up against the tree trunk. He was fine, so long as he didn't have to move much or go near those bridges. Yep.

"you flatter me." Armin bowed his head to Asher. "I admit, it is a relief to be able to walk around without tanks and tubes and masks. " he had sure enough removed the heavy tanks from his back. Presumably they'd been left wherever he called home.

[The masks do limit communication a bit don't they?] Kay wrote.

Armin smiled and nodded. "We have grown accustomed to such limitations."

Rigel, Dawn and Shane came out to the city to have a look around after they finished with the painting.

Skye went back in long enough to get Moone and the chicks some masks before bringing them out to check out this city

"That alone would make being here a relief," Asher agreed. "Other people get to wear masks for a change, too."

Armin chuckled. "Indeed. You two are fortunate you have no need to breathe, it looks to make life substantially simpler."

Kay nodded.

---

Mourn wasn't going out there, he was a little distracted by his upcoming surgery anyway, and knowing he wouldn't be able to communicate properly with his friends if they were all wearing masks just made him less inclined to leave the nice safe ship.
Besides, he'd found some craft paper and supplies to sleep on.

--

Esk wandered around the market, looking at things and mostly ignoring the polite storekeepers who asked him if he needed anything. He'd just shake his head and move on to the next.

He found somewhere to sit and watched the busker for a while, pulling out some paper and a pencil to sketch the scenery. This place was weird, the people were strange, but nobody seemed to want to bother him which was nice.

"So much simpler. No jackets needed, either!" James flapped his arms to demonstrate his freedom. "Oh hey, can you recommend any things I should see for Swarm, since they can't come out here safely?"