A small band of human merchants come to the village. The village has never seen humans before, and were afraid, due to all the horrible things said that humans do to people like the ones here. These humans were not what they expected, in fact, they were really very kind. -- Anon Guest
To call it a village might have been something of an exaggeration. Most of the buildings were temporary structures to keep the wind away from the cooking fires or the bedrolls. What animal pens existed were also temporary things. Stakes and cord to keep the cattle in a specific grazing ground.
Harukh were nomads. Their lands were tough and hard, and so were their crops. And so were the Harukh. The only crops that could grow there would take years to reach maturity and required oral histories to locate again. They would not revisit this particular site for decades.
It was a mixture of pure chance and dumb luck that caravan of merchants found it.
When they did, there was a frozen moment of tension. The Human caravaneers knew what Harukh raiders did to adventurers. The Harukh villagers knew what adventurers did to their settlements.
It was a young child, not even showing her tusks, who broke the tension by offering a horse some leafy greens. They toddled up to the draught beast with the leaves held high and announced, "Ney-ney."
A Human from the caravan, also with a small child at their hip, dared venture down to cautiously lead the Harukh toddler back to their anxious guardian. The Human child pointed to the guardian and said, "G'een."
Mutual parental "That's right" speeches broke the ice.
Welcome or Unwelcome People... both loved, taught, and protected their children.
Harukh were twice the bulk of even an impressive Human, and most Human merchants weren't the impressive sort. What they had was things that may be useful, interesting, or just shiny.
They traded Forgevale steel cooking instruments for Harukh leathers and handicrafts. The green-skinned nomads may not last as long as Humans, but they valued items made to last. If they were light and easy to carry, all the better.
The elders of the tribe let the caravan know where the village would settle next, for the next handful of years. The merchants were given to understand that if adventurers came to do what adventurers were wont to do, the results would be very bad indeed.
Merchants know where the best profits are. It would do them no good to betray people with good deals.
...and one more fragment chipped away from the bulwark of prejudice against another group of Unwelcome People.
[Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash]
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