“Ja’ti hale’a,” ((Hello, friends)) Ajoran greeted, his tone friendly but his face inscrutably blank. Taja were often that way, as part of their training was to keep their thoughts and feelings secret from others. Problem was, the training was a little too good, and often times they had trouble connecting with strangers due to their aloof and stony air. He hadn’t worn the shoulder sash of his office since he was technically off duty, though he regretted it now as he stood before them. Ajoran wondered loosely if any of them knew who he was, or perhaps even what he was, though he guessed someone knew something because he was allowed in without question. Still, he was not used to having to explain himself like that, and wondered if he would need to, now. The benefit of the Ojih is that it eliminated the need for some establishing small talk, as it distinguished things like rank or title. And Azurians generally wore some kind of large earring through an often stretched hole in the lobe that, depending on the material it was made from, the shape it was carved in, and the designs etched and painted into it, indicated the wearer’s province and family clan. Foreigners, however, didn’t generally know these things, though Rhaetians more often than not could identify which shape and material of [I}ki’io[/I] resembled which province. There were only five, after all. The carvings on them, like the Ojih, were much more difficult to discern unless the marks were very familiar.

“I am Taja Ajoran Te’kajih, I serve the Sota-Sol Kaija-Sol Tezusha herself. She asked me to come here and speak with your commander. Which one is she? And is she free to speak?” Ajoran did not actually know if the ranking officer of the fortress was male or female, but, being a matriarchal society, Azurians often defaulted to ‘she’ and ‘her’ when referring to a leader whom they did not know. “Kaija-Sol requests some information regarding Rhaetia and our neighbors to the east.” 

When Ajoran used the word ‘request’, he was being polite. The Sota-Sol did not make requests that could be refused without consequence. The Rhaetians had more leniency than most, though if they wanted to keep secrets, Kaija-Sol usually wanted to hear a reason why, and it better be worth it.