After crossing paths with Fara at the market, Firion and Kaida met up with Duke and Duchess Moonspeaker at the Nkiri's estate for a massive gathering to welcome extended family.
The young lady started of by introducing her various relatives, including Emani's and his family who were also there, and then finally her great aunt and uncle that she revered as honorary grandparents.
Its hard to believe that their family is this big, especially when you compare the matriarch to her husband who barely aligns with her hips. Still, she and Arafa were undeniably a loving couple with centuries to their union and many fruit to show!
Nafula explained that she and Derek want to let Fara know about her extended family as they do not have extended relatives. Firion recalled that Duke Moonspeaker's mother barely passed away a century ago and his father died when he was but a boy.
Nkiri also lamented her first reunion with her niece, she was ecstatic to learn her sister's daughter survived all those years, but she chose to wed into a new culture and could no longer stay in Junai. Regardless, with her husband's persistence, they eventually won her approval.
"I admit, I could be a stubborn fool towards new things, but Derek did not make the best of first impressions, but I could not deny Fara as family, nor disrespect my beloved niece's mate. Though once I understood how his mind worked I learned to tolerate him better as long as she keeps him behaved." Nkiri snapped!
Meanwhile, Firion started analyzing the architectural design of the buildings that were unique to this large family.
("I still cannot believe how many homes are owned by this clan. They're love and dedication to Taraji reflects at their size and level of influence. In a sense, almost like how dukes of Aldenburg hold power, this matriarchal family is revered just from their ornate compounds.") Firion muses to himself.
Their temporary villa also incorporate the same structure, but the majority of Taraji uses mainly palm huts while the Ironearth family uses these unique half-domes that are made out of some kind of white clay.
"Curious about the buildings commonly used in our family?" Nkiri's rather short husband, Arafa, who even stood below Kaida's shoulders, asked as he approached him.
For his age, Firion could easily make out the defined muscle from this elderly man and the fact that he still has a well toned abdomen. He kept his white hair neatly combed, but yet he had no beard like many of the other elves.
Kaida was very curious about him, as she could tell that he must be someone of a unique origin as well. "Arafa was it? Your niece, Lady Fara, mentioned that you came from a different clan like the Oracle did? Where did you hail from?"
"Babu she is kinda like you, she does not touch flesh for her meals just like the ancient tribe you hail from." Emani joins in, and seems to be a "good" mood today with his extended family and his daughters running around.
Arafa cackled a bit. "I noticed that other day at the banquet that my vegetarian option was cleaned out! When I still lived in the deep jungle, my people live their lives avoiding taking too much that what is needed from the land, over time we learned that we could survive without slaughter. We also lived in tree-houses above the ground as our kind is very nimble living amongst the trees."
He continued on about his early life, Arafa wanted to see the world from living in a dense jungle surrounded by only trees, but by doing so he was shunned from his village. He lived the life of a hermit until one day a sandstorm engulfed the desert and while looking for shelter he stumbled across a lioness who was dying from simple dehydration. Despite their size difference, he was still quite strong for a little man, and managed to carry her to safety. That woman was a young Nkiri, over time they grew close and "imprinted" on each to where they became spiritually linked.
Firion became interested in this and asked about it. "What is this "imprinting" Arafa?"
The elderly yumboes face turned a bright red. Emani spat out his rum, and suddenly many of Ironearth clan spat out their drinks and started snickering and laughing!
"Its a little early in the day isn't it?" "Hey be mindful of the conversations!" "The kids could be listening!"
From what he could observe, it came became clear that this was an "adult" discussion. The forest elf began to heavily blush, but Kaida reassured him with a nuzzle.
She reminded "I did the same thing with Alima when we met. Its okay, we are learning the more we ask! We do not know when something is an "older" discussion."
Seeing the girl's wisdom settled the chatter immediately, as the family themselves had to consider that their guests might not be aware of certain terminologies and reassuring Firion that he has nothing to be embarrassed about.
"Why don't go to my hut? I can explain in privacy." Arafa offered.
Inside they sat around in the center where the old yumbo described the "imprinting."
Like he thought, imprinting is whenever a deva woman hangs around a specific male over time her body starts undergoing changes that reflects what they desire internally.
When a deva woman reaches a certain age of maturity she needs to by nature: to either find a mate or segregate away from males, otherwise her body will desire the one she interacts with the most.
The first sign a female deva is captivated is when her breasts began to lactate to capture the attention of her intended mate and entice them, this indicates when conception is possible. From when a deva nurses her mate with their breasts is called "nethering" and just like Alima mentioned, its a very private and sentimental connection between spouses.
Also elf women born of deva mothers also inherit this trait, however these elf women are not weighed by the burden of the hormones of their moms, allowing them to live more freely.
Some deva women have realized this, and actively pursue elf men to break a cycle that restricts so many of their children.
Arafa described in detail how complicated deva women are with physiology that they could very die from the heat of their hormones if their "needs" are not met. This has sadly claimed many lives of deva women through the centuries.
Firion in that moment turned pale, and remembered the first night he and Kaida shared.
("Could she have been dying then? If we didn't do it....could she have?") A horrific realization just occurred to the middle age elf.