Anomaly of Thra

So? I'm a Deformed Vapra?

Helen's condition has shown some improvement since her arrival at the port of Cera-Na. To be more precise, someone coerced her into it, but ever since then she has been making earnest efforts to adapt. At Onica's suggestion, they replaced her clothing. It stood out too much, to keep up the ruse of the deformed vapran story she had to blend in. The only few knew her to be an alien where Maudra Ethri, who she found out was the clan leader and Onica. Thinking it was best to keep those who knew the information to a few would be best. They gave her a set of custom-made clothes, including a blue blouse, a red tunic, turquoise pants, a green waist sash, and a brown cape with beads. Without pockets, she kept her few personal items in small pouches on her belt. Surprisingly, most gelflings didn't wear shoes. Well, more like they looked to be thin open-toed shoes, at least in Cera-Na port. Usually sailors wore some type of boots but were thin as well with no heels. She deduced their feet were thicker than those of humans, enabling them to navigate rugged terrain. But since she wasn't like that, she needed more support for her feet, given boots similar to what the sailors wore. Though it definitely was a change, considering like she said, they weren't thick, so they felt like very thick socks in a way. Her feet didn't get hurt, but she still felt uncomfortable bumps and nooks and crannies more than once. She knew it would take a while for her feet to build up calluses to get used to it.

It didn't take long for a word to get out about her. A "deformed vapran" would definitely be hard to hide for long in a busy port, especially considering how tall she was. She was practically the talk of the port for the first couple of days. The Maudra fabricated a story about how her Vapra family shunned her for shame and how she had shut in for many trines, resulting in her being "out of touch" with Thra. She couldn't count how many times gelfling would come up to her asking about her hair or if she liked to dream fast. Her hair she found out to be more golden than most Vapra, whose hair was very pale. At first, she definitely felt confused by that. She later found out that dream fast was a mind link that the gelfling did through touch to share memories of better connection with each other. Helen figured it might be a biological nerve connectivity. The idea of sharing brain cells seemed like science fiction at first. But then she facepalmed, realizing where she was.

But no, she found out from Onica it was spiritual as well, which made an atheist like her but frustrated. Onica found it astonishing that their planet lacked something similar or that many of their planet's inhabitants held many spiritual beliefs or none. Here, they considered such things unspeakable, as they believed that without the Crystal, one would surely lose their way. The dream fasting definitely put her in tight spots, while Onica explained how her "deformity" made it impossible for her to do so. This definitely put some gelfling be on edge around her, for if they couldn't understand her through her memories, how could they trust her?

Helen was aware that it could be a lengthy process, despite the skepticism of certain individuals. The Sifa's reception towards her was not one of rejection; Onica had informed her that they were actually quite accepting. As explorers, they were naturally curious about everything in nature. But as for the other clans, the soothsayer had to warn her, telling of the separation and mistrust the clans had for each other. The blonde individual discovered that the Sifan were part of a group of seven clans. The neighboring Vapra, gelfling residing in the snowy mountains, were known for their indulgence in literature but also had a haughty demeanor, particularly because of their favored status with the Skeksis. Next was the Stonewood, a warrior clan who to' favorite. Following that, we have the Stonewood, a clan of warriors renowned for their exceptional physical prowess. They lived in the middle of the endless forest and controlled much of the center of Thra. People often hired them as soldiers or bodyguards, especially for the Skeksis. However, they were also quite paranoid and prejudiced.