Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Sathut (Counselor) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural

Posted by Lieutenant Sural (Chief Engineer) in An off-duty visit - Tag Sural
Posted by… suppressed (7) by the Post Ghost! 👻
It had been a few weeks since Sathut started on the Olympic, and he decided that it was time to expand his social calendar slightly while we wasn’t on duty. Taking note of who was off duty, he noticed that the Chief of Engineering didn’t seem to be scheduled on duty right now. He was curious about that holo-environment that the Vulcan had mentioned, so Sathut left his quarters and headed towards the CE’s quarters. It wasn’t a long walk, since they were both department heads and thus their quarters were in relatively close proximity. A quick press on his URI (Universal Remote Interface, a staple for any Raka or Arwan serving on a ship of large people) made the doorbell chime, and what followed was a simple wait to see if the Engineer was at home.

Sathut

=^= … things are proceeding logically and in good order, Father. The size of this vessel was … daunting at first. =^=
The male Vulcan peering into the screen was composed and wearing a traditional Vulcan meditation robe, this one tan with a high brown collar. The collar was inset with silver Vulcan runes. He was an older version of Sural, though his eyes were more narrow giving him a greater calculating look. =^= What was it that you were taught regarding any venture, son? =^= he said
=^= To move a mountain one does it a stone at a time. Break the task into logical, measurable blocks. =^=
=^= And have you? =^=
Sural inclined his head in a single nod. =^= Indeed. There are a great many engineers aboard. They have proven very valuable to me. I .. =^=

The door chimed.

=^= I appear to have a visitor. Father, please give my regards to Mother. I was hoping to see her in this transmission. However, her crafts do take her out of the house. And my greetings to T’ral. It is my hope that my sister is well. =^=
=^= I understand. Be well, Sural. =^= His hand came up in the traditional salute. =^= Live long and prosper, Sural. =^=
Sural’s hand returned the gesture. =^= Peace and long life, Father. Good night. =^=
He closed the connection and turned to the door.

“Come,” he said, hitting the switch to remotely open the door. When he saw Sathut he stood. Sural too was dressed in a kind of soft meditation robe and slippers. They were similar to his father’s only of a lighter color. The high collar met and made an open V of the same darker trim with the silver runes. “Sathut. Please. Be welcome. My pardon on the delay. I was concluding a transmission home.” He gestured to the spartan but comfortable common room where he was at.

“I apologize, I didn’t intend to interrupt,” Sathut spoke. He could not perform the traditional Vulcan salute due to the number of fingers on his hand, but he did hold up his hand with the smaller two fingers together in an approximation of the greeting. “Live long and prosper,” he spoke with a small smile. The counselor wore clothing that was quite similar to his on-duty dress, as his position as counselor provided him the freedom to chose his duty attire to a degree. His robe today was a soft blue, with silver trim and a few embroidered decals along the seams. It was mostly a skirt-like wrap, with a thick loop of material crossing over his chest and left shoulder, then down across his back to rejoin the ‘skirt.’ He had removed some of his jewelry, and had no earrings on currently, except for a simple golden loop near the bottom of the ear. He still wore the braided twine bracelet on his right arm, the twine covering the majority of his forearm.

Sural politely yet formally returned the greeting. He had meditated on the greeting as a teenager. Logically one should not say something out of rote. Words had meaning and they had power. And this greeting was possessed of both.

The common room held three chairs surrounding a central triangular table. That in itself held a three dimensional chess board that looked to be in mid game. The pieces removed were lined up in a straight precise line. The furnishings were of a dusty grey, cushioned by what looked to be a kind of foam and, by the subtle controls, adjustable as well. A light colored carpet underneath of white and dark grey triangular shapes filled out the room. There was only one holo on the wall - that of a group of six. Two were more elderly Vulcans whose hair was steel grey and who sat in seats of honor. The other couple were Vulcan and who stood behind the elder male’s chair. By the facial resemblance they were likely Sural’s parents. The other was Sural and the last, a human looking woman stood beside Sural behind the elder female’s chair. She bore no Vulcan resemblance apart from a straighter hair style. She was also smiling.

Sathut spent a few moments observing the Vulcan’s quarters quietly. One could tell a lot about someone from their living-space. He noted the game of chess in progress, and made a mental note to inquire later about that - who Sural had been playing with, and perhaps the possibility of playing a game at some point. He noticed the holo on the wall and stepped a little closer to examine it, although his short stature did make that a little more difficult that it might be for most. He noticed the human woman and made another mental note to remember that. If the Vulcan mentioned relatives, he might ask, but he wouldn’t pry. He wasn’t on duty, after all.

“May I offer you something to eat or drink?” He asked. “I was about to have some tea. It is a Vulcan tea from the South continent. Blended with Terran honey it has a very … agreeable flavor.” He gestured to a small side table that bore the tea set. It was distinctly alien, though still held the telltale appearance of a ‘teapot’.
- Sural, CE

“I’d love some, thank you,” Sathut said with a smile. “I hope you don’t mind the visit. I was hoping to… improve my social life, so to speak. I have been focused so much on work in the weeks since I arrived that I haven’t really had the time to make friends outside it. I come from a species which requires social interaction to truly thrive in our lives, so I have begun to seek out people with whom I hope to have a rapport with outside of visits to my office. I do apologize for the interruption to your conversation with your family!” he explained, his strong legs propelling him in a single leap onto one of the available seats. He sat down, crossing his legs and curling his tail around himself.

Sathut

While Sathut looked around, Sural took up the tray with the tea. It was a set that held the coppery brown ceramic pot and four tea cups. He set it down beside the chess board. Leaning in he took in the scent of the tea and absently nodded before pouring the tea. It might look to Sathut that the pouring and whole thing was more of a ceremony and artform than a mechanical act. He handed the cup to Sathut before pouring one for himself and sitting in the next chair. It seemed curious to Sural that one as social as Sathut would chose a general introverted race as a Vulcan to ‘improve his social life’. Still, Sural did not see a great deal of logic applying to his guest’s make up. “It is an intriguing phenomenon at how common a thing is between different races - that in this case being that they are mostly relational beings. I welcome you, Sathut. As for my conversation with my parents, it can be rejoined at another time. Mother was out. She is a skilled seamstress and was out with others honing her skills.” Truly, there would be some honing amidst a great deal of community talk.
- Sural

“How has your meditation been? I know that Vulcans place some emphasis on meditation. I do some meditation, myself, as befits my own beliefs,” Sathut said after a few moments, drinking a sip of the tea. “Ah, this is quite good,” he commented. “It is true that many races are relational beings, and I think that it is more common than the alternative because in order for intelligence to evolve, beings must spend enough time around one another to develop language and other traits,” he reflected. “I think even the Vulcans were once more social than you are now, it is simply that the flattening of emotions is much easier when one is more formal with those who would otherwise elicit strong emotions, such as family”

Sathut

Sural took in the odor of the tea then sipped. The nature of the cups were that they held the heat of the tea for longer. He required that; Sural was not a quick tea sipper. “I am curious as to how you meditate, Sathut?” Sural began. “For a Vulcan, meditation is not an emptying of the mind, nor is it entirely focusing upon a single object, but an ordering of the mind. It has been estimated that an average being has over 30,000 thoughts each day. Each of them has a focus. Often such thoughts are not properly filed or even considered for importance. For myself, mediation is a time of mentally and logically ordering those thoughts, and from them to prioritizing them for further .. study.”

Sathut smiled slightly. “My meditative practices are different from all of those. For the Raka, meditation is about freeing one’s mind to think on higher concepts. In some cases, those higher thoughts are grasped in the hopes of contact with the gods, other times we meditate on our day and… I suppose organization of memories and thoughts is an apt way to describe it. My personal habit is to close my eyes while listening to music and burning a little incense. Sometimes I fall asleep. Mostly I concentrate on my inner mind, which I picture as a room with many cabinets and papers sprawled on the floor. I’m able to file away the memories and thoughts that I deem necessary to keep, and I have a mental… Shredder, I suppose, for memories I deem unnecessary. It doesn’t remove the memories completely, but it makes the memory less likely to come to mind without me wanting it too,” he took a sip of his tea. “If that makes sense. I suppose it’s similar to your own meditation. I know a young Raka Engineer in Starfleet who meditates to seek the gods, and from what I have heard from her, she gets visions from her patron with some regularity.”

“Intriguing,” Sural said. The mental image of a room was something that he may explore. However, he did see that he needed to elaborate. “Gods have ever been elusive. In most discoveries thus far said gods have only been extra-planar beings such as the entities in the Bajorian wormhole. What form of ‘contact’ has your friend had?

“Some scholars suggest that our gods are beings similar to the Bajoran Prophets in nature and power. Some insist their nature rivals that of the Q. I’m… Not settled on that front. For me, it is enough that they exist. My young friend primarily worships Ro’an’se, goddess of spring, mother of music. She had not described the visions in great detail, but what I understand is that she hears music without source, sees herself within a wood of trees with pink and yellow blossoms. Her Patron comes to her and speaks some words, then she emerges from the vision with her body and mind in a clear and relaxed state.”

He sipped again and set the cup down for the moment. “Do you believe that intelligence evolves with communion? Or, if I may suggest, that intelligence exists in all beings to varying degrees, and communion with one another enables the better use of this intelligence?” He paused, choosing his words. “Vulcans were once much more led by their emotions. We are not any less social. I have heard many comments on how Vulcans are cold and unfeeling.” He glanced at the holo on the wall. “The family unit has not changed substantially from antiquity to today on Vulcan. The family is still the basic social ‘brick’ in the building called Vulcan ‘society’. Only the way we relate to one another is different. We still feel, especially in a family unit. However as ever with any being, the choice is how one reacts is theirs.”
- Sural, CE

Sural’s explanation elicited a small nod from Sathut. “I see. I apologize for assuming”

Sathut

Sural didn’t bat an eye. “Nonsense,” he said, using a very traditional Terran expression. “Exploring assumptions is the foundation of learning. You offended me not at all. What is family life like among your people? I will tell you of my own assumptions that I have made of you. This way you may educate me better. I see your people as very community based and with a 81% chance of having many communal meetings around a great deal of food. I see your people as matriarchal and with great familial loyalty, and I give a high percentage that your people is one of much … play.” He said that word as though he didn’t entirely understand the concept, but that the word had come up in his life more than he had, at present, counted.
- Sural

Sathut listened to the Vulcan’s words. He was curious as to where these suppositions had arisen from. “You are accurate about the community-based lives. We live in the trees, in villages and cities carved into the trees which support us and give us our food. Families tend to have five to nine children, often with many twins. Twins are more common than single births. We don’t place particular emphasis on food, although we do quite enjoy eating it. Loyalty to the family is expected, but we do not particularly favour females over males, or vice versa. The Raka do not have much, as you say, sexual dimorphism. Our noses and other senses tell us far more than the eyes. It is better for a tree-dwelling species to be all equally lithe and strong, would you not agree? I have been amused by some humans who confuse is male and female before learning the more subtle differences that set us apart. Voice, coarseness of the fur, cheekbone shape… We do not play exceedingly much, although as with all children, our young ones are very playful. The Raka tend to be a little more focused on the idea of artistic expression, we leave the sports to the larger folk like the Lareri. When we have games, we prefer those which challenge the mind over those which challenge the body. Strategies are our strong point,” he explained.

Sathut

bump to get it back on the board

OOC: Thank you

All this information was intriguing, and he dipped his head in affirmation at the ‘question’ of strength needed for the trees, however, what caught his attention more was the ‘family’. No Vulcan in recent centuries could boast that amount of children. He paused to take more tea and ten inquired. “The numbers in your family - the children - are staggering. What are the family dynamics like? Logic, like most things, is taught as well as ‘caught’. It is a philosophy that Vulcans believe to be necessary - so much so that it is strictly followed by the vast majority of the population. At an early age it brings a discipline to life including family life. How is life among … so many?”
- Sural