Mostly the racing types. You walk through the stone carved hall and see the long line of runners in their stalls.
You spot one man with a sack of grain over his shoulder, animatedly talking to a woman grooming one of the racers.
"Hello," you say, and they both perk up.
"Welcome to the Hold," says the man. "I'm Mar Beveenia, master beast crafter and designer of the feed-grains we have here at the Hold. This is Shea, one of our best grooms. Do you have any questions?"
"In fact, I do!" you exclaim, and he drops the bag of feed onto a stall wall, and nods.
"Well, I'm here to show you around then! Shea, keep it up." The girl nods, grinning. She is a slender, but healthy looking young woman who apparently loves her work! Mar is a short but strong man with a wide grin and a narrow hat, short curly hair and a wherhide jacket covered with the grain dust found everywhere.
He waves his hand at a pair of stalls, where you see two men talking. They look quite like brothers, but then you notice that one of them is much older.
"This is Karlan," Mar announces of the younger, "and Ruben," he says of the older. "They are trainer and jockey, respectively." The two men with their tan skin and sharp hair both smile and nod at you as you pass. The steeds they tend are dark, almost black but not quite.
In another stall there is a man and a woman, both of them quite short but seemingly as intense as anyone taller. "You see the stock is strong, but I think if we take another of the Benden it will weaken. That northern blood is... Oh, hello!" Says the woman. She has short, cleverly cut pale blond hair, and leans against the large bay stallion they speak about. "I'm Pahr, and this is Salem. Both of us are breeders of runnerbeasts, and both of us happen to think that northern blood is a bit --"
"Weak," you say, "I heard."
The man, Salem, squints his eyes hard at you, doesn't seem to think much of you. His hair is black and short, while his skin is quite bronzed. They all must spend quite a lot of time in the sun!
Moving along, Mar takes you outside to look over a wide grazing pasture. "There is Esham," he points to a dark-skinned man with tied back hair and more hair than you've ever seen on a man over his skin, who is mounted up on a pale mare. "He's one of our jockeys. And that over there," he says of a pair of men, "are Kahomal and Rikos. Kahomal and I ... well, don't get along much. He's one of the owners of the runners here in the Hold, but..." He looks around to see if anyone is listening, "they're not very well bred. And since he won't let anyone but Rikos handle them, they're also somewhat high strung and often lose races. Poor Setae there is their jockey, but I think he's hoping to win some marks and get himself his own stock." Setae slinks around near the other two, then recieves a bit of the crop held tightly in Kahomal's hand as he looks to be pleading with the man over something.
"How many runners do you have here at the Hold?" You ask, trying to get your mind off the abusive owner. "It looks like a lot of stalls, where are the runners?"
"They're off in races, don't you know!" Mar chuckles. "And many of them are owned by Lord Holder Blen, he's back at the Hold arranging something with our announcer Zuska. She travels with the runners, keeping them safe and sound, and has a voice that would shatter glass if she shouted indoors!" Mar laughs, and you wonder if you'll meet either the lord holder or the woman.
Mar perks up when someones footsteps can be heard in the stone hall behind. "Ah, here is my friend Vrang. Another of the farm craft, hopefully to tell me that the barley will be coming in soon?"
The dark skinned man rolls his bright eyes, and says, "yes, Mar, the grains are on the caravan below. We've just arrived. So, if you would like to help unload it, you're more than welcome!" He looks at you and Mar, "the more help the quicker we can see if your theories are right, Mar. The blend will make them healthy and quick!"
You go with them to the caravan's ledge, which is almost the lowest portion of the Hold. Many switchbacks later, you are almost dizzy from helping unload the grains. All the runners in the stables seem to perk up, except you would guess, those that belong to Kahomal. Those have their ears back and don't seem to like being around people.
"You could talk to the Holder about becoming part of our staff, or if you want to race our steeds you could sign up." Mar reminds you. "But we've got this all covered now. We'll be seeing you at the races!"
He waves, as you do, and you head back to the Hold's inner chambers.
