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#755379 Wed 19/11/14 02:22 UTC | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | OP  Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Morning, Rameday, the First of Fate
Darian and Cesare
Morning came to Talantal. For some unknown reason dawn always came a bit too early for everybody the day after Midsummer’s – especially those who chose not to sleep that night. For many it was the time to pull the covers back over one’s head, for another it was discovering that a bar room table made an uncomfortable bed, for another it was a mad scramble home to wake up in the right bed … and for others, like the farmers and the merchants, their work did not brook lengthy disturbances. Cows didn’t care much for Midsummers and caravan wheels made no gold staying still.
Morning, outside the city gates and beyond the slums clustered against the outer walls was actually pretty. A mist rose out of the ravine, slinking like a cat over the Highland Path. One road lead towards the far off sea … one road rose to the lands of Montague and the last, the one they came on, lead back towards the Black Mountains.
The roads kept close to the Silk Creek Ravine; that area of traffic probably wasn’t good for hunting. Those would be the lands to the north and west – the other side of the keep. Here the land slowly rose towards the Dirkwood – though in most cases you’d eventually reach the Blackwater river first. These lands are the Duchy’s manor holdings- but each manor is several days apart leaving a goodly amount of woods between the farmer’s fields.
Woods thick enough to shelter hart and merebeasts – and require a modicum of management to keep the deer in the woods and not in the fields.
| | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He stretches and takes an appreciate deep breath of the fresh air. Much better than in the city. He tends to feel hemmed in, though that can take a few days.. and his feet usually itch to travel after a while. He knows though that this is much worse for Darian.. probably Longtooth also.
"So where do we start looking?" | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
She stood off the road, looking out into the distance, considering, when Cesare asked his question.
"Where Hunt," she replied without taking her eyes from the horizon.
The Hunter's mouth was pressed into a thin line and her brow creased in thought.
"Darian, Cesare need talk," she said then turned suddenly and strode away from the road.
"Come." | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
Yesterday with the incident in the square had faded into the background as the two of them had returned to their usual relationship.. but suddenly all of that came rushing back and Cesare feels like he is walking on thin ice in the Springtime.
He takes a deep breath and follows Darian, hoping for the best but dreading the worst. Nothing of that shows on his face however, he is as nonchalant as usual, only his eyes are wary. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
With Longtooth at her side, she walked, away from the road and and the keep until she turned again to somewhat parallel the tall stone walls. She put distance between them and other people but did not get them close to the nearby woodlands. She had not looked to see if Cesare followed. She kept her eyes in front and scanning.
The thing Daxia had told her the night before had troubled her greatly
She stopped and waited but did not stop watching, everything and everywhere.
When Cesare caught up to her, she stated, "Darian need talk Hunter. Pack business. No talk with no Pack."
There was a brief pause before she plowed on.
"Cesare be Pack?"
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | | OP Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | [[ ooops ... apologies for moving you a bit too far from the keep. just let me know when you want to move on.]]
Last edited by Wolf; Mon 24/11/14 05:01 UTC.
| | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He follows her and waits for her to tell him what this is about. He does wait slightly more than an arms reach away though.
He is nodding as she speaks. He knows that she wants to talk to the local Hunter.. and accepts that he is not part of that. He had intended to go foraging around the area.
But her last remark takes a moment to sink in.. and he is not sure he understands it.. certainly not any of the implications that might be involved with what sounds like a very loaded question. Part of him is pleased as it does sound like Darian wants to include him in her life but he pushes that feeling away wanting to understand more before he makes any commitments. Rhoni are not big on commitment.
"I am not Hunter. How can I be Pack? Is there a way?" | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
"Be," she confirms with a nod.
After a long thought gathering pause, she begins in her halting way to try to explain in the common tongue.
"Be levels. Be Hunter. Be Apprentice. Be Help." At Hunter she had held her hand up parallel with the ground at height of her head. Apprentice brought her hand down a bit and Help further. Help because she had no word for what others would call a layman, one of those who supported the Pack in ways the Hunters did not.
"Think be Help. Old Pack had Jacob. Jacob be Trader. Trader be Help," she reasoned.
"First, before say yea nay, Cesare must be His to be Pack."
His. Khannish. He must swear to one of the old gods, become one of His followers and all that it entailed. Hunters were tolerated because of their skill and ability to bring fresh meat, but not by all. The Grey Men had not valued the lives of the Pack, had only seen them as an obstacle to their goals. The Imperials were Imperials with their new gods and saw no value in the old ones. | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He stands there considering, working it through. He thinks he know what Darian means but assumptions are dangerous and this is a big decision for him.
He is Rhoni.. but all Rhoni known to him have died. If he found other Rhoni would he want to stay with them if Darian was not part of the deal? And he has a sneaking feeling that the Rhoni would be less accepting than maybe the Hunters would be of him.
Was he willing to take a minor role and help Darian, be part of her life. Sure. And there are many ways he could help a Pack.
Could he stay in one place or area? He is not sure. Rhoni always move on. It is their nature. How deeply ingrained is that in him?
And he is fairly sure that the last bit refers to a God.. and that is the big question.
He looks at Darian and smiles.
"Big questions."
He considers his words and how to say things simply.
"Cesare can be Pack Help. Cesare does not know if he can be His. Does not know Him. Needs teaching. Darian teach?" | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
A quick smile flashed across her face.
"Darian teach some when all walk together." She pointed to the road and the direction from whence they had all come.
"Cesare be knowing plants, tracks. Longtooth teach sneaks."
All the time the small group had been on the road together, Cesare had asked questions. Darian had answered, sharing her plant lore with him as well as pointing out the signs of animal passage, tracks and spores. The little ambush game the three had played was only the basics of the Hunt, what the Pack taught children.
Ceasre already knew the basics. That some lore was only shared with those of a higher level within the cult should be understood. As for Him...
"He be Lord of Hunt." | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He had been happy travelling with Darian and the others. Always something to learn and he has a natural curiosity about many things and wants to improve his lot in life, so he is a good student. And a grin comes across his face as he remembers Longtooth's sneak lessons and their foraging forays.
"Need to learn about Lord of Hunt.I know other things but not this. Can Darian teach me Lord of Hunt?"
This is his big concern. Can he learn enough? Would he be accepted. Would he want to be?
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
"Some, not all."
And she went on in her halting way to tell what she could. | | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | | OP Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | [[OOC question ... do you need anything from me on this?]] | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | [OOC: No, we're good. Exchanged a few things in PM, just skill levels as they know each other well by now and are exploring how they might fit together in the future.. and background info on Khannish. Literally only extracts from the stuff you initially sent us.  However, given Pam's awful news about her son  , we are officially on hold here. ] | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
"I make no promise yet. But if Darian teach, then I learn, then we see if this will work."
He realises that there may be a point that Darian cannot go beyond until he commits but he needs to learn more before he can make that decision. Hopefully the path will take them further and they can both see if there is a future that will work for both of them.
Last edited by Gypsy; Mon 02/02/15 13:44 UTC.
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
She paused in her watching of their surroundings to give him a nod.
"Most top thing, must never be Prey." | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
"OK..."
He thinks.
"So do not let people push you around, be confident?"
He waits to see if his interpretation is correct. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
She stared at him for long interminable minutes, a look of consternation on her face. "Still much learn."
She shook her head and turned then made her way towards what would be Pack territory. | | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | | OP Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Morning, Rameday, the First of Fate
Darian and Cesare
Eventually, the noise and clatter of the Colonies second largest town was left behind. Especially when one walked off the trail, left the hints of civilization in their wake, moving through the woods and fields themselves. This was odd for the Rhoni. While his people often traveled uncommon routes they were still paths, still trails, ways passed down from Fathers and Uncles.
This was Darian’s world – a sea without waves, a place where he could not see the proper currents to choose and follow.
It was very quiet.
Longtooth walked warily; keeping close to Darian and Cesare, always in sight, never more than a handfull of steps away.
As if he knew they had just crossed into someone else’s territory.
Which may or may not be true. On one hand, this was Pack Territory that Darian recognized. Beyond the influence of farmers, towns and merchant ways, and while in some larger territory, it was the territory that had no real meaning - just imaginary borders proclaimed by word of mouth – not the reality of those hunted and those who do the hunting.
It should belong to … someone.
It was the hints that this Hunter also claimed Talantal as his that was strange, barely conceivable.
She knew where to stop. Where she knew she was being watched. Not that that was strange or unexpected; if this was her territory, she knew well and sure she wouldn’t let herself be seen until she wished so.
Of course she saw the snarkhounds first.
Three, sitting still in the woods ahead of her. They were certainly younger than Longtooth, but they looked back with the confidence of youth. They were also smaller; without others for comparison it was hard to remember just how large her partner was.
The Hunter came walking between the trees; he was tall, with long black hair and dark eyes. He was dressed in both leather and cloth, the leather showing a great level of expertise … the cloth hinted of some manner of trade with nearby prey. He carried a longbow, a quiver and had a wide flat dagger hanging from his belt.
He considered the two, and when he spoke, it was direct and to the point. Or at the least, what he believed to be the point.
“Bucks only. None shorter than this a’ tha shoulder, ja?”
He then nodded to Cesare.
“Unless he scares them off first. He’s rather loud.”
[[and welcome back!]]
| | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He stops, following Darian's lead and stays a step back from her. This is her play. He is here to learn and support, if he can.
He takes the comment in good spirit, after all it is likely true. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
[ooc: sort of back anyway - on site meetings tend to put me so behind on other things...]
The hunting restriction was normal. It was stupid to hunt hart younger than the indicated size.
She shook her head, "No come to ask hunt. Come to speak snarkhounds." | | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | | OP Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Morning, Rameday, the First of Fate
Darian and Cesare
“Snarkhounds …”
The Hunter laughed, as he looked about his small pack and then back to her and her companion.
“That is Longtooth.”
He spoke as if he knew - on one hand that was surprising; on the other hand it was not beyond the realm of possibility. But still.
“Should it not be me coming to you to discuss our partners?”
A slight shift of his hand and his own snarkhounds relaxed.
“But it is curious. Of what do you wish to speak?” | | | | | Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 Wizop Administrator | | Wizop Administrator Joined: May 2000 Posts: 76,500 Likes: 57 | Cesare
He watches, listens and learns, though he is surprised that the Hunter knows Longtooth but not Darian. How does that work? He saves his question for later. This is not his conversation. | | | | | Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 She of Chaos Moderator | | She of Chaos Moderator Joined: Jun 2010 Posts: 27,287 | Darian
He who had been her Master had been partnered with Longtooth before her. That those outside her Pack should know the snarkhound did not surprise her, not did the fact that she was unknown.
"He be," she acknowledged.
"One trusted say Heir keep snarkhounds." | | | | | Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 Moderator | | OP Moderator Joined: Jul 2011 Posts: 5,667 | The Heartwood
Talantal, the Grand Duchy of Talantal
Morning, Rameday, the First of Fate
Darian and Cesare
“Of course he does …”
The Hunter could not help but let a very feral, very dangerous smile cross his lips.
"It is part of his training, just as it was yours."
He reached down to skritch the head of one of his partners, between fallen tawny ears.
"There was a time when wolves hunted dear and slinks and the larger of the forest prey. But eventually something happened, something changed - the weather, the rains and sun, and the herds started to travel, abandoning the hunting grounds for long long months.
"Now the wolf, he could have maintained the old ways, what he had known. But we know the result of that - without prey he would have grown thin, weak and eventually the master of the hunt would have become prey to some other of nature's Beasts.
"Instead, the wolf changed. He discovered that he could live off the smaller animals - the merebeasts, the rabbits, the squirrels and the Mice.
"His hunt was no longer the same, but he was still the Hunter."
The rugged man took in a breath, looking across his woods.
"The world has changed. There are more farms. There are more roads. There are more merchants and there are more villages, towns and keeps. It is not a whimsy, not a happen stance, and if there is any truth it is that, over time, there will be more and more of these places, these people.
"We must heed the lesson Master Wolf teaches us.
"Or, in the end, we will be the prey."
Pausing, the Hunter gave Darian a sharp, very certainly measuring look.
"I saw the men of Talantal come into my lands. I saw my deer run, the wild tamed, ruffs were brought in to protect staid sheep and cows. My traditional grounds were being taken from me, by men I did not know.
"One day I realized, no, my way of life was not being taken from me. Khannish was challenging me; could I become a Hunter in these lands? How could I maintain the chase of predator and prey, would I be driven away like a sick bear or would I be able to discover how to Hunt in this New World.
"Looking at the world with fresh eyes, I discovered that there is prey to be claimed; the towers of Talantal may be of stone, but it is still a Forest and their lands are full of prey - prey that their soft ways are totally inadequate of dealing.
"One may despise the Montague, but one cannot dispute that they are, indeed, predators. Lord Korie is a bear and these are the lands in which a very large and very dangerous bear calls home. Am I, a follower of the Lord of the Hunt, going to let some quarry mason, let some son of a merchant, better me in my own grounds?"
He then smiled, again.
"What better way to maintain a pack in this new wilderness, than by taking the son of the lord ... and making him one of Ours. The Heir of Talantal may never become a Hunter, but he and his children will be members of my pack.
"You lost your hunting grounds; this is far from where you first walked.
"The hardest part of finding your new Pack and new Territory will be recognizing it. Because there is only one truth in this matter.
"it will not be like the one you left. It will be one that fits the new world that Khannish has challenged us with."
Last edited by Wolf; Tue 03/03/15 00:00 UTC.
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