• Closed • [Venora] Stranger Danger?

[Nir'wei]

9th Break
11th Trial of Ashan, 716th Arc
Royal Glen, bordering Andaris.

The arrow veered off to the left, bouncing off a tree root and startling the rabbit. Before Nir'wei could even stand back up again, the little brown animal was gone - lost in a tangled mess of bare branches that had once been a bush. "Crap," he sighed to himself, using one of the few common swears he'd picked up during his time in Andaris, while he picked up the self-made arrow to examine it again. "Useless." Even though he'd spent quite a long time sat on a rock, twig in hand, carving and filing down the wood with his hunting knife into a somewhat arrow-like shape, it was still anything but. Knots still stuck out at the edges, making it veer off to the side whenever he fired. Not to mention, his aim was appalling.

Arch, hovering from a branch above, watched with boredom. "You'll get the hang of it," he said unenthusiastically, obviously not enjoying watching the man squirm on such a simple hunt. For a familiar, sometimes, Arch really did seem almost disappointed; whatever advice he did give, wasn't even very motivational.. if anything it just felt like the weak, half-arsed compliments that someone gives when they've given up even lying to cover up just how bad it was.

"Yeah, no thanks to you," Nir'wei replied while pulling his hunting knife out from his pocket to start stripping down the knots. "Mind making yourself useful up there and looking out for any other animals coming this way while I work on this thing?" Stripping the wood was a lot harder than his grandfather had made it look. No matter in which direction he pushed the knife, the arrow kept slipping from his hands, making it harder still to control. He gripped tighter, clenching his jaw in a mixture of frustration and mild pain, until a loud snapping sound broke the silence of the glen. Somewhere off to the right, a rustle in the bushes answered it - another animal scared away. In his hand, the two broken pieces of what had once been a very poorly-crafted arrow, made of just a piece of wood and some handfuls of fur he'd found snagged on a bush some distance back, fell to the ground. "Arch, why didn't you tell me something was over there?!"

The squirrel familiar hopped off the tree branch, slid down its trunk and rolled comfortably onto a large set of stones at the base. If the spirit actually had a physical body, it probably would have earned a round of applause for the technique and finesse that Arch managed to pull off in his spectral somersaults. It wasn't enough to break Nir'weis disappointment though. "I am bound to you, remember? I will only see what you see. Hear what you hear." It was difficult to stay angry when he stared into Arch's milky-white swirling eyes. After a moment of silence, Nir'wei broke it with a drawn-out sigh and reached down to pick up the remains of his arrow, hoping to potentially salvage the fur for his next arrow.

Perhaps that was just the problem. He needed feathers. "Could have told me that a little sooner.." he muttered, tossing the sticks carelessly over one shoulder, where they bounced off the side of a caravan parked in the forest. "Oh well. Either I'm wasting good arrows or I'm wasting time.. and honestly the latter is much more important." He'd brought a few store-bought arrows in case his own home-made ones fell horribly flat, so at least he'd have a chance of catching something before another long trek took him back to the city.. and back to finish off the day with an evening feeding of the Voraleons. His aim was still terrible. Perhaps he'd get lucky and come across something big, slow and preferrably non-deadly to shoot, who knew. He wouldn't find it sat on a rock, mulling around and feeling sorry for himself, though. "Right! Onwards."

With a forced spring in his step, he grabbed the remaining arrows left on the ground, picked up the short-bow he'd dropped, tightened the shirt around his waist, wheeled around on the spot and nearly slammed face-first into the same wagon. "Crap!" Nearly. But he still managed to slam his foot into the wheel-arch. "Crap crap CRAP!" he shouted to himself, cursing and spitting in his native tongue while hopping around, clutching his throbbing foot.

[Istil]

The silent quiet of the woods. Something serene and beautiful to behold. A quiet and soft wind rolled through the small clearing where Istil had hitched up his wagon. The horse tied off to the side and allowed some room to roam and stretch it’s legs. The stark white dog ran around the base of the wagon chasing some invisible creature known only to it. Ducking in and around the wheels of the wagon as atop it Istil sat within the confines of his tent. Pouring over some old research notes of his trying to find some common denominator.

Running his fingers through his stark white hair, the length of it twisting around to a tight braid at the back of his head. Primarily to keep it out of the way he grumbled.
“Aaaagh, it’s not here! Must have lost it along the road somewhere… bollocks.” He griped to himself before stepping free from the tent. His robe loose around his shoulders hanging off him lightly as it tied across his waist. He couldn’t practice his magic yet, he knew that much, still something wasn’t quite right. Instead he chose to step into the woods for a short time. It’s had been a while since he’d tested his forms and he could feel the rigors of being sat down for too long taking a strain on him.

He pressed the ringers of his left hand into his right shoulder. Rolling it lightly as a loud crack emanated from it. Behind him the white dog had followed. Seis His only friend as of late.
“Sit.” Nothing. “Sit.” Again no response from the dog. Istil narrowed his eyes and leered at the dog. “Sit. Down.” Finally after attempt number three the dog sat. Heaving out a deep irritated sigh was something that niggled at the back of his mind, teaching this dog anything was almost akin to pulling teeth. Still He couldn’t bring himself to hate the dog. It may have been mildly disobedient however it he’d found it master-less and wandering the surrounding fields and since then it’d taken a shine to him.

Still with What Istil was going to do he didn’t want the dog getting hurt nor himself to fall over it because it had wandered too close. Finding a small spot out of the way Istil closed his eyes slowly taking slow breaths. Mana was something he could fell through his body, so regardless of what manner it was used he had to make sure his body was up to par to deal with the outflow. A weak body was not likely to last long. Something he’d learned in his time with the seekers. He’d turned up a skinny book worm and they’d filled his body out enough to allow him to handle the more punishing aspects of his discipline. He’d thought himself alright until the event with his master.

Exhaling slowly he lifted his arms into position before following through with his routines. The basic stances he shifted through each one designed to help him channel the force of his size and refine it into a strong technique. Wise words from his master before his untimely demise. Never rely too heavily on the arcane. Make sure that it’s your last resort, only then will people truly understand the strength that is possessed. But always train both the physical and the spiritual and develop the mental. The body is the market, the mind the merchant, and the arcane the currency. It’s always easy to run out of currency, so spend it wisely. Because it’s debts are never fun.

[Nir'wei]

Clenched jaw and closed eyes, he took a deep breath in through his nose, then pushed it back out through his mouth. "Hhffff." The throbbing didn't die away, nor did the pain. He'd not hit the thing hard enough to break a toe, surely, yet the sheer volume of throbbing was enough to convince him otherwise. Still, Nir'wei dared a glance downwards. Plenty of swelling and redness around his middle toe, but no protruding bone.. looked as though he was safe for another day, although it'd probably help to find someone who could patch it up before anything bad had a chance to set in. He didn't like the look of that rather large splinter of wood sticking out of the tip of the toe like that. "Mmmmmmffffff," he growled inwardly. Stupid caravan, who's thought was it to park it right there, where just about anyone could just wander into it?

He was in a little too much pain to notice the obvious, but a firm nudge from Archailist through their connection suddenly brought Nir'weis attention to something. Oh. There was a caravan. Not just that, a whole camp-site set up in the middle of the glen. Crap indeed. A horse tied up off at the side, a dog sitting down next to the flap of fabric leading into the tent. No sign of the owners of anything, but as he crept out from around the side of the wagon, he kept an eye on that dog. "White furred," Archailist spoke out from above, his voice all fascination and curiosity as he hopped down and circled the little beast. "Best to leave it alone." Nir'wei agreed. He already had a bad toe, no sense in losing anything else thanks to carelessness.

All in all, it seemed like a very neat, quaint, if obviously empty little site. He reached up and rubbed the back of his own head. "So, where's the owner..." he muttered to himself. "Hello?" Nothing. "Excuse me?" he said a little louder than before, trying to get a peek through the fabric curtains and see if there was anyone inside the tent. After a few bits and no movement, he moved on.

It took a lot of guesswork and just random stabs in the dark, but pushing a little further out in the surrounding area, he eventually found someone. "S'cuse me, that yo--.. oh, uhm." It wasn't every day that he had the pleasure of finding a blue-skinned white-haired man, dressed up in a foreign robe, with both arms raised to the heavens in what he could only assume was some kind of prayer. Either that or the most bizarre meditation ritual conceived. "Sorry, but, uhm.. that camp yours? Hello?"

Archailist's thoughts floated through Nir'weis head, and the Sev'ryn couldn't help but agree. At first, it'd seemed like he'd come across another hunter; didn't look like they had to worry about that anymore. Despite all evidence to the contrary, if this guy turned out to be a nomadic hunter.. well, he was certainly part of a niche audience in that regard. He'd only ever heard of the Eisidi in passing and story, and even then, it rarely touched upon how alien they looked. Or how their customs involved standing in the middle of nowhere pretending to sacrifice something to the sky.

[Istil]

Istil exhale slowly feeling the swathe of the wind the weight of the air and even the slow whistle as it launched through the trees. A few shirt sharp strikes into the open air and he could feel the rushing breeze pass over his hands. The soft rush of cool air snaking up his sleeves. Quiet. But not solitude. That was what he enjoyed. What he craved. Only then was the si9lence broken by the cloud call of hello. Istil’s eyes narrowed as the voice continued.

Every time. Istil snapped around to be met with the source of the voice face to face. Mid-stretch to the sky to end his routine. A fashion of respect for his chosen crafts. His eyes narrowed as he lowered his arms his hands now hidden behind the length of the sleeves as the open palms turned and curled into fists.

“Seis. Heel.” With the short sharp words the dog rushed passed the new on comer, and skidded to a stop by his side. With a disapproving glare at the dog he shook his head and glanced back towards the hunter? A hissed out breath between clenched teeth. Lifting his arms he placed one hand into the sleeve of the other almost like he was clasping his hands beneath the sleeves. However this was not the case. A position to strike out if anything didn’t go well.

“It’s not polite to stumble into someone’s home without their permission.” A hard look of the pupil-less silver-white eyes glared down at the hunter. “Who are you, and what are you doing in my camp?” Despite his odd look there was always the sneaking suspicion that he could be a member of the seekers here to bring him in or make him pay for what transpired.

Istil shifted his feet slightly beneath the hidden expanse of the robe half to run and hard to lunge. Mostly to close the gap between them in things went south. But all in all it would seem like no movement was taking place behind the loose and flowing robes. Seis now next to istil seemed to sense his masters unease or at least something of the kind and was glancing back and forth between Istil and the newcomer.

[Nir'wei]

Knocked out of his focus by the scrabbling of tiny paws around the corner, Nir'wei held both hands high in the air defensively. "Woah, woah woah." Small as it was, he had no interest in losing a chunk of leg to an irritable animal protecting its territory. Its owner didn't seem like the friendly sort. Maybe he'd just interrupted some sacred ritual of their people or something, though, how was he supposed to know these things. "Cute dog. Little excitable." Seemed like a good icebreaker for conversation but apparently they were just going to cut to the chase, no small-talk.

"Err." Trying to force words from his mouth ended in horrible stuttering as the rest of his brain struggled to catch up with his lips. "First of all.. not your home. It's forest." Without moving his hands, his fingers flexed and gestured to the surrounding woodland. "I mean, it's open everyone, not owned, free roam. Your stuff littering, well i, not, notlittering, that, aha, that be poor words, but..." he muttered as he stumbled into a full-on sprint of babbling, reeling back the urge to just jumble his way through their conversation with a smorgasbord of bullshit and instead take a deep, calming breath. "... Look, erm. I'm sorry. Didn't mean intrude, was just walking this way and kinda stumbled in. Uhm." His terrible common and complete lack of accent or decent vocabulary sounded like a cheese grater on stone.

Suddenly, he realized this was about as far as he'd mentally prepared himself. There wasn't really anything to go on besides investigate why there was a wagon and all this other stuff arranged in the middle of the Grimvale. "I was just. Er. Looking for the owner of dog! Yup. Seis was it? Yes." As if it would somehow validate his point, he smiled down at the dog with the friendliest fake smile that he could manage. "Good dog, looking owner. I... errr... making sure dog own. Now know." That was the best excuse he could think of, on the fly, under the frankly intimidating gaze of a man without pupils or irises. One that hung around in a camp on the outside of a city, instead of staying in an inn like a normal person. Heck, he would know a thing or two about that. "By the way... should feed more meat for dog. Aceh'ar timole tä bou'eri... rude, daneth ke’ua shawarta looks ara av ïwä Ìbátan had däbäru inan av fkip sọ tìpe’un."

Smooth moves. After you've finished insulting his pet, why don't you insult his massive forehead next, on the road to making friends with a stranger. I'm sure that'll make him like you for sure. Archailist's voice hovered in his head, lingering with that oh-so-arrogant smugness that wiped the nervousness from his face. Thank you for that oh-so-valued piece of advice. Next time though, little pointer, how about instead of sitting around while I make a fool of myself, you actually do something and offer a little help? he threw back like a mental slap. It missed. Oh yes. Of course, your majesty. Would you like me to wipe your ass when you're done shitting all over your dignity? Jeez, how about you grow a backbone and stop whinging. At least through their mental conversation, Nir'wei could feel the smugness that the little squirrel was trying to hide away under the false pity and disgust. Oh, mighty words coming from the imaginary friend.

Snapping back to the present, he realized he'd spent an awfully long amount of time in such a heated mental argument, he'd let an awkward silence settle and not heard a word the man'd said. "Uhhh..." he muttered in embarrassment, scratching the back of his head underneath the unruly bun of hair, "Could you repeat that again for me please?"

[Griffin]

Review Pending

Nir'Wei

Story 5/5
Collaboration 5/5
Structure 5/5
Fame N/A
Basic Knowledge
Language: Curse words
Carpentery: File the shaft when making arrows
Fletching: Arrows need feathers
Inanimate objects: Not your friends
People: Protective of their campsites

Injuries
Congratulations you have a splinter and a bruised foot. The splinter will need to be removed within a trial to avoid infection. The bruising on your toe will last for three trials and cause a mild limp.

Istil

Story 4/5
Collaboration 3/5
Structure 4/5
Fame N/A
Basic Knowledge
Animal training: Persistance
Arcana: Takes a physical toll
Seis: Your dog
Seis: Loyal and protective

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Notes
It's a shame that this thread did not continue further, now that the two characters are interacting. Some lovely writing from both parties, vivid imigary interspersed with humour and a clear picture of the world. I felt as though I had a clear sense of both characters and could enjoy and empathise with their perspectives.

Istil: Try to avoid repetition of words/ideas. For example, if it's silent it doesn't also need to be quiet. Also, in general it's easier to read if text is aligned to the left, having large blocks of text centralised can be a bit distracting.