[Flashback:Nanithel, Syllke Skyglow]Blood in the Snow

[Antar]

oocApproval from chesh to run a few threads in this story arc: Here's the first, short and sweet: the discovery a first victim's corpse with the murderer long fled.

1am, 7th day of Fall,510 AV Slightly west of Frostfawn Hold: In the night a predator was huddled over its prey, its teeth sinking into the belly of its latest victim. It's jaw muscles undulated in the cold weather air as it sucked in the nutritional fluids it's poisons had garnered. Imbibing the mixture of blood, and half processed flesh of melting organs and bone into its gullet as it's claws scooped out portions of its newest meal. This one had been tasty, a female vantha , formerly beautiful. Ripe for the Harvesting... if this creature who had slain the woman participated in such pitiful reproductive things. No, this creature did not. It was an abberation in its race, a twisted mutation that only obeyed its baser natures, its desire to feed. Seeking to imbibe faster the mutated figure opened its mouth wider and began concentrating its djed, and looked towards its choice meals skull. Slowly, it's tongue elongated, the flesh stretching and twisted, as teeth grew upon the end. When the transformation was over, the tongue acted like a striking snake, thrusting forwards to pierce the dead woman's skull and slowly began to suckle the delicious gray matter like the greatest choice delicacy there was. If anyone had been around, the telltale slurping sounds of its pure delight would have been heard as it finished its hard won meal... Minutes later, with it's belly full, the tongue retracted and drew back, it's vestigial teeth disappearing before it resumed it's proper form and the creature scampered its way out into the darkness. Heading back to the tundra and its cave. This meal would last it for some time, before it needed to eat again.

7am Frostfawn Hold...

Noth held up his hands futily at the angered Myyh'sRandom PC cara made up. Just using it as a way of entrance. ire. He'd come here to thank her for her assistance the other day with Coren and the owl but was only present to hear her screaming and yelling at the top of her lungs at one of her herdsman who lost a caribou. Making a quick exit he made his goodbyes and said he'd be back in a few days and left the hold. Standing outside Noth smelled the fresh chill of the air and wondered what he might do this day... Perhaps he should try to familiarize himself more with the town? Go see if Darren was available for a chat? Or maybe see if Coren wished to teach him some Vantha. Such would certainly be useful.

Staring at the far off palace of Ice he let out a small prayer to Morwen to thank her for allowing him to be within her city, and prayed a moment for the continued safety of himself during his time here... and uncharacteristically a small follow up prayer for the safety of all her people.

It was a peaceful day, and from his vantage point it seemed many children were wont to play as children do outside of their parents purview. And it was an odd sight to see a place so peaceful. Many other cities he'd been to would have been so troubled as to have their parents holding watch with crossbows over their playing children to protect them from animals or predators of a different sort. Ravok, and Sunberth just to name a few. Avanthal being so different was just so odd to his perceptions of the norm. It brought a peculiar feeling to his heart, something that was unfamiliar, yet not entirely unwelcome.

Not for the first time, Noth wondered how his life might have been different to have grown up in such a place, where a child could be so free of fear, or worries.

[Syllke Skyglow]

“Whoa! Whoa!” Syllke called to the three dogs, jumping off the back of the runners to lope beside the sled, holding the rail and pulling back as much as he could. Dogs were usually easy to get going – much more difficult to stop, though. “Whoa, easy. Whoa.” The dogs were well trained though, and they had already begun to slow down into a walk and then came to a halt altogether. Syllke looked back over his shoulder, having already ascertained that Nanithel was far enough to the right, and slightly behind him to be able to stop her team as well without causing a collision. He waved to her, as she brought her dogs to similar halt, her face already questioning what had caused Syllke to stop here. They were merely out for fun – something to do in the last bit of afternoon sunlight before the pot latch dinner commenced back at the Frostfawn Hold. The plan had been to go take a look at the caribou, maybe see if there were any shed antlers for Syllke to grab. Then they would do a little tour on the far south-western edge of the hold, over by the woods, and then back. Well – they had reached the edge of the woods. There wasn’t any plan to stop here. Waiting for Nanithel to secure her lead dog, so the team wouldn’t wander off, Syllke did likewise and then motioned for her to come over to him. When she got close enough, he said, “I see something over there towards the trees. I didn’t want to run the dogs in there and risk getting them tangled up. It might be a stray caribou – a dead one – if that’s what it is.” He pointed to the dark lump which lay some twenty meters away. “A baby by the size of it. Still, might be its mother is still close by. Let’s go see.” Always curious, the Vantha boy had sharp eyes and an insatiable drive to explore anything new and novel. Nanithel nodded her assent, and Syllke led the way. Coming closer to the huddled mass that lay in the snow, Syllke’s brow furrowed. Already he could tell this was no animal – though it was garbed in skins. But its form was entirely unlike what he knew it should be. It was far too . . . flat – too caved in upon itself. His head swiveled to look at his companion - Nanithel, a Vantha girl of the Frostfawn Hold, whose acquaintance he had made only a few hours before, when he had arrived at her extended home for the dinner he and his family were to attend, in honor of a recently passed elder. “It looks like a person, but . . . I don’t know.” The hesitancy and puzzlement in his voice was mirrored in his face. More slowly, his steps brought him cautiously closer. About five meters away, he stopped altogether, frozen in place by what he saw. His hand shot out like an arrow, grabbing Nanithel by her arm and turning her about with a fair amount of force. His other hand actually went to her face, framed as it was by the wolverine trim of her parka hood, cupping it and shielding her line of vision from what lay beyond them. “Don’t look!” He said, his voice shaking but full of determination. “Don’t look! Go! Get your team and go back to the hold, as quick as you can. Bring some adults. Hurry.” He couldn’t help it. His eyes, red with alarm, slid back to the lump on the snowy ground. “What a mess . . . “ He said softly. “I wonder who it was.”

[Nanithel]

The wind rushed over Nanithel's face as the dogs pulled the sled at full speed, the picture wouldn't leave her mind, the body had looked melted and empty, the thought of it having been a human, maybe a Vantha or even a complete stranger, no matter who the dead person had been no one deserved a fate like that. "Whoa, slow down boy," Nanithel called to the dogs, they seemed influenced by her own feelings and had been running so fast the sled threatened to tip.

But the speed had helped, Nanithel could see the lights from her hold through the trees, and finally she emerged from the forest and pulled the sled to a halt, her rushed, almost panicked entrance and the fact that she'd arrived alone caused all nearby to stop what they were doing.

"We found a dead body," Nanithel called out to no one in particular, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. "Down by the south-western woods, Syllke's still there."

That certainly got people moving, in the ensuing chaos several sleds were pulled out and dogs were harnessed, others brought out horses, both with and with out saddles. Some questioned Nanithel while the others got ready, until she was sure she would never forget a single detail. In only a matter of minutes the hold was quiet again as the sled teams and riders left the hold and the ones still at the hold continued with the food so there would be warm food ready to eat.

Nanithel stood with her dogs and looked after the last disappearing sled and wished she could follow but she wasn't greatly experienced with sledding and so she wasn't sure how much the dogs could take without causing them harm. So she started leading her dogs towards the kennel area to take off the harness and put the sled away when her half sister Sintra came walking towards her. "I can take care off them if you want to go back Nan," she offered with a smile.

"Sintra you're a life saver, I'll make it up to you later." Nanithel hurried to the stables and took out her Frostmarch mare only taking time to bridle her before sitting up and urging Windy to a trot. When they left the trees and had open fields until they reached the southern part of the woods again Nanithel gave Windy a nudge with her heels and the mare stroke off into a quick canter. Nanithel wasn't quite sure why she even went back, what she'd seen of the body already was enough, but she was curious over who'd it been and she was also afraid that whatever killed that person would still be out there and while she couldn't do a thing if said killer attacked, she woul'd still feel better being out there instead of sitting at home and wait.

___________________________________________________________________

OOC
I'm guessing dogs would probably not get tired so easily if they're trained sled dogs but I'm going to be a chicken and use a horse as I know more about them than sled dogs.

[Antar]

Just like that, the events of the day turned sour, as a child came near the hold on a sled. Shouting something in that strange tongue the Vanthan people used. A crowd quickly gathered about her, asking high speed questions Noth could not follow. But he observed that clearly whatever was being spoken was enough to agitate them all.

'Did a child get lost or something?'

Soon enough the people seemed to mobilize, and began heading towards the woods. Wondering what the fuss was all about, he ran towards the side of a just departing sled. Pumping his legs fast enough to catch up through the deep snows. He hopped over the side strut of the sled to the bewilderment of the vantha driver who shouted out something he couldn't make out. Staring back, Noth shouted a few choice words in common; keeping it simple as his past interactions with the vanthan people had taught him that simplicity was the better choice of discretion with these people. "Wanna help. What this about?" Surely, there were some Vantha who might understand, Common?

The vantha just gave an appraising stare. The Vantha looked at Noth, and then at the weaponry he posessed. Finally the man nodded in his direction before yelling back in broken common. "Child say - she found body in woods. Other child there still keeping watch. We go now."

Noth's brow furrowed as he though what that could mean... could it have been- No he shook such thoughts from his mind and told himself there was not enough information yet to link a body they'd just found to his purpose being in avanthal. Shaking such thoughts from his mind, he wagered to consider such ideas afterwards. Now he had to concentrate on the present and take things one step at a time. Looking towards the back of the sled past the driver, Antar saw the approaching churn of snow dust by some four legged animal, and a barded polar bear to rush past them, barrelling down the road towards... towards whereever the driver was taking them at a high enough speed the dogs were howling to keep up the pace.

They weren't the only sleds being dispatched, soon all around them a haze of trackdust and ice scraped clouds festooned from their path, rushing towards a scene that soon many sleds were parked back about a hundred feet from. Each person seeming to try to catch a glimpse of what the children had seen. In front of him, Noth saw the first ones to arrive gesture towards a boy and start speaking in that strange vani language he had yet to master.

Was the boy the one who had told the girl to go back to the holds?

Marching forwards a few steps he scanned the area, trying to find someone he might talk to that might understand him. Or at least point him in the direction of where the body was. Of all the things Noth could do, he kept in mind that if he could find an opening in the crowds, he'd even attempt to ask the boy what was going on... and try to get a look at the body before anyone else ruined the site.

[Syllke Skyglow]

With a great deal of appreciation for Nanithel’s quick grasp of what he had asked of her – and the underlying reason for it – Syllke watched the girl and her team recede into the distance. When she had disappeared over the horizon, the boy turned, slowly. He gazed once more on the indeterminate pile of clothes and body that had once been a living, breathing human. Despite the horrific details which he had barely given himself time to take in the first time that he had glanced at it, Syllke was compelled to step closer. His natural curiosity, which was more typically centered around the life and living things that comprised his environment, was now equally drawn to an exploration of this death. It was a gruesome, unnatural death, to be sure, which made him that much more eager to look. It wasn’t ghoulishness, per se, but an artistic temperament that drove the boy to want to know about the physical world. As a Vantha, much accustomed to being outdoors, and having learned many survival skills, including hunting and tracking, he was also burning with curiosity as to what had caused the fantastically grotesque appearance of the corpse. He had seen many dead animals – those that had died of illness or accident, predator or the hand of man. But never had he seen a result such as he now gazed upon. His observant eyes took in the marks in the snow. Having no idea when the body had fallen there – or even if it had been killed elsewhere and then dumped or dragged to this spot – his eyes still searched the snow covered ground. What he saw caused a deep furrow to appear on his brow. It also compelled him to stay where he was and from a distance of perhaps three meters, he took a mental inventory of the details he could discern. Time passed slowly, or so it seemed to Syllke, standing there with the remains of . . . whoever it had been. The clothes indicated it had been a woman, or a girl. His senses told him that perhaps half an hour had gone by when he saw the dogs’ ears prick up and they rose as one to stare towards the east. Within a couple of minutes, the first of the sleds arrived, flying in a shower of white powder, others following in its wake. Within two more minutes, men were calling their dogs to a halt and jumping from their sleds, then making their way at a run towards Syllke and the body. Syllke hurried forward, waving his arms. He had to raise his voice and repeat himself several times, but he was adamant in his insistence that they all stop and go no further. There are signs to see, he told them. Signs to study and interpret, he spoke out loudly, and one hundred boots would quickly obliterate everything useful. One man – the self-appointed leader of the now restless crowd – stepped closer to the boy, ready to argue and push his way past this boy who was not even of their hold, when another onlooker came out of the shifting throng. Syllke’s eyes slipped to this newcomer. He was no Vantha – and this in itself made the boy stare at him, the crimson sparks in his eyes burning bright with the excitement of the situation. As he looked, the other Vantha poked him in the chest, and said in surly voice, “For the last time, boy – move out of the way. Or will we have to throw you to the ground?” Syllke’s gaze swung back to the man and he fixed him with a sharp look. “There’s no need for fifty pairs of eyes. A few will do – a few attached to careful feet! If you are a hunter then you will know what I’ve been trying to tell you. There may be tracks to lead you to whatever, or whoever, did this!” Syllke looked over the man’s shoulder to seek some confirmation in the crowd of what he had been trying to explain. His eyes lighted upon a familiar face, as Nanithel appeared in the far back, perched on the back of a pony. He looked at her, but he doubted her words would carry any more weight than his.

[Nanithel]

The quick canter through the snow chilled Nanithel to the bone but she didn't feel it as her thoughts were on the dead body and on what creature that could have done it. She had seen nothing even slightly resembling that caved in body in her life.

Windy shied to the left as a huge Dire Polar Bear came speeding past with it's Ice watch rider leaving a cloud of snow in the air, and she hoped that the Icewatch could bring some light over the situation.

From quite a distance Nanithel could see the crowd that had gathered thanks to the many lights they had brought and in relatively short amount of time did she reach the edge of the people gathered there.

From her high vantage point she could see Syllke at the other end of the crowd, it looked like he tried to stop the people from trampling all over the place were they found the body.

But one man caught Nan's attention just as much as the restless crowd of Vantha's, he was tall and obviously not from Avanthal. The man seemed much calmer than the rest and had made his way to the edge of the crowd where Syllke and an angry looking man stood.

She tried pushing her way forward with WIndy but in their excited and curious state of mind not even the approach of a 1000 pound horse could make the people move. Giving up her efforts she turned Windy and rode around the crowd coming up beside Syllke and the stranger.

"Listen to him," she called from Windy's back at the unpleasant man, having heard the end of the conversation between Syllke and the older Vantha. She stroke the mare's grey neck as Windy stepped nervously under her, unsure of the situation and all the people.

"Is it so hard to just let a few good hunters look at the tracks and where they lead instead of destroying the evidence?" Nanithel hoped her position on Windy would make them at least listen to her.

[Antar]

'Well this was a surprise.' Noth thought as he watched a young girl come up next to the boy and start rattling of something in vani he couldn't understand. From the situation alone, it seemed like two were having and argument and were conflicted over something. What he couldn't tell, but surely it was something. Taking a look at the surroundings he wandered a short distance away from them, following the clear scatter of the boy's footprints in the snow back in the direction they came. Going towards the sled he looked at the driver once before grabbing a few pitons from the equipment he had lain upon on the ride here.

He walked back a moment, coming within three steps of the bickering man, boy, and girl before clearing his throat. He pointed to himself, and then towards the area the boy was keeping the rest away from. Then he pointed to the arguing man, and then towards the area again. Then waving his arm in a circle to try to encompass the crowd he motioned for them to stay here. Without further ado, he spun on his heel to face towards the bloody scene ahead and began to move forwards, even shrugging off the hand of the man who was formerly yelling at the two kids. He didn't approach haphazardly though. Instead, noth began placing his steps over each of the boys to mask his own tracks. At each of the boy's tracks he shadowed, he stuck a small climbing piton in the snow next to it, the piton's red leather flagging doing an ample job of marking where the boy's heels had made their impressions in the snow.

Many of the Vantha cried out behind him in their language, probably cursing him, but he didn't listen as he stepped carefully forwards, lifting each leg with care to bring the soles of his boots directly upon each imprint. Walking on prior tracks was a technique to mask one's trail to be sure, but the real problem with his actions now was there was no way to prevent the soles of his boots widening the boy's prints further. But at least it kept the scene from being cluttered.

Soon enough, far off in the distance behind the body he saw the polar bear and its rider dismounted and searching the area of the tundra. It didn't seem like the rider was doing any form of crowd control at this time, more concerned with assessing something of interest. Noth would check that way later, for now he was marking the child's footprints and just about done. But for now he came into his first sight of the body, forcing Antar to momentarily stop dead in his tracks as his eyes drank in the sight to begin trying to figure out the basics first... age ,height, sex. It was female to be sure, from the lumps of flesh remaining above the ribcage. But he was too far away to get a clear picture. At most at this distance his eyes were drawn towards recognizing the overall grisly state of the body seemed to be no more then scraps of flesh half melted off the bones. Whatever the cause of death was, he knew he wouldn't be able to get any picture unless he took a closer look.

It was at this point he glanced over his shoulder at the crowd to realize no one had followed him. In fact the large man who had poked the boy in the chest was staring at him with almost pure malice. The vanth behind him seemed either puzzled or infuriated at his behavior as he shrugged, and stopped his approach to begin walking backwards in Nanithel's footprints he had marked before. Slowly he came back to Nanithel's and Syllke's side and stared at the irate man. The male Vantha stared in his direction with the irises turned red and spoke another sentence in their rapid fire language. He couldn't be sure whether the man was about to tear him apart, but Noth merely shrugged and spoke in common. "I don't understand. Boy's tracks needed marking. Why are you angry? We must be careful, But I warn you: the body doesn't look pretty."

For a moment the man blinked and then visibly calmed himself before speaking in broken common,"Outsider. Why did you do that?"

Noth pointed towards Nanithel, and pantomimed several stepping motions."To mark boy's prints. You want to see body, go one at a time. Follow the prints. Step like I stepped. Big Bear far off in distance sniffing around too."

[Syllke Skyglow]

Nanithel’s presence by his side might not have made any difference to the man who still stood before Syllke, glaring at the boy after issuing his challenge. But, though she was no close companion, Syllke was gratified that the girl had had the courage to come and support his efforts to preserve order around the corpse. He allowed himself a brief moment to glance up at her, perched on her white horse, and nodded. The almost ever-present smile that usually graced his face was gone today, but his eyes flashed a momentary goldish-green, indicating that he was pleased if not exactly happy. His attention reverted quickly to the Vantha in his face, who had at least paused to listen to the girl, though he still scowled at both of them. “What gives you the right to dictate to us what we will or will not do?” The man said huffily. But his eyes went past Syllke, to the body, and it was clear he was at least taking a moment to consider their words of caution. “You aren’t in charge. You’re only a visitor here.” His head turned in the direction of the bear who was still visible some distance away, the rider dismounted and looking about. “If anyone is to be in charge, it should be a member of the Icewatch.” He half turned then and said to a man standing close behind him, “Go see what he is doing.” He pointed at the bear and rider. “Bring him here. I don’t know why he didn’t come here in the first place.” The man’s voice sounded petulant, but at least he had yet to shove past Syllke. If it came down to it, Syllke wasn’t about to get a thrashing just for the sake of preventing stupid people from doing stupid things. He hoped Nanithel was thinking along those same lines as well, though mounted she was fairly safe from anything the big mouth guy wanted to dish out. Syllke’s jaw almost dropped open when the man then turned to the crowd and called out, “I have decided that no-one shall approach the body until the proper authorities are present. All of you, stand back.” Apparently, having realized that Syllke and Nanithel were right, he had somehow convinced himself that he had thought of the idea himself, and now would try to impress that upon the crowd. Several of them called back and there ensued a heated conversation, during which Syllke backed up closer to the girl. “Thanks,” he said, in a low voice, looking up at her. “Who’s the dickhead . . . ?” His question was cut off as his eyes caught sight of the stranger – the only non-Vantha amongst the crowd as far as Syllke could see – moving past them and beginning some odd jerk and stop march toward the body, stopping at each step then pushing something into the snow. Syllke’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell . . . ?” Turning around, the loud mouth temporarily forgotten, Syllke watched the man with a frown. Despite his weird maneuvering, at least he wasn’t rushing in and making a huge mess. Within a few moments, big mouth’s attention too was directed towards the man and he seemed about to burst a blood vessel. But perhaps the man’s strange actions held big mouth in check – at least he didn’t go storming off towards the man. Instead the man turned about and retraced his own prints, which Syllke had finally realized were his own from earlier, when he had been alone. Fully expecting the two men to come to blows, Syllke put a hand on Nanithel’s horse’s neck, wanting to both get himself and her out of the way if a huge fight broke out, and to make sure the horse didn’t shy and trounce his foot. But thankfully, despite the stranger’s limited Vani, big mouth seemed to get the point, and now so did Syllke. His thoughts and the stranger’s were apparently running along the same lines. The Vantha self-appointed leader of the crowd finally nodded. With no more than a grunt, he stepped past the stranger and began the same slow weird walk to the body. The mob seemed to hold its breath in anticipation. Syllke alternated between watching the Vantha, glancing at the stranger, and occasionally shooting a look up at Nanithel. Finally, after a rather long inspection of the remains, the Vantha came back in the same way as he had gone. Syllke’s eye was captured by movement and he looked towards the south where bear and men were now coming in their direction. By the time they were within hailing distance, the Vantha was back before the crowd. “I have seen, and I know her. It is Nayayik.” He called out. The crowd gasped. The man looked to the newcomer, the one who had just dismounted once more from the bear. “This is a grave matter. This death was caused by no wild animal. This needs to be brought to the attention of the watch.”

[Nanithel]

OOCI'm so sorry I delayed the thread but I've been very busy these last days, I'll keep up from here on I promise.

Watching the stranger bend down and putting down something in the snow Nanithel looked down at Syllke who'd put his hand on Windy's neck while observing the stranger's weird behaviour and remembered his earlier question. "I apologize for his behaviour Syllke. Fenryn is a member of one of the more higher ranked families in my hold." A shadow of a smile became visible on her face, "and he obviously has some temper problems."

As the stranger aproached them Nanithel almost subconsciously tightened her grip on the reins though not pulling on them, she just wanted to make sure that Windy wouldn't get spooked and run as she was quite young still. Thankfully the two men didn't break out into a fight and Fenryn actually acted quite normally and looked at the stranger and then towards the body before heading towards the body, stepping awkwardly into the premade footsteps.

Waiting nervously perched on Windy's back Nanithel gathered courage from the warmth coming from the mare's back, after what seemed like a forever Fenryn came back looking more serious than before. Nan stiffened when the man told them who the dead person was and her eyes darkened to almost black, Nayayik was, or were, from the Frostfawn hold, they had been if not exactly close friends so at least they had known each other.

She couldn't believe that the caved in body had been the outgoing and energetic Vantha girl once, how someone could eve want to kill Nayayik was above Nan's understanding and what was she doing all the way out here alone. From what Nanithel had seen there was no other footprints near the body, though she hadn't been so close.

"Syllke," she jumped off Windy as she felt a bit awkward looking down on the boy as she talked with him. "Did you see any other prints in the snow? I can't imagine what Nayayik would have been doing all the way out here alone."

[Growl]

Some of the bears and their riders stopped beside the sight of the dead body. The bears seemed to sniff the air, their black noses twitching as their riders tightened their grip upon their weapons, and in some cases, averted their gaze. Others were listening to the comments of the few spectators who had gathered around the spectacle and either grew angry for a few chose to try and do their jobs, while others simply dismissed what they said, thinking the information contained within their words trivial. Finally, one of the bears and their rider turned away from the body, "we'll take a look around, see if there is anything to follow- footprints perhaps, which may lead us to this maiden's killer." The rider's back straightened in the saddle, as she gripped the reins all the more firmly, flicking them lightly as she squeezed the bear's sides with her legs, urging it forward. The great white beast lurched forward, keeping its snout close to the ground as it tried to pick up the scent of the killer. It wandered around in circles for several minutes, following tracks that were being covered over by a pile of freshly fallen snow. The creature, however, failed to get anywhere, and soon returned to the body. "There is nothing to follow- the snow must have buried the scent ages ago," the rider announced, her eyes a cold sapphire blue as she stared at the crowd. "Go home, to your Holds, and wash this memory from your minds. We will find a way to dispose of her body, so that the animals will not get to it... rest in peace, all of you." There was a slight pause, "and don't come back this way." Once a few people had begun to file out, she'd address the rest of the Watch members, and tell them to seal off the perimeter, at least temporarily, while they widened the search for the murderer. OOCOk... a few things... I think one of you said a bunch of riders were coming, and another said only one... so I went with what I wanted. Also, I essentially have this thread graded, so when you finish just stick it in my office, or nudge me or whatever... I don't think you need me to post again?