Oh, a Hunting we will go, but not for Food!

by **Leto Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 1:17 am

"Yes, I agree with that assessment," said Leto. "Also, we don't necessarily know the effects of the spider's poison, so if we hunt something down now, we should be able to see what exactly the effects of the poison happen to be, by carefully observing the creature we hunt down, to see how it reacts to the poison being mixed directly with it's blood. We'll just have to make sure the arrow doesn't kill the creature right away, so that we can at least observe what happens to it... And then test it a week later, and continue testing it, while saving some for The Watch to utilize. Also, with that poisoncrafter kit, we can hopefully figure out how to synthesize the new poison from portions of the old poison that we have left..." Then without further ado, Leto would await an answer from Sama'el, and then would say, "I'm no good with arrows, perhaps you could take the shot, if you're decent with them, so that we don't waste any of the arrows or poison..."

And if Sama'el was up for it, Leto would await him to pass the arrow, so that they could lace it with the poisonous venom that they collected from the spider, and then would carefully hand it back to Sama'el, so that he could prepare to hunt something down with the arrow. Leto would put on the wool jacket that he had gotten before leaving from Riverfall, so that he wouldn't freeze in the wintry weather of Taldera, and then await for Sama'el to be ready, so that they could make their way out into the wintry tundra, and find something to test the poison upon...

OOCWool Jacket, Deducted 1 GM from ledger.

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 4:57 am

Sama'el just nodded. He was becoming a leader, but he was also learning to defer to people when their experience and skill outstripped his own. With their part of the caves secure from arachnid invasion, he pulled on the rest of his layers and handed Leto an arrow.

"We'll be back," he said to Issima, kissing her neck in passing. "Leto, I'll be outside when you're ready." He ducked out of the cave, tested the tension in his bowstring, and then cast his vision high into the sky, circling around with a sun's eye view as if he were Hodei seeking prey. He couldn't take her with them, or she might kill the prey before they could witness the poison's work, but from aloft he found a nearby meadow with some daring fauna.

When Leto emerged, Sama'el led the way. As they drew nearer the meadow, however, he motioned for Leto to slow down and make as little noise as possible. He took the poisoned arrow and nocked it, and then his movements became much more careful, feet placed carefully and slowly so as to avoid excess noise. When they slithered to the edge of the clearing, he urged Leto lower, and then slowly looked for any beast foolish enough to stand in the open for too long.

Finally he sighted a large hare near enough for an easy shot, which was good because he was no great marksman. Because this shot had to count, he breathed meditatively, seeking calm, and went through each movement that was slowly becoming muscle memory, checking them off as he went, last releasing his breath as he released the arrow, which sped through the air and into the hare's hindquarters with a crunch that likely meant a shattered hip. It screamed as wounded and dying hares did, and the clearing grew otherwise silent as the rest of the fauna found cover.

"Well," he said grimly, standing up and obviously taking no pleasure in his shot, "let's see what it does." He hoped the effects were quick or obvious, so he could make a mercy killing rather than watch it suffer. He hunted to eat and for fur to clothe his loved ones or trade, not for the joy of it, not to torture weaker creatures.

by **Leto Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 5:36 am

When Leto was handed the arrow, he carefully opened the vial of venom, and dipped the arrow in it, using a small amount, or dosage of it, so as to be able to definitely have enough for a few trial runs with it. Following Sama'el out of the cave into the wintry tundra of Taldera, he passed the arrow to Sama'el for when the man was ready to start the hunt. As they continued through the tundra to the opening, and Sama'el crouched down, Leto followed suite so as to not disturb the animal's peace at all so that Sama'el could get a clear shot at anything they were aiming at. He only had one chance, and when he took it, he managed to hit a fairly large hare in the hind leg. "Good shot," whispered Leto as he looked towards the hare, observing it. It seemed as though it's movements began to slow down, and it was unable to run very far. "Possibly... the poison that was just injected into it causes slow movement? or loss of strength?" he asked Sama'el, looking for the man's opinion as well, even though it was going to become his area of expertise.

He still wanted to include Sama'el within what he was learning, and learn together with him, so that they were able to work closely together in order to better learn more about certain skills and ways of life. Thus he would always ask Sama'els opinion even if he might have a little more knowledge than Sama'el about certain things. As he awaited Sama'el's response, he then said, "Probably best to kill it, now that we know the poison's effects... don't let the poor thing suffer..." That was all they were doing, was testing out the poison, and killing the hare quickly would allow them to hopefully have a clean conscience about what they had done. Leto agreed with Sama'el's position on only hunting for food, or clothing, and knew that it was the best position to have as all life was valuable to him in one way or another...

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 6:11 am

Sama'el had his hunting knife out, his knuckles white. He nodded curtly to Leto as they approached the poor, mortally wounded hare. With a shattered pelvis, it couldn't really get anywhere, but its struggles certainly seemed weak considering the way the arrow had pierced it, there wasn't a copious amount of blood.

"Weakening," he agreed through clenched jaw, "or perhaps paralyzing. It might need to be concentrated? Or perhaps the bite delivers more venom than an arrowhead. If we can't figure it out ourselves, we can surely ask an expert in Avanthal once we arrive."

But he needed no urging to finish the thing, kneeling over the rabbit like a terrible angel of mercy. With practiced ease, he slit its throat, and then it did begin to bleed. He murmured a prayer to Viratas to accept the blood, and Caiyha to bless the wheel of life. Almost immediately, he began to skin the thing. They would make use of its fur.

"And I can't imagine the poison will make it dangerous to eat, or else the spider... well, the spider might be immune to its own poison, but I think poisons that affect the blood might be different from those you eat. Well, I'll cook up our little friend here and eat him. I'm bigger and so if it does happen to affect me, it shouldn't be enough to do me harm."

by **Leto Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 6:19 am

"I agree, if it only slowed the hair down that much, the worst you might get is a stomach ache i'd think. The poison from the spider is obviously less concentrated than if we had concentrated it, or if the spider had injected it, itself... It will be worth examining it with the tools in the poisoncrafter's kit, and see if we can't figure out how to resynthesize the poison, or concentrate it more... And yes, i'm sure somebody in Avanthal will know what they are talking about when it comes to poisons... If it helps The Watch, I bet they'd be willing to assist us..." said Leto, as usual, trying to look towards the brighter side of things. Watching Sama'el skin the rabbit, when the blood was spilled, Leto issued his own personal prayer to Viratas, and then awaited Sama'el to finish the grizzly task of skinning the rabbit, so they could return to the cave with it.

"I think it would be beneficial to concentrate the poison somehow, in order to make it more potent for if The Watch has to take care of a larger creature, or at least slow it down in some manner," he said, noting that the weakness in the rabbit could possibly be amplified by concentrating the poison even more. "And if anything, if you do cook it, and it has an effect on you, we've got Denen here that could definitely help out in your time of need," he said, smiling, and remembering that Denen was pretty good with medicine, and would definitely not have a problem helping Sama'el out if the spider's poison were to have an adverse effect on him after he ate the rabbit...

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on September 28th, 2012, 6:41 am

"I don't know if we will be able to... to make it. Not without the spiders to harvest it. But we can practice, and we can ask in Avanthal, and perhaps we can capture a spider live, or an egg sac, and bring it back to somewhere on the coast... Near Riverfall. If they are closer, we can harvest them and let those in the Watch use it who wish to." The Sayaph rarely decreed that a certain weapon or such must be used; the Watch were a collection of individuals, not soldiers like knights. But they all liked an edge.

He would advocate the same strategy for concentrate it: experiment, ask experts, and then figure it out. Luckily they had the return trip for harvesting, too. And luckily they had Denen in case there were adverse effects. When he was finished skinning and field dressing the hare, he put it in a game bag and washed his hands and knife in a patch of autumnal snow in the shade of the treeline.

Then he stood and gave Leto a gentle hip check.

"Come on. Let's go home." By home, of course, he meant the caves. The adventure hadn't yet reached the midway point yet.

by **Valkyrie** on October 1st, 2012, 9:10 pm

Leto Sunsinger :

Sama’el Sunsinger :

You Will Be Collected if Worthy

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can figure it out.