Colors and Cuddies (Lacerta, Delani)

[Brodon Windriver]

49th of Summer, 513

"This really emphasizes my need for the leather armor I requested." Brodon squirmed as his hawk, 'Arrow' dug its talons into his shoulder for stability again. "I had thought the extra layer of cloth would make a difference. And it has..." he rolled his eyes, "...it makes it shift beneath him so he must..." he winced in pain, "...constantly re-establish his hold on my flesh."

Arrow shrieked in agreement and beaked the young man's scalp...again. Brodon smirked, knowing the act was more a friendly nip than an angry one. "I hope he is picking bugs from my hair and not trying to peck through my skull." he joked, not truly wanting Delani to think he had bugs in his hair.

This was the downside of speaking Pavi while carrying your bird on your arm. The inherent hand gestures embellishing the language came so instinctively, he had quickly upset Arrow with the spontaneous motions, a veritable earthquake to his touchy companion. But it was worth it to, once again, have someone with whom to speak his fluent native tongue.

He had been pleasantly surprised to find that the two people Delani had been speaking to at the Sanctuary, earlier that day, had also spoken Pavi so fluently. It made his apology so much easier to deliver. He had come racing up the road on the back of his horse, Lovaak, babbling with news for Delani. He had outraced the dust he'd raised, as Lovaak came to a near-skidding stop in the front grounds, to run to Delani with the news of his breakthrough.

Not only had his session with Lucas shifted the focus of his trip to returning his father's iron staff, rather than any need for HIS actual appearance, he had just learned that the mysterious symbol on his comatose father's head was a crude map of pre-Vaterian Falyndar. It had been Delani's intuition that had put him on the path to checking maps in the Valkalah Academy Library, and hers was the credit, as was her goddess, Eyris.

He had already prayed his thanks to Eyris, so it only remained to give his news and thanks to Delani. And then to give apology to her friends for rudely interrupting their conversation with his outburst. Fortunately, they came quickly to see the nature of his excitement and were then very understanding. Then came another epiphany as Brodon stared in rapt appreciation of The Sanctuary itself. This would be HIS purpose, beyond the delivery of the staff of course, in sailing to Falyndar, though it would be on birds more than horses. He could not possibly expect Sir Mathias to provide such massive amounts of materials to build on this scale.

And he still had much to learn abut the staff and where exactly it needed to be taken, and why, and what to expect upon completion of his task. But, given the rapid-fire signs the gods had been blessing him with lately, he had no doubt that the knowledge would present itself if he maintained his usual optimism. After all, he had Delani with her affinity with the goddess of knowledge. And there was the spiritist, Levissa, to give some insight into the motivations and goals of possible ghosts, something he'd never discounted as a positive source of knowledge, despite the risk. And Jared had a university-grade education that included gods and their histories, though his immediate benefit was as a tutor in common. This was no small favor, and Brodon fully intended to return it in any fashion he could.

But all this in time. For now, it was a simple jaunt to see the harbor and the ships. His main intent was to acquaint Arrow with the ships and to ingrain an association with colors to be established as perches for message sending and receiving. For Delani, it was to meet with Lacerta, the Eypharian that was also an Ethaefal, whatever that was. He knew Eypharians all too well. He shook off that thought with a sense of shame. He'd found a wide range of honor and villainy in every race he'd encountered and there was no reason to think that rule wouldn't apply to Eypharians as well, despite his "adventures" in Ahnatep. The Pressorah had certainly treated him decently. And the Dhani that had been hired to kill him had ended up as his best friend. His gaze strayed to a melancholy past as he wondered again how "Vins" was doing.

[Delani Denusk]

The time spent with Kavala and Vanator at Sanctuary had proven refreshing and productive. Her cousin had been convinced to release the Deerstalkers and two of the ghost dogs for use on the quest and the woman had helped her become more familiar with dog training and raising (one of few things Delani had not explored in depth during her youth; she preferred her horse to a dog).

Arrow's antics on his handler made the older woman laugh amicably at him, her head shaking and replying, "Just go buy a glove, Brodon. If he will not stay caged and refuses to let you be, better to save your arm the pain with a glove, I should think." They were descending the street and emerged soon enough on the harbor where the Sisters and two svefra ships waited. Unsure which ship was Lacerta's, however, Delani nodded towards the Dawn and Dusk where men were already hard at work loading the supplies which had been ordered by various members of the team. "I am going to drop my list with the shipmaster first, then we will find Lacerta. She should not be difficult to locate." This added with a bemused smile.

The matron departed briefly from Brodon's company to talk to the one who would be handling it all, speaking quickly and fluidly in Common with him the arrangement of the acquisition of dogs from Sanctuary, a few miles outside of the city. The man did not fuss, only nodded. The dogs would be obtained early in the morrow to ensure safe loading along with the other livestock that was to be brought. That included the horses some of the party had (Brodon's Lovaak and Delani's Coram as well). Once this was finished, she stepped on board.

The woman had mentioned previously that she wished to investigate the vessels not for how sound they were, but purely to quell her curiosity (and nerves) about riding on a giant piece of floating wood. She'd never before sailed, she was right to be cautious. Taking care to remain out of the way of the loading crews, Delani touched and examined many of the obvious parts (mast, rails, deck, etc.), admiring the intricacies of the wood that had been pieced together to make such a large ship. Before long, she was even going below deck, where she stayed for more than a bell, examining the bunks the party-members would be staying in, checking out the mess hall, learning some of the terms from the sailors that would be carrying the party across the Suvan. It was a very immersive experience in its brevity.

Once she had finished, Delani returned to the deck and left the Dawn (which she had perused) to rejoin Brodon on the docks. "Alright, let's go find Lacerta. I'm afraid I haven't an inkling what her vessel looks like, though, do you?"

Common

Pavi

Thoughts

NPC

[Brodon Windriver]

"It's such a joy to speak Pavi with you, Delani, I hate to hinder it with stiff old hawker's gloves. But all the movement is definitely not making Arrow happy." He turned his attention to the sparrowhawk, slipping his finger to the tips of the birds talons, coaxing it to step forward onto the side of his hand.

"Is it, my friend, not making you happy at all." he cooed as he lightly stroked the birds chest, WITH the grain of the feathers. Arrow "tolerated" his caresses for a few seconds then beaked his finger. Brodon gave him a mock tug-of-war over the assaulted finger, then added his thumb to get the beak in a harmless pinch. Arrow broke free of it easily, and shrieked a cry of victory.

Brodon laughed, "You win, Arrow. Again. You always win, don't you." He swung his arm up to place the bird back on his shoulder, where it promptly beaked the crown of Brodon's head. The young man winced, shutting the near eye and chuckled to Delani, "Maybe I should have asked Mr. Mathias for a skull cap as well." Then he smirked. "No, he knows I am carrying meat. He thinks he's done enough tricks to deserve a snack. He grows impatient."

Now he turned back towards Arrow, "No, my friend, not until we reach the boats. Then we will let you learn that the meat is a reward for flying from ship to ship." They reached the docks and Delani departed temporarily to speak with the men loading the animals. Brodon went on ahead, asking 'permitted for coming aboard?' Raised eyebrows accompanied the sailor's concession as he stepped back to allow the young man to board.

After a few questions, and the mention of Mathias Syka's voucher, Brodon was led to the message desk. It was below the helm, but an access hatch allowed quick communication. There were a variety of colored strips of very light paper, inks, quills and string in small niches lining the rich wooden cubicle. It was all worked into the enclosure of a broad roll-top desk that filled the space. Brodon was enthralled with it. There was a series of overhead shelves and a stout hook to hang Arrow's cage from. There were a pair of eye bolts drilled into the wood to allow a strap to snug the cage tightly into the corner to keep it steady.

He took Arrow and let him get familiar with the perch provided for messenger birds. He made several spoken references in his Nari, emphasizing the color and rewarding the hawk when he gave a response indicating understanding. He went out on deck and released Arrow with instructions similar to the basic "there and back" and "come to me" commands, combining them to have Arrow fly to a point on shore and then return to the "color spot" on the ship.

After a few tries, where Arrow would only return to Brodon, who would quietly withhold reward, Arrow swept past and landed on the perch. Brodon maintained calm, knowing an excited display would only confuse the bird. He knew birds did not differentiate between an angry outburst and a joyous one. They only recognize volume and may well feel they have done well when someone shouts at them in anger.

His last few attempts were from the docks, and Delani returned just as Brodon was considering what to try next. He changed his mind quickly though, feeling that he had accomplished what he set out to do here. The next step was clearly to visit the other ship and begin familiarizing Arrow with it. Delani wanted to find Lacerta and asked him if he knew which boat was hers. It hadn't even occurred to him that there would be more ships in the harbor than those involved in the expedition. There were dozens.

His expression grew pained. "I thought YOU knew."

[Delani Denusk]

After she'd finished with the supply master, Delani paused at the base of the Dawn to watch the young man work his bird, intrigued by the way the petite hawk knew how to return to the man who took care of him. The raptor flew at a foreign command, sweeping over her head and then returning the same way, only to land on Brodon again. This was clearly not what he had wanted, Delani recognizing the lack of reward the bird received and the quiet patience Brodon wielded while working with Arrow.

She waited for him to come down to meet up with her before speaking up regarding their shared lack of awareness for which boat the Svefra owned."Well, no matter, we've some time yet. Brodon, feel free to decline, but I would very much be interested in learning how it is you get Arrow to obey. I have observed falconers around the clans in the past, but never took much to it. It is interesting that you use him to pass messages. If you do not mind showing me the commands and techniques, I would love to try with him. If he allows it."

The woman smiled kindly, watching the sparrowhawk and Brodon alike with hands patiently folded before her. The warm breeze off harbor brought with it the smell of the sea beyond and the whispers of the adventure soon to come. Such a journey would wield many new things for Delani; why not let the first one be a short study in falconry?

[Brodon Windriver]

OOCI am assuming you have your hair up the braided bun you describe in your CS

Brodon was charmed. "I would be happy to show you some of this. I expect it is not much different than training any animal, except for not being able to accompany them though the air. But that only makes it take longer, not more difficult. The biggest obstacle is patience. You can not show anger to a bird. Not because of any stress, but simply because they do not equate an angry shout with displeasure. With a dog, if you speak angrily, it knows that it has disappointed you. With a bird, all it knows is 'loud' or 'not loud'. Two men shouting in anger at each other is no different to a bird than two brothers seeing each other for the first time in years and shouting in joy. Speaking loudly just lets the bird know that you are excited, so it most likely will feel that it has done right."

He paused a moment, realizing there was one more fundamental thing that he was given to take for granted. "You do not know any Nari, do you? It is the language best suited for speaking to birds. The man who first introduced me to Falconry gave me a quick course. Yes, I am almost as fluent in Nari as I am in common!" He winked, grinned and rolled his eyes at his own sarcasm.

"First I must identify you for him." He looked Delani up and down, trying not to seem exploitive about it, though he blushed slightly all the same. He then appeared to have reached a decision and patted her shoulder, then lifted the hand to brush up the side of her head, making a series of trills and chirping cries. "I hope you do not mind being called 'tall head'. But with your hair up in that style, well, it was the impression I got." he blushed a little more.

He took a shirt from his pack and told Delani to wrap it around her forearm. He then coaxed 'Arrow' onto it, accompanying the action with a whistle and a pair of trilling chirps. "I have told him, in Nari, 'go to'. He slid his glove up to catch the back talon of the hawk's feet, compelling it to step back onto it. He then repeated the process several times, always accompanying it with the musical Nari command.

Now he gave Delani a pointed look and held up a finger as though this was to be the first actual test of understanding. He gave the command again, but made no effort to coax the hawk into Delani's arm. It remained on Brodon's glove, but gave a short cry and turned its head around to look at him, cocking slightly atilt. Brodon repeated the process a few more times once again making the effort to bring the bird to Delani's arm.

This time, when he simply gave the command, with no additional urging, the bird hopped across to Delani's arm of its own accord, and looked back expectantly. Brodon was already pulling a tiny scrap of meat from a lined pouch on his belt. The bird snapped it down as Brodon praised it quietly and then stroked its chest a few times. Now they repeated the process several more times, but this time Brodon added additional chirps and whistles. Delani may have perceived that the additional sounds were merely the adding of the Nari speech for 'tall head' to the repeated 'go to'.

He did it several more times, slowing the meat rewards to every other time now, a pattern he had long since established while training. He still gave the caress every time and was confident that Arrow knew he was doing the right thing. It was not good to overfeed in training. Now he walked several yards away and called to Delani to extend the covered arm out before her. Then he gave the command, but added a longer, powerful caw at the start. Arrow lifted off his arm and flew to Delani, but only circled her once and returned to Brodon. He repeated this twice more, but got the same result.

"I am adding the command to 'fly', but he still should be landing on your arm." he explained to Delani. So now he took his other hand and held it tightly on the hawk's feet to hold them in place. It squawked angrily and beaked his hand. Brodon winced, but did not let go or say anything. He gave the command, with the additional caw, but simply walked the bird back to Delani and coaxed the bird onto her arm.

"Do we have to do this all over again, hmmm?" he said teasingly to Arrow and repeated the process twice more. Now he took up position again, even further away, and gave the long command. Arrow lifted off magnificently and circled Delani once, then it gave an angry shriek at Brodon and landed obediently on Delani's arm, beaking her through the shirt and glaring angrily at both of them in turn.

Brodon laughed. "Well I guess he showed ME, eh?" then he got a somewhat sheepish look and asked Delani apologetically if her arm was bleeding.

[Lacerta]

~|--|~ Lacerta had just returned from depositing her own list at the ship, and was wondering what others had written. She knew some would be starting businesses, though she wasn't quite sure what to do herself. Her usual occupation probably wouldn't be too much use in their settlement, to be honest. Though it might be encouraging while working to have music... it was more practical to just have the musician doing the work itself... so her compositions were mostly useless. Her musings were interrupted by the sight to a man, a woman, and a hawk, all who she recognized from the night before. The woman... Delani, the Eth thought her name was... she was the one who wanted to take a look at the Starry Sea. She sauntered over to them, occasionally focusing more on the bird than anything else. The creature reminded her of Apus... from so long ago. Very long ago, when she was in Lhavit... A grin twitched on her face, but she called out the her fellow travelers. "Hello? You're... Delani, no? You're going on the expedition... and... Brodor?" She pursed her lips at this, trying to remember the mans name. She didn't think she'd gotten it right... but the Drykas could correct her, right? "I'm Lacerta... You wanted to look at my ship, I think. Is that why you're here?" She smiled at the pair, partially forgetting that she looked completely different from when they'd met. OOCI'm sorry for the short intro... I'm really bad at them Oh, and the delay. That too. ~|--|~

[Delani Denusk]

Delighted by his willingness to show her, Delani waited patiently while Brodon went through the steps of acclimating the bird to her, telling it how to identify her via the strange bird-like language he used, something called Nari. To herself, during this, Delani tried to copy a few of the sounds, but the unique inflections proved more challenging than she could currently manage. Perhaps another time the man could show her.

When he suggested calling her tall-head, however, the woman shook her head. "That would be an inappropriate anecdote, Brodon. My hair is not always done up like this. I would suggest another means for recognizing me. Perhaps my eyes? I can wear a specific garment if need be." That was her suggestion anyways, he could follow it or not at his leisure.

As the bird was exercised to step onto her now cloth-wrapped arm, Delani studied Arrows form, the contour of his feathers and their unique pattern. Her head tilted so she could study his back when he stepped back onto Brodon's arm, her fingers itching to feel the feathers. They must surely be soft. He looked quite aerodynamic, too, and must be quite swift in flight. She wondered at his speed when diving and thought to ask Brodon for a moment, but chose not to interrupt the lesson.

When it seemed the basics were finished and the younger man gave his command, Delani smiled as the bird finally stepped willingly onto her arm. She murmured a soft word of praise but withheld reward so that it would not interrupt the lesson. A new command was being added now and the Drykas nodded in understanding. But would Arrow obey?

When the hawk circled overhead crying out at them and at last landed obediently (though did give her a bite through the shirts material), Delani grinned in approval. "Haha, I guess he did. He's such a fascinating creature, but I would still take my horse over a bird any day. Who are those humans that live on that Volcano up north? Inreta? I do not see how they can do it..." The woman waited for him to return and take the bird from her, still grinning.

"You should teach me some of the commands. Does he know common or gesture? I imagine gestures would be more useful for an animal who might need to remain unheard by prey below." Not being a falconer, this was purely speculative.

But soon, a strange woman was approaching them, her pale face and light hair tinged in gold at first making the Drykas think 'Symnestra' before she saw the curious horns that spiraled at the sides of her head. Fascinated by this, Delani could not help staring, studying the intricate curves from where she stood and the delicate texture, wondering how this woman could have such. The tall figure was speaking then and it took the other a moment to tear her eyes away and fix upon the long face.

But how did this stranger know their names? She may have gotten Brodon's incorrect, but it was close enough to be suspicious. Being mostly a stranger in Riverfall, though her family did live here, Delani was slightly suspicious and tightened the corners of her eyes as such. "Forgive my wariness, miss, but do we know you?"

But her question was moot when the woman went on to explain her change of appearance and associated name. That she knew of her request to explore the ship set the womans mind more at ease and she nodded, somewhat more welcomingly. "Your appearance threw me off, Ms. Lacerta; I hope my caution did not unsettle you."

*Editted because I realized after the fact I forgot to add the rest

[Brodon Windriver]

Brodon chuckled at Delani's comment on the affectation he had identified her to his bird with, her "tall head" of hair. "It won't matter after today, Delani. Arrow will know who you are after this...Regardless of how you style your hair." He winked, the Pavi coming so easily.

"And you are absolutely right about advancing to use gestures instead of spoken commands. That is the next phase of a command set. So far, I have only taught him "high perch" or "low perch" upon approaching me. The low perch is to come to me, the high perch..." he lifted his arm straight up and made a circle in the air, whereupon Arrow lifted off and rose up, circling the area they were standing, to land atop one of the loading cranes. "...is to land high up where he can see me, but not necessarily be noticed himself. In fact, where hunting is concerned, the gestures draw attention onto me and away from him, so the benefit is two-fold."

Now he raised his arm, holding it steady for a moment, then abruptly brought it down to his side. Arrow lifted off and flew quickly back to light on Brodon's arm. He took another small scrap of meat from his pouch. A thought occurred to him. "Oh, yes, naturally, when prey is detected and open, I only need to point at it and he strikes. So I guess that is another gesture he knows, but that was easy to teach." he laughed lightly.

"Actually, now that you mention it, I would be curious to see if he would 'high perch' or 'low perch' for you. Just a moment though, let me...-"

He was interrupted by a woman's approach. He'd have thought her a complete stranger but for her mention of the expedition and the knowledge of their names...near enough knowledge anyway. But that familiarity in someone he did not recognize made him cautious. He turned to stand next to Delani, with her, as they faced the seeming newcomer. He instinctively cooed a calming warble to Arrow, who clearly sensed the unease.

Brdon actually was glad of the hesitant nature of the encounter. It masked his inability to avoid his prolonged stare. She was quite tall, something that was often a little intimidating to most men, and he was no exception. There was nothing threatening about her walk, or stance, or question, though. She was paler than most, but he was newly come from Eyktol, where everyone was bronzed by the sun, so to him, it was quite pronounced. Her hair was behind her ears, either in a pony tail, or simply combed back.

He realized now something he had been mistaken about. He'd seen only a few people with the horn-like adornments in their hair. He'd never had cause to approach them. They'd always been strangers and he'd never had business to conduct on behalf of Eldarab's caravan with any of them, so he'd always assumed it was just a decorative accessory. Now he saw it was truly a set of horns!

It was fortunate that Delani spoke first, as he made an effort to get past his tied tongue and return to common. "Uhh...was Lacerta...um...not being Eypharian?"

[Lacerta]

~|--|~ Lacerta chuckled at the pair's reactions, unable to contain her amusement. Her appearance surprised and confused them both, though Bro...Bro... something, was more so than the female Drykas. "I'm sorry for that... it does confuse people occasionally." she replied to Delani politely, before turning to the astonished man. "To explain, I take the form of an Eypharian when the sun is down, like when we first met. And I take this form while Syna is in the sky. Does that make any sense?" She hoped the man didn't ask 'why'. Then things would just get really really confusing... Deciding it would be easier to just get past the whole 'new face' thing, she asked "So... boat?" The Eth motioned towards her ship, not too far away, hoping that they would follow her in that direction. She wasn't entirely sure why the Drykas wished to look at her boat, as they weren't going to be using it for the main journey... but... some people were unsure on the crafts, so Lacerta guessed that Delani wanted to figure out how it worked. OOCSorry... another kinda lame post ~|--|~

[Delani Denusk]

Delani waved the question away as Lacerta explained it to them. So she was a morpher...sort of. It left more questions than answers, however, but the woman would not assault the other with them just yet. T'was better to slip them casually into conversation than force them upon an individual unprepared.

"It is a curiosity, I must say. Your horns are quite beautiful, Lacerta, though I must apologize for staring. They remind me of the antelope in the Sea. There was a large species therein which had such magnificent racks as well. Seeing as you are able to change your form, how does your body compensate their presence in that of the multi-armed eypharian? It is most unusual."

As she spoke, she walked, urging Lacerta to lead the way onto the ship. "I am sure you are wondering why we would want to examine your ship. And if not, well the question is obvious in your eyes. I cannot speak for Brodon, but I have never traveled by sea before; it will be a very unique experience, say true. I would enjoy understanding some of the nuances of sailing before we leave tomorrow. I am also curious of your ships history. I hope you will not mind me examining it a bit."

Now, the woman slipped the glove off her unscarred hand, the glowing symbol upon its back clearly apparent now. "I have an interest in such things, you see. That is to say, I have an interest in knowledge in all forms. You will not mind if I examine it, will you?"