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Dravite woke before the sun to brave the morning air. The Uvic Lake was the closest water source to the summer grounds of Endrykas, and Dravite had promised his wife he would bath two days ago. He set up for the journey, taking both of the empty water-skins with him to make the trip with him, they would both need filling before he returned home, to see them through for another couple of days. Roan had made the trip until now, all too happy to help out while Dravite was on the mend. It would be nice to get away for a while, the man thought to himself, folding their dirty washing to store in the right side saddlebag; he planned to wash them in the lake and do a spot of hunting while they dried in the sun.
Leaving without consulting the webbing first didn't even cross the man's mind these days, a habit that had fast become second nature to the Drykas horse lord. He sat just beyond the entrance to the tent, legs folded and head bowed. The air was still. In the distance the powerful bellow of a Night Lion called and quickly faded out to a low, grunting huff. Dravite followed the large male's movements in the web. It was rare for them to venture this close to the city, though it was the females who posed the most danger as they were the hunters. Dravite did not like the idea of such a large predator roaming this close to Endrykas; it was the kind of thing that made sleeping easy almost impossible.
When he came to from his trance he noticed a man slip from his tent across the makeshift street. He watched the stranger reach for his bow and quiver of arrows. Dravite got to his feet and crossed the worn road of grass with spear in hand and Cree in tow. "Did you hear that?" The stranger asked, "the roar of the Night Lion."
"I did," Dravite told him, "I've been watching him in the webbing."
The morning's silence was suddenly broken by a group of hunting dogs coming together. A hunting party must have been forming on the east side of Endrykas. "Will you be joining the hunt?" The man asked, testing the string of his bow with two fingers.
"No," Dravite admitted, "I have other plans."
"Suit yourself," the bowman smiled and slipped off with his gear, snaking through the distant campsites towards the east.
Dravite got on his horse and the two of them made their way out of Endrykas through the Wind-Knotted Gates and out onto the plain. He looked to the rising sun, "East," the man told himself before scanning the horizon, "which must make that way north. I must go west, away from the light if I mean to reach the lake in good time."
When he came to the lake he was somewhat disappointed to find that he wasn't the only person who had decided to make the trip from Endrykas today. Dravite, however, wasted no time, getting to work just as he had planned so that he would have enough time to complete all of his tasks for the morning. He filled the water-skins, washed his family’s clothes and tied rope between two small trees before wringing the clothes out to then hang on the line.
Leftovers from the night before were used as bait for the hook of his fishing pole. It had been some time since he had used the old thing, but a means of gathering food for his family all the same; not everything he dragged home had to meet its death on the end of his spear. Dravite cast the line out as far as his throw would send it across the water before settling down in the shade of one of the two trees. He folded a length of line back against his fishing pole and held it under the pad of his forefinger so that he might feel a tug if any fish were brave enough to take the bait. "Now we just sit and wait," he said to Cree, jerking the line every now and then to try and tempt a fish. .
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17 Summer, 515 AV
Early Morning
Early Morning
Dravite woke before the sun to brave the morning air. The Uvic Lake was the closest water source to the summer grounds of Endrykas, and Dravite had promised his wife he would bath two days ago. He set up for the journey, taking both of the empty water-skins with him to make the trip with him, they would both need filling before he returned home, to see them through for another couple of days. Roan had made the trip until now, all too happy to help out while Dravite was on the mend. It would be nice to get away for a while, the man thought to himself, folding their dirty washing to store in the right side saddlebag; he planned to wash them in the lake and do a spot of hunting while they dried in the sun.
Leaving without consulting the webbing first didn't even cross the man's mind these days, a habit that had fast become second nature to the Drykas horse lord. He sat just beyond the entrance to the tent, legs folded and head bowed. The air was still. In the distance the powerful bellow of a Night Lion called and quickly faded out to a low, grunting huff. Dravite followed the large male's movements in the web. It was rare for them to venture this close to the city, though it was the females who posed the most danger as they were the hunters. Dravite did not like the idea of such a large predator roaming this close to Endrykas; it was the kind of thing that made sleeping easy almost impossible.
When he came to from his trance he noticed a man slip from his tent across the makeshift street. He watched the stranger reach for his bow and quiver of arrows. Dravite got to his feet and crossed the worn road of grass with spear in hand and Cree in tow. "Did you hear that?" The stranger asked, "the roar of the Night Lion."
"I did," Dravite told him, "I've been watching him in the webbing."
The morning's silence was suddenly broken by a group of hunting dogs coming together. A hunting party must have been forming on the east side of Endrykas. "Will you be joining the hunt?" The man asked, testing the string of his bow with two fingers.
"No," Dravite admitted, "I have other plans."
"Suit yourself," the bowman smiled and slipped off with his gear, snaking through the distant campsites towards the east.
Dravite got on his horse and the two of them made their way out of Endrykas through the Wind-Knotted Gates and out onto the plain. He looked to the rising sun, "East," the man told himself before scanning the horizon, "which must make that way north. I must go west, away from the light if I mean to reach the lake in good time."
When he came to the lake he was somewhat disappointed to find that he wasn't the only person who had decided to make the trip from Endrykas today. Dravite, however, wasted no time, getting to work just as he had planned so that he would have enough time to complete all of his tasks for the morning. He filled the water-skins, washed his family’s clothes and tied rope between two small trees before wringing the clothes out to then hang on the line.
Leftovers from the night before were used as bait for the hook of his fishing pole. It had been some time since he had used the old thing, but a means of gathering food for his family all the same; not everything he dragged home had to meet its death on the end of his spear. Dravite cast the line out as far as his throw would send it across the water before settling down in the shade of one of the two trees. He folded a length of line back against his fishing pole and held it under the pad of his forefinger so that he might feel a tug if any fish were brave enough to take the bait. "Now we just sit and wait," he said to Cree, jerking the line every now and then to try and tempt a fish. .
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