PM to join Déjà Voodoo II [Dravite]

[Dravite]

Busy with his work, the man did not notice the bloody paw-print on Rufio's chin until he had finished helping her drag the rest of the meat under the lean to and she started inquiring about his state of mind when she had stumbled upon him in the grasslands. Dravite touched the pad of his thumb to the edge of his tongue swiftly and smudged a single stroke of the blood from Rufio's chin, "you got something there," he laughed, wearing an amused smile.

The horse lord joined the girl near the fireplace and tried the think back to the morning's events, his arms, chest, and face splattered with blood which he wore proudly, like a comfy second skin, "you know I think I do remember being treated at the River Flower; there was a mix up with the herbs," his brow knotted as he tried to remember the name of the powerful hallucinogenic they had given him, "moss? Doo moss? No" he grumbled that wasn't it.
"Voodoo moss," Raen called.
Dravite turned his gaze on the old woman and smiled, "Aye, voodoo moss; they ground it down into a powder and heat it, the result was fairly instant."

The Watchman wasn't going to say no to supper, especially if it was what Raen had promised, even if he didn't make for a very attractive dinner guest in his current state. "Can I help you cook anything?" Dravite asked which was when Raen moved to join them.
"Let Ru cook," she encouraged, or perhaps demanded? The old woman had an air of authority about her that was hard to deny, "Tell me about Blackwater," Raen looked at him.
"I fear I've told as much as I know," Dravite shrugged.
Raen smacked his shoulder; did she have something against the dismissive arm action? "This Blackwater," the tip of her finger touched his Windmarks.
Dravite peered down at the tooled skin, "Zulrav," he told her, pointing out the eyes of the god, "Caiyha, Semele, Strider, Windborne," he finally admitted.
"I know Windborne," she smiled.

Dravite perked up at the thought of someone recognising the pavilion he had grown up in, those who had been Blackwater before his father had died and Belhaur Windborne, his closest friend, had remarried to his mother and altered the Blackwater name to make the pavilion his own. "Have you seen them?" Dravite's tone was almost hopeful, as much as he was angry with them for casting him out on his own; he wanted to know if they were safe."
"No," Raen shook her head slowly, "not this summer."
There was still time, Dravite thought, "I no longer follow them," the horse lord admitted.
"Who do you follow?"
Dravite touched the goddess at the centre of his markings, "the gods, my heart, my mind."
"Big pavilion?" Raen asked.
The man shook his head slowly, "my wife, my son, and I."
"Many animals?"
Again he smiled, a smile full of regret as if he knew he were disappointing Raen in her matchmaking game, "my strider, we have little."
"And you give us all the meat?"
Dravite nodded, "you have more mouths to feed, and I will hunt rabbit."

Raen got up and shuffled away without another word; Dravite watched her go before turning in his gaze on Rufio, "do you have many animals, Ru? I was thinking of starting a herd, perhaps once my summer pay from The Watch comes in, if I live that long," he laughed when in fact those were the realities of his job, if it wasn't for Rufio who knows how far he might have wandered today.

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[Rufio]

The half-Drykas froze under the wet thumb of the Watchman as he took the smeared blood from her chin. Her brown eyes were wide with surprise, doe-eyes peering up at him from beneath that messy, mud-packed mane.

Nonetheless, that usual Rufio spirit persevered over her initial shocked shyness. "I've got somethin' on me ay?" Her hands swept to indicate in the hot mess that was Dravite, her laughter teasing. This occurred all under the quiet, watchful (and quite delighted, of course) gaze of Grandmother Raen.

"Voodoo Moss." Rufio's voice sounded a little distant as she mulled over the ways Dravite had told it had been prepared. 'They ground it down into a powder and heat it, the result was fairly instant'. A powerful herb. She thought. "Well that explains a few things!" She chuckled. Unlucky luck! Blackwater safe. Rufio glad.

'Can I help you cook anything?' He asked.
Raen is maybe right about keeper, how many women would love a man that offers to help with cooking! Rufio didn't look up to the man, but her thoughts played in the appreciative smile that played in her expression just then.
'Let Ru cook.' Raen had commanded.
Rufio objected. "Great-Mama let Dravite help? Those feet are bigger than Zibri and-" Ru, small. Blackwater, big.

Rufio left just for a tick to collect an empty jar from her tent, within earshot of the conversation.
'Tell me about Blackwater.'
'I fear I've told as much as I know.'
'This Blackwater.'
Rufio returned and settled down beside the two as Dravite pointed out the meanings of his tattoos. Her brown gaze admired the beautiful inking as he spoke. A knowing expression seeped into that gaze as she recognised the gods and spirituality that he held dear, enough to put their meaning into ink on his skin.

Though her heart sunk a little and her thoughts became wistful. She wished she had Windmarks to bear. Soon, she reassured herself from a well of inner-determination. Admitedly, at the moment a sense of contentment setting in over the wistfulness.

It was undeniably nice to have her grandmother and Dravite chatting together. Even if her grandmother did begin to probe about his pavilion. A faint smile flickered beneath concentration, as the half-Drykas managed to pour, carefully, the oil infusion from pot to jar, screwing on the lid tightly as she listened.

'Do you have many animals, Ru? I was thinking of starting a herd, perhaps once my summer pay from The Watch comes in, if I live that long.' Ru laughed along with him at that. Her memory drummed up their first meeting over tarot cards then, and she couldn't help poke a little fun.
"We'll just keep you away from furry creatures with sharp teeth ay?" Wolves. Joking. All the same, she tapped the firewood sitting next to her in a gesture of firmly rooted, almost unconscious, superstition.

"I don't have any animals. I have been thinking of a little herd too, though. Goats, I think." Small Rufio, small animal. At least the woman laughed at herself as well as she poked fun at others. "I want to raise does for milk. Maybe make soaps with healing properties-" Her head nodded in Dravite's direction to indicate his muddy and bruised state with a laugh- "-and cheese and yogurt."

Her stomach rumbled as she mentioned edibles, and she giggled. "We should get started on cooking. What do you say?" Wildmanes return soon. She signed as she looked up at the sky. Syna's light had grown longer, the day had worn on.

While she rose and made for the meat Dravite had painstakingly hacked to manageable pieces, she queried curiously. "What kind of herd are you thinking of keeping Dravite?"

　

[Dravite]

Raen soon returned with a wet cloth and raised it behind the man's back to rubs the blood from his shoulders, "what's this?" She inquired regarding the second lot of tattooing she had discovered.
Dravite shot an amused look at Rufio that seemed to say 'help, I think your grandmother likes me', before replying to the old woman, "Night Lion's mane."
"What for?" Raen probed.
"The birth of my first son," he admitted, “my little lion.”
"Only child?"
Special, the watchman signed with the wave of a hand, "he is four summers now."
Raen passed Dravite the cloth so that he could rinse the blood away from his chest, arms, and hands, "Blackwater getting older, should have many children by now with many wives."
Dravite laughed, this old bag was shameless, yet rather endearing; it wasn't often the Drykas people got old enough for their faces to wrinkle quite like hers, "brothers and sisters for my little lion?" He smiled as if he hadn't considered it before now, "I suppose that would be nice."
"Not nice," Raen thumped his hip playfully, "survival, Blackwater need children for their name to continue."
"I'll get right on that," he teased, which earned him another whip from the woman's hand, though this time, she smiled.

Raen sat close by just out of the sun, watching the pair every now and then or bossing around one of Rufio's relatives, encouraging them to be more proactive like the young woman slaving over the cooking pot. Dravite did any of the heavy lifting she needed, and for the most part, cleaned up nicely. It had been a long time since he had eaten anything as nice as this and just the thought of the promised meal was enough to have his stomach complain, rumbling away embarrassingly.

He took a pinch of salt from one of the pouches on his belt and offered it to Rufio to use in her cooking; just a little added extra. On his knees beside the fire pit, Dravite watched Rufio work with a quiet respect; it had been a long time since he had cooked for so many people and to think that she must come up with something ample enough to go round each day was hard to fathom, "goats," the man finally admitted, "I think they would be a good choice and I've always preferred their milk to that of the Zibri."

Raen called out to Rufio then, "I want the eyes," she pointed to the bull and licked her lips, cook, delicious, hungry, she waved which made Dravite smile.
"I'll get them," he offered and got up to head over to the lean to where the meat and bones lay in the shade.

The horse lord used his fingers to gouge out the milky orbs, knowing his hunting knife would probably be too sharp for the task. He returned to the cooking pot and dropped them into the water at close range so that they wouldn’t cause any splash back that might burn himself or Rufio, "why does she eat the eyes?" He asked, curious.

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[Rufio]

The banter between Raen Wildmane and Dravite Blackwater was slowly melting away any pretense of acquaintance reservation between they three.

Rufio bore quiet amused witness to Dravite becoming the center of Raen's fussing. Not even a man of The Watch was safe from the grandmother's bossing.

Disappearing into her tent for a few chimes, Rufio reappeared with a myriad of cooking instruments, as well as a worn, leather-bound book. Across the worn texture of its pages, a foreign language flowed intricately between sketches of plants and herbs.

Rufio found the recipe Raen had requested, knowing its place by heart. There was a fondness in her freckled features as she read the Shiber with a murmur. This old book was precious to her.

The recipe, stew dumplings, was a Wildmane favourite. It was one of Ru's favourites, too, and her mouth watered already. "Alright, let's get stuck in." They sure did.

Ru was thankful to have an extra set of hands chopping onions, garlic and ginger, as well as the meaty hunks of calf and tough heart, to prepare the stew itself. When Dravite offered her some salt from his own stash- Perfect, gratitude. -She beamed.

Meanwhile, the chef herself kneaded up a springy blob of dough for dumplings, rolling it and cutting circles out with a tall cup. When she sat down cross-legged, she motioned for Dravite to sit opposite her, with the cooking pot between them.

"Dumplings are a bit tricky, the dough always splits on me-" As she said this, she took Dravite's hands, and turned them palm-up. Laying a dough circle in each, she gently curled his fingers to create a mold of sorts.

Nostalgia ebbed into her coco-milk gaze. "I used to do that part. And my mother-" She spooned meat and vegetables from the broth into the dough Dravite held. "-she got so cross when I let any leak." She chuckled quietly as she folded it into a little parcel.

Just as they were finished spooning and folding the last of the dumplings, Raen's croaky voice piped up. "I want the eyes." Though Dravite asked why she ate the eyes, Rufio's family (✼) returned from their day's work then, and she hadn't chance to answer.

[Rufio]

First to amble into the camp was Louka Wildmane. A tall, lanky lad, with an unruly mop of curly hair he had tried to tie into braids to look a bit more fashionable. Beneath, his eyes betrayed his timid, doe-like nature.

Tied to his belt were three rabbits he had managed to trap. He signed greeting to Grandmother Raen first, who waved him off dismissively. Before he let himself plonk down by the fire, clinging to his half-spear, even as he sat, like a child to a blanket.

With a deep appreciative sniff, he inquired. "Hai, what's cooking, Rufi'?" He turned to look at her, just then taking in Dravite. When he did, he jolted to his feet, a wave of pink flushed across his freckled cheeks. "Uh-"

Rufio laughed at his bout of embarrassed introversion, and gestured for him to sit.
"Louka, this is Dravite Blackwater, of the Watch." Guest.
"Dravite, this is Louka." Cousin.
Except, really, they were half-siblings, and only Raen was privy to this long-held secret lore.

Louka signed, haphazardly, unable to keep Shy out of his body-language no matter the half-spear he held in his hands as talisman of confidence. Apologies, greetings, honoured.

Just then, Laiha and Farha returned from market to sit by Raen and share their day's gossip, as giggly as they had been when they had left. On their heels the rest of the Wildmanes, evidently tired, sun-burnt and sweaty from their day's tracking.

Tal'ck, the ankal, took Raen's gnarled hands in his weathered paws, and kissed her palms in greeting. Raen seemed delighted to see her eldest grandson. His beautiful, wheat-haired lioness of a wife, Yama, came out from the pavilion tent, with a two-year old Mar'ck on hip, where they had been napping quietly.

Raen gestured towards Dravite and the meat resting in the lean-to. Words and sign quickly passed from her to he, about the calf Dravite and Rufio had dragged into the pavilion camp, and the name Blackwater.

Tal'ck glanced at the butchered calf, then Rufio. Before his cerulean eyes landed on Dravite. He strode towards them, leadership in the bearing of his shoulders, though a down-to-earth warmth pervaded his voice and his sign.

"I am Tal'ck." Welcome, welcome. "My sisters and Grand-Ma Raen say you have brought down an Olidosapux, and you gift it to Wildmanes?" Disbelief, impressed.

It was understandable that surprise tinged his bearded face. It wasn't often such large game was conquered by two Drykas alone, much less when one of them was his cousin, Rufio, with her lack of hunting experience.

[Dravite]

There was something about dicing onions that Dravite found almost therapeutic. He sliced them one way, trying to make them as thin as his burly fingers could manage before turning the half-moon shaped cuts on their side to dice into even smaller pieces before adding them to the mix under Rufio's instruction. He had never worked with garlic or ginger before and this caused a new line of quiet discussion between the two to take place while everyone else went on about their day. He butchered the hunks of calf-meat just as Rufio and asked and then began work on the heart, something he always struggled to find uses for in cooking.

Of course, Dravite did not let the mixing of flours go unnoticed, flour was not something his family had ever used and flatbreads were a luxury visitors often brought with them. He cut up the heart and added it to the pot before washing his hands well to work with the dough Rufio had put together. The blob was forgiving and gave way to his fists with some effort. Rufio manipulated bits of the dough in flat, circular shapes which Dravite tried and failed to mimic. He held out his hands to Rufio, letting her position them so that they cupped the little dough plates effortlessly, allowing her to spoon the filling in once it was ready. The way she worked through the dumplings was masterful and Dravite could tell this was a recipe the woman must have followed a thousand times to perfect with such grace.

It had grown late in the day by the time the dumplings were ready for cooking and members of the Wildmane pavilion were starting to drift back into camp from their day's activities, hunting, working, resting. Louka, a young man who looked about Rufio's age sat down near them without registering that Dravite, a stranger to the pavilion, was sitting so near. He had dark hair and freckles, much like Rufio, and the moment he noticed the horse lord his shoulders dropped and he seemed to edge backwards on duck feet. Dravite smiled warmly as Rufio introduced them, greetings, honoured, Dravite returned, "it's nice to meet you, Louka."

A few chimes later and after some light-hearted discussion and banter, Tal'ck saw Dravite get to his feet, the two of them taking each other by the forearm in a more formal greeting of the Drykas people. Dravite recognised that Tal'ck must be their Ankal, in the small details; the wife and child, his attire, the way he held himself and was the first of the men to approach Dravite, in fact, one of the only men the horse lord had seen beside young Louka. "You have Rufio to thank for that," Dravite spoke up, "she is a very brave woman, a testament to her pavilion." Greetings, kinship, humbled, his hands crafted the signs as he spoke.

"I can't say I've seen you around," Tal'ck admitted, welcome, he did reply.
"This is my first summer in Endrykas," Dravite admitted, "my pavilion has roamed the grasslands since I was a boy; visits to the city of tents were a luxury."
Instantly this seemed to sit well with the Wildmane Ankal; his smile then seemed more welcoming than his greeting he had bestowed, "good, you will stay for a meal and tell stories with us," Tal'ck encouraged, "Rufio's dumplings are worth staying for."
Dravite laughed and agreed with a nod, "I will stay for a while, but I must be home before it is too late."

Tal'ck seemed to accept and returned to his wife and Raen, the three of them speaking quietly and glancing over every now and then, though Dravite made no show of noticing. He helped Rufio finished the cooking and cleaning, and when everything was ready, he joined the Wildmane members around the fire, sitting down between Raen and Rufio, where the old woman had encouraged him to join them. He listed to Tal'ck tell part of the Wildmane’s history in the form of a story and accepted a dumpling from Rufio, dancing the steaming ball of dough between fingers and palm until it was cool enough to take a bite from. Dravite shouldered Rufio and smiled, "these are good," he mouthed before playlist trying to snatch at hers.

It was easy to like the Wildmane group, they were small but close-knit; something Dravite had always longed for with his old pavilion which had grown too big, too quickly. Most of these people seemed to be family, which Dravite had seen too little of in the past. His father had died only a few days after his fifth name-day and his mother hadn't made it through the journey to the summer grounds, something that stung him still. He had no brothers or sisters, and hadn't seen his cousins in some years; living out on the Sea of Grass wasn't an easy feat and as he didn't wish the same for his growing son, Endrykas he would now call home. "I like your family," Dravite admitted to Rufio, "they are good people."

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[Rufio]

"...brave woman...testament to her pavilion..."
Warmth flushed Rufio's cheeks as Dravite sung her praises to Tal'ck. She thanked the gods that her skin was dark enough to hide the most of her 'embarrassment'. 'Humble gratitude' leaked into her posture and she argued.

"I'd have been mauled to death if not for this man!"

The mix-blood listened while the men conversed with a keen interest, watching the way they interacted, the subtle shifts in their posture and grass-sign. Tal'ck likes him, she smiled. They're of similar spirit. She perceived. Both Grass-Sea-farers.

Grandmother Raen took over getting the family to settle around the fire, issuing orders for it to be built higher, for furs to be brought out to sit on, and cups and bowls to be brought for the meal, which was making everyone's stomachs grumble.

What a meal it was.

It wasn't often the Wildmane's had guests, alhough they did nothing out of the ordinary for his being there; Rufio couldn't help feel like the evening meal was wholly different for the fact that he was.

Her coco-gaze flickered over Tal'ck as he re-told stories about the origins of the Wildmanes.
Something about caves, and the horrible storm of old. The way the ancestors of the Wildmanes had been one of the first to venture forth to the surface, and ever since had the taste for horizons.

Rufio pondered whether any of it was true or a fantasy made up. Most likely it had, by Grandmother Raen, who piped up now and then with a request for the re-telling of her favourite parts of their more recent history. That was, the reputation of her missing husband, and his father before him.

They had been held in high regard by The Watch; Raen was showing off for Dravite. Though she soon forgot her matchmaking quest; enjoying the food and warmth of the fire enough so that she fell sound asleep on her furs.

Rufio laughed as she passed a steaming dumpling between two sticks to Dravite's hands, and he juggled it between them. The girls, Laiha and Farha, whispered to each other and burst into a chorus of giggles.

Yama the lioness hushed them, while her brother-in-law, Alar'ck teased their silliness away by making kissing faces at them. Louka sat quietly—the only source of calm amidst it all—but contentedly. He'd left his half-spear down, at last, using his hands instead to work on the rabbits he had caught that day.

Rufio was glad that none of her family's antics were embarrassing Dravite.

Even better, 'these are good' he mouthed as he tried to sneak a steal of her dumplings. The feisty Rufio tapped his fingers away and narrowed her eyes at him warily.

"They are." She mouthed back, playfully stern.

Instead of letting him have one of her dumplings, Rufio gifts him the 16oz jar of White Sage infused Olive Oil she had prepared that day before he leaves. She instructs him to rub into his sore muscles to help heal any strains and bruises he earned himself that day. Louka helps them pack up some of the meat for Dravite's family, as well, to take home.

It was with Dravite's admittance that he liked her family, that the half-Drykas peered at him with her deeper, soul-reading, intuitive gaze for the second time since meeting him. She recognized the loss stinging faintly beneath his expression. Subtle, yet still clinging to his heart.

The evening had filled her with warmth, and belonging, and she felt a little tipsy on the moment then. She peered around at her family. Then looked back to Dravite. "Mmmh." She agreed with a hum.

Taken with these feelings of kinship, she touched her hand to his forearm briefly, and added warmly.
"Your people, too." Drykas all-kin.


(note for graders: Rufio will acquire all the herbal ingredients in this gathering thread, which isn't finished yet but will be soon!)
　　
　　

[Pearl]

RUFIO

Experience

• Observation 5
• Logic 2
• Intelligence 1
• Wilderness Survival: Plains 2
• Animal Husbandry 2
• Interrogation 1
• Socialization 5
• Endurance 2
• Tanning 1
• Philtering 1
• Cooking 3
• Medicine 2
• Cleaning 2
• Storytelling 2
• Planning 1
• Flirting 2

Lore

• Rufio: Stubborn, insisting and creative
• Sakita: Loyal and determined
• Rufio: Makes a mean stew
• Raen: Great Grandmother to the Wildmane Pavilion
• Rufio: If looks could kill!
• Love and grief make good teachers
• Herbalism: Vyfox leaves cleans a wound
• Herbalism: Vyfox leaves help blood to clo
• Herbalism: Plaintain draws out poisons and infections
• Herbalism: Lavender eases pain
• Raen: Thinks Dravite is a keeper
• Rufio: Ru, a familiar nickname given by her mother
• Philtering: One must be patient when making oil infusions
• Never waste that which can be used to create something useful
• Medicine: Cover a wound with a poultice for healing
• Medicine: A poultice forms a healing seal on a wound
• Wives like a man that looks tough
• Rufio: Frustrated about not being bonded to a strider yet
• Dravite: A good teacher
• Drykas people are happy in the summer
• Dravite: Practiced and methodical
• Wildmanes: Wandering spirits guided by the stars
• Wildmane: A small pavilion
• Rufio: Wastes nothing
• Grandmother Raen: A force to be reckoned with
• Voodoo Moss: A powerful herb
• Rufio: Envious of windmarks
• Rufio: Wants a heard of goats
• Rufio: Regards her mother's book a precious
• Secret Lore: Louka and Rufio are half-siblings
• Louka Wildmane: Cousin to Rufio
• Tal'ck: Ankal of the Wildmane Pavilion
• Yama: Wife to Tal'ck
• Mar'ck: Son of Tal'ck and Yama
• White Sage infused Olive Oil: Good for healing sore muscles

Loot

• 1 x bundle Olidosapux hair for wool
• 250 pounds of Olidosapux meat (wish I could give you more, but Dravite is not the best butcher!)
• 1 x Olidosapux horn

Penalties

• - 1 x 16oz jar from inventory

Notes

• Please purchase a mortar and pestle and add it to your list of items, deducting the price from your expenses. I didn’t see this anywhere on your listings. Thank you!
• Also noted, that you gathered these herbal items, Lavender,White Sage, Vyfox and Plaintain in a previous thread. Thank you for that information!
• While this thread is a joy to read, please play to your characters strengths in future threads. Rufio had no skills in cooking what so ever before this thread, and dumplings would be a very difficult task to accomplish with zero prior skill, much less to master the outcome of said dumplings so perfectly.

Comments

• Thank you for allowing me to grade your thread! Your writing is always such a pleasure to read and often I find myself reading and having to go back to add in the skills because I get so caught up in the story that I forget I am grading.
• Please let me know if there was something specific you were looking for in this thread that I didn't award and I will be happy to review it. I look forward to reading more from you!

DRAVITE

Experience

• Logic 5
• Butchering 2
• Singing 1
• Intelligence 3
• Planning 2
• Interrogation 1
• Endurance 5
• Wilderness Survival: Plains 3
• Land Navigation 1
• Teaching 2
• Cleaning 2
• Tanning 2
• Storytelling 2
• Cooking 3

Lore

• Dravite: A natural leader
• Cyprine Blackwater: Rider of the Night Lion
• Rufio: Familiar as Ru
• Rufio's family likes to tease her about being unwed
• Voodoo Moss: Produces instant results
• Grandmother Raen: Difficult to refuse
• Louka: Rufio's shy cousin
• Tal'ck: Ankal to the Wildmane Pavilion
• Dravite: Likes Rufio's family
• White Sage infused Olive Oil: Good for healing sore muscles

Loot

• 1 x 16oz jar of White Sage infused Olive Oil
• 1 x Olidosapux hide - good condition

Comment

• You and Rufio write some of the most pleasant stories to read. Seriously, I love them!
• Please let me know if there is anything that I have missed and I will be happy to review it!

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