Solo Feeding time and future adventures

[Aenisa]

9th of Spring - 517 AV

By the time that Aenisa had found her way to the small farm that lay in the outskirts of the city, the day had already started. The winding roads had taken Aenisa on a thorough roundabout of a way and it wasn’t until the fourth time passing by a small shop that she had realised that it was the same shop. Cutting through several alleyways she had eventually found the Sanity Center and the Gaping Maw. As she slipped out of the city she was hurrying past merchants and ordinary workers, heading to and from work it seemed. It wasn’t exactly where Aenisa had hoped that she would exit out of the city at, she was going to have to follow the road longer than she had wanted to do but it was close enough. The warmth of the sun was basking her in the glory of the day and outside of the city, she was secure for the influence of Ionu, at least she thought so. Aenisa was never sure exactly how far the influence of the illusionist went, however there was no need to dwell on the issue either as she would no doubt find out one day. She hurried along the curved stones that lay under her feet, they carried her quickly along the path and further out from the city, she could see the small farm, she was late.

Tapping his finger against the wooden fence that separated the farm from the road, the still new hire was late and it wasn’t the first time that she had been late either. Yuri crossed his arms and let out a frustrated sigh as he was waiting for the woman to arrive, it wasn’t good to have someone who couldn’t adhere to specific times. Yuri also knew that Ionu probably had gotten wind of the fact that Aenisa was working for him and was probably going to make it as hard for the woman as the god could. Poor woman. Spotting Aenisa the man threw up his arms into the air in a gesture to show that she was late and that he was not pleased. Pointing to the sky above he shouted as soon as he saw Aenisa.

“You are late!”

Aenisa felt herself slowing down as she came to the fence, gesticulating towards the city she responded in an urgent voice that hopefully would show the man that she had tried her best. She was slightly winded from her quick walk as well, taking breaths in the middle of the sentence, she was slowly calming herself.

“I know Yuri, Ionu wasn’t kind today. I am sorry.” With those few words, she hoped that the man would understand. The fact that he let out a sigh, shook his head slowly and dragged his fingers through his beard before he answered had already told Aenisa that the man wasn’t surprised by this development. He was rather easy to read. “Well, come on in, you’ll have to work the hours late in the day then.” It was an answer that wasn’t as much a way for him to mean as it was a matter of fact, she wasn’t going to be able to do all of the work in the few hours that she actually cared for the birds.

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[Aenisa]

9th of Spring - 517 AV

Yuri opened the gates and ushered Aenisa into the farm. Along the front and sides of the farmhouse there was a low stonewall that separated the home from the rest of the world. Although it wasn’t very big of a farm and it could be more likened to a home with a larger than normal amount of land to it, Yuri treated it like a farm. A dirt path leading from the road up to the farmhouse was flanked on either side by different vegetables that Yuri was tending to during the days and harvested for survival. As Aenisa was ushered behind the building she could see the cow that Yuri kept, it stood in the field, quite a bit away, grazing. Clucking of the chickens revealed the small chicken coop that lay within a rudimentary cage of a mediocre size. In the back, there was also several larger mews sitting on an open patch of grass, A couple of larger trees gave the mews the shadow that it needed. Aenisa had gotten to know when she had accepted the job from the farmer that the raptors that she would be caring for were in various stages of being tamed and trained. The birds did not belong to the farmer but he was the main caretaker for them, the birds were owned by a collection of richer individuals in the city of Alvadas.

“I need you to take these two…” Yuri was motioning between two mews that stood before the duo in the backyard. His tone was calm and he spoke slowly because he knew that Aenisa wasn’t as fluent in the common tongue as he was. “… Raptors out today, this one here…” He pointed to the cage closest to the farm itself. “Still needs to be checked upon for any sign that it might be developing any sicknesses before you take it out.” Aenisa was nodding along and with those words the farmer left the young Inarta on her own.

Taking the raptor from the cage after having first made sure that it couldn’t flee from her tethering, Aenisa moved out onto the open grass plains of the farm. She had to carry the raptor on her bad hand as the other one was still hurting from the punch. It wasn’t quite midday yet and so as she was walking out, there was still some dew dropping from the top of the grass in the open field. Confident she strode forwards, by this time she had gotten used to the daily routine of the training, soon the raptor that Aenisa was handling would be able to be trained without the tethering. The small lures that Aenisa was using was of Yuri’s own creation, a stuffed animal carcass from some poor rabbit that had wandered too far astray or a bird on a rope. All the lures were very basic in their nature and they tended to favour the cheapest options when it came to the lures but the most authentic. Aenisa had seen in the city that there were a few vendors that was selling fake lures, made from skin, they looked real enough to her but she couldn’t exactly complain about what she had.


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[Aenisa]

9th of Spring - 517 AV

As she reached the perch on the other end of the grass field, Aenisa allowed for the Falcon to grip the perch as she took the creance and tied it loosely but firmly around the secondary rope. The second rope ran from the perch all the way to a secondary perch that lay further down the field, it was stretched firm. Around this rope, Aenisa tied the rope of her raptor before she started to make her way down the field. She had to push through tall grass and flowers that had started to pop up in the spring, it wasn’t too bad and the grass wasn’t too thick. She had many options for what she could do with her work and although it wasn’t the most fun to train the raptors for rich people who took them to hunt twice a year, it was a living. Aenisa had hoped when she arrived in Alvadas that she might be able to find someone that could teach her a lot about Falconry but so far, she had been disappointed by the people who lived in the city. Feeling that nobody in the city had much to come with, in terms of skills and in terms of what they were doing in the city to begin with. Aenisa allowed for a deep sigh as she reached the other end of the long rope.

Digging her hand into her pouch she took out another piece of meat and held onto it in her gloved-up hand that she raised by her side. The raptor sat at the other end, watching, intensely, waiting for the call for food, the muscles of the bird no doubt on high alert and ready to explode. It was kind of fun and rewarding to do these kinds of trainings with the birds, it ensured that they were at least worthy for the real hunt, should they ever decide to flee from their lazy owners. The sound of the whistle broke through the otherwise quiet surroundings like that of a glass dropped against stone floor.

Spreading its wings out wide, the first push sending the bird soaring downwards, its wings pushing hard against the almost non-existent wind which made it work all the harder. As the raptor almost touched the ground it got the hang of it, soaring near the ground, almost touching the top of the grass as it zeroed in on the reward. After it had left the perch on the other end of the field it did not take long until the creature sunk its claws into the glove on Aenisa’s hand and hungrily wolfed down the reward. It is a strange sort of a bond that forms between the falconer and its raptor, the feeling of respect between the two of them can be strong. Aenisa had always felt that she had a great connection with the raptors that she had cared for, in Alvadas and back in Wind Reach. She was going to have to continue this training for a few more bells with the two birds of the day, no doubt she was going to have a visit from someone in the city too. It wasn’t uncommon for the owners or someone in their servitude to pass by to make sure that their birds were being cared for.

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[Aenisa]

9th of Spring - 517 AV

No sooner had Aenisa thought about it when Yuri came out onto the field and shouted for her. “Aenisa! Come here for a moment.” His voice didn’t betray any feelings that the old man might have, Yuri had learned to hide most of his emotions in his voice a long time ago. Undoing the creance from the rope, she held onto it by herself as she kept the raptor sitting on her hand. She started to make the trek across the field and back towards Yuri. It wasn’t a big field and she would be with the old man in a jiffy. “What does the old man want now? Do you know?” Aenisa asked, her eyes were searching for answers in the raptor that was sitting on her hand, she was given none, she sighed. Having hoped that she might have gotten an indication from the bird, she had gotten nothing. “Yeah, I don’t know what to say either.” Trudging ever closer to Yuri, he stood, waiting, watching as she was approaching. When she had gotten close enough he sounded out with his voice, a little higher than usual. “Put it back in the cage thing, I need you to come with me to the front.” Aenisa looked at Yuri, she gave him a puzzled expression but didn’t put up much of a fight to his words. Pointing out that it was called a mew and not a cage thing she was soon heading to the mew and having returned the raptor to the mew, Aenisa followed her boss out into the front of the farm.

Out in front of the farm stood a collection of horses, Aenisa thought it to be at least a dozen of them, all with its own rider on top of it, or by the side of the horse. A confused look spread across Aenisa’s face for a moment and then it was mixed with a bit of a hidden horrified expression before she managed to mask it up better. For a moment, it had crossed Aenisa’s mind that maybe she had done something and the people had come to deal with her. Yuri began by speaking, he had become very formal suddenly as he introduced the foremost male of the group as one of the owners of one of the raptors in the rear. The old man was stiff in his back and stood as if he had been a soldier, which Aenisa guessed that he might have been in his youth.


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[Aenisa]

9th of Spring - 517 AV

“… and so, he is going on a hunting party with a collection of others from the city. He wants you to come with, care for his bird.” The words were spoken like a question but it was more of a direction for as to how Aenisa should carry herself. Yuri was aware of her way of approaching people and apparently in this situation some medium of politeness and respect was warranted and this was the understood message that the old man passed to her. Yuri shot a look at Aenisa before she had the time to speak, the gentleman that stood with the duo was remaining silent until Yuri was done.

“You wouldn’t need to bring much with you, just enough for the day for you and for my bird. Your task will be to make sure that the bird gets the food and water it needs. Help us out as we enjoy the hunt.” The man spoke with the voice of someone of higher birth, it wasn’t something that Aenisa was used to but during the few days that she had spent in the city, she had heard it before. She knew that it meant that the person before her held some sort of authority or power within the walls of the city. “It would be pleasure.” Aenisa finally responded with, she allowed for a smile to comfort the man that stood there and she saw that he was appreciative of her answer. He wasn’t going to show it however but a small smile and the briefest of nods had betrayed him. “Good, be at the Sanity Center tomorrow before dawn.” Firm, almost like Aenisa could shape the words into a square, it felt as if the man wasn’t used to having anyone telling him no and he was entitled to the service that the others gave him. As the man turned to leave, the brief conversation having been all that Aenisa had been privy too, she shook her head slightly. Yuri tugged on Aenisa and motioned for her to follow him back and that it was time to go back to work.

Once the duo had reached the back of the farm again, Yuri placed a hand onto Aenisa’s shoulder as he looked at her like a father would a daughter, speaking calmly. “You do this right, we can bring in a lot more business here. You can help us grow.” For a moment, he let the silence and the seriousness of the task that she had just offhandedly accepted sink in, fully. A firm nod came back to the man, determined and full of conviction. “I know. I work good for him.” She said, the words falling just as she had wanted to. She flashed a smile that made her fiery red hair frame her face just so perfectly, and then continued. “I just don’t like…” she paused as she was trying to figure out the word that she was searching for, it wasn’t quite there, she furrowed her brow, stayed quiet for a moment. “… much money people. He think I do all with coin.” Aenisa allowed for a sigh to escape as well as to show her uncertainty about what she had agreed to do for Yuri. Yuri shook his head and said to her in a calm and caring tone, “He is a nice man, you can trust him, okay? It will be fine.”. Aenisa was going to have to see what would happen during the journey, she nodded a few more times and after a few more questions she was ready to head back to work.

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[Aenisa]

7th of Spring - 517 AV

As the old man left Aenisa alone to continue about her business for the day and he disappeared to care for his animals and small produce garden in the front. Aenisa was stuck in her mind as she was walking back towards the mews nearby, was she truly ready for such a major burden? She had only been with Yuri for a short while. She did have the training from when she had been helping her father in Wind Reach but some of it had she forgotten about and wasn’t so sure how to do any longer. In either case, it wasn’t going to stop Aenisa, she had to do her job for the day in any case and so as she got back to the mews she had decided that she would check the other bird for any signs of it being sick. Out of all the mews in the back garden there were only one that still had to be covered to keep the raptor calm, the rest out of the six mews were uncovered and the raptors were in various stages of either being trained or being fully trained already.

Opening the door to the mew, Aenisa stepped inside into the cage with the fully trained raptor, she was going to have to check it and then exercise it for the day. It was easy to get the raptor to come over, the whistle and a reward later and it was sitting on her glove too. “How are you feeling today then? Mmmh?” the voice was smooth and soft, her voice was another tool in her arsenal to keep the raptor calm in her care as she was starting to inspect it. The talons still showed the signs of the malnutrition that the bird had suffered at the hands of its owners before they had turned the bird over to Yuri. Colourless talons were however slowly giving way to the more colourful, dark, healthy talons that Aenisa wanted to see. No signs of the current diet failing the bird, they had made sure to give the raptor some extra food just to bolster its health in the initial weeks and it seemed to have helped a lot. As Aenisa was checking for any signs of other nutrition related diseases like apoplexy but quickly realised that the bird was doing just fine. She was going to have to repeat the same process that she had been doing with the other raptor before she had gotten interrupted by Yuri. Aenisa headed out the cage with the raptor, walking back into the field as she was trying to figure out what she was going to need to bring with her for the little hunting party.

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[Madeira Dusk]

Grades Awarded!

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request!

Aensia

Skills

• Socialization 2xp
• Falconry 2xp
• Birdkeeping 1xp
• Observation 3xp

Lores

• Alvadas: getting nowhere on time
• Falconry: the bond between raptor and falconer
• Falconry: tying leads
• Falconry: lure materials
• Its a mew, not a cage thing
• Identifying a person of high birth through body language
• Signs of malnutrition in raptor talons

Notes
Nice little thread here. Not too much I could award, but it seems like a set up for something bigger anyway. Looking forward to seeing what kind of shenanigans Anesia will get up too!