Solo Skull Crows and Sea Eagles

[Kelski]

Timestamp: 20th of Fall, 518 A.V.

Kelski stepped out into the darkened street, shadows swirling about her. She was wearing her Night Leather Armor and armed to the teeth though most of her stuff was carefully padded and any bright metal had been dulled by the application of wax so it would not gleam and give away her location in the dark. She was here to learn a bit more about stealth, as one of Akajia’s soldiers should know. Her teacher was unconventional, but Kelski didn’t mind.

The Skull Crow Kelvic, a friend Kelski had made on her scouting trips, had offered to teach her a little stealth in exchange for some shinnies he wanted made. A skull crow necklace in silver, and an earring made from one of his own feathers coated in silver. Kelski had explained to him that she couldn’t ‘coat’ a feather in silver because it would not work, but she could make a wax impression of the feather, pour silver into the mold, and make him a silver feather earring that way. Kaltiz was fine with that. And so, their lessons began tonight.

Kaltiz began his talk in earnest. Kelski and the other Kelvic were standing in the darkness of the yard, off the balcony, where they could talk privately and Kelski could pick up a few pointers in stealth. Kaltiz’s first lesson involved cover and concealment. And though the other Kelvic was so much younger than Kelski, his life growing up on the streets as a runaway had given him exceptional training that Kelski probably couldn’t find elsewhere. “Your goal is to prevent an attacker from harming you. Sometimes, Kels, you need to fight. But sometimes it means escaping and hiding too. We’re always trained to fight, but flight is often a better situation if we want to live long. What you want to look for in a good hiding place is somewhere that will allow you to move quickly and easily especially if you need to counterattack. They will also provide you protection against a weapon the attacker may have like a sword. And the best of the best hiding places will allow you to do the first two things while you can observe the attacker.” He said, ticking off the three points on his hand.

Kelski nodded, following him completely. “So, is a hiding place concealment or is it cover?” She asked, tilting her head curiously.

The young kelvic was very articulate. It was something Kelski appreciated. She imagined Kaltiz had to be in order to scrounge food, successfully beg, and talk himself out of certain situations. “It’s both really. Let’s talk about cover first. Cover is really anything that provides protection from an attacker’s weapons. The cover required depends on the weapons your attacker has available and whether he or she has a light source at night. A little cover is better than no cover… but remember the cover that stops thrown rocks may not stop an arrow fired from a recurve. So just be aware of what you are up against and find cover accordingly.” Kaltiz answered, looking thoughtfully another moment.

Kelski nodded, following him so far. The pair walked through the Sunset Quarter so Kaltiz could point out examples. “Try for natural cover first. Rocks, rubble, even fallen trees or heaps of trash. They don’t have distinct outlines at night and are harder to detect people hiding among in the darkness.” The pair walked along and Kelski gestured at some likely spots. Kaltiz either nodded his approval or shook his head and pointed out why. Kelski gradually got a good picture of what he meant.

“I can’t be a person’s outline can I? Whatever I do when I hide or try to blend in, I need to be ‘not human’ in my shape or else searchers will pick me out immediately right? That’s part of what you are saying. If you can find something that has irregular odd outlines and match it, then your far less likely to be seen than say a human shape crouched along a regular wall with square straight lines?” Kaltiz nodded eagerly.

“Exactly. You’re getting it. There’s a certain logic to hiding, evading, or even ambushing people.” He said, laughing. “It would be an instinctual thing, especially for us, to keep moving. But we can’t do that. We can’t keep moving. Sometimes you have to stop and be still, be silent, and become part of the background of the world.” He added. “It’s the best way to survive against a superior opponent.” He added as Kelski nodded.

“If you can get behind them, buildings, structures, walls, and brush become good cover too. Just don’t crouch in front of them and expect not to get seen. And if arrows are involved, brush and walls go off the list.” He added. “If you are getting fired at, stay away from dense but brittle material like the stone walls of Sunberth. Good archers or powerful crossbows can penetrate them actually easily. That goes the same for walls especially in places like tent city. “Trees, logs, big posts offer good cover too. But they need to be big enough to provide you cover, hide you, or protect you from arrows or melee weapons.” Kaltiz finished. He was pointing out potential cover items as the pair walked. Kelski was soaking it up.

“So when you talk cover, you mean two things… you mean something to protect you in terms of hiding you but also something that protects you from thrown weapons or arrows?” She clarified, looking at him expectantly. The Skull Crow Kelvic nodded. They walked further into the Sunset Quarters, past where any real roads roamed and into the places where buildings touched – some renovated some in ruin – and others stood alone in rambling warrn-like alleyways.

Truthfully Kelski was enjoying the lesson. Nightstalkers thrived at night. And she loved everything about Sunberth’s wild warrens now that she was free and growing used to it. And since Kaltiz was part of a gang, these streets were absolutely his home and he made no joke about it. Kelski had known Kaltiz a while now, having met him at the first of the Fall where she helped him out of a rather precarious position.

Since then they’d been something of a pair of friends – leaning on each other in the name of information, security, or bolt holes. The Midnight Gem had sheltered Kaltiz more than one night when he’d needed a safe out of the way place to lay low for a while. Kelski never asked too many questions and the Skull Crow Kelvic never volunteered much.

Count: 1100

[Kelski]

Kaltiz was slow to answer Kelski’s question, but he did indeed answer it. “Bees balls, that’s right! But if you want to talk concealment, that’s a whole new game of turkeys. Concealment is anything that hides you from view. And you need to remember six factors that affect the effectiveness of concealment. We’ve hinted at a few of them already.” He added, getting ready to tick of a few points to Kelski. Kaltiz loved his tick-points. “First, shape… shape… shape! From any distance your outline will give you away. Change your shape to match that of your surroundings. Always think ‘don’t be Kelski be a _____’ with the thing you think of yourself as being something you are already surrounded by.” He added, looking Kelski over thoughtfully.

“The second thing you need to think of shadow. I suppose you are something of an expert at that though. Stay in the shadows and whatever you do don’t allow your own shadow to be cast as that of a human. If your shadow can be seen, it can give you away with your movements and actions. If its visible, you must be frozen in a non-humanoid shape… so the absolute rule of thumb is not to let it be seen.” He insisted, leading her deeper into the Sunset Quarters, down another alley and along a broken wall. Kelski had once ran that very wall with Kynier, physically training for a better future.

“What else? I understand about shadows… more than you know.” She said, laughing lightly and practicing as they walked in making her shadow be other than humanoid. It was actually easy once she was conscious of it. The Kelvic was really having a good time, learning a lot, and the Skull Crow made their lessons easy and entertaining.

“The third thing is texture. Be aware of smooth or shiny surfaces… either what you are hiding on or what you are wearing such as jewelry, weapons, a hilt of a dagger, even something simple like spectacles. Smooth surfaces will reflect any light there is. And if they reflect off of you, then you are discovered. And if you break the reflection of something smooth, you will draw attention to where you hide and you will be discovered. I see you’ve waxed most of the hardware on your armor and weapons. Good idea. It’s something you were aware of, no?” He asked, looking thoughtfully at Kelski.

She nodded. He laughed. “You forgot the biggest reflective surface of them all; your alabaster skin. People will recognize you for it immediately and light is reflected off your smooth skin. You will have to camouflage your skin somehow. Soot. Grease paint. Anything will help.” He said knowingly, nodding over at her face.

“That leads right into the fourth thing… color.” You must blend in with your surroundings. Anything bright will attract unwanted attention. But all black will do the same. I like what you’ve normally chosen here, a mottled black and grey pattern. You can pull it off with deep greens, browns, and even dark greys as well. Anything you can do to break up your full scale body and make it harder for people to see. Think out in the wild and some of the best camouflaged animals out there. Rock doves that look like rocks, seals that bask on the beach with mottled brown skin that look like sand. Anything helps, Kelski. That’s especially true of your coloring. It’s unusual and you stand out from humans. If you are trying to blend in, be human. Solidify your hair. Neutralize your lip color. Neutrals are the key with them. With us its different. But not all cover and concealment comes in the night. Sometimes its in the day as well. Own it… recognize your surroundings and what will be your environment and try to look natural in it.” He added, hopping up onto the wall and offering her a hand. She joined him, fearlessly, at its top and walked along with him – the ruined wall being wide enough for two abreast. Bird Kelvics didn’t so much fear height as others might.

“And the next?” Kelski asked, looking thoughtfully around, hopping over a timber from a building who’s roof had collapsed across the wall. She laughed, and hopped in twice more, childlike and uninhibited with the other Kelvic.

He laughed as well. “Position.” He added, ticking off that mental box. “When you pick a position, make it appear – as I’ve been trying to drive into your brain – like nothing is out of the ordinary. Be one with your surroundings. You can’t be out of place to draw the eye. You must be part of the backdrop so the eyes of your hunters slide over you and don’t see you. People say mages of old could cast invisibility on folks. I don’t believe it. Its just that people have adapted the tendencies of prey to stay alive. And I know this is something harder for you, Kelski, because your very nature makes you stand out and be dominant. But in this you must be the rabbit, the mouse, the worm grubbing through the ground.” He said, a smile on his face as they both leaped off the wall. Kelski tripped a bit, straightened her stride as she recovered, and caught up with the crow.

“And the final thing…. Shape, shadow, tecture, color, position and…?” She asked, ticking off the mental list of items he’d given her.

“Movement.” He said, gesturing to what they were doing. “Its as easy as movement naturally attracts the eye. So keep still.” He said, dodging Kelski giving him a small shove. She should have guessed, but Kaltiz was being a bit obvious about things and she didn’t want to seem to eager to learn what he was teaching… otherwise he’d charge her more in jewelry. The Skull Crow was a bit vane as it was, something age hadn’t bittered him against.

“What about looking at your hunter… watching them? I can often feel eyes on me even if I can’t see them. Does it help not to look at who’s hunting you… or who you are concealing yourself against?” She asked, curious.

Kaltiz looked at her cautiously, shrugged, and lowered his voice. “Sounds like magic. But I think there’s something to it. I wouldn’t normally speak of it, but you asked. Don’t look at them. Don’t give them that feeling of being watched. Because you are right. It’s a very real sensation.” He said softly.

Kelski nodded.

Count: 1088

[Kelski]

Even the Skull Crow, who should have been raised to be open minded was afraid of magic. Kelski saw it as clearly as she saw he was willing to concede the feeling of being watched was a real thing. It saddened her but made her think of Kynier’s words and his caution about discovery. She let the topic drop after Kaltiz acknowledged she was right.

“So… cover always protects but doesn’t necessarily conceal. And concealment might not offer cover. So cover is protection against melee weapons, arrows, that sort of thing… like a…. “ Kelski almost said ‘mages shield’ and stopped herself at the last minute. “A thick glass pane might offer cover from arrows or thrown daggers because they are hard to break… but it won’t conceal you. While a bush might offer you concealment but arrows shot into it won’t provide you cover.” She said, all but biting her tongue on the mistake she almost made.

“Now your understanding!” He said with a laugh, moving on. “You are actually picking this up quickly. Rumor has it you’re marked by Akajia and have her powers. People might think you’re a mage…” he said, watching her carefully.

“I follow Akajia, but its really no different than someone who follows Rak’keli and can heal. I can move in shadows and speak with them whereas others don’t see them as living things.” She said simply. “No magic too it. I’m not that stupid. Magic is dangerous and would get people killed around here.” She admitted, suddenly feeling like Kynier when he was being deceptive and throwing smokescreens. “While I do appreciate gnosis… I’m like everyone else here… magic has no place.” She said firmly.

Kaltiz nodded in approval. “I couldn’t agree more!” He said, shaking his head. “Mages almost ruined this city once. We have to be vigilant so that they won’t do it again.” He added.

Kelski nodded her agreement. “So what’s next?” She asked, curious.

“I get to give a Nightstalker a lesson on shadows and light.” Kaltiz said, the delight evident in his voice. He was standing outside an occupied home by now and light streamed out of one of its upper barred windows and cascade across the night-dark street. Kaltiz stopped and sketched a drawing on the ground.

“An opaque light absorbs and creates shadow. If the source of the light is a small obkect, the object absorbs all the light striking it and creates a shadow of uniform density, like a shadow created by a torch or a large candle lofted in the air. If the source of the light is even larger, such as from the windows of this room above, the shadow varies in its intensity, creating the umbra, penumbra and antumbra. In the umbra, all rays of light are obscured so it’s the darker part of the shadow while the penumbra is the lighter part. The antumbra is the region which the occluding body appears entirely within the light source…. It’s the grey area… the darkest part behind the light source that the shadow hides. You need to understand these places, these parts of shadows, in order to hide effectively. The umbra is the best hiding spot… the penumbra is the second best, and the antumbra is the absolute worse. If the light source is moving, the shadows and their parts will move… you must move with them.” He said, sketching on the diagram.

It was just a stick drawing in the mud, but Kelski understood it after hearing his words and seeing the example of the window light. He drew one big circle for a light source and labeled it thusly. Then he drew a smaller circle for the target the light source was directed at. Then he drew lines to show how the light fell on the target and what shadow fields were created behind the object.

Kelski was fascinated. It was a lot like a facet diagram in her jewelcrafting art.

She nodded, understanding. “Hide in the Umbra. Second choice and a poorer one is the Penumbra. But the Antumbra is lit and not an option but better than not being in the shadows at all.” Kelski reiterated, nodding her understanding.

“Now another important thing to understand is how eyes detect objects, Kelski. I’ve spent a lot of time studying this. Did you know, for example… that humans… almost every one… see movement first, then silhouette, then color? It’s true.” He added, enthusiastic about the topic. Kelski was starting to think the Skull Crow was part Nightstalker himself. Kaltiz’s enthusiasm was infectious and honestly for being a non-Nightstalker, he has more knowledge than she did. But he was willing to share.

“So eyes always work a specific way. To see a dim light after being in a brighter light, your eyes must be given a time to adapt to see the low level of light. It can take up to a half bell, Kels, for your eyes to recover and be able to distinguish objects in the dim light. When someone looks at an object directly, your brain forms the image in your mind in a way that isn’t sensitive to low levels of light if they look at a bright light. Where they looked, that section of their vision is damaged. Have you ever stared at the sun and seen an after image when you close your eyes? It’s the same thing. If you look above, below, to the right or left it puts the image in another section of your vision that can see it. So you have to keep scanning around you so that your eyes hit spots that are fresh and not damaged momentarily by bright lights.” He said, sounding very sincere. He glanced at Kelski to see how she was reacting.

“That makes sense. I do that naturally… and I think you do too because you are a predator. Now… lets see if I can apply that to… natural night scenarios.” She said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin and looking thoughtful.

“So at night, I’ll need to keep my opponent in the light… that constricts their pupils. It makes them harder to see into the dark. If they look into darkness with constricted pupils, they don’t have sufficient light to see an image. So when I move in the shadows, I need to move in a path from one shadow to another, crossing any exposed area quickly and quietly… and when I become still, I need to stand in an unusual stance, like a squat or slouched oddly, so that any opponent would not recognize my silhouette as that of a woman. If I assume a posture that conforms to the shape of a shadow and remain with it, I will stay concealed.” She added, looking happy.

He nodded, giving her a thumbs up. “You got it. I hope you learned a great deal because its all about sight predators and how we deal with them. It becomes a whole different can of beans when you move from sight predators to scent predators or even those that can track heat. Have you ever met a Dhani? You better hope you don’t. They are scary good at tracking. Same with kelvic dogs… wolves… that sort of thing. It’s insane how hard it is to hide scent form them… cover and concealment goes out the window when you’re running for your life.” He added.

Kelski nodded thoughtful.

Count: 1241

[Kelski]

Kaltiz looked thoughtful and continued the lesson. “Danger sense is a very real thing for us out in the night, Kelski. If you can learn to sense danger, you can excel in stealth, your fighting, and even the art of escaping. The key is being aware of your surroundings at all times and be able to react quickly to threats you perceive. Not imagined threats, Kelski, but imminent threats. When you can imagine threats, its important too, because you can anticipate dangers and situations that might be perilous and already have rehearsed reactions in your mind… mentally preparing yourself to deal with various scenarios.” Kaltiz said, studying Kelski to see if she understood.

She did.

“So, the key is being aware and anticipating situations.” She said, summing up all he said. Kaltiz nodded, but interrupted as well.

“Awareness is not only noticing, but knowing things could happen and being ready to respond.” He said firmly, driving home the point and getting them walking again. He scanned the area they slipped into even as she did, being hyper vigilant in the dark since Sunberth wasn’t exactly the safest city at night. “When you are being aware, you know what is going on around you at all times. You are guarding against immediate threats. You are also aware of your vulnerabilities and guarding your weak spots so your enemy can’t target them. It’s also understanding what’s in your surroundings, to both use as weapons, barriers, and escape routes. It’s also about having identified cover and concealment.”

Kelski frowned. “This sounds more like investigation than stealth.” She pointed out, and Kaltiz nodded eagerly. “It is. It’s investigating your environment. It’s about observation. Its teaching your body to instinctually do all these things while your brain is busy working on the details of a mission. The more information you can gather the more competent you are at responding to danger.” He pointed out.

That made so much sense to Kelski. Under Kaltiz’s tutelage, she was learning in leaps and bounds… and proved it by the next few chimes. She spent time pointing out potential cover, concealment, and their vulnerabilities and their potential dangers as they walked. It was a complicated exercise, but one that really hit home and had her thinking in whole new ways. Always a predator and never prey, it took someone pointing these things out to show her a new perspective – almost a role reversal.

Kelski was excited by it. New things enriched her life. They made her better. She wasn’t accustomed to such sorts of expansions. But they were changes she embraced because they made her stronger.

“It’s a lot too. I’m excited you introduced me to this kind of thinking, but how do you do it all together, Kaltiz? It feels like a lot? You are asking me to notice everything around me, assess my vulnerabilities, and study the objects in my surroundings constantly as I walk. My brain fills completely full up by this.” She said thoughtfully, slightly unhappy that so much was required at once.

Kaltiz laughed. “You do it naturally all ready. Our brains are marvelous things, Kelski. Do you know we do complex math when we consider jumping across something or even taking a step up to another step? We do math when we judge distances or even something violent like throwing a weapon at someone…. Your mind is always busy doing these calculations. We’re smarter than we know!” He said with a laugh, dodging around what looked like a fresh pile of horse manure in the street. Kelski leaped over it, laughing, and commented snarkily…

“Did I just mathematically work that jump in my mind?” She asked, looking back at the feces in the street as they roamed. “So what your saying is just be more aware of what we do naturally and enhance the ability?” Kelski said, her voice questioning.

Kaltiz nodded, offering a smile.

“So, Danger Sense… it’s a real thing. We call it intuition. Its not any sort of magical detection though… I think its just what our mind tells us from what we process from our surroundings subconsciously. If you ask me, our brains pick up on tiny out of place things or unusual situations in our surroundings. Then it links them all together and makes the hair on our back stand up… or if your Kelvic like us… it ruffles our feathers.” He said, gesturing about with his arms flung wide. “I think it also works if you walk into your home and everything seems in place but you have a feeling someone’s been there and touched things. If you ever get that feeling, look very closely. Maybe the chair is moved, maybe dust is disturbed, maybe your books are put back in the wrong order. There are things your brain might notice that you might not notice outright. When you get that feeling, utilize it, memorize it, make sure you pay attention. We’re smarter than we give ourselves credit for. I can’t say that enough.” Kaltiz said, looking almost enthusiastic now.

Kelski replied carefully. “I’ve never thought of this before. I’d have rather thought someone would leave other types of signs… their scent, something like that.” Kelski said, but Kaltiz shook his head.

“It’s a very real situation, Kelski. Its microdetails our brain picks up on. When you use your awareness, you are noticing people and objects. And you are assessing what you notice including if they are threats, and when there is immediate danger, you are preparing your body for fight or flight.” He added, looking at her as they turned down yet another narrow ‘street’. No one had bothered them, and Kelski suspected it was because they were moving down the street boldly, confidently, and conversing like they did it every day.

“So for this to work, you must detect things quickly. Because only when you pick up on these things can someone assess for danger. If you can’t pick up quickly… you can’t understand quickly and react.” She summarized for him. Kaltriz nodded.

“A really good exercise for this is to go home and have someone fill a table full of objects. Then have them throw a blanket over the table. Don’t know what they put on the table but have them make a list. Then…. toss the blanket off the table for ten seconds, get a good look at the table, then toss the blanket back over the table. Write down everything you can remember being on the table, down to the minutest detail. Keep doing this… keep checking against the list, changing the contents of the table each time to completely different things. You are training your brain to detect, to remember, to be aware. There’s no better training for someone’s mind. It forces it to work hard, learn new things, memorize details….” Kaltriz added, much to Kelski’s delight.

The tasked sounded like a good habit the people at The Midnight Gem could start doing. It sounded like something all of them could use work on and could do together to keep things interesting. “So how many items do I start out with?” She asked, curious.

Kaltriz shrugged. “Start out with a dozen, work up to a hundred…. the more complex the scene the harder your brain will have to work, and if you gradually step up the amount, the better your mind will get at noting your surroundings and the details in your immediate area.” The Kelvic Skull Crow added.

Kelski nodded, completely understanding.

Words: 1253

[Kelski]

Kaltiz had more to say. “One thing I will caution you on, Kelski, is distraction. Its our natural enemy. There is no bigger hindrance to your sense of danger than distraction. It’s so easy to fall prey to it. You get bored, tired, afraid, angry, sad, restless, and those emotions fill you and you get distracted. Distracted people fail to notice things going on around you. That’s why you have to control your thoughts and emotions. That’s not to say you have to be emotionless. I’m saying to try and work on being calm and relaxed at all times. Let me give you a really good example. Say we have two bodies of water… small mud puddles. One is being inundated by waves due to the winds or people walking across in them… the water all ripply and disturbed. Then we have a second mud puddle… one calm and smooth as glass. Toss a rock into each one. Which one is the disturbance more noticeable? The ripply one or the smooth as glass one?” He asked, making Kelski think.

She nodded. If you have calm and smooth thoughts, you see disturbances, easier, don’t you?” She said, getting his point. Kaltiz nodded offering her a smile. ”So how do I grow more calm?” She asked, hopeful he had some suggestions.

“Well, its not an easy process. It can be done though. I meditate a lot. I calm my mind for at least five chimes daily. I observe my moods and what causes turbulent moods. If you learn to figure out what trigger’s bad moods or disturbed moods, you’ll be able to negate the cause and calm yourself before important happenings. If you loose control, don’t get frustrated by yourself. And exercise, Kelski. Anything like this… like running like we are doing… will help tremendously.” He said, keeping their jog slow and controlled.

“So….” Kelski said, beginning to be winded by their light run not because it was intense physical activity, but because it had lasted so long proving that her endurance was building up…. “You are saying I need to make all these things habit… make them things I do automatically without thinking about it. Expand my awareness, stroke and enhance my danger sense, and if I practice them daily make them habit, I’ll get good at them quickly?” She said, raising a silvery black eyebrow in question.

Kaltiz nodded, smiling, happy to have her draw conclusions and come to a firm understanding.

“Exactly! You are getting this!” He added, slowing their jog to a walk.

“So, we are training our awareness… noticing more things… detecting things….and I suspect moving silently is included in that. Can you tell me more about that?” Kelski asked, studying Kaltiz thoughtfully as they walked. The Kelvic nodded, grinning at her, and kicked his pace up to a light jog. He spoke as he jogged, happily sharing more information with her.

“Its all about practicing self-control and patience, Kelski. Its about discipline. If you don’t have such things in your life, you won’t learn any of this. Silence, even stealth, comes with observation and learning your environment. You can only do that through extreme practice and patience. It’s like how you get better at anything. You weren’t born knowing how to use those daggers, were you? You learned over time, repeating exercises over and over, having encounters in the streets putting what you’ve learned to good use.” He added, causing Kelski to nod.

“Practice practice practice. I get it.” She said softly, knowing it was true. “I have discipline in my life, but this is a whole new level, even for me.” She said with hesitation. But she knew Kaltiz was right. “I’m going to have to not only expand my awareness, work on my danger sense, but every step I take has to be done now in a controlled manner, isn’t it?” She asked softly, not sure if she wanted the answer or not. They were walking now, and she glanced down at her feet, noticing she was making far more noise than the other Kelvic.

“Well, first comes breathing, Kelski. You need to always be calm, breathe steady, and don’t make any more sound than you need too. Sound proof your clothing so nothing clanks or rattles as you move. You shouldn’t have leather rubbing on leather… the noise is distinctive. Tight clothes, but not too tight…. Stretching leather has a sound as well. Then, and only then you pay attention to walking quietly. With the correct movement, Kels, you can move quietly. You can even do things like break sticks without any noise. You need to train in the city, on gravel, on stone, in mud… in the forest, even in the damp of puddled rain. You want to learn how to move silently in the forest by learning how different places make different sounds and how to negate them.” He added.

“So, you move across snow differently than you walk across mud or gravel.” Kelski said, looking around, noticing all the different terrains there were in Sunberth alone. Training on them would be so easy because they were accessible. It was something proactive she could do to improve her stealth and make her more valuable to Akajia. That, to almost all degrees, was what she was aiming for. Kelski wasn’t a thief and she wasn’t a spy. Neither of those things appealed to her. What she was had become something far greater. She was the living embodiment of Akjaia – her eyes and ears on the ground. All her Nightstalkers were. But the favored felt it acutely.

She continued with her train of thought. “Time… time is critical too. This will take a lot of time. It will take a wide variety of training. But you’ve given me a great starting place. Walking soundlessly isn’t just a single set of training. It’s as wide of a set of training as anything else… with each facet important. So… I need to control my breathing, my emotions, my state of relaxation and my movements. Practice until its subconscious. I think I finally understand.” She said to Kaltiz. He nodded.

“Yea… I think you do finally understand. Stealth is about so much more than I think you even realized. Hopefully now you have a far greater understanding.” He added. “And you’ll make my jewelry rewards as beautiful as you can, because I deserve it… all Skull Crows do…. we love shinnies and deserve them… perhaps tomorrow?” He asked, hopeful.

Kelski laughed, nodded, and smiled. “Definitely this information was worth the two pieces done tomorrow.” She said, smiling in contentment. She gave the skull crow Kelvic a quick hug and thanked him. “You’re the best. Tomorrow night… the next morning by the latest.. I’ll have your pieces done. Now leave me to it!” She said, laughing because they came out on the road to The Midnight Gem and she was as close to home as possible.

Count: 1159

[Kelski]

Grading

Kelski

Experience: Stealth +5, Tactics +5, Subterfuge +5, Wilderness Survival (Urban) +5, Physics +2, Medicine +1, Psychology +5, Investigation +3, Acrobatics +1, Running +2, Meditation +1, Logic +3

Lores:
Stealth: Prevent Detection, Prevents Harm, Hiding Spots: Someplace That Will Allow You To Move Quickly/Easily To Escape Or Counterattack. Hiding Spots: Provide Protection Against Melee Weapons, Hiding Spots: Great Observation Spot For Targets. Cover: Anything That Provides Protection From Attackers Weapons. Cover: Any Is Better Than None, WS: Finding Cover & Concealment in Urban Environments, WS: The Difference Between Cover And Concealment, Stealth: Look For Natural Cover First. Stealth: Rocks, Rubble, Fallen Trees, Heaps of Trash = Natural Cover, Subterfuge: Lie With Your Outline, Tactics: Picking Cover & Concealment, Concealment: Six Factors – Shape, Shadow, Texture, Color, Position, Movement, Kelski: Alabaster Skin – Needs Darkening In Nighttime Endeavors, Concealment: Don’t Watch Your Pursuer And Give Them The Feeling Of Being Watched, WS: Cover Always Protects But Doesn’t Always Conceal & Concealment Might Not Offer Cover, Subterfuge: Explaining Gnosis As Not Magic, Subterfuge: Lying About Being A Mage, Physics: How Shadows And Light Works, Subterfuge: Which Part Of The Shadow To Hide in, Physics: The Study Of Optics, Physics: The Parts, Tactics: Using Light In Survival and Cover/Concealment Situations, Physics: Parts of a Shadow, Physics: Umbra, Antumbra, Penumbra, Medicine: How The Eyes See Light, WS: Be Aware Of Your Surroundings At All Times, WS: Perceived And Imagined Threats – The Importance Of, Psychology: Mentally Preparing Yourself To React To Various Threats, Investigation: Observing And Noting Your Surroundings, Tactics: Reacting To Observations With Pre-Planned Moves, Tactics: Assessing The Vulnerabilities and Strengths of Cover/Concealment + Environment As A Whole, Acrobatics: Avoiding Steaming Obstacles, Tactics: Taking Advantage of Danger Sense, Psychology: Danger Sense Is Real, Danger Sense: The Slight Changes Our Mind Might Notice But We Might Not Immediately Recognize (disturbed dust, books in wrong orders, chairs moved), Memory Game: Filling A Table Full Of Various Objects And Memorizing Them In 10 Second Intervals, WS: Distraction Is The Biggest Danger – Boredom, Anger, Tiredness, Fear, Sadness, Restlessness, Psychology: Emotions Can Work Against Us In Survival, WS: Training Calmness Via Meditation, Meditation: Exercise Will Help Meditation, Psychology: Building Habits, WS: Expand Awareness, Enhance Danger Sense, Stealth: Every Step Controlled, Stealth: Patience Is The Key, Stealth: Breathing Important, Stealth: Sound Proof Clothing, Stealth: Train In The City, On Gravel, Stone, Mud, Etc, Stealth: Learn How Different Places Make Different Sounds And Negate Them