Morbid Ideas (Plauge)

[Darian]

Wildlands 35th of Spring 511AV

He walked easily along a well used trail through the wood, occasionally sparing a glance to either side of him to see of anything that might be stalking him. Darian sensed nothing for now, and at the moment everything seemed calm, but he knew that could easily change on a moment’s notice. He wore his Night leather armor this day, the darkness of the material reflecting none of the little light around. It was well into night already and the only source of light was the silvery streams coming down from above, and filtering through the trees. Darian squinted his eyes as he made his way along the path, grunting and cursing silently the whole time. It almost too dark for him to see his own hand, and he was reluctant to break for camp. He was hoping to catch something to eat, and use in his work but he had no such luck so far. Only leaves and bugs he had seen for the extent of the trip, and that little held his interest at all.

A snap of a twig behind him stopped him in his tracks. Something was behind him, and a million questions ran through his mind as he thought of the possibilities. Could be something as big as a Dire Bear or as little as a rabbit. Slowly he turned around to see what animal had dared to come up behind him, and his eyes widened as he saw that it was just a fox, a small one at that. Its coat was a rich orange that flowed across most of its body except for its paws and the end of its tail. Its paws had a more blackish hue to them, and its tail a blinding white. A low growl emitted from the animal as it stared at him and bared its teeth. A fox with a bit of spirit in him, interesting

Slowly he put his hand on the hilt of his longsword, and tightened his grip, his eyes never leaving the fox. His eyes briefly glanced down at the gleam of the iron, and then he sensed movement, the fox using his momentary distraction to charge at him. It was only at knee level, and he had faith in his armor so he didn't worry too much, letting it come after him while he drew his blade. The sword made of cold iron, hissed from the scabbard as he held it high and to the side, and Darian looked down just in time to see the fox bite at him just below his knee. He could feel the fox trying to gnaw through the leather of his armor but he stayed calm, confident that it would hold till when he could finish the creature.

Turning the edge horizontal, he swung the blade towards him before angling the blade downwards with a twist of his wrist and pointing the tip just above the creature’s collar bone, ready to sink it in. The creature still struggled, not noticing the death that loomed over it, trying futile to bury it's teeth through the armor and cause this intruder some measure of pain. Arching his shoulder and elbow back, he put some weight behind the blow before plunging it forward to pierce the creature’s neck, sinking down into its flesh to poke at its heart. It jerked against his blade a few times before its vice grip on his knee cap finally relented, and slowly the dying animal slumped down. Carefully pulling his blade from the corpse, he looked over to get a better view of his handy work, and whipped his blade on a patch of nearby grass before replacing it in his scabbard.

Now time to get to work he thought as he took off his pack and placed it to the side of himself. Opening it up he took out a rather large cloth bundle, the soft fabric a brownish red in some spots a collection of bloodstains from the past, and gently he laid down the bundle containing his precious tools. Quickly his nimble fingers worked unsnapping the fasteners on the sides of the bundle, and unrolling it reverently to reveal a complete set of carving tools. Darian looked on the tools fondly before focusing back on the body, and producing a dagger from a hidden pocket on his thigh.

Rolling the fox onto its back, he placed his hand on its white furred chest while placing the edge of the broad bladed dagger near the hollow of its neck, not far from where his longsword had struck it down. Applying some pressure to cut into the foxes flesh and easing it up and down he dragged the blade down vertically, moving his hand to the side to cut it completely vertically while putting pressure on its side to make sure the body held still. He wasn't too used to skinning animals, but he played it by memory taking into account everything he had ever seen and trying to implement it on this one.

Soon as he completed the cut he laid the bloodied dagger to his side and placed his hands on either sides of the cut, slowly peeling back the skin a little bit before grabbing up the dagger again. His left hand held up a flap of skin and with his right he slid it underneath the skin pushing it deep underneath the tissue and then slid it alongside his vertical cut to sever the muscles tie to the skin underneath. After doing it to the left side, he repeated the process on its right, before withdrawing the knife once more, and sitting back on the ground to observe his handy work. Blood matted both of his hands and the dagger gleaming bright red as well, but the fox's fur would be easier to take off now, and then he could get to what he truly wanted, the meat and bones of the animal. He wasn't quite sure what to do from here, but lacking any better knowledge; he got back onto his knees and placed his hands on either side of the cut, and slowly pulled apart the skin, watching as the fur pulled back before stopping on the appendages. Hmmm... Now how am I going to get past those he pondered.

[Plague]

Plague As a nocturnal predator Plague reveled in flying the night sky, he found it thrilling to soar over the earth and to listen for the slightest sounds of prey. He was a hunter through and through, it showed in his mannerism and his speech, it was apparent in the way his eyes were constantly scanning, it was his life's work. To hunt, to kill, and to devour. It was during his flight that Plague caught the sounds of scratching drifting up to his ear, and decided to take a look at the creator of this sound. He flew quietly downwards, carefully checking the winds direction so that he would come out downwind of the creature. That way even if it had a powerful nose, it would not be able to catch his scent. This was another one of the tips that Neek had given him during one of their many hunting excursions. He landed behind a clump of bushes about ten yards from the location of the sound, and as Plague began look around he saw a red fox digging what seemed to be a burrow. As he watched the fox his mind turned to the subject of malediction, and he couldn't help but look at the animal as a list of parts. It had hair which could be used for rope, and fox feet were considered to be full of luck. A tale that was furthered by how difficult it was to find one unawares. Yes, he must make a charm from the feet of this fox. It was destiny that brought him here, just as the animal was in a state of work and would not know what had come against her. So Plague leapt silently into the air, and dove into the fox, bringing his claws onto it's head and dropping it into unconsciousness. He then lifted the carcass into his arms, and started looking for a decent place to go looking for "parts". As he took a look around Plague heard the sound of growling, he took a quick look at the source and found a male fox that was growling at a human with a sword. The landwalker quickly slaughtered the animal and then proceeded to clumsily cut the beast up. It was while the man cut up his kill that Plague began to realize what had happened, he had killed a mother wanting to dig a burrow, and the landwalker had killed it's mate that was trying to protect his female. Plague couldn't help but grin at the irony of the situation, and walked out to meet this landwalker that had shared in his fate. He walked as silently as possible, trying not to step on any twigs to increase the effect. However he quickly noticed the Dilemma that the landwalker faced and decided to speak up. After all who better to talk about dismembering a creature than a Zith? "Just tear it, it doesn't have to look pretty landwalker. It tastes the same ripped or cut, and the bones are just as useful" Plague had added the portion on bones to try and frighten the human, his morbid sense of humor often affected other species negatively.

[Darian]

His muscles rippled as he heard the voice, everyone of them snapping to attention, and slowly he turned his head to see the stranger. Darian's eyes widened as he noticed it was a zith that had snuck up on him, but they quickly narrowed as he focused on the zith, and he smirked realizing the usefulness of his proposition. " Didn't think of that " he remarked before ripping off each of the limbs and putting them to the side of the body before looking back over towards the man. " If you’re looking to get any bones or meat from this one though you’re going to have to wait for the scraps as I get first pick " he added in a cool tone, as he ripped the skin from the rest of the body, and he sliced a circle around the neck so the coat wouldn't tear there.

Darian was well aware of how most people feared or disdained the Zith, but he neither feared nor was disgusted this one, caring nothing for race, the only thing that mattered was their each respective usefulness. He didn't worry too much about him being to near either, as long as he didn't try stealing anything or attacking them all would be fine. If he was feeling generous enough he might even allow some cuts of meat to the Zith, after he had his fill of course. His comment about the bones intrigued him, and didn't leave his mind for a moment and he wondered silently if this one practiced malediction as well. That was the only use he could see for the bones, and what a fine use it was, creating wondrous unpredictable things to aid or harm any who used it. The powers it gave drew Darian close to the craft, and it was something he truly enjoyed and he looked forward to getting to work on this foxes bones.

The skull of the fox looked rather nice, and he could perhaps shape it in such a way as to give cunning to the wearer, but ultimately it was up the randomness of chance to see what came of his efforts. Sighing while filing away the idea in his mind, he turned around again to look at the zith. " By you talk of bones and such I take it that you are a Maledictor as well? He said more than asked.