[Bronze Woods] A Bit of Hunting [Cathan]

[Hadrian]

After checking to be sure the fox's head was properly submerged beneath the boiling water, he took the prepared claws from Cathan and collected them in his lap. Then he pulled a notebook from his pocket and flipped to a page with various circular sigils he had created ahead of time for whatever they might catch in the Syliran wild. Around the original he drew new glyphs along with arrows pointing to circled parts in the original sigil. He had a habit of editing as he went along with such things, always finding simpler or more elegant ways to go about magical processes, or at least more innovative ways to get what he wanted. "The claws first," he agreed, "and I might bore holes in them and string them up. Depends on who wants to buy them, whether they give a beneficial blessing or some sort of... bear curse, you know? Malediction isn't as easy to predict or control as enchanting..." He began etching simple, tiny circular sigils upon the claws. The first took rather a long time, several minutes, despite its simplicity. He might go for something more complicated were he more skilled, or if he were in some laboratory with crafted lenses with which to see and perform more delicate work. When he finished his first one, he looked up to see if Cathan was watching or doing something else; the Kelvic seemed to be the pragmatic type, knowing exactly what needed to be done to get along out of doors, the opposite of Hadrian himself.

Purchase : 5 sm for a knife per Price List as I didn't see any specialized carving knives in the tool section, nor a kit for carving.

[Cathan]

Cathan was watching. He was also stirring the pot with the skull and working on the fox remains, pulling its fur of and scraping pieces of flesh from the small hide. The Kelvic did so with skilled hands and without hurry, more often than not eying Hadrian and the delicate runes he etched into the bear claws.

They did look pretty. In some way they were not all to different from the little objects Cathan sometimes built from the bones and skulls of prey he caught - only that the sorcerer’s signs were bound to have some meaning to them rather than being random ornaments the shapeshifter used to decorate his creations with.

“What would a... bear curse be like?”

The Kelvic could not imagine it involved turning into a bear. Everyone who had hunt a bear in his life knew that this was rather an advantage than a curse. Bears were strong, dangerous. Much more so than a wolf. In most cases anyway, Cathan added with a side glance towards the large body behind him.

“Would it make you sleep through winter?,” he asked after a moment of consideration. “Or would you grow a thick pelt?” Again, the later did not seem overly troublesome as it would spare one to buy a new coat every once in a while, but he could see some people not like it. Especially individuals obsessed with shaving might find the idea less than desirable.

Cathan reached for one of the larger fox bones starting to scrape of flesh and tendons before throwing it into the pot with the fox skull. By now the pot much smelled like the thin meat soups they tend to sell around run down taverns at times and which used to contain more water and grains than meat. Picking up yet another bone, the Kelvic started to fish out scraps of fat swimming on the soups surface, throwing them on the pile with the other waste. Checking on the skull he let the bone sink back into the pot.

“Would this...,” he pointed towards the claw at loose for words, “... magic... claw work like the the circle you drew around the horse? You touch it and then,” Cathan made a vague gesture with his right hand, “sorcery happens?”

Reaching for a stick once again, the Kelvic picked the bone from the pot he had thrown in previously. “And if so... how you know what will happen?”

[Hadrian]

"Malediction is difficult to predict," he said again, "but... well, I can give you an example. When I was on Sahova, I learned Malediction from a human woman there. She was actually alive, not a Nuit, which is rare from what I saw on my short sojourn there. But she had me testing things because even she had trouble predicting the outcomes of her experiments. She had me hold a maledicted glassbeak talon and... I blacked out. But I woke up and... apparently I had begun acting like a glassbeak. Hunting and... hunting and such. With this body. So I'll hope for strength or ferocity from this. But I suppose hibernation and hair growth might be side effects." He paused, then smiled mischievously at his hunting companion. "Care to be my legacy tester?" Chuckling to himself, he continued inscribing his magical sigil upon another bear claw. This was exacting work, but could be tedious all the same. It would never be his main endeavor in magic or main source of income, but he wanted to learn everything as best he could. "But no... you see, these little circles are called sigils. The way I'm doing them, they merely call out some essence from the living materials upon which they're inscribed. So it may be a desire for salmon in the spring or heightened senses such as a bear has over a human's. But it's a fixed sort of thing, and often subtle. The glyphs I inscribed in a circle around the horse were different, but similar, I suppose. Those I arranged with a specific purpose, building them to hold a certain kind of magic. There was a focus that I poured elemental magic into, and a trigger, which was how the magic was released. So... both spells were constructed by glyphs. But that was a different sort of construction than this one. "I don't know if that makes sense."

[Cathan]

“It does sound as if it would make sense,” Cathan replied cryptically, but with a broad grin. He could not claim to have understood everything Hadrian had explained to him. What he had understood however was interesting enough to sate the Kelvic’s curiosity. It seemed magic was a bit like wood or stone. You could build a table with it. Or a chair. Both were wood, but they still differed. Hadrian it seemed was able to do both.

Suddenly his grin grew even a little wider. “I am sure you were quite the sight acting like a glass peak. You don’t seem to have that in you.”

The last bit was said without malice, the shapeshifter speaking as if he was merely stating the obvious. It was hard to imagine an item as simple as a talon was able to cause such an effect, no matter if it had been enchanted or not. On the other hand had Cathan just seen what the other man was capable of doing had he magic at his disposal, so maybe a few sigils carved into bone were more powerful than he had thought at first.

A moment longer he watched Hadrian do his sorcery then he took the bone he had fished from the pot earlier, breaking off the upper third between two larger stones on the ground. It wasn’t until then he fished the fox skull from the pot once more, this time taking it out. Careful to not touch the bone to long he dropped it on the ground before him, turning it over so the lower side was facing up. Using the sharp edge bone, the Kelvic removed a bone fragment from the brain case, careful to keep the hole small. Trusting bone into the opening, he swirled it around a few times. A moment later he dropped the skull back into its stinking soup.

“Are you always testing your... malediction... tools?,” Cathan asked while getting to his feet. Picking up his knife he strolled over to the bear, walking around it for a moment before starting his work of skinning the beast. As good as it was possible with all the holes in it. Soon the Kelvic was cutting and tearing at a thick patch of fur, only once in a while glancing over to Hadrian.

“Or is it more like a game and people buy the pig in the poke?”

In a away it seemed an amusing idea, but that was mostly because the shapeshifter had neither trouble with growing additional hair nor salmons. Well, eventually the fish could get troublesome. He had never been good fishing. All in all though bears were not the worst fellows he had been around.

[Hadrian]

Hadrian peered at Cathan for a moment, trying to figure out his somewhat mysterious response, but he just smiled and went back to his work. A bear had several claws, and they all needed sigils etched into them with his little knife, the better to multiply the effects of the magical transference of an essential quality of the ursine donor. Then he laughed at the thought of himself acting like some feral chicken monster. "You're probably right. It was an interesting experience. I'm just glad I survived intact so far as I can determine." After he etched a few more tiny glyphs into the a claw, he moved onto the next. Someday he would have even more delicate tools so he could etch more complicated sigils into smaller materials, but for now he merely called forth the ferocity of the bear. "That fox skull," he said, "I'll inscribe with a circle that says 'cunning', and hopefully the fetish will be something that helps someone think in a more... creative fashion." He continued to work, tireless and exacting, until Cathan's next question. There followed a moment or two of consideration before he answered. "I don't really practice much Malediction, actually. It's the red-headed stepchild of Magecrafting in many ways, which is my primary discipline, but I like seeing how it works because it lends certain insights into other disciplines. I should really practice more, but until now I didn't have anyone willing to hunt down raw materials for me, and many people are squeamish about it."

[Cathan]

Cathan laughed out. “You are already one of the most clever people I know. I can’t imagine how you could improve in that field.”

Or what the young sorcerer would talk about then. Like Kendall Hadrian said a lot of things the Kelvic was not sure he fully understood. The idea did not trouble him, but it was a circumstance hard to ignore. Sondra was another person the wolf suspected to be much wiser than himself - yet she did not talk as much as his other two friends. Or at least not about magic.

Still grinning he pulled at the piece of fur. “I would find it much better if you grew a nice red coat, like our little friend here.” He nodded towards the fox’ remains. “You can’t imagine how good a fur feels till you have grown one yourself.

“Besides - you will never have to worry about the right clothing again.”

Buying new things to wear had never been one of Cathan’s favorite past times. There were so many things one had to consider. The season. The weather. A mystery people called fashion and he was still failing to understand in all its details - all of them made purchasing new clothing to an arduous task the man was not willing to face more than once a season.

Tearing at his raddled treasure a last time, the shapeshifter finally managed to undress his prey completely. Rolling up what would never be more than the stuffing of an cheap winter coat Cathan made his way back to the fire, dropping down beside it.

“Although, when you do grow a pelt you should try to grow one like mine.” The Kelvic smiled confidently. “Not as pretty, but warmer, made for the north and winter. Pretty useful if you ask me.”

Grinning again, he reached out to fish the canine skull from the pot. “Although - getting even more clever is surely a good wish as well.” Without any hurry the Kelvic picked a last piece of meat from the bone before him. “And foxes are clever little buggers.”

[Hadrian]

"Well," he said, blushing just a touch and grinning stupidly, inordinately pleased by the compliment. He felt like his wits were all he had going for him, so it was nice to have them admired. "Well, I would probably sell it if it worked. What I need most is money to set up for the more intense crafting I can do." He smiled at the suggestion and nodded. Copying animals was something he needed to do more, to train his brain and his body with its Morphing. "I'm too tired to do it now... Well, not too tired, but I need to conserve some energy in case anything else happens to us while we're out here. But sometime, you'll have to sit down with me so I can study your fur. Given some time and familiarity, I could grow fur myself. There's magic called Morphing. Well, you saw the claws I grew, I think. Learned those from a Symenestra. It's the same magic that helped make your species. Morphing and... well, some complicated magic, I'm sure. It's slower going for me, and not innate like it is for you, but I can make some temporary alterations to my body. The better I get at it, the more I'll be able to do, but... I'm sure your coat would be the most comfortable way through the winter." He smiled and nodded admiringly. Cathan was a good person to look up to in those regards, and he respected the Kelvic's capability. "Perhaps if the clever charm works out, I can string them on a leather thong and give them to you, big enough you won't break it when you shift forms. A beast as powerful as a wolf and as clever as a fox? Sounds like the terror of the forests to me." He grinned, then looked back down to his work, etching the same circular sigil on another bear claw.

[Cathan]

The Kelvic grinned, but then shook his head. “I would be the terror of the forest,” he admitted. “But then... it would seem you could make even more use of such a tool and you chose it first. So you should have it. Besides, I am happy enough with what’s over.” He nodded towards the treasures he had secured for himself and which still dripped of blood.

“To use magic one needs to be clever, from what I have seen.” And being a little more clever than average was still average. Hadrian on the other hand could very well reach a level where others might call him exceptional. In case they did not already do so, something Cathan was not so sure about. Whenever he thought Hadrian had told him about all kinds of magic he was capable of the young man surprised him with something new.

“I always thought only my kind could... change,” the shapeshifter said slowly, although he of course remembered the claws the other man had grown. They had been rather impressive for a human the Kelvic had to admit. Then he tilt the head to the side. “Well, that’s not true, I know there are some snakes who can too, but that aside, I thought we were the only ones.”

Hadrian’s revelation made him feel considerably less special than he had thought himself in the past. It was not the sort of realization inclined to make Cathan happy. But then, even though Hadrian could grow a fur as it seemed, the young man did not know how yet. And the fact he had asked if he could study the Kelvic’s let Cathan’s chest swell with pride.

“Just tell me when and I will show you. I am sure you will come to like it.”

Reaching for the skull resting before him, the shapeshifter checked it for remaining strands of meats or muscle, before putting it next to the fire for ivory to dry up. Almost belated the Kelvic realized the sorcerer’s words had contained yet another piece of information, he had ignored so far.

“What do you mean with... my kind was made with magic?”

[Hadrian]

"Oh, I don't know that cleverness is the key to magic," he said. "It's certainly helpful with some types, but there are several types that I learn very, very slowly. But I've known several talented mages who weren't what I would call clever. But perhaps I'm being catty..." He finished the last of the bear claws and tucked them into his satchel. While he spoke, he picked up the fox head, drying now, and turned it over and over in his hands to find that sweet spot for the circle that would unlock the magic just as he wished it would. "But actually, shapeshifting is one of the older magics. The Dhani, I believe, got their power from their goddess. Kelvics got their power from their progenitor, Marcus Kelvic. The story goes that he was a bit of a recluse, but needed servants to tend to his fortress home. So he used his powers of morphing and probably a few others to create the Kelvics. Birds made good messengers and wolves made good hunters, and guards, I suppose. So he had all these creatures, suddenly intelligent, with the ability to speak as humans did when the need arose, but... Well, that's the lore. Who knows what really happened?" That said, he began to carve a larger mystical circle into the fox skull. This one was going to be interesting...

[Cathan]

“Yes, who knows.”

Cathan certainly did not know and as so often it did not trouble him. It was curious news to hear someone was supposed to have ‘made’ his kind, but in the past season he had seen both Kendall and Hadrian do most wonderous things with their magic and the Kelvic was not sure if he was just yet able to tell what was possible with arcane powers and what was not.

Maybe humans could do such things. Create new races and animals as they pleased. There were certainly a lot beasts roaming the woods sharing little similarities with the small critters he hunted for prey, some even a clever wolf would not cross path with if he could avoid it. Cathan had never thought about the origin of things, not his own, not the one of his race - it had never concerned him. Even now he was unsure if he should care, if he should have been angry to know someone merely made his kin to serve their purposes the way a dog or horse would. And yet, his own nature had never troubled the Kelvic.

After a long moment he decided to let the topic slide. Getting to his feet Cathan walked over to his meager belongings searching for the few things he kept to preserve foods and furs on the travel. He retrieved a bag of salt, returning to his place beside the fire to rub the spice on the bears hide and to scratch off the last remains of blood and flesh.

“So... will you know it worked?,” Cathan asked after minutes of quiet scouring. “I mean... if you not grow fur or pointy ears or feel the sudden urge for hunting the forest for mice... would you feel more clever?”

The Kelvic brushed some stained salt of his hands. “It seems very... hard to know.”