[DQ] Legend of the Blue Elk

Scrapbook · by **Harrier** on September 22nd, 2013, 2:29 pm

Timestamp: Fall 47-51

The Endal and his eagle were out scouting again. The recent decrease in game as prey moved further south was making it increasingly more difficult on all of the hunters in Wind Reach. Not a one of them had managed to fill their seasonal quota and the stores remained just barely manageable. And each time one returned from a hunt unsuccessful the rumor of famine in winter grew greater. So it came as no surprise that Roskil and his eagle Intilya had to fly further than they usually would have. Even the Avora were finding game nearer the city impossible. It was as if the animals sensed something coming and had simply left...

Intilya pressed upon his mind; they had been flying for hours and he needed break. They should return to the city for a period and recover. They could come back in the evening; maybe something would be around by then.

As the eagle tilted his wings to carry them back towards the city, something caught his eyes a few chimes by air from the volcano: a whitish glint amid the evergreen forests and stone that littered the ground far below. He thought little of it as he soared nearer and nearer Wind Reach, until the glint was seen again, this time quite clear in a clearing. They were moving south and west at a steady clip, their ghost like pelts barely seen from his vantage, and likely would have been missed entirely if not for the magnificent creature leading them.

Astonished, Intilya turned so that his rider could see.

~Roskil! Look! Have you ever seen such a creature?! And see, it's within range of the city, what a find; we must alert the other hunters. I'm going to return you to the city and see if I cannot wrangle them into that box canyon there. It will be a fine catch; and look at the bull leading them!~

Intilya was young, like his rider, and was easily enamored of the strange and beautiful. He hurriedly turned his wings back to Wind Reach, and flapped with all his might, depositing the Endal in the courtyard so that he coudl spread the word.

Word of a bizarre heard of ghostly elk led by a strange and beautiful elk. It would make a fine catch...but Roskil's word would not only affect the hunters in town. All manner of citizenry would be piqued of interest in this strange appearance. What were they? How had they not been spotted before? They sounded magnificent and magical. What if they were dangerous? Most of the consensus centered on nobody actually caring: they just wanted to see them...and maybe bag that curious blue bull that led them. He would make a fine trophy on anyone's wall.

Notes :

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by **Azira** on September 24th, 2013, 10:48 am

The first thing that the huntress noticed when she returned from yet another failed hunt was the air of excitement that seemed to permeate the city. People were huddled in groups chattering about something though she had no idea what had caused so much interest. Azira wan't just going to ask someone what was going on so she managed to "accidentally" bump into a group of talking Chiet in the Inner Warrens. One of them began to complain but she cut him off as she realised the what they'd been discussing.

"Did you just say a herd of elk?" the teen gasped, not believing her ears. There couldn't be a herd of elk anywhere near the city or every hunter would have been talking about it. Though glancing around the Avora noted that there were huddles of hunters dotted about the place.

"Where have you been that you don't know about the elk? Everyone knows about the elk unless you spend all day in your rooms," the man replied, laughing at the shorter girl. She was a head shorter than him so he thought he could bully her. She pulled her dagger from her belt and began to prod the point into his chest repeatedly.

"Listen here, you little shyke. I've been out since early this morning trying to feed your sorry ass so don't give me any of your cheek, Chiet," she snarled, drawing a few pinpricks of blood from his chest with her knife prodding. His face blanched and he took a hasty step back.

"Sorry, sorry I meant no offence, huntress," he mumbled sheepishly, looking to his comrades for help but they'd begun to move away as if to avoid any trouble that might become of this. He wasn't getting any help from that quarter. Thinking him sufficiently scared, Azira returned her blade to her belt and stood before him, her hands on her hips.

"So tell me about these elk," she ordered. Listening intently, Azira was fascinated by the tale she was hearing. It was amazing that there were a herd of elk near the city but it was a truly extraordinary idea that they were led by a blue one; she didn't believe it. The news filled her with great excitement though and she found herself running to see the Endal who had brought back a fantastical story.

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by **Turrin** on September 25th, 2013, 4:05 am

Walking into the firing line of the stall, Turrin pulled out a arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bowstring. The Endal had been spending most of his day sorting out the details of the mysterious herd of ghostly looking Elk roaming the Unforgiving that was being led by a majestic blue Elk. The Myrian first thought the person spreading the rumors were on the recreational drug called Warp, but the rumor was on the top of everyone's tongue that the last day. Eventually, he decided to go to Second Quiver to get away from from the rumor mongering, but even here, the Endal couldn't escape it. Widening his stance enough, so he stood comfortably. Turrin lifted his bow, so the tip of the arrow was lined up with the center of target. Suddenly, he heard a pair of Avora talking loudly in the stall to his left. The man said with a laugh, “I heard the great blue elk was the size of wind eagle. Can you imagine the antlers on the beast? Now can picture the antlers on my wall of my apartment? I can.” As he pulled back the bowstring to his cheek, Turrin growled quietly to himself as he tried to ignore the endless chatter of the Avora. When he heard a shrill human females voice start to talk, he could help himself and listen to her, “I heard the blue elk is a bad omen from the gods. What if we kill the blue elk, and the gods punish us for taking away such beauty from the world.” Feeling his arm muscles start to shake from holding the position, Turrin let go of the arrow and watched it soar towards the center of target. However, at the last minute, the arrow veered down and plunge into the outer ring of the target

Turrin swore to himself in common as he grabbed another arrow from the quiver. Again, the stupid male Avora start to talk about glory, “What if the gods gave the Inarta this gift? A whole herd of elk on our door step. Can you think of how long a herd can feed Wind Reach? We will be fat for seasons to come and still have a year left of food to eat!” The Myrian knew the Avora male wasn't a hunter because he wanted to deplete a whole heard of animals just to feed everyone for a year. If he was really a hunter, he would know that he could only kill a few elk in herd, so the remaining herd could feed Wind Reach for decades to come. He knew his mother's people had a hard time grasping the teaching of Caihya the nature goddess. Sometimes, he wondered if the Inarta were a godless people because of their lack of simple understanding of the heavenly realm with the world below. Placing the arrow on the bowstring, he widened his stance and lifted his bow, so the arrow lined up with the center of the target. Suddenly, he heard the woman's voice again, “What if the great blue elk is Caihya herself, and if we send hunters to kill it. They would be really killing Caihya!” Turrin rolled his eyes and muttered to himself as he pulled back the bowstring to his cheek, “Killing Caihya..ha. The goddess is no easy prey, barbarian!” Taking the advantage of peace and quiet, Turrin released the bowstring and watched it soar towards the target. The shot was straight and hit the second ring above the bulls-eye.

Smiling to himself, Turrin pulled another arrow from his quiver and contacted Aponivi, “Aponivi, what do you think of the rumor of blue elk?” Placing the arrow on his bowstring, he waited for the wind eagle to contact him. Suddenly, he heard a voice in his head say, “I think it is true. Intilya might be young, but I have faith that he is telling the truth. However, we should still investigate it for ourselves. It might be fruitful in the end.” Turrin listened to his wind eagle and lifted his bow till the tip of the arrow was aimed at the top of the target. He knew his shots were veering down at the moment, he figured aiming up might help him hit the target. He pulled back the bow string to his cheek and contacted Aponivi, “When I finished with this shot, I will come to the aeries. We should investigate as soon as possible.” Taking a deep breath, he released the bowstring on his exhale. The arrow soared straight towards the top of the target, but at the last moment, the arrow veered down landing on the last ring before the bull-eye. Setting his short bow on the side of the stall, he waited till all the other archers were finished and got his arrows. When he came back, he place his arrows into the quiver and went back to his aeries.

by **Erade** on September 26th, 2013, 3:49 am

Erade was doing her latest bendi in the Glass Reverie and was loathing every chime of it. Everything about the craft quarters irked her and couldn't wait for another 3 days for her assignment to be through. She had no one to blame but herself for getting in trouble. The yasi was currently helping an Avora and his assistant load and unload the giant batch ovens.

At first she haven't really been paying attention just doing her work robotically, when the strange words of a blue elk came up in the conversation of the Avora and his assistant. They were gossiping like a bunch of women. Not one for gossip but it intrigued Erade enough to pull her from the mini daydream she was having to 'listen' more properly.

"I just heard from a Chiet that one of the Endals spotted a herd of elk close to Wind Reach. It was a nice size herd too! Even better they say the herd is being lead by a monstrous blue elk." One of the Avoras excitedly said. Erade inched closer to the pair, paying care not to be noticed.

"I heard the blue elk was almost as big as Mt. Skyinarta itself. If its truely that big it can only be one of the gods themselves!" The other added.

The teen dismissed the thought of a giant mountain blue elk or a god elk. However the thought of a herd of animals this close to Wind Reach when most others have fled south and beyond, had her thinking. Erade further wondered if the elk themselves were trying to escape from something themselves and where did they come from. If they were truly fleeing, did that mean the predator was following?

Erade was definitely interested in this blue elk but unlike everyone who was concerned with the herd bringing food in their bellies (a very good validated reason), the yasi just merely wanted to catch a glimpse of the mysterious creature. It would prove to be awesome bragging rights amongst her classmates.

A fool reason to venture out into the Unforgiving alone but maybe she could convince someone to let her tag along. Field trip! the girl internally yelled as she out managed to slip out of the reverie and onward to find an escort.

by **Kovac** on September 27th, 2013, 12:01 pm

Kovac first heard the rumor from a couple of chittering Chiet's carrying casks of gin deeper into the warrens. "Blue elk." Kovac scoffed. Gossip and rumors seem to have spread like ivy that Fall, with all the tragedy and troubles, breeding copious speculation among the population of Wind Reach. Many wanted to point at one deity or another for the hardships, others to the aftermath of the Djed Storm. Some wiser elders said simply that shyke happens. The Avora dismissed the tale of white and blue elk to the exaggeration of some misconstrued fact. But the words continued to be repeated. And not only among the lower castes. Avora tittered anxiously about the strange discovery, and a myriad of conspiracies on what their appearance meant.

Finally, Kovac passed two riders heading hastily towards the gallery. They were a couple that Kovac got along with fairly well, even played for them one evening. They too were talking white elk and a grand blue bull, mentioning Roskil by name. The cynical hunter began to question his earlier dismissal of the story. Perhaps he had been premature.

Shyke yes, if it were true Kovac had to see them, maybe take a cow or two. There would be little time to waste, word was spreading fast, and anyone who believed the wild tale, and had means of transport, would be out searching for the miraculous herd. Lavira and Mohya were out of a flight, so he set out to find his own way. Striding hastily through the warrens, Kovac once again found himself coming up behind Azira. She too seemed to be moving at a hurried pace. Had she heard as well?

"Azira, Azira! Wait up!"

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by **Alori Sai** on September 27th, 2013, 8:08 pm

"A Blue elk? You're kidding right?"

The little Endal chirped from atop the bar at the Inclement Weather. Alori had always been bold, but with her new title, she felt even more so. For someone who thought themselves somewhat invincible after the events over the last few seasons, perhaps Endalship had come a bit too soon for the fiery teen. She hadn't gone hunting that morning, and was thinking of taking the day off. So far she and Durveth hadn't caught anything worth wide, and it was possibly because of the inexperience of the newly bonded couple or the fact that the city as a whole had reached a dry spot.

Alori figured she needed a new tactic or at least to calm her mind and think before they went out again. It was a very new thing to hunt from the sky, the little huntress was used to doing it all from the ground, and tracking an animal from the sky wasn't easy. She had come to the dance club to enjoy music and hoping that something would come to her, when she heard about the mystery blue elk.

"Wait..hold on. It's a full herd?"

Alori couldn't believe what Tom was telling her, and she might have thought it a prank but there were others in the room talking about it also. Tesse was close by giving the same story to another hunter and it seemed serious. A new fire rose in her hazel eyes, and Alori jumped down off the bar where she had been sitting and raced out the door to meet with Durveth.

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Scrapbook · by **Harrier** on September 28th, 2013, 7:24 pm

In groups of five to ten, people began to leave the city, mostly Avora, and many hitching rides with the Endal. All the hunters were scurrying to get gear to try and bag them a bull. The unfortunate side to this was many of the Chiet wished to participate, but could not due to their jobs or wanting skills. However, there were a few who managed to sneak out, taking a horse from the stables in the mountain (those sturdy ponies perfectly suited for travelling the dangerous terrain).

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Alori's haste would be slowed when a group of Dek in the paths leading to the Endal Aeries blocked her way. They were helping one of the masons fix a crack in the tunnel and Alori would be forced to detour to another route.

The path would take her up through the Glass Reverie where she would catch a glimpse of the world outside: The skies were filled with riders already, many heading south and west to where the rumors had originated. From her vantage, Alori would also be able to glimpse the gates where a steady stream of hunters were leaving on foot, and some on horseback. It could not hold her attention for long though when out of the blue Mistress Eva bumped into her, dropping a load of linen in the process.

"OOF!" The woman said, "Petch, watch where you're going!"

She bent to pick her things up, intentionally ran into Alori a second time as she passed, muttering something about the blasted Yasi defacing doors before she rounded a bend and disappeared. On the ground where the linens had been dropped, Alori would find a bone whistle with three holes in it. It had a leather string around the head and seemed overly inconsequential. One must wonder where Eva had gotten it from.

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Kovac and Azira would find themselves privy to quite the tale as they spoke with the Chiet who still tried to get away from the Avora huntress. The man regaled them with his encounter with Roskil. The Endal had told him as he hurried out of the Courtyard that the herd looked like glacier ice, strange flecks of green on their back that looked like moss. He was told that the giant bull leading them stood almost ten feet tall. The multi-tined antlers claimed to spread over twelve feet from tip to tip and the eyes of the bull were like black diamonds. Roskil had told him what his eagle had said, too: that as Intilya circled overhead, he swore he heard thunder from the herd and that it came from the giant bull leading them.

With this news in mind, the pair set off to find a ride out to the canyon, but many of the Endal were already en route. However, Kovac's superior position would afford him a fine opportunity as Azira and he ran into a trio trying to convince three rather stubborn ponies to move.

They had a choice to make: use their position to the advantage and take the ponies from the Chiet trying to use them, or seek an Endal who would fly them there. Neither route would be easy, but one might afford them a better opportunity than the other.

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Turrin had it the easiest as he left the ranges. Most had already gone out by the time he made it to Aponivi. It wouldn't take him long to ready the giant bird and fly; the challenge now was navigating the busy skies to get to the canyon that everyone talked about since he would be the last to leave the city. However, he would also be the first to reach the canyon.

Intilya was standing on the ground with Roskil, his rider stringing the short composite bow he hunted with while the bird preened a few feathers on his chest. There were others there as well and Turrin was lucky to land near the original spotters of the herd. Both talked animatedly to one another (at least as far as human and eagle went) about how they were going to try and separate the bull from the herd. Let the others have their share of cow and lesser bull: they wanted Big Blue, as the male leader had begun to be called.

Spotting Turrin, Roskil turned to him and sneered a little, the younger Endal cheeky to say the least. "Don't you know it's first come first serve, mutt?" Referring to the mans mixed lineage, obviously as he finally got the string on and settled it over a shoulder, the quiver attached to his hip. "You and yours are never gonna catch anything when us true Inarta are here. Get to the back...maybe you can take our offal."

A few around the man laughed heartily at the mans joke at the myrian-mixes expense.

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by **Kian** on September 29th, 2013, 4:08 pm

Even though the archery range temperature was usually quite cool, sweat began to bead upon the young Inarta's forehead. Reaching up, he wiped clean his forehead and noticed some of the hay had managed to get mixed in the perspiration. Kian glanced about the almost empty archery stalls. No doubt everyone was off to try and get a glimpse of or perhaps a shot at the blue elk. Those that were unable to venture out were probable in Inclement Weather gossiping about the event. Everyone had been talking about the mysterious blue elk and the huge herd ever since they had been spotted.

Kian was unable to participate in any of the blue elk chatter, even the rumors, because he was too busy working at the moment. Bailing the targets for the archery range was not an easy task, but he could have been saddled with worse. Besides working here offered the young teen a chance to practice his bowmanship. Over the past few seasons he was approving, but work had to come first.

The red-haired teen finished gathering the rest of the hay. Finally when he had enough to be used as a target, he looped the thick twine around like one would wrap a package. Kian made sure the hay was secure in the bail and the bindings were tight. He then moved it in to a temporary target so the rings and the bull's-eye could be placed on it. Before he had a chance to grab the paint, the bell tolled and his work day was finished. Kian gave the soon to be target one more look over and headed out of the target range.

As luck would have it, he was off work for the next two days. He might have been getting a late start, and he hoped he would still have time to see the blue elk. He stopped by what passed for his quarters and without delay gathered the things he would need. Somehow he had to get out to the site of the herd. He could offer his skills as a ground scout to any Eagle riders that had not made it out yet or if that failed, he would have to make it down to the stables. Both prospects thrilled him for he had never ridden on an Eagle or a Horse. He was sure both would be equally exhilarating for first timers.

by **Erade** on October 1st, 2013, 4:25 am

Erade could see through the big windows that already people were leaving and rushing to be one of the first people to the blue elk and his herd. It seemed it was going to be hard to find someone to let her tag along with. Besides she was hardly packed for the trip. All she had on body was her shoulder bag with her mapmaker's kit, a spare piece of parchment and a half eaten slice of bread from this morning that was no doubt hard by now. Definitely not what would help her out in the Unforgiving. She needed to get at least her bow and quiver of arrows and katinu. As of late Erade has been wearing her vinati for the extra warmth.

Turning the corner, the yasi caught the end of a situation. One lady was rushing and accidently bumped into another causing her to drop the linens she was carrying. In a huff the lady picked them up and continued on her way. However Erade didnt notice the small object the lady had dropped on the floor, instead rushed up to the remaining woman.

"Oh please please PLEASE tell me you are on your way to the blue elk and his herd? Can you preeeetttyyy please take me with you? I won't be a burden I promise!"Erade begged all but on her knees, even trying her hand at a sad pitiful puppy eyes. The way the yasi saw it this woman was her last chance to find an escort and she hoped her sad display would be enough.

by **Azira** on October 2nd, 2013, 12:58 pm

The teen jumped in surprise, stopping and turning to see who'd called out to her. Kovac. The man seemed to have a habit of coming up behind her when she least expected it. It wasn't a habit that she liked at all but she waited for the hunter to catch up with her anyway. They had somewhat of uneasy relationship but he was a hunter so he'd probably heard the news too; she'd have someone to discuss it with.

"Gods, Kovac, don't sneak up on a girl like that! You scared me half to death, you know," she scolded the man, crossing her arms across her chest. "Have you heard the news? What am I saying, of course you have but did you hear about the size of this blue elk? This Chiet told me..." The huntress recounted the entire story that she'd heard from the Chiet man, the creature's unbelievable size and its splendour as well as describing the magnificent herd that the great blue led. It still seemed fantastical to her but she was determined to go and see it.

"So are you going to come with me? If we go on foot, we'll never get there in time and I don't think there's any chance of us convincing an Endal to take us. I'm sure they're all gone anyway," Azira chattered, for once unable to contain her excitement at the prospect of this hunt. "Perhaps I'll try the stables..." she added, seemingly to herself before wandering off in that direction.

The Avora knew that ponies were kept in the stables but she had no idea how to ride one. It couldn't be too hard, foreigners made it look easy enough anyway when they came on horseback. All you had to do was seat on their back and pull on some rope things. Easy. She didn't even notice if Kovac was following her or not but she continued on anyway until she came across two Chiet, tugging ponies along. The creatures were stubborn, refusing to move and the man and the woman were having a hard time trying to drag them. It was amazing that they'd managed to get the animals as far as they had but the Chiet stopped here.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going with those ponies? Don't think you're going after the blue elk, leave that to the hunters," the girl called out as she strode towards them and pulled the reins from the hand of one. She cut off the man's protests by drawing her knife from her belt, the blade still tipped with the blood of the Chiet from earlier. Smiling, she indicated her bow, using the knife to point and then pointed it at him.

"I'm taking the pony," she told him simply, in case he hadn't gotten the message. He looked fearfully at her then over her shoulder, then at his companion and ran. Smiling smugly, she turned to see if the other hunter had followed her.

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Quest [DQ] Legend of the Blue Elk