.
... 8th of Winter, 514av
... 8th of Winter, 514av
The Unforgiving in Winter truly lived up to it's name. The Sanikas road was officially closed, more due to necessity than any strict rule and each venture out of Wind Reach was more arduous than the last. There was no rest for the hunters and game scouts, though. While there would inevitably be a shortage of food coming in that would require the city to dip into it's Winter stores, there was fierce determination not to have a repeat of last year's famine. Maybe it was for that reason that the game scouts were being sent further out than they normally would be once the snows had settled in.
It weren't too deep yet, but that didn't necessarily ease the overall strenuous act of traversing in such terrain. At least Khara's goal today was easy enough. Well, relatively easy. She had been sent around the cliffs outside of Wind Reach, all within view of home, really. Of course, there weren't many places Khara had ever been to where you couldn't easily see Mount Skyinarta. All to find evidence that the skygoat population hadn't quite left yet and to see if any hillgoats had ventured into the same territory. Information on the one would only benefit the Endals as their Eagles were just about the only things capable of catching the nimble creatures. The other, though? If she found evidence of them so close she could easily bring a hunter out with her the following day and that was something to look forward to.
Much better than her current task of walking slowly along a cliff face, looking for loose rubble, droppings, hair, disturbances in the snow, anything to signal she wasn't out here looking for troublesome animals for no good reason. Still, there was something to be said about the skygoats - they made things interesting, at least. The animals usually didn't stray too far from Wind Reach proper, normally that would have meant staying nice and close to home, but sightings had become rarer as Winter had drawn closer and now that it was here several game scouts had been sent out to find just where it was they had scrambled off to.
Khara paused at a place where the rough edges of the cliff face jutted out just above her head. There wasn't much of a ledge, but the small indentations would be more than enough to give hooves purchase when leaping about. Her eyes turned to the snow, at patches where rocks and other debris had seemed to plunge through the soft white powder. The storm that had left the light blanket had passed through only a handful of nights ago, but the small bit of melting caused by Syna's colder gaze wasn't enough to give the scout the clear impression of just how long ago the rocks had tumbled to break the perfect image.
The girl adjusted her shortbow on her shoulder and crouched down to began to push aside some of the snow, thankful for the gloves she had finally had a mind to purchase during the fall, to see if there were any other signs lurking near the punctures the rocks had created. A sudden shadow that passed overhead snapped Khara's attention upwards. The sky was clear, which unnerved her somewhat. The shadow had been far too big for a goat leaping overhead, and she surely would have heard it before she saw it. A Wind Eagle, then? Nothing to really be afraid of, for certain, but still... if an Endal believed she was trespassing on grounds they had decided to hunt or was disturbing their game, there could be issues. Of course there was also the off chance that they might see the scout and make use of her vantage point from the ground for the day to find any signs that passing overhead would surely miss. The chances of that were slim, though. Khara had never been that lucky.
It weren't too deep yet, but that didn't necessarily ease the overall strenuous act of traversing in such terrain. At least Khara's goal today was easy enough. Well, relatively easy. She had been sent around the cliffs outside of Wind Reach, all within view of home, really. Of course, there weren't many places Khara had ever been to where you couldn't easily see Mount Skyinarta. All to find evidence that the skygoat population hadn't quite left yet and to see if any hillgoats had ventured into the same territory. Information on the one would only benefit the Endals as their Eagles were just about the only things capable of catching the nimble creatures. The other, though? If she found evidence of them so close she could easily bring a hunter out with her the following day and that was something to look forward to.
Much better than her current task of walking slowly along a cliff face, looking for loose rubble, droppings, hair, disturbances in the snow, anything to signal she wasn't out here looking for troublesome animals for no good reason. Still, there was something to be said about the skygoats - they made things interesting, at least. The animals usually didn't stray too far from Wind Reach proper, normally that would have meant staying nice and close to home, but sightings had become rarer as Winter had drawn closer and now that it was here several game scouts had been sent out to find just where it was they had scrambled off to.
Khara paused at a place where the rough edges of the cliff face jutted out just above her head. There wasn't much of a ledge, but the small indentations would be more than enough to give hooves purchase when leaping about. Her eyes turned to the snow, at patches where rocks and other debris had seemed to plunge through the soft white powder. The storm that had left the light blanket had passed through only a handful of nights ago, but the small bit of melting caused by Syna's colder gaze wasn't enough to give the scout the clear impression of just how long ago the rocks had tumbled to break the perfect image.
The girl adjusted her shortbow on her shoulder and crouched down to began to push aside some of the snow, thankful for the gloves she had finally had a mind to purchase during the fall, to see if there were any other signs lurking near the punctures the rocks had created. A sudden shadow that passed overhead snapped Khara's attention upwards. The sky was clear, which unnerved her somewhat. The shadow had been far too big for a goat leaping overhead, and she surely would have heard it before she saw it. A Wind Eagle, then? Nothing to really be afraid of, for certain, but still... if an Endal believed she was trespassing on grounds they had decided to hunt or was disturbing their game, there could be issues. Of course there was also the off chance that they might see the scout and make use of her vantage point from the ground for the day to find any signs that passing overhead would surely miss. The chances of that were slim, though. Khara had never been that lucky.
"Nari" | "Common" | "Pavi"
