PM to join To Answer the Thunder (Naiya)

[Amunet]

It was nice as she smiled at Naiya who apparently was an adept cook. The young red head relaxed with the goings on of the evening. The Striders were relaxed so she took this time to take out her flute as the fish was being cooked to try a short simple tune. The flute was made of bone with basic knotwork etching in it on the side. It produced a lovely svelte sound as she closed her eyes to the little tune she repeated over a couple of times. Breath control for the notes was a challenge as well as not losing the note when it would die a little at the end. Still it was a catchy little tune. The girl gave an apologetic little smile signing that she was still learning to play it. ‘new, learn, relaxing though’.

The girl nodded at the woman’s words. “I haven't had company out here, especially another girl… umm woman. Sorry. Anyway, I haven’t had company out in the grass since my mother went back to the web.” There was a sadness that crossed her face briefly before she tried to school her thoughts. This was turning out to be a nice evening and she wasn’t going to spoil it by being a downer. “Its peaceful out here. You can hear the Gods better out here I think.” The young lady said in a sort of reverence that is not often seen in young people.

The fish was soon done and they ate and chatted about life and little things. Amunet hadn’t really had any friends that were girls as she explained this. “Mom died after Drak was born, I been raising him since. Now he is old enough for the aunties to watch, I can push ahead with my medicine studies with herbs and philters. Mom was a really good herbalist. “ The girl spoke of her mom with no small amount of affection and love. “They say I favor her in appearance.” Those light sky blue eyes looked at Naiya’s with a gentleness mingled with a free wild spirit that could only be Drykas. The white ribbon was braided with a section of hair that ran down the side of her cheek. “This ribbon was my mothers.”

‘You have children? Family?” The girl asked as the subject of her mother often would lead her to tears, so she tried to move to Naiya instead. “Where is your pavilion? What do you do? “ Her questions came rapid fire as her eyes widened in that girlish way as she wanted to know about Naiya. It perhaps was a bit overdone and maybe a little pushy but she couldn’t help it. Maybe she could have a girl friend who wasn’t afraid of the grass. Most girls didn’t go out in the grass unless they were hunters or the Watch. With a population that was two thirds female, most of them stayed with the pavilions and groups for protection. That was the way it was designed for safety in numbers.

As night drew in the blanket of Leth and he rose to greet the starry blanket, their speech would lead them to seek their bed rolls. Amunet took time to bank the fire so it kept going. The Hunters say that fire kept predators away. The Striders came closer to camp as they knew the value of safety in numbers. In a way the two Drykas and the two Striders were a small herd. They protected each other.

[Naiya]

"I'm sure she is happy to see how you've grown." Naiya said, the sorrow in the woman clear with talk of her mother's passing.

She took a bite of the fish, chewing slowly while she considered her answer to the woman's questions. It seemed the topic had quickly switched to one that had caused Naiya much internal grief of late. Children, family, these were the things that weighed on her mind.

"I hail from the Nightsong pavilion, my mother and father have two other wives and many children. I don't see them much now, I spend much of my time at my small pavilion tending to animals or out seeking food and work." She smiled, a true smile that showed that her heart felt light about the situation. "My husband is wonderful, and I love him dearly, but we don't have children, not yet. Soon, I hope, that will change."

She gave the woman a conspiratorial look, as if to say that it was the woman who decided such things. The thought of her husband sent her eyes roaming out across the grass towards the city, too far to see although it didn't stop her from trying.

"He'll be quite worried, I think, that I didn't return this evening." She said with gentle sadness at the thought of his concern. "We camp on the outskirts of the city, Shahar," my husband "is a hunter, so it is best for him to be close to his work. I work as a seamstress, there is a shop in the amethyst district, belongs to the Lightfinder pavilion."

She took another bite of fish, this one a bit raw as she reached the middle. Perhaps the stone had not remained hot enough to cook the fish thoroughly. She didn't much mind it, except that her lack of skill in cooking would be highlighted when Amunet ate her own portion.

With horses close, and ears trained to sound they took to their shelter, tucking themselves away in the tent for the night.

5th Day of Summer 515 AV

Morning roused Naiya before the dawn, a gentle snort from her strider greeted her as she made herself known outside the tent. She sprinkled dry grass on the embers of the night's fire, letting it catch fire before adding thin twigs.

She watched the flames lick the wood, waiting for the charring that would promise her a steady burn. Once the flames surrounded the thin twigs, Naiya added still more wood, growing in size until they had a small decently burning fire. She didn't want anything too large because they wouldn't be staying here that much longer.

She found Amunet's fishing pole from the night before, taking it out to the trap she had set in the water. To her pleasure there were a number of large fish caught in the current, unable to find their way back out.

She dug in the dirt, seeking bait, her fingers like a spear head into the soft sandy dirt of the bank. She found a beetle, more by touch than sight as the morning was still dark overhead. She pushed it onto the hook and dropped him in the water, bouncing her pole across the surface to wake the fish.

She was careful to keep her pole slowly moving, just skimming the surface and bouncing slightly. She caught two fish, but it was early yet, so she ran a string through their gills tying one end to a stick too large to fit through gills, and the other to a stick stuck on the shore.

She called to Wildfire, swinging herself up onto his back with ease as she went in search of berries or other food to add to their morning meal. They set off with a gentle squeeze of her legs, moving at a slow walk through the damp grass. She was in no hurry, waiting for the sun to show above the horizon before really seeking food. For now she was just enjoying a morning with her strider.

[Amunet]

Amunet relaxed more and more as their conversation went on during dinner. It was good when the Drykas met at evening meal to talk about their day. In her mind, it completed the day despite being out on the grass. The girl worried that her husband didn’t know she had come out after her. They would have to return first thing in the morning. The little red head didn’t want to cause her anymore grief than necessary. They ate their meal with the light conversation. Amunet did not complain with the portion that was not all the way cooked. Not everyone could cook. The woman said she was a seamstress and that must be interesting.

Her head saw the large rump of Shetanae as she had moved closer to the fire and the tents. A herd’s strength is in them keeping together. As the striders and humans made themselves ready to sleep, Amunet did so with little worry. What did the young woman have to worry about? The wandering little red head had her strider, a new friend, the Grass and all was right with her little world. Her eyes closed and slept in peaceful repose as that mass of red hair settled around her head and shoulders like a crimson frame.

The little herbalist was a light sleeper and Naiya’s movements stirred her but the young lady was not ready to move her comfortable spot. Her toes managed to stretch out from the wool blanket as she dozed till Syna greeted her eyelids. As if by magic those eyelids came open as those sky blue eyes twinkled in response to those pinpoints of early rays that was the dawn. The girl rose to find that Naiya hadn’t returned. Amunet rose, fingering her loose hair a bit to settle it out of her face as she looked around. The red head noticed her fishing pole was missing to which she sighed a bit of relief as the other red head went fishing.

She inclined her head as she moved to the fire to stir more of a flame from it. Those deft hands found the wood pile they had created to break a couple of brances about the size of her fingers into smaller pieces to feed the fire. Once the flames were stiring with that bit of kindle, she put larger pieces on the small fire till it was good enough to cook with. In her yvas bag she drew out her cooking pot and supply of barley groats to make porridge. It as hearty and would go with the fish nicely. The pot was half filled with water with a pinch of salt and then she portioned out the barley groats carefully. The careful girl put the pot closer to the fire to get it to boil, this took a few chimes. Then the pot was pulled a bit away so to boil. The groats needed the water hot to soak up the liquid and start to cook but it didn’t need to boil very hard.

The spoon was in the pot stirring it. The girl started to roll her bedroll and blanket up and do the same for Naiya. Amunet was well adept at taking down and packing as most Drykas do since they could help with the constant motion of the city of tents that was Endrykas. The girl would return ever couple of ticks to stir the slowly cooking porridge. The tent she took down with practiced ease as the support were tucked and rolled with the tent canvas and was secured in a tight packed bundle to be ready to transport. Shetanae was grazing nearby in the dawn’s increasing light as Amunet stirred the porridge some more turning the pot to even the heat on all sides. The morning was alive with the calls of the birds and the stirring of the smaller animals that should get their breakfast before they became breakfast.

[Naiya]

Naiya did not stray far from their camp, the grasses were not safe this far from their roaming city. Her eyes scanned the horizons, on constant alert to the possibility of danger. Still, they had two striders, not merely her own as she had been led to believe. If nothing else the could abandon their things and run, striders could outrun any manner of beast on the sea of grass.

Still, she was concerned, and she wished to return home. She spotted flattened grass ahead, and gentle urging with her body and legs positioned Wildfire so that she could have a closer look. Cloven tracks, small but fairly deep. She had to guess they were deer, the heavy animals had hooves, and she was fairly sure that boars had bigger feet. By elimination if must have been deer tracks.

She followed those a short distance, hoping that their browsing grounds would lead her to fruit. She was careful to keep Wildfire in line with gentle pressure of her legs while she looked across the grass. Turning about as she did on his back would have asked his motion to change without the reassurance of her leg pressing against the direction she faced.

She lost the tracks after only a few chimes, but the sky had lightened enough that she could see what she had hoped anyway. The trees she had avoided in the dark were indeed fruit bearing trees. Small round fruits hung from their branches and promised a snack.

She pressed Wildfire into a trot, asking him to close the distance quickly as she pressed low against him, following the motion as best she could. When they reached the trees she sat up, asking him to stop beneath the branches. The fruits were only beginning to ripen, but there were a few more ripe than the others. She plucked the six best ones from the surrounding trees, stowing them in her bag.

Successful in her search, Naiya turned back to the camp, ready to awaken her companion before the sun rose fully above the horizon. To her surprise, Amunet was already awake when she returned, cooking something in a large pot. Naiya could hardly fathom how she had stored such a thing comfortably in yvas bags that were already so full. She was beginning to think that the girl had planned this excursion more than she was letting on. Her family may just have been angered by her absence rather than truly worried.

All the same, she admired the way the girl took so comfortably to being alone in the grass. Naiya could only feel it was a dangerous place, but her skills were limited and of little use in the grass. It must not have been so of this girl, despite her antics. She swung down to the water to retrieve the fish and the pole before approaching their camp, broken down as it was.

"Good morning." Naiya called from a distance, in case the sound of beating hooves had not been enough to alert the woman to her approach. There was no need to cause a scare. Greetings, shaped her fingers as she passed the other mare, grazing comfortably. "I found fruit," She explained, hands shadowing her words with the caution of a warning about the ripeness of said fruit, "and fish."

She dismounted, pulling the fish free of her other things and finding a small flatish stone to gut them over. She started with the scales, using the flat of her blade to scrape them off, sending scales flying across both her and the space around her. Then the sharp of her blade cut through the belly from throat to tail, and she scooped her hand inside to pull out the offal. They could eat it, but it would also make good bait. She repeated the process on the other fish, careful to make sure she removed all of the scales, but finding that her hands were unpracticed and she often tore the skin or missed spots. Her cut was crooked as she gutted the second fish, but she could still reach inside to pull out the innards.

She offered the fish to Amunet, willing to let her try a and at cooking them after her poor attempt last night. She left her to work, mounting back up with the offal and the pole to the river to try her luck once more while the other cooked.

Her line was simple, and she pressed the bloody bait onto the hook, pricking her fingers more than once in the process. She grimaced but left it alone, waiting for the fishing to be done before cleaning herself up.

Her bait and hook sunk into the water, and the very first fish stole the bait in a dash, leaving her hook hanging bare. She grumbled as she pulled the hook back, letting it hang in the air in front of her as she cut a second bit of bait, more careful to press it fully onto the hook.

She dropped the bait into the water once more, dipping the tip of her pole up and down in the water to keep the bait from being too still and easily forgotten. It was luck that had a second fish attempt to steal her bait, and a careful pull upwards that latched the hook in the mouth of the fish.

Success turned her lips upwards as she pulled the creature from the water, she fished for two more before knocking over her rock dam and tossing the rest of the bait to the other fish. She didn't need them all, and what she had now would feed her family dinner tonight.

Shahar would be worried, she knew, and she couldn't let their morning take up the rest of the day, not out in the grass like this, alone and without word of where she was.

She trudged back up to what was left of their camp, finding that the fish had been left alone while the other tended porridge. It was frustrating, but not so problematic. She placed two flat rocks into the heart of the fire, then moved to string her three fish onto Wildfire's yvas, letting the stallion hold to the gear while she cooked. They would bank the fire and leave as soon as the fish was done, whether or not Amunet was amicable. Her family was worried, and Naiya's own family would be as well.

She split the fish further, along the same cut that had cleaned them, pressing firmly against the spine to split it until she had to fish halves. She placed both fish onto the rocks, the fire dampened by the stone.

Chimes later she removed them, their flesh opaque and white, a slight char on the flesh. It was good enough, she decided, passing the woman a whole fish and beginning to eat her own portion.

"We must go soon." She told her, as she politely accepted the porridge, adding a portion of cool water to temper the heat more quickly and thin the overly thick meal. Still, it was food, and she would eat.

[Khida]

Amunet

Should you return, PM me and I'll grade your posts.

Naiya Dawnwhisper

Skill	Points
Animal Husbandry	+1
Butchery	+3
Carving	+1
Construction	+2
Cooking	+4
Diplomacy	+1
Fishing	+2
Foraging	+2
Horsemanship	+3
Interrogation	+1
Intimidation	+1
Planning	+3
Riding	+2
Socialization	+1
Tracking	+3
Trapping	+1
Wilderness Survival	+5

• Amunet: apparently prone to wandering
• Amunet: daughter of Goren Shimmerstone, Ruby Clan
• Amunet: outlived her mother
• Animal Husbandry: the process of milking
• Butchery: scaling and gutting fish
• Carving: putting a point on a stick
• Construction: a pebble dam for a stream
• Construction: digging a firepit
• Cooking: a garlic rub
• Cooking: fish is done when opaque
• Cooking: herbed milk stew
• Cooking: sizzling water as sign of temperature
• Diplomacy: letting a nearly finished issue pass
• Drak: younger brother of Amunet
• Endrykas rumor: Zulrav's lightning-struck messenger, word of 'the dark one'
• Fishing: holding fish on a stringer
• Fishing: loose bait will be stolen
• Fishing: using insects and offal as bait
• Foraging: picking unfamiliar fruit of questionable ripeness
• Foraging: scrounging insects for bait
• Horsemanship: cooling a hard-worked horse
• Horsemanship: the importance of breaks in a long ride
• Horsemanship: wiping down a sweaty horse
• Interrogation: prompting with unwanted alternative
• Intimidation: harsh statements, delivered bluntly
• Planning: supplies for a short expedition
• Riding: leg pressure cues turns
• Shetanae: Amunet's Strider
• Survival: building a wood fire
• Survival: cooking on a heated stone
• Survival: tell others where you're going
• Survival: the hazards of open ground
• Survival: the merits of a firepit
• Survival: thicker vegetation heralds water
• Tracking: deer hoofprints in grass
• Tracking: human footprints in grass
• Tracking: mud tells more than dirt
• Trapping: using bait to draw prey

I'm going to presume Naiya didn't keep the uneaten consumables (fish, fruit) beyond this encounter, given that fish don't keep well and the fruit is evidently unknown to her. Let me know if you really want either as awards.

Notes

You guys had a lot going on in this thread! This is a definite contender for the most lores I've awarded in one sitting. I particularly liked the contrasts between the two women, as well -- Naiya the conscientious planner and Amunet the innocent.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding this grade. Also, Naiya, please edit your request to show this thread has been graded.