The Beginning of the Hunt.

by **Archailist** on March 31st, 2016, 12:15 am

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

73rd of Spring, 516.

Rumours were flying in the Squire Dorms. There was always something, this was no big news; someone mentioned that Loren Dyres has a cough and suddenly all of Syliras thinks he's gravely ill. Little things overexaggerated to the point of ludicrosity, for whatever reason. The only reason that Arch actually paid any notice to them, for the first time in many seasons, was that a familiar name was woven in this time. Irathia, the squire that he'd met a while back, and her patron had both seen.. some weird giant winged monster.

Now this was news. Irathia, in the two times he'd met her, had seemed.. odd, that was certain. Her complete inability to ride a horse and the odd weapons she used made her stand out in a crowd. But she was a nice girl - when she nearly killed someone she felt sorry for it. Perhaps this was being a little overzealous considering that he'd not known her for very long but she'd never struck him as a liar.. or one to make such strange claims. The fact that her patron was echoing the words as well, even stranger. They could have just thought they saw something, of course - a trick of the light or a common animal they mistook for something else. That seemed to be the general consensus.

But... if there was even the chance that whatever this thing was, turned out to be real.. wasn't it worth at least an investigation? He wasn't exactly in-the-know regarding the upper echelons of the knighthood and their opinions on every little snippet that passed through the rumour mill but apparently it wasn't. Patrons continued to go out into the woods yet never delved deeper than the normal routes. Nobody was reassigned, nobody moved off on a different tangent.. all was the same as normal. "But what if it's real?" Ser Iros wasn't listening. The knight was lying down on a mat with a iron bar between his hands, coupled with the most outrageous weights he'd ever seen - lots of them. "Surely we can spare just a few knights, head out, find out whatever this thing is and see if it does exist? If it's in our territory then it's in our best interests to learn more about it.. I mean, what if it starts killing?!"

"If it's in our territory then the patrols will pick it up, whatever it is. If it starts killing, a wing will probably be sent out to deal with it and that'll be that." It wasn't a good enough answer.

"So what, the plan is to wait until it does kill someone before we do anything? Why wait that long? We know about it now, why don't we just deal with it now, before someone gets hurt?" The indignation in his voice was palpable but Ser Iros' indifference was thick.

"I don't know why you're asking me these questions. I'm not a commanding officer, I don't make the decisions in this scenario. From what I know, yes, that is the plan and no, they're not changing it. Not worth the resources, not worth the time to run out on an errand because someone saw a birdie."

"Then I'd like seven days of leave." It was given. If the knights truly believed this was not worth their time, then it would fall to the squires to take care of it. He'd start with open messages left on the doors and walls of the Squire Dorms, written hastily in writing far too small on pieces of spare parchment to do two things - to meet on the Stone Gardens grounds, and to pass the message on. He left them everywhere he could think of, including outside the rooms of many of those squires he already knew.. and a good deal of those he didn't. Squires, knights, common members of the public - it didn't matter.

He knew very well that this could all be a wild goose chase. A rumour and nothing more, some children playing a prank, a trick of the light, heck even a small bird combined with a trick of the light in some funny little accident. But, in the offchance that this was real, they could be dealing with something huge, powerful and potentially deadly.. and if it and its species wasn't dealt with immediately, completely and permanently, they ran the risk of turning their backs on something that could cause serious harm to the travellers, the hunters, the gatherers, the perfumists needing flowers for their wares, fletchers needing wood for their arrows and bows... all of the people who made use of the woods on a daily basis for whatever their needs.

Before Arch went down to address his fellows, there was one more thing he needed to do. His tiny fist rapped a few times on Irathia's front door - but he soon realized that it sounded like a fly headbutting the wood, so instead he reared back, stuck his Py-Pole in the ground and catapulted himself against the front door with a powerful two-footed kick. Yes, he could have slid himself underneath the door, but after many awkward scenarios involving naked people, he now knew that was rude.

Important! :

by **Irathia** on March 31st, 2016, 1:33 am

Irathia sat in her room as she thought... Her spar with Imass could have been better, and not as... Violent, but there was also the rumors that all the dormitories about her seeing the big bird... Thing. It was weird, with the squires whispering her name... Sometimes squires would stare at her weird, and sometimes they talked behind her back after she passed, but she could hear them still. It freaked her out, she rather just stay in the shadows, just another squire, but she seemed to far in to return back to that point.

She found herself drifting off into a drone again as she continued to think, she quickly shook her head, clearing her mind... She popped her back as she wrapped her cloak around her body, letting it settle before she gripped her hammer. She smiled and huffed as she started to walk towards the door, prepared for the day's activities.

Thud

Irathia jumped as a loud banging noise hit the door when she put her hand on it. She pulled it open to see no one was there... Then she decided to look down... And there was a squirrel near the door. "Hi Archailist." She said, opening the door more. She bent down onto her knee, "Why are you here?" She asked the small pycon.

by **Archailist** on March 31st, 2016, 1:52 am

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

As much as it pained Arch, he'd actually rehearsed this to himself on the way through the corridors. Well, truth be told, he'd not really looked forward to seeing Irathia again. She was a nice girl, he knew that now, but no matter how they talked, how much petty revenge he took or how much she apologized wholeheartedly, there was still a constant reminder between them of what had happened. He couldn't ignore her now, though; Ira, for better or for worse, was a key witness. She alone knew exactly what this thing was and she held all the important information. She was the first and the last point of call for the whole thing.

"I want you to answer me truthfully, honestly, without a shadow of a doubt, okay?" He was trying to be serious for once - in fact he might have overdone it. Perhaps he should have come to Irathia before posting all those notes under everyone's doors. "Did you really see.. this giant bird-thing?" He didn't even know exactly what it was the rumours called it - or if it had a name at all. It was big, he knew that much. Wings were included somewhere. "I mean, is there.. is there really some giant monster-thing running around out there, right now, with half of the city not even believing that it exists and nobody really wanting to do anything about it?" Yeah, he'd definitely overdone it.

The butt of his Py-Pole thunked against the stone floor, echoing down the dimly-lit halls. "Before you answer.. if you're lying, I swear to Sylir I'll stick this so far up your rear you'll taste it." The metal cap on the tip of his pole was nice and sharp. Needed to be if he ever wanted to stab it into the ground and dig it nice and deep. "And if you're telling the truth, then I need you to help me kill it, destroy its family and run its entire species out of here immediately." Perhaps spending so much time as a squirrel had given him an irrational fear of large menacing birds. For some reason falcons and eagles just looked like very evil creatures. "So, yeah. Think wisely before you answer."

by **Irathia** on March 31st, 2016, 2:23 am

"I saw it Archailist... It was huge, I mean... It landed on a deer and killed it, and then flew away with it like it was rabbit. What was most disturbing about it was the fact it had a skull on it's head. Not for it's head though, I could see it's eyes and skin from the eyes socket when it turned and looked at Sera Ravonai and I." Irathia said, her voice held truth, she remembered the creature like it was right there in front of them. "The wings were HUGE, and the feathers like coal."

Irathia began to rise, her armor sliding against her as she did so. "I assume it would be wise if I bring a spear with me if we do go on this hunt?" She said, smiling. "A shield would be to..." She said, talking to her self at this point as she grabbed the shield she was given by Sera Ravonai. It was extremely worn but it would do for her mission.

"I assume we will be attempting to get more people? I don't think us two together would be able to take this thing out." She said, frowning slightly at the idea of the two attacking at once... It would be suicide almost, just... With probably a lot more shredding on her body compared to a straight death.

She finished her preparing and walked into the hallway, her cloak hiding her hammers, shield, and armor. She had a small smile as she hoped this hunt would help with the awkwardness that she felt when she was around Archailist... At least she hoped it would... If anything it might get worse with an actual hatred forming between the two. Which is anything but she wanted.

by **Archailist** on April 1st, 2016, 1:15 am

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

It's not a joke. Looking up at her as she went on and on about this.. great hulking beast of a bird, he could see no signs of humour on her face, nothing at all. It only made him that more frightened. Something like this.. shyke. This wasn't going to just be a brief runaround like a case of Yukmen hordes appearing. This was something.. something they didn't even know about. Perhaps that just made it even more concerning that it seemed like they, a rag-tangle of men and women with barely any time together, were the only ones actually going out to sort this trouble out.

"One step ahead of me, aren't you." Maybe he'd underestimated. It seemed more like everyone else was just chomping at the bit; waiting for an opportunity to seize and go after this rumoured beast. "It'd be wise to bring everything." Although it'd be especially nice to see the other squire actually using a shield for once - especially against something with enough strength to do what she'd claimed it had done. Two hammers would be lovely, but somehow he didn't think all would end well if she came equipped with just that. "Grab a shield, grab a spear, grab some hammers, a bow, a horse, a tent. Pack a bag or three, because we're not stopping until we find this thing and we kill it."

He'd become so embroiled he'd almost forgotten about the other people that were likely already gathering down in the Gardens, if they weren't there already. "Actually, grab all that shyke later. For now, find your patron and bring her and yourself down to the Stone Gardens." he suddenly said. The Pycon was in such a rush, he didn't have time to ask if she knew where that was either. He was already turning back out the entrance and down the corridor, wasting just enough time to throw his head over one shoulder and yell back at her, "Hurry!" Then he was gone.

Down the stone stairs he bounced, around the tight corners of the narrow streets, barely making it to the Stone Gardens with any breath left in his clay. "Sweet Sylir, I need more exercise..." he muttered to himself, one hand pressed against the entrance archway to keep his tiny body from toppling over from near-exhaustion. No time to sit down and take a breath though. The squirrel-shaped clay statue forced himself to straighten to attention, draw a deep breath and march inside.. taking his place standing on top of one of the back-rests of a thick stone bench, where new arrivers would hopefully be able to see. Sweet Sylir, was all he could think of in a last-tick prayer, please let this go well. For all of our sakes.

oocLet the posting commence!

by **Shimoje** on April 1st, 2016, 2:03 am

Illogical Chase

Shimoje sat in the far corner of the stone garden. He had heard and seen the news about Syliras and started to think. He hasn't experienced many creatures, but if such a creature was capable of killing in the area perhaps it was responsible for his father's death a few months back. He didn't know what he was doing, but he would do anything just out of curiosity. As long as he was careful he thought "What could go wrong." His thoughts tended to escape his mouth almost as if time had slipped away he woke up from his daydreams and noticed he was not alone.

He didn't pay too much mind, but continued about his business. Obviously no one has arrived for this meeting quite yet. Shimoje stood up and started walking towards the middle of the stone garden using the pathway. He was careful to respect the several hundreds of named stones across the ground in the sand. It was something that he could not conceive after losing his father. He didn't want to even think about death, honestly. The only thoughts that he held dear was those of new inventions and devices. It had been a while since he has had adventure. "Nothing can compare to my trip here to Syliras I bet, what do I have to lose?"

He kept reassuring himself. It was easy to remain blind to the fact that doing a task like this would be dangerous. "Nothing here but animals it seems" He paused almost for a good minute and looked around a second trying not to seem obvious. He didn't see the thing arrive, but what ever it was it looked like a statue that moved. Something didn't feel right in his gut, and he learned to try and trust his guts, it has kept him alive for this long. He rubbed his bald head for a second and then started to really pay attention to the thing as it looked like it was waiting for something.

His hand traced over his leather tri-fold pouch where he keep his woodcarving knives. Just tools, but still better than nothing. "Are you sentient?" He asked out on a whim. His heart was pounding. Even though the thing was small. Shimoje has much to learn about the world, but nothing would surprise him... make him cautious well that is another story.

"I am here for the beast. It might lead to whatever or whoever killed my father." Shimoje threw out there almost immediately after. He didn't want to make the situation obscure for it if the thing was sentient. He at least tried to show composer and show manners. "I would like to join you, but sadly the only help I can give you is of the scholarly sorts. I am not good in combat yet, but I have a quick mind, and I am an inventor. Not all battles can be fought with sword and stone. "

Shimoje reached into his pack he normally carried and brought out his wooden stake with spirals running down it which turned it into a large screw looking spike. It was about the size of his forearm and had a straight edged groove into one part of the spiral and curved on the other side. This would apply more force, but shimoje just started to begin to understand the effects of how it works. Either way it was almost like a piece of art to Shimoje. He was very proud of his work, and has already used it in a variety of ways.

He was ready and despite his show of worth, however valued or not valued it was, he wanted whoever it was that he was going with to find this beast to know he was serious about it. "I aim to find whatever this is and make sure it doesn't kill any more. Then I am going to study it." He proclaimed before looking around and studying his surrounding one last time before banding with the ones who decide to join him in his decision as well.

With an act of carelessness he walked over to the bench and sat down on it. Not sure how the thing he was trying to talk with would react.
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Speech Thoughts

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by **Poppy Blackburn** on April 2nd, 2016, 8:13 am

Poppy had been on her way back from yet another bout of training when she’d seen the parchment stuck onto the door. The parchment was small but noticeable, and the message it contained was a rather peculiar one indeed. It simply said to meet in the Stone Garden, but provided no other details. Being especially vague and lacking any sense of details, she had seen some other squires carelessly regarded the parchment as no more than a prank or simply a waste of time, for there was hardly any details present. But not Poppy.

She doubt that one was so free to go to all this trouble, pasting up all these messages for simply a prank. There was definitely more than meets the eye when this whole parchment was concerned. There had been rumours going around that one of the squire and her patron came across a fearsome and terrifying beast. Then came the possible rumour of a quest to hunt the beast. The next thing she knew, the parchment was there, on her door.

The Stone Garden was a place that was important to the Syliran Order and she doubt that any squire would go as far as to play a fool at a place such as the Stone Garden. Grabbing the parchment, she made ready to go, and started to head to the meeting location indicated in the message. She was suitably armoured and equipped with the usual weapons she carried, a longsword and its accompanying shield, and a recurve short bow and a quiver of arrows. During the first few months of her time as a squire, Poppy had loaned a horse from Serena over at the Windmount Stables. She had chosen an eager looking Kavinka Painted Mount, or rather the horse had chosen her. Deciding to get some riding done instead of spending the journey on foot, she mounted the horse and made her way to the garden in a slow trot, navigating her way through the streets of the city.

As the reached the stone garden, Poppy dismounted, tying up her horse at one of the nearby horse post, before she began walking towards the centre of the garden using the main pathway where several hundred pebbles and stones of equal size and shape were half buried in the sands to represent the lives lost for survival in troubled times.

This was a place of reflection and remembering the fallen, and she maintained a sombre stance, while excitement and intrigue bubbled within her. The lass had informed her patron about embarking on this adventure, and he gladly encouraged her to take part in this adventure, informing that since this would be a group activity, she could take the opportunity to learn from the rest of the squires and their patrons as well. Then he informed her that he'll come along as well to help and guide her out to quell any further worries. This was a good chance for her to improve and extend her skills and knowledge, and he wouldn't want her to miss out on it.

As she reached the meeting location, she saw not more than two people there. It was then that Poppy saw the Pycon she knew as Archailist perched on one of the back rests of a thick stone bench. She’d a feeling that the squirrel pycon would be involved in this. The two other figures that were gathered there were a male and a female, and she had seen neither before. The man was young and had no hair, his head resembling a shiny egg.

He didn’t look to be the fighting type either for he was too thin and seemed to lack any noticeable muscle mass a trained fighter would have. The female, however, resembled more of a squire’s build, not too different compared to hers, although Poppy was taller by quite a fair bit. Her hair a raven black and body riddled with scars, as opposed to the relatively unblemished skin that was Poppy’s. Taking a step forward and walking up to one of the most influential pycon she has ever met, Poppy stated with a smile. “I’m here to help. Heard that you were gathering help to slay some fearsome creature? I'm not wrong am I? I’m in if you would have me.”

by **Irathia** on April 3rd, 2016, 4:37 am

Irathia ran to the armory and picked up a spear, and then ran around, attempting to track down Sera Ravonai. She must have looked like a fool, with two hammers, a shield on the back, and a spear slid in between the shield. Frantically running around trying to track down her Patron... In fact she has seen several squires and knights staring at her as she ran passed them. She finally found Sera Ravonai and she sort of ran/stopped into her Patron.

"Woah! Irathia! I thou-" Sera Ravonai was clearly surprised as she attempted to recover being ran into.

"No time! You know that monster bird thing that killed a dear?" She semi-shouted.

"Yes, why do you have your hammers and a spear?" The Patron asked her squire, she was still slightly confused.

"Squire Archailist has requested that we went and hunt the thing down... He wants you there." Irathia said, she was breathing rapidly in the excitement and running around in armor. "Get your weapons please, and meet us at the Stone Garden!" She said.

"Okay!" Sera Ravonai began to jog to the armory to get weapons as Irathia separated and began sprinting again to the Stone Garden, the excitement of the idea of going on a hunt was pumping adrenaline into her veins, just because she thought about it. The idea of killing a beast that NO ONE seems to know about was amazing feeling, if they actually survive the fight that is.

by **Shimoje** on April 6th, 2016, 12:31 am

So there he sat, sun beaming down on his gleaming and shiny head. Two more have seemed to arrive, and despite his intentions his guts kind of got to him. He was really doing this. Really going to go after some crazed beast that has been killing things. A rather intimidating lady came up to Shimoje as he sat on the bench, alongside the weird squirrel looking thing. She asked about the fearsome creature and for a moment Shimoje thought she was talking to him, but noticed that her eyes were not focused on him. Non the less he responded jokingly “A beast more fearsome than you? I am in trouble indeed.” His smile seemed to crescent from one of his face to another. He knew deep down this might bring a bad impression of him, but he was in one of those moods today. If he had the potential to die, he might as well do it in a good mood. Even if a fake one.

Mildly his attention was directed to another location rather than the two scarily strong females that were nearby. He saw another female arriving as well, she looked shorter than himself and as the sun shined he noted the blue eyes sparkling from the sun’s warmth. She seemed to have a little glisten about her, and it could have been sweat but it was hard to make out. She was carrying an array of weapons. The most distinguished from this distance was the spear. Something Shimoje himself has tried wielding himself. He was at least a little bit accustomed to it, but never had the ability to get any sort of weapon aside from that which he has made. The smile on his face was still observable and his teeth were out. They seemed to be perfect with only a bit of color on them stained from age. He tried to take care of his teeth, they were all present and fairly even.

“So this hunt, how are we to do such? I don’t have much for in ways of travel sadly. I know my way around a boat, but this about it.” Shimoje declared as the new female came closer and closer. “My, looks like I really am the odd ball out here huh!”

by **Garland** on April 9th, 2016, 2:41 pm

Garland had been lollygagging about, just minding his own business. Officially he was on patrol, but his patrol was the Stone Gardens, no one in the city dared deface or vandalize that place.

Not only will the knights be high on the heels of whoever chooses to deface the stones, but plenty of people believe the stones to be haunted. Whether this was true or just some story to keep kids away from the grave site, no one could say.

As he was 'patrolling', meaning just paying his respects and watching the sights. He spotted a man with hair non-existent on his head. Simply put he was bald. It wasn't a strange site to see people come and pay their respects and such but the man looked like he was waiting for something.

He sat a little ways away, watching him. No one would vandalize the Stone Garden, but that didn't mean there were no crimes that happened in the Stone Garden, with the stories of it being haunted made the place a prime location for under-the-table or meetings.

There was a chance that this man was simply waiting for a friend to come along, or he could be doing something illegal. Garland needed to watch for anything, the number one rule of patrols was to keep an eye out and stay on guard, even if they were in the safety of the city walls.

Garland sat down on the bench, watching the sky, watching the clouds go by and such, but he kept an eye on whoever was walking here. He wasn't exactly hidden, but anyone seeing him and quickly turning away had something to hide, so he kept an eye out.

Soon enough a familiar face came up. Poppy and Irathia, he didn't know them personally but he had seen Poppy on the Training Grounds before, and he had heard about Irathia and the giant bird thing.

Garland didn't pay much mind to the rumors, though this time there weren't just one eyewitness, but two, and a knight to boot.

He had stopped looking at the sky now and finally paid full attention to the group. He squinted a bit, but he could definitely see another familiar form.

Now this was getting interesting. Garland finally got up and walked towards them, whatever this was he was intrigued enough to either stop them or to join them.

"Hello! What's happening here? Why the small gathering?"

Closed The Beginning of the Hunt.