Winter 21, 516 - Testing Grounds
“There aren’t many, ‘pulsers’, on Sahova right?” Sayana asked still finding herself unused to the word referring to the living.
“No. In fact, it tends to be more common that pulsers are just visitors. Few stay long, and I’m sure you understand why.” The prairie warden replied.
Riyanna and Sayana walked through the plains of the testing grounds, with Stardust at Sayana’s side. The white mare occasionally sought out plantlife to eat, but much of it was too dry or too coarse to bother with.
“Are there many wardens like you?” The Eypharian questioned.
“No. There might be half a dozen to a dozen of us, full-fledged wardens, at any given time. Sometimes there are more warden initiates, like you, but we go through them quickly. It is not an easy task to maintain this place.”
“And what about--”
Sayana broke off her words suddenly as a loud growl and yapping noise interrupted. In ticks, she had her daggers drawn in her high and mid hands and was scanning the grasses for the source of the loud and almost high pitched yipping. Her horse pawed the ground uncomfortably and even reared up as the tiny dog-like creature emerged from the grass.
It was small, tiny, and soon Stardust managed to calm somewhat. Yet there was something strange about the face. It was grotesque and had too many eyes and too many… teeth? Then it jumped up at her with surprising height and instinctively Sayana blocked with a pair of crossed daggers. Teeth nipped her arm and the tiny dog made another move to bite her leg. She side-stepped and it made another jump at her. At this point she could finally tell what had looked so odd about it. There were random sets of teeth sticking out of the sides of its face with partially formed jaws to bite with.
Riyanna was smiling at the scene, on the verge of laughing, as Sayana was unsure whether to restrain the pesky creature or just to kill it out right. But one more bite was the deciding factor. The Eypharian made a slash at its face. When it whimpered and fell, she grabbed its body with one hand and plunged a second dagger deep into its body to be sure she had finished it off.
“Oh come now, you didn’t have to kill it.”
“But it had four eyes and three sets of teeth!” Sayana protested.
Riyanna paused and looked at the remains. “It’s one of those… I saw one before, but I thought it was a one-off. Gibbat dogs are supposed to have four eyes but the teeth... Those aren’t right. Someone or something has been tampering with them. If this is the second, then it might be time to seek out the cause. It looks like some direct or indirect form of morphing. Can I trust you to investigate? I still have to make the rounds.”
“So long as you won’t frown on me for killing them in self-defence. Any idea where to start?”
“Try to keep them alive if possible. I rather like seeing the little critters running about. And try the ‘Pit’. Just be careful not to go inside. You’re not ready for it.” Riyanna answered and pointed in the direction of the landmark, far across the prairie and currently not visible to the eye.
“There aren’t many, ‘pulsers’, on Sahova right?” Sayana asked still finding herself unused to the word referring to the living.
“No. In fact, it tends to be more common that pulsers are just visitors. Few stay long, and I’m sure you understand why.” The prairie warden replied.
Riyanna and Sayana walked through the plains of the testing grounds, with Stardust at Sayana’s side. The white mare occasionally sought out plantlife to eat, but much of it was too dry or too coarse to bother with.
“Are there many wardens like you?” The Eypharian questioned.
“No. There might be half a dozen to a dozen of us, full-fledged wardens, at any given time. Sometimes there are more warden initiates, like you, but we go through them quickly. It is not an easy task to maintain this place.”
“And what about--”
Sayana broke off her words suddenly as a loud growl and yapping noise interrupted. In ticks, she had her daggers drawn in her high and mid hands and was scanning the grasses for the source of the loud and almost high pitched yipping. Her horse pawed the ground uncomfortably and even reared up as the tiny dog-like creature emerged from the grass.
It was small, tiny, and soon Stardust managed to calm somewhat. Yet there was something strange about the face. It was grotesque and had too many eyes and too many… teeth? Then it jumped up at her with surprising height and instinctively Sayana blocked with a pair of crossed daggers. Teeth nipped her arm and the tiny dog made another move to bite her leg. She side-stepped and it made another jump at her. At this point she could finally tell what had looked so odd about it. There were random sets of teeth sticking out of the sides of its face with partially formed jaws to bite with.
Riyanna was smiling at the scene, on the verge of laughing, as Sayana was unsure whether to restrain the pesky creature or just to kill it out right. But one more bite was the deciding factor. The Eypharian made a slash at its face. When it whimpered and fell, she grabbed its body with one hand and plunged a second dagger deep into its body to be sure she had finished it off.
“Oh come now, you didn’t have to kill it.”
“But it had four eyes and three sets of teeth!” Sayana protested.
Riyanna paused and looked at the remains. “It’s one of those… I saw one before, but I thought it was a one-off. Gibbat dogs are supposed to have four eyes but the teeth... Those aren’t right. Someone or something has been tampering with them. If this is the second, then it might be time to seek out the cause. It looks like some direct or indirect form of morphing. Can I trust you to investigate? I still have to make the rounds.”
“So long as you won’t frown on me for killing them in self-defence. Any idea where to start?”
“Try to keep them alive if possible. I rather like seeing the little critters running about. And try the ‘Pit’. Just be careful not to go inside. You’re not ready for it.” Riyanna answered and pointed in the direction of the landmark, far across the prairie and currently not visible to the eye.
