A friend in the wild [closed, Ssedrasshadara]

[Estrios]

45th day of Winter, 511 AV Estrios had recently come by Kandukta Basin, and has already found much prey for him to bring back. However, he has found just as much predators, and after an hour of hunting, he could feel the weariness settling in. The claw marks that were throbbing on his chest reminded him all too well of his recent encounter with an unusually large Tiger. However, he could already see the small paths that lead to the city of Taloba. Estrios was thinking about sinking his teeth into roasted animal flesh when he veered of course and fell down a small slope onto the shores of the basin. He cursed himself for being so clumsy and got up, feeling a tight pain as he noticed that the wounds on his chest had opened up and started to bleed. Nevertheless, he picked up the prey he had killed and turned around to leave the basin. That lasted a few seconds, before he heard a shrill screech and turned around to see a Ta'rukahl bearing down on him. He reached for his sword, but only felt the hood of his jacket. Estrios turned his head to see his sword lying on the ground a few feet away, and was thrown to the ground by the bird's tackle. He punched the bird and it flew away, but it had landed on the claw marks, which became twice as painful as before. He picked up his sword and meat, and headed along a path to the outskirts of Taloba, were he had made a fire the night before. He struggled along, resting every minute or so, but kept on moving. Eventually the wounds healed, and Estrios was able to move much faster. He was almost at his camp site when he heard a Tskanna coming from behind. He knew that could only mean Myrians were passing by, and since he didn't know if they were hostile or not, he went to a small nearby clearing, where he propped himself against a tree and waited until the Myrians passed.

[Ssedrasshadara]

Hot and humid, dark and dank, just the way she liked it. Granted, almost every day was like that, but for some reason, today she just felt… different. Better, somehow. The day had been so nice that Sshadara just had to go outside. One thing led to another, and well… she was now taking a lovely stroll—er, slither—through the rainforest. The fresh air would do her good after so long cooped up in Zinrah, and though the hot springs were nice wrestling could only do so much to stave off boredom. Besides, she’d always lose. Steam and shadows swirled together in dizzying patterns, and everything was alive. Birds screamed at each other in the canopy, monkeys hooted as they jumped over vines, and there was the constant dripping of water sliding from one place to another. The Myrians hadn’t been as difficult to evade as she’d imagined; they were already distracted by time and drowsy from the heat. She’d debated killing one of them, but quickly decided it would be an idiotic idea as there were a grand total of five. She had eaten four days ago, so while her meal was digested she wasn’t particularly hungry. She was heading to the Basin, but didn’t have much of a plan other than to enjoy the day. Though if she happened across a solo Myrian, she wouldn’t object to killing it if it was possible. She heard the faint trickling of water over the dull roar of the forest, and though the air was too heavy for her to make out a specific smell the sound was more than enough for her to find the brook. She turned and followed it, knowing that any running water in the area would feed into the Kandukta. It was then that she caught the scent. As first she thought it was a Myrian, but a second sniff revealed that that was not the case. Sshadara sniffed again, and had she been in human form her eyes would have opened as wide as an owl’s. It… it was a common human! For a moment she just stay there, stunned, trying to convince herself that it was not so. It was impossible. Common humans did not live in Falyndar, only Myrian humans did. But her nose did not deceive her… She abandoned all thoughts of a stroll as she plunged after the trail, keeping her nose in the air. It was musky, a musk similar to Dhani and Myrian males, and was accompanied with the smell of blood and an animal. The trail veered suddenly, over a rise and into the basin, and she got a waft of bird-scent before it returned to the level it had originally been at. She stopped as she realized where exactly he was going: Taloba. He was heading straight for Taloba. Her emotions immediately entered combat. One side of her, her survivalist side, advised her to drop it immediately and save her own skin, while the other begged to continue and find out just who this man was. After a while of conflicted indecision, she uneasily headed towards the Myrian city. As she neared her senses heightened with caution. She felt the ground rumble with great footsteps, and she was hit with the filthy stench of Tskannas. She moved slowly after, keeping herself alert for any solo Myrians, and felt a flutter of excitement when she felt the human’s scent getting fresher. It left the main path and she pursued quickly and cautiously. Then, a mere minute’s slither away, she saw him. He was tall, at least for a human, and lean. His skin was tanned, and his sharp facial features were framed by black hair that shone in the light. He bore a sword, an animal lay dead at his feet, and Sshadara tilted her head at the multiple slash marks in his clothing. They were bloody, but there didn’t seem to be any significant injuries. Strange. No, intriguing. Sshadara moved with patient slowness, keeping well behind ample cover to hide her completely from sight. And if her careful movements made any sounds, well… the forest’s roars would cover that up nicely. And as she moved, she shifted, ever so slowly, ever so gently, ever so quietly. And so it was only when she was completely hidden, when even someone standing right next to her could mistake her skin for mere dapples on the forest floor, did she speak. “Humaan…” she hissed in the Myrian tongue. The word was low, drawn out, floating around the clearing softly so that only he could hear it, this dismembered voice on the wind. “Brave, to be so close to Taloba. Brave, but also foolish.”

[Estrios]

“Brave, to be so close to Taloba. Brave, but also foolish.” As soon as he heard the voice, Estrios tensed. He could already tell that whoever the voice belonged to was probably not Myrian. Not only because the vicious race would attack before being noticed, but also because the tongue being spoken was slightly off. He could tell that the other person, or thing, had studied it, but that it was not often put in use. He waited to see if the voice would say more, but it didn't. And the lack of a knife in his neck reassured him that he wasn't in imminent danger. Usually Estrios would have been in a fighting stance with his sword drawn in a few mere milliseconds, but whoever was there intrigued him. After some thinking, he concluded that the other person was without a doubt Dhani. Unless someone was playing a trick on him, which was highly unlikely. He dropped the prey he had caught earlier and got ready to draw his sword, all while scanning the nearby clearing and jungle behind him. Estrios slowly got up, knowing that a Dhani in snake form would take a bit more time to get to his neck, the obvious target for killers. This small but meaningful amount of time might decide wether he would eat the meal he had just caught, or if he would be the one eaten. The chances of the Dhani trying to murder him were much higher than of them just toying with his mind. He had experienced this in many close encounters with the race. Estrios knew that if it were to come to a fight, he would have barely a few seconds to win or lose, live or die. But he was in no state for a fast paced battle, so he simply tried to see if he could draw out the moment. It was so quiet that if a Ta'rukahl feather had landed in the trees above him, he was sure he would hear it. No matter how hard he searched however, he couldn't find or hear the Dhani. Estrios broke the silence by saying, in the Myrian tongue, "Who are you, and why are you here?"

[Ssedrasshadara]

“Who are you and why are you here?” Her laugher wove gently through the trees, as if it was afraid that anyone else but this human would hear. “I am much more interesssted in why you are here. Asss for who I am… at the moment it ssseemssss I am your path away from here.” His tension was palpable, she laughed again, a sound similar to falling rain. “Relaxss, human. If I’d wissshed to kill you, I’d not ssspeak beforehand, and if you wisssh to escape thisss death-trap you’ve inexssplicably put yourssself into, you will need my asssissstanccce.”

[Estrios]

"...you will need my asssissstanccce.” Despite the situation, Estrios smirked. This Dhani probably didn't know who they were dealing with. He had only ever heard that word used when his father made him carry a 50 pound backpack around the entire Kandukta Basin. He didn't need help the past 3 years, he wouldn't need help now. Even so, a Dhani would never help another race, it was...improbable. Whoever was there, he was growing more intrested in why they had decided to help him. Estrios took his hand off his knife and relaxed slightly, but kept scanning the grass and trees. He got out of the fighting stance that he had instinctively got into, and said, "Why would I need your assistance? And even if I did, why would you be so interested in helping someone that you've never even met? If I were you, I'd be more worried about my own safety."

[Ssedrasshadara]

“...if I were you, I’d be worried about my own safety.” This human did not seem to understand his position. “You couldn’t possssibly be ssso naïve. Look at yourssself. You are a human. A common human. And you exssissst here? At the cccenter of Falyndar? You are but a sssheep, pinned between sssnakesss and tigersss. Perhapsss you bear hornsss, but you cannot hope to live ssstanding ssso near the tigersss’ den.” She paused. “If you ssstay here any longer, the Myriansss will kill you. Only the insssane or ssstupid would even hope to resssissst them where you are. If you are dissscovered the entire cccity will turn out to hunt you. You mussst ssslip passst them, sssomething I have exssperienccce in. Asss for my motivesss, well,” she smirked to herself, “live beyond thisss and I ssshall tell you.” Her voice changed, becoming intense. “Ssso what ssshall it be, human? Do you choossse to ssstay here and die?”

[Estrios]

"Follow me and live, or ssstay here and die?” Estrios thought over what the Dhani had just said. It was true that he was in constant danger. Why, the only thing stopping the Myrians from killing him was the queen's debt to his family. He was sure that as soon as she died, he would be the first one to die in the new reign. These were all big factors, but the truth was that he had nowhere else to go. His mother and father had died, and he didn't know of any living family that he had. Estrios had barely gotten accepted into Taloba, and was picked on just about every day by the Myrian adolescences. However, he wasn't going to just take the word of a strange Dhani that he just met. For all he knew, he would be a mangled trophy in the city of Zinrah within 5 minutes of trusting this person. "You have a plausible offer," He said, "But for all I know you could just try to lead me into a hunting party. And even if you don't, where would I go? It's not like I can just trust a complete Dhani stranger."

[Ssedrasshadara]

“You doubt. Asss you should. I find you mossst… interesssting. Perhapsss we can come to an agreement. Obssserve the onesss you choossse to sssurround yourssself with. Sssee them, watch them. I have been ssstudying Myriansss for longer than you have been alive. Maybe we can exsschange information. You tell my about yourssself, and I will tell you many thingsss about your peersss that you might not have known.” She shifted, nostrils flaring to test the air. “But I have lingered too long. If you wisssh to acccept my offer and learn of your companionsss, go to the sssoutheassst bank of the Kandukta Basssin in three daysss. Ample time for you to reflect on your posssition. I cannot give you more than my word, but I promissse I ssshall wait for you, alone. If you bring anyone elssse with you, however… a sssnake’sss anger isss never pleasssant.” She turned and slithered away, not bothering to be quiet. “Think on my wordsss, little human, but not too much… thisss place revolves around actionsss, and too much thought will be your demissse.”

[Estrios]

"Too much thought will be your demissse.” Estrios was finally able to see the speaker: a spotted brown snake, about 40 feet in length, barely visible through the grass. He watched the Dhani disappear into the forest, but still waited about 2 minutes before sitting down, in case of an ambush. He had no idea what to make of this. The Dhani weren't known to be very tolerable of other races, and to meet one so close to the center of Myrian culture was almost impossible. He didn't really need any information about the Myrians, he knew enough about them already. And not only that, but he wasn't very keen on sharing information about himself with a stranger. Estrios heard a roar off in the distance, and remembered that he was still in the jungle. There was no point in staying there, so he picked up his prey and went towards the gates of Taloba. The guards already knew who he was, and reluctantly let him in. He avoided whoever he could, and headed straight for the makeshift home he had made near the bottom of the city walls. There, he roasted and ate the meat he had gotten, fed Dex, and laid down to think about the Dhani's words. Estrios woke up with a start to the sound of a roaring Myrian Tiger. He automatically took out his knife and jumped up, before he remembered that he was (kind of) safe inside Talobe. That was probably just a tiger waking up in one of the many dens here. He had decided last night that he would meet with the Dhani. He definitely wanted to know something about what was going on, but whether he would stay here or not he didn't know yet. So he decided to prepare to leave, just in case. Estrios spent the next day getting prepared for the meeting, and made sure that he was ready if an ambush were to happen. He sharpened his knife, sharpened his senses with some Myrian fights, and even bought a set of slender chainmail armor. However, he had to sell his fishing equipment and rope to get it. He also took a trip to the jungle and got the materials needed to make 5 doses of Bloodroot. He knew that he might have overexaggerated on the safety that he had prepared for the meeting, but he wasn't fond of the idea of death. After he knew he was ready, he realized he might not come back, in which situation his stuff would be left here. So, instead of selling all his possessions, he packed them up as much as he could and gave them to his only Myrian friend, Rejki. He also gave him his horse, Dex, and that if he didn't come back by the end of the next day, that he could keep him, along with all of Estrios's other possessions. He was thankful for the offer, and assured him that Dex would be treated well. He also asked if he could go along with him, but Estrios knew he wouldn't get along with a Dhani. In the morning of the third day after the Dhani encounter, Estrios put on his newly bought armor, soaked his knife in Bloodroot, and set out to the southeast bank of Kandukta Basin, where he will either die, leave the Myrians, or come back to show off a new set of armor.

[Rage]

GRANTING OF XP Estrios Hunting - 1xp Unarmed Combat - 1xp Detection - 2xp Logic - 2xp Observation - 1xp Poison - 1xp Lores: Wounds inflicted by tiger claws [Culture] The nature of the Dhani Retaining one's guard in the face of a stranger Planning ahead Items: Bloodroot, 4 doses Contact: A Dhani looking to exchange information (Sshadara) OOC - Possible Plot: Meet Sshadara in the southeast bank of the Kandukta Basin on the 48th of Winter, 511 AV Notes : A human with common sense! A good trait in surviving in Falyndar! When using the Poison skill, if you want to get a higher XP in it, I suggest creating a more detailed post how you identified and obtained the ingredients as well as the distillation process. Regarding items from threads: Please only add them in your character sheet when I have graded the thread, not before. A small note regarding your fourth post: Myri is not indebted to anyone. It is under her grace that Estrios lives in Taloba, regardless of whatever action he or his father may have done to earn that right. Being a Goddess, Myri would also not die from something as inconvenient as old age. For any question or comment regarding your grade, PM me. Sshadara Stealth - 2xp Detection - 1xp Land Navigation - 1xp Tracking - 2xp Persuasion- 1xp Intimidation - 1xp Lores: Resisting the urge to kill [Persuasion] Manipulation: Injecting a sense of danger to sway another's opinion Contact: A human living in Taloba (Estrios) OOC - Possible Plot: Meet Estrios in the southeast bank of the Kandukta Basin on the 48th of Winter, 511 AV Notes : You play a Dhani very well. I love how you took advantage of their heightened senses and used them in the thread. Well played. A small note: Myrians aren't a subrace of humans. They might have been hundreds of years ago, but they aren't now. For any question or comment regarding your grade, PM me.