A Hankering for Pelts [Job Thread]

by **Tinnok** on May 31st, 2013, 1:36 pm

A Hankering for Pelts
67th of Spring, 513 AV

"Anything?" The voice called distantly from ground level, sound waves dispersing slightly as they made their way up between lush foliage. Tinnok gazed out over the lush greenery for a moment, distracted by the way the light caught the leaves, turning them a gold yellow amongst the cacophony of green.

This weeks goal was pelts, peccary, margay, tiger, ocelot, monkey, you name it. It was towards the end of the season and the hunting party was attempting to make up for lost time during a bout of early rains. Tinnok, of course, came to accompany them, acting as scout and nature guide through the forest, long bow slung over her back, eyes wary.

Now she sat perched high up in a tree, gazing at a temporary nest a few small cats had made themselves in the trees. By the looks of it it was over a week old, as Yimay had suspected, but it never hurt to check.

"Just like you thought!" Tinnok called down in way of answer, and began the slow climb back down the massive tree, letting her body drop of its own accord once or twice and letting her hands catch upon the branches as she fell for balance. One branch snapped beneath her weight, sending her plummeting downward, so with narrowed eyes curled herself into a ball, making sure to avoid any stabbing branches, uncurling just as she landed with an unceremonious thump upon a larger limb below, recovering for a moment before continuing downward.

If the other three had seen her blunder, they did not comment as her calloused feet hit the forest floor with a soft thump, Yimay merely signaled for them to continue, and that they did.

It was hot. Truly the temperature didn't rise too much in the summer, or fall too much in the winter, but Tinnok liked to think she could still feel Summer's temperatures approaching. She followed closely behind Yimay, watching their hunting leader's feet as she slid silently through the jungle canopy, her eye ground ward as she looked for a new trail to take up.

Today Tinnok wore no wolf skin. The hunting group had seen it, Yimay smirking, Nuran shaking his head, and Haetsi sullen and silent as always. This trip was long, though, and the extra warm weight would not be needed. Golden eyes roved the jungle, but the main source of energy was put into her feet, which attempted and failed to mimic the wonderful stealth that Yimay seemed to exude from her pores.

She was better, that was for certain, then when she had began with the party, but she still felt loud in comparison to her hunting mates. Feet steady and carefully placed, body bent but not stooped...weight evenly distributed...She carried on in silence, marking Syna's progress above them as she went, wondering what they might find in the depths of the wilds this time.[/color]

by **Tinnok** on June 5th, 2013, 4:34 pm

The answer was a resounding, nothing.

A white tailed hawk soared above them midday, crying out over the vast expanse with tail feathers splayed, and Tinnok almost felt as if it was laughing at them.

Of course, the pelts they sought were of creatures that didn't much like to come out at any particular time, were small in stature, and hard to find. It wasn't a surprise at all really that they hadn't found something so soon into their journey, yet a note of disappointment could be felt through all.

This kind of hunting required more observation than straight up tracking. Luckily this is where Tinnok excelled, even above her hunting peers.

So they walked quietly, eyes wide and open, bells passing in heavy silence, and their eyes searched, an searched, and searched. That was how she spotted the Tamandua

Unwilling to make even the slightest noise Tinnok simply stopped walking, drawing her bow and pointing it up into the trees. The poor creature sat lazily eating leaves, quite unaware that his life was coming to a vicious end. Tinnok had seen a few of the arboreal anteaters before, and they were quite amiable to her now that she had her Gnosis mark.

Unfortunately, one has to make a living somehow.

Three fingers drew the oiled string back, hand sliding past her cheek, keeping the structure steady as she aimed up, up, and up still, sights set on a tiny patch of white fur concealed in the lee of the tree. One eye squinted, arm shaking with strain and concentration, and then the bow was loosed. The arrow zipped upwards, but she heard no sound of impact until a medium sized body plummeted from above, crashing into a set of ferns.

So concentrated had her compatriots been on searching the jungle themselves, they hadn't even noticed Tinnok's absence, and a grin slid upon her features to see their bodies jump with surprise, then frustration to see she had made the first kill. Getting better...

She jogged over to the anteater, seeing an arm flailing. She was still not practiced with her bow enough to make the killing blow from such a distance, and she swiftly snapped the creatures neck, a frown upon her face. His pelt would fetch a good price in the market.

Yimay gestured for Haetsi to carry the kill and instructed Tinnok to take point, they had need of her eyes.

by **Tinnok** on June 5th, 2013, 5:54 pm

Despite her beginners luck, the rest of the day so no fruitful kills save a spotted bobwhite which Nuran took down with an almost lazy shot. The small bird had uniquely speckled feathers, and though it wasn't fur, they could still fetch a good price.

That evening the four hunters found a small mossy clearing beside a cool clear stream a bit of overhanging rock creating a barrier between them and the rest of the wilderness.

Nuran and Haetsi set about getting a fire started, while Yimay reclined, watching Tinnok Slide her skinning knife under the flesh of the tamandua, performing her job of skinning the hide horribly.

The female huntress snorted derisively and sidled over.

"You're doing it all wrong, Wolf." She grabbed the knife from Tinnok's hand and slid the creature into her lap.

You're not carving a hunk of meat to throw into the fire, at least not yet. This is an art form and if you don't do it right, you'll ruin the pelt, and no one will want to buy it."

Yimay showed the half breed how one began by removing the bits that wouldn't be usable for the skin. The long talons of the beast could be sold as well, and were cut off with it's feet, then incisions were made to make your line around the body easier. By the time the outline of the cutting was set, she gave the thin blade back to Tinnok and the half breed tried again. She went slow at Yimay's urging, for there was no need to rush, and slowly slid the knife along the under belly. The entrails would be burned once the fire had begun so as not to attract any scavengers.

Slowly and with frequent help from the bossy Yimay the two of them removed the pelt from the Tamandua and tied it between two trees to dry out overnight. With that the meat was parceled and packed in leaves and preserving spices, several easily rotting pieces set aside for that nights dinner.

The meat would be sinewy but rich, and as soon as Nuran had the embers going, Tinnok set about arranging the meat. Slicing it into strips and dousing it in a rich oil thick with herbs for a marinade. Sliding the strips of meat onto small skewers she lay them over the ever increasing flames.

Yimay nodded sagely at her handiwork and Nuran grunted. "Snake, you oughta get better with that bow."

Tinnok glanced at him, singular eyebrow raised. "You offering to train me?"

There was a long pause, allowing Tinnok to rotate the skewers, and after a few chimes she didn't think he was going to respond. Then there was another grunt. "Come on then."

He got up, shouldering his own sleek long bow and pacing off a little way away from the camp. Tinnok hopped up, glancing at Yimay. "You'll make sure they don't burn?" The hunt mistress snorted and just waved the half breed away, Tinnok jumping eagerly towards where Nuran had disappeared.

He was clearing off a section of small branches on the trunk of a small tree. With his knife he carved a small circle that she could barely see, one that couldn't be more than a couple inches across, then stepped back.

"Hit it."

Tinnok's eyes widened. "That's tiny."

Nuran shrugged. There are only a few places on a creature that allow you to kill instantly. In their eye if you aim right, at the base of the spine where it meets the skull and only if you sever the right chord, and the heart. Of course if you can bore your arrow through their skull you're good no matter what, but shows a strength I haven't seen you use with that monster bow of yours. So for now, focus on the little things."

And he spoke no more. She looked at that spot good and long, notched an arrow, drew back carefully, and tried to envision the arrow sinking into the spot. She stood about 15 yards away, and Nuran would let her come no closer. It was an easy distance for a longbow to manage, but not so much for the holder of it.

She felt her muscles tighten as she drew back the thick string, trying to maintain an even rate of breathing. She focused, and just as she was about to let the arrow fly Nuran cleared his throat. "You're retrieving any arrows you miss from the woods as punishment for failure."

Tinnok glowered. When the arrow flew from her bow it sailed cleanly into the depth of the forest. Tinnok cursed, Nuran smiled...

And so it went.

by **Tinnok** on June 5th, 2013, 7:11 pm

Her skin was covered with tiny red scratches from the vines of plants she had to cross in order to retrieve her fallen arrows, three of which she certainly would never see again. She had not hit the target. She had hit surrounding trees and once hit above the spot by a foot, but it was the closest she had come, and Nuran had only smiled.

His only condolence was offered in the way of [color=##9a2525]"Just think you probably couldn't even hit the tree before you started hunting with us."[/color] And then he retreated back to camp. Tinnok spent another bell at the tree, her arm aching with strain, loosing arrows with reckless abandon until she couldn't even draw her bow.

Then she made her way back to camp, rotating her arm and grumbling curses beneath her breath. Yimay simply handed her a now cold strip of meat, the fat beginning to turn a grey white at the end of the strip from exposure. Tinnok devoured the offered piece and two others before curling up on her blanket to sleep. It was an unspoken rule that Tinnok had slowly learned of, that the one who made the finest kill that day need not worry about keeping watch, and the fact that she had made it only because only one other creature had been killed did nothing to prevent Tinnok from enjoying the uninterrupted and exhausted sleep she fell into that evening.

-----

She woke up before dawn and noticed Haetsi curled up into the base of one of the towering trees near them, eyes in the foliage. He looked surprisingly alert, and his head darted swiftly towards her at the sound of Tinnok's shifting blanket. She gave him a questioning glance, and the male pointed a silent finger further into the brush beyond. Tinnok rose ever so slowly, careful to arrange the blanket upon the ground so as not to disturb any leaves, and padded softly over, body crouched painfully low in case whatever thing the man saw was up higher.

Drawing even with the male she followed his gaze and smiled softly, for a small herd of the short legged deer that Falyndar claimed as its own were grazing nearby, speckled coats blending in perfectly with the brown trunks of the plants they foraged near.

Simultaneously the two hunters drew their bows. Haetsi took down a fat doe in one shot. Tinnok's arm nearly gave out and her arrow flew wild, arcing off into the forest.

Once they had woken the others Yimay was furious that she was only one that hadn't yet caught something, and she stalked into the jungle barely heeding the sound of her own feet, leaving the other three with no choice but to follow her.

Throughout the day TInnok tried to massage her right arm into working again. At this rate she wasn't going to down a single other beast, and the deer had been a rare treat. She was going to have to give it a break for at least a day she imagined, so instead she took out one of her daggers. If the beast was close enough she could be significantly more accurate with the knife.

The day proceded much as the one before it had, a careful pace and searching eyes guiding the hunt. Tinnok was not the one to spot the rare animal that day, but Yimay, who spotted a silky anteater high in the trees.

Tinnok practically jumped upon her hunt leader to prevent the woman from taking it down. She had seen fair few of the adorable little creatures in her life, and she wasn't about to see Yimay kill something whose presence hadn't taken up more than two hands in Tinnok's lifetime.

This of course made the female even more irritable, and Tinnok was frankly surprised that she had been able to convince the feisty female otherwise.

At some point in the day Yimay downed two agouti and her mood was improved, but Tinnok suspected that Haetsi had seen them first and merely allowed her the benefit of the kill.

That day they stopped early to allow everyone to properly skin their kills. Tinnok worked with Yimay on the Agouti, whose pelts were not as valuable and served as good practice for the novice skinner. Also being smaller she found the task much easier, but their skinny little squirrel legs made the task quite annoying when her blade slid over the delicate bones found therein.

Slowly the troop began amassing quite the pile of fur, and Tinnok had to admit she was impressed. Nuran and Haetsi each took down a paca towards the evening, a larger speckled cousin of the Agouti that are primarily nocturnal.

Tinnok found some slightly over ripe starfruit to go with their meal, and the four of them dined well that evening, the half breed grinding several of the fruits into a sweet paste to go over the meat, which all grudgingly admitted was an enjoyable addition. Though Tinnok made no kills, she pointed out a group of adorable white tent bats that had nested above their camp, and all four watched that evening as the little rodents with wings woke up and left their clever hiding place, one even staying some of the night with Tinnok, chittering and carrying on. It was strange for the images that she received through Nura from a bat were far different from normally sighted creatures. Everything seemed muted, and clear in an entirely different way, and most of the information comprised of sound and taste. Suffice to say Tinnok got an idea of the flavors of many insects that evening, slightly ruining the meal she had had only slightly earlier.

Tinnok took first watch that night with her temporary companion, who flew around stealing the voracious bugs away from her face and hands, enjoying the orchestra of night sounds that accompanied the jungle.

She realized this was another invaluable way she aided her hunting companions, for unless they ran across a Dhani, no jungle creatures would attack them while they slept as long as she was near. It made her smile to think she could be of use even if she had failed readily at hunting.

She spent her shift working on her Reimancy. She tried to figure out just what the differences were between the two magic forms she had learned were. Morphing seemed to be like holding a strange face, requiring just as much focus upon your body as it did your mind...Reimancy seemed different. You had to concentrate of course, to pull your essence out of your body and shape it, yet there was something that made it unique as well, for the limits of Reimancy seemed only to be the users capacity for imagination.

It was still a struggle for Tinnok to create a sphere and maintain it, so she began with that. Slowly she cleared her mind, letting the gentle thrum of the jungle act as a cadence for her thoughts, shifting them to damp and liquid places. She liked to imagine that in the center of her body near her heart was a well of power that beat inside her, and that when she summoned it, it flowed through her body just like a river...so that is what she did.

She imagined water flowing down through her veins where blood would be, curling, traveling, spiraling downward before emerging through the pores in her hands. As she thought it she saw the shimmering substance rise up in her palms, the cool sensation it brought coming along as well.

She concentrated on the form, both hands cupped together, and slowly the orb formed, floating up above her hands. She sent it higher than before so it sat in front of her face, golden eyes staring at the rather solid looking mass of res. And then she imagined just as she had on that first day, that the orb was a giant rain drop. Slowly she smiled as the color changed, become opaque and liquid, mind intent on only that wet orb before her.

And then the tent bat soared through her creation, and it splashed over him and her. Her arms felt tingly with the amount of power she had put into that, for it had been twice again the size it had been on that first day.

She blinked, laughing softly, and the confused bat landed on her shirt, crawling up with tiny hands so she could dry his wings off to take flight again.

Tinnok shook her head a little and then put her focus back to where it was supposed to be...keeping watch.

by **Tinnok** on June 12th, 2013, 4:38 pm

It was the last day of their hunt. The amount of pelts were growing to a level that hindered the hunter's progress through the jungle. Most of that day was spent finding a dry spot to store the pelts where Yimay and Haetsi would remember and return to on another day. Tinnok kept the tamandua pelt with her, draped across her shoulders in a folded manner so as not to cause excess noise, and today she took up the back position.

Her arm seemed better today, and so she held her longbow out in front of her, eager to try it out on any prey. Though Yimay lamented not finding any larger game, Tinnok couldn't help but feel pleased with the amount of bodies their team had amassed in just a couple of days.

Her enthusiasm slowly began to drift, however, as the day progressed nearly entirely uneventfully. It was hot, quiet save for the natural ambiance of the jungle.

And then Yimay screamed.

Tinnok would have laughed if she wouldn't have gotten stabbed in the chest, for the source of the blood curdling scream that would suggest a scene of Dhani gore unprecedented in the history of Myrian combat was actually...just a group of bugs.

To be sure it was a lot of them, Tinnok wasn't sure what had promoted the collection, but there was a veritable army of iridescent beetles amassed on the tree trunk. Nuran and Haetsi couldn't suppress grins, and Yimay was punching Haetsi (though not seriously) on the ground, for he had dropped one of the creatures down the back of her sarong, resulting in the scream.

Once the initial mayhem had been gotten over, however, the three veteran hunters were ready to move on.

"Witch, what are you doing?" Haetsi didn't say much, and he liked getting to the point. Yimay and Nuran turned to see the half breed muttering a small prayer, her knife in hand and a small stick in the other.

"You people have no sense of creativity." Tinnok smirked. A few good swipes with her dagger and the twig she held had a nice pointed tip in which to use as a tiny spear. She then proceeded to impale the head of about twenty of the mass of hundreds of beetles, collecting the limp bodies into a small woven sack. "Thank you, Caiyha, for our gifts to us, I pray my claim is humble."

And she held up the bag. The wings of the beetles were commonly used for jewelry, earrings, and adornments on armor and weapons, and the coloring of these beetles was a brilliant turquoise and flaming orange, a color not often seen. Yimay chuckled. "And look at that boys, suddenly the Wolf is beating us at the hunting game, and all she did was kill some bugs."

Tinnok attached the bag to her belt and smiled. A strange hunter she was turning out to be...but then again...she rarely did anything normally.

She set off again, taking the back of the group of four, feeling a strange level of comfort with her place in the world that rarely happened with other sentient beings...

by **Limey** on June 13th, 2013, 2:44 am

Skill and Lore Rewards

Skills	Lore
Reimancy 1	Falling "Properly"
Acrobatics 1	One Has To Make A Living
Observation 3	Proper Pelt Prep.
Bow 3	Kill Shots: Heart, Spine And Eye
Wilderness Survival 2	Reimancy: Use Your Imagination
Cooking 1	Seeing Opportunity
Hunting 2

Additional Notes :

Any questions or queries, please PM me.

Closed A Hankering for Pelts [Job Thread]