Completed First Day of Winter

[Syveris]

1st of Winter, 513 AV

Syveris watched as one of the cooks walked out of the Kitchens, alone. She had been waiting to talk with him for two bells now, and she was almost certain that the man had made her wait purposefully. After she had waken up really early again due to the nightmares that didn't leave her alone and after she had spent the whole morning on the Arms Gallery trying not to sleep while she listened a blacksmith go on and on about safety procedures, this two bells wait was enough to put her in a very, very bad mood. But she needed the cooker's help, so she would try to be polite.

"So, what do you want to talk about?"

"Can you give me one of my meat raw? With no seasoning, either, just... Just raw." if she could trade one of the meal she could get with her food token, then maybe it would be enough to feed the falcon hatchling when it was born. If the egg really hatched. Each day that passed she lost hope that would happen.

"Raw meat?" the man eyed her, and Syveris noticed he took three steps back. "What do you want raw meat for?"

"It's for my bird." the Avora growled, a little annoyed that the man could think she would be the one eating it. "I'm not a hunter, and I can't get food this season anywhere else, so I thought about trading my cooked meal for it."

"Oh!" the man whispered to himself, before smiling openly. Syveris didn't like it. She was sure the cook would end up trying to get something out of it. "Alright, I can do it. But it'll cost you two of your meat. You'll only be able to eat meat on dinner. How about it?"

Terrible. But it wasn't like she could really say it, so Syveris only tried to smile. "Fine."

"I'll give you the meat every morning. Uncooked and untouched. But you'll have to clean it." before Syveris could protest, the man was already walking away, humming happily to himself.

She watched him go, anger evident in her eyes. It was a good think the cook didn't turn, though, because she didn't want to loose this chance. She had to feed the bird somehow, and if she needed to eat less meat, it was alright with her.

The Avora sighed, and walked back to her room. She wasn't sure if this agreement had been good or bad, though.

[Syveris]

She slammed the door shut, still angry at everything. If it was on other circumstances, she would have been able to find food on her own, but with the famine... As much as Wind Reach loved birds, she knew no one would look kindly if someone had to go hungry to feed someone else's bird.

Well, so be it.

The bath had been relaxing, but only as long as she was in there. Now, she just wanted to do something again. Search for the Despised, mostly. But there were still things she needed to do before, like research about how to raise the bird. Luckily, she was almost done with that, so it shouldn't take too much longer.

Syveris watched the egg, sadly, for a moment, before picking up the Raising a Falcon from the Egg book and sitting on the couch, still near the table with the crate. If it didn't hatch until the next day, then she would just give up. The thought was saddening, but she needed to face the truth, and to dwell on sadness by an egg that might have been infertile wasn't the smartest move right then.

The egg could still hatch, though, and Syveris would hold on to that for the moment. Opening the book, she passed through the chapters that described the process of making a nest and the general care for a hatchling, until she finally got to a section she hadn't read yet. It was already the part of training, and the first section was labeled Imprinted and Non-Imprinted Falcons. She would read that first.

An imprint can come in two forms: a social imprinted bird will not fear humans, instead treating them as equals, and a food imprinted bird is the one who associates humans with food. A social imprint has its advantages, since it will allow the falcon not to fear the falconer, but it's something that has to be carefully thought about, since the imprinted falcon can become aggressive towards humans due to their lack of fear, or they can have antisocial behaviors with the others of their own kind, because they come to identify themselves more with humans than with birds. A food imprint, on the other hand, have no advantage, since it can make the falcon extremely aggressive towards humans when hungry.

There are techniques that can be employed to prevent food imprinting and to minimize the consequences of a social imprint.

Syveris mused over for a bit. Maybe she could prevent both of the imprints? But then, if she did things right, a social imprint wouldn't be so bad, would it? Well, she would have to think better about it. For now, the Avora would keep reading.

[Syveris]

To prevent a food imprint, the chick cannot become hungry, so it must be fed every two hours for the first days, so the chick won't get the impression that if it asks for food, it'll get food. When the nestling becomes able to move around, the falconer can place the food somewhere in the room, and let the bird explore and find it alone, so the arrival of food is not further associated with the presence of a human.

To prevent bad behavior due to social imprint, the chick needs to be around others of its kind, so it'll now to identify itself as a falcon and a human as a human. Normally training exercises are enough to keep the bird in touch with its natural instincts, and avoid too much identification with humans. However, it's also important that the falconer do not interact excessively with the bird.

Her reading was suddenly interrupted by a sound, so low she couldn't really be sure she had actually heard it. Then she heard it again, and she was sure that was a chirp, coming from the crate.

Syveris practically jumped out of the couch, looking at the egg and seeing that it was hatching. Her heart seemed so heavy with joy, that the Avora could feel the tears that were almost falling. The egg was hatching. It had survived, despite the cold, despite everything, and now the falcon was... Syveris supported herself on the table, the emotions overwhelming her. She was much more happy than she thought she would be, but the Avora didn't mind.

There was a very dumb smile on her face as she watched the chick trying to break the shell, knowing the process would take a while. She approached the lamp a little, as Phack had told her to, and sat down again, smiling, simply happy that the egg had finally hatched. It was truly an indescribable feeling.

She eyed the book, knowing she wouldn't be able to read anymore until the chick finally got out. The Avora wished she had someone to enjoy this moment with.

Her smile grew even more, and she ran outside, towards an already familiar room. Virat would hate to be awaken, but he surely would love to see the hatching, and Syveris was sure her mentor would forgive her for walking him up.

[Syveris]

"Virat! Wake up already!" she said, a little louder, hitting the door. It wasn't exactly early, but not that late either. She wondered why her mentor needed so much sleep. True, he spent all day on the Glass Reverie, but still... "Virat..."

"What is it?" Virat opened the door, violently, his face twisted in anger. Syveris took a step back, wondering if waking him up had really been wise. Well, it was too late.

"The egg is hatching!" Syveris exclaimed, happily. Her mentor only looked at her, as if trying to understand what she was talking about. "The falcon egg, Virat. It is hatching."

The glassworker's face transformed completely, and he smiled, his tiredness forgotten. He closed the door behind him, and walked side by side with the younger Avora. Syveris smiled at him, knowing he too was as excited as her. The trip back to her own room was quick, something unusual, since Virat normally chose to keep a slower pace. Not this time, though.

Syveris guided him to the crate, and pointed at the cracked egg. It was already possible to see some of the falcon's skin below the egg shell.

"That certainly was a nice surprise." he whispered to her, smiling. Syveris nodded. "So, how are you feeling?"

"Wonderful!" she sat back on the couch, the silly grin never leaving her face. Syveris had compared many times her feelings towards the egg as the feeling of a pregnant mother, but now, she was certain she really felt like a mother. It was a very strange feeling, specially due to her own personal distrust for family, but she couldn't care less. It was a feeling that was too good to be tainted by overthinking.

Virat smiled, and sat next to her. He eyed the crate for a while, and Syveris could see he was thinking. The Avora shook her head. She was worrying over nothing. It was really easy to leave the thinking to him, and he didn't seem to mind.

"So, what now?" he looked back at her. "I mean, you have researched enough to take care of the bird, right?"

"Yes. There are still a few things left, but I swear I'll get to it soon." she said, and then suddenly became serious. "I was reading about imprinting. I can't really decide if I should do it, or something similar."

"Why don't you tell me what imprinting is and we will try to come up with a plan?"

"Just like a family, huh?" she whispered to herself, and Virat sighed. Her mentor reached out, patting her on the head, like he had done the first time he had allowed her to see him working in the Glass Reverie.

[Syveris]

"Anyway" Syveris said, cheerfully again. "What's bothering me is the social imprint, that occurs when the bird spend too much time near humans. It can be harmful, because then it will begin to identify itself with us, and not other birds. But at the same time, I don't want it to be aggressive because is not used to humans." she tried to explain, and her mentor nodded. She knew Virat knew very little of birds himself, but he could give good advice with the little information he had. He was always able to do it.

"Well, as I see it, you only have to make sure it identifies itself with a bird. So when it's old enough to fly, why don't you bring the falcon to the aviary? And the friend I got the egg with, he has an adult bird. It's also a Pygmy Falcon, so I can ask him to bring his bird here." Syveris thought for a while. It made sense. But if her falcon was only in the presence of birds sometimes, would it work? Well, it couldn't really be bad, so maybe it was worth trying. Well, at least that was out of the way. Now, for the hard part. "You're making a face, Syveris. What is it?"

"You see..." she trailed off, wondering how she could ask. "There is also this thing... Called food imprint. It's when the bird associates food with humans. So... We can't really let the chick go hungry, and..."

"Syveris, I'm sorry, but I'm not spending my time feeding a falcon." Virat interrupted her, knowing exactly what she would ask. Syveris pouted.

"Oh, come on! Please!" she begged, not really caring about pride right now. There was no one else she could trust to do this. "All the other people I trust are a hunter and an Endal. Neither of them have time to spare! We could work on different shifts on the Arms Gallery, and you can read whatever you want here. Besides, when Winter is over and we can return to the Glass Reverie, the chick will have grown enough, and this won't be necessary. Please!"

"So, basically, you want me to do it for ninety days?"

"Well, no. Just twenty days, more or less. I can manage after that." Syveris offered him a smile, and Virat eyed her, his lips pressed together, although she was almost certain that her mentor was annoyed at not being able to work on the Reverie, rather than having to spend time with the falcon. He gave a sharp nod. "Yes! Thank you!" she hugged him, before sending a look inside the box again. Almost nothing had changed, and Syveris forced herself to be patient. It was a slow process, she had been told.

"Well, as much as I want to stay and watch the whole hatching, I need to sleep. I'll work in the morning and stay here in the afternoon." Virat got up, walking back towards the door. "Syveris. Take care, ok? I know that, with all that Zulrav business, things might get a little... Stressful, but try not to get into trouble."

"You really don't believe him, right?" Syveris looked at her mentor, almost afraid of the answer. Virat only smiled, before leaving. It gave her the impression that, even if he did believe the God, he would have forgotten her. It was a stupid, but comforting, thought. The Avora returned her attention to the egg. There was a faint chirping sound again, but it stopped not much longer.

Syveris sighed, getting up to grab her blanket and returning to the couch near the crate. It looked like it would really take a very long time before the chick was finally born.

[Skerry]

Grades

Syveris

Skill	XP
Falconry	3
Negotiation	1
Persuasion	1
Research	3

LORES :

• Falconry: Types of Imprints
• Falconry: How to prevent a food imprint
• Falconry: How to prevent a negative social imprint

Consequences: The chick is hatching! It will fully break free of its shell in the early bells of the morning of Winter 2nd
Syveris will receive raw, uncleaned meat in the mornings from now on as part of her rations and only one meal with meat a day.

Notes:
The long awaited moment has arrived! Syveris is a proud mother falconer at last! An enjoyable thread I must say. Short an sweet as always.

Remember if you have any questions or problems with your grade then feel free to PM me.