[Bronze Woods] Showing Off.

by **Archailist** on August 6th, 2014, 4:52 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

His words died in his mouth as he listened to the woman. All he'd wanted t do, was ask her for some help so that he could save the snake-thing back there, while it was under attack from the strange monster. But as he drew to a stop and listened more and more, his eyes became wider and wider.. until they were surely the size of sauce-pans. "You.. went through the trouble of getting it away from me..? But.. I was certain.." His mouth refused to work under him. The way she spoke, it was as if she was the snake-thing, but that surely couldn't be right. After all, she was most definitely human. Human face, human body, human voice.. mostly. Sure there was a bit of a lisp,a silibant issue, but it wasn't like there weren't plenty of humans with some issues in their speech. Weird eyes, sort of.. but that was the same.

Was the thing a Kelvic? A very strange Kelvic? He'd met a few of them before, like the tiger one. They weren't uncommon in the city, and he often found them around the forest because they needed to hunt. It would make sense, after all. They could change their body the way they wished, into animals. He'd never heard of one being able to transform half-way between two separate forms but he didn't know all too much about them, so he doubted h could trust what he believed to be true over his own two eyes.

As the girl slowed to a stop, the squirrel quickly followed. However, he didn't dismount. He was about ready to get out of there, after all. With everything that had already happened today, all the fighting and the fleeing.. he was ready to go home. And now this. His mind couldn't take any more of it, honestly. "Are you trying to tell me.. that.. you're the thing with just a head and a long tail. The thing that transformed and got arms.. and fought off that lizard with wings. Except.. you're a human? Are you a Morpher? Or a Kelvic? Or.. something?" He wanted to at least get his questions out of the way before replying to hers, after all. Then he could get some much-needed answers.. and he could reply to some of hers. He supposed that she'd never heard of Pycons.. and that wasn't surprising since he'd never heard of.. ahem.. her. "You can speak Common now, as well.."

"I'm not an actual squirrel.. I'm a Pycon. Made of clay." That explained the spines over his body that were flattening against his body - all except the ones that extended out the top of his head, and continued to protrude menacingly. He supposed that they wouldn't be useful now.. it was good to have them occasionally, but not when he wanted to be friendly. He owed this person his life, after all. He owed her his life.. and he'd nearly tried to beat her up, yelled at her.. goodness, he felt like a complete idiot. "You.. you don't have to do that if you wish, ma'am. Although it would be of great service. Squire Archailist, at your service. I.. cannot say how eternally regretful and apologetic I am for what I did to you back there. I've.. never seen such a creature though. I suppose I let my instincts take control." He let loose a mildly sheepish grin, before it turned into an immediate wince. Damn, smiling hurt.

"I.. I'm afraid to cut this short, but. We'd better go, now. Before whatever it is returns." He didn't fancy trying to take it on again now. Perhaps another time, he'd try again. If he ever found one of them. He'd stayed in Syliras for a while, after all. He'd never seen anything like it. Perhaps in the future he'd find them again.. although he'd be equally as pleased to not see it again in the future.

by **Suresslynn** on August 6th, 2014, 6:01 pm

Suresslynn blinked at the squirrels confusion about her words, then laughed a bit before listening explain what he was and what he did as well as tell her his name. "A pycon...never even heard of that before, but you're definitely someone I can respect. And don't worry about the fight, I was enjoying it until that flying pain the rear showed up and ruined it all." she said, shaking her head before standing up. "But you're right, we should go. I'll explain what I am and how my species work on the way back to town. In the meantime, I don't mean to offend you, but you're right, we should hurry." she said, bending down and picking up both Archailist and his dog in her arms. Carrying them over to her horse, she set them in front of the saddle, then used one hand to balance them while she climbed up on her horse.

Once she was mounted, she pulled Archailist and his dog close against her stomach so that she could hold onto him. "If you want to reposition yourself, now's your best chance." she said quietly to her passenger, giving him a moment to get himself settled before she kneed her horse into a canter. "Anyway, I'm not a Kelvic, though I've seen a few and I can see why you might think I was. What I am is a Dhani, a child of Siku, though to be frank I don't really know that much about her. Point is, we have three forms, snake, the half-snake half-human Dhani form, and human. Unfortunately, the mouths on the snake and Dhani forms are not at all able to speak common. No cheeks or lips, plus our tongue is very much the wrong shape, so we speak the language of snakes, which is basically hissing." the Dhani kept an eye on the woods as she spoke, watching for wild animals or that flying creature that had caused them so much grief. "Oh, and sorry about getting in your way like I did, I was curious and couldn't think of any other way to get you to stop. Our clothes don't change with us, so...yeah, that would've been awkward." Suresslynn laughed slightly as they rode towards the city.

by **Archailist** on August 6th, 2014, 6:22 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Truly, he expected something terrible. He knew he'd made a horrible mistake in thinking that the woman was nothing more than a feral beast.. and truly, these were the situations that made every knight cringe. The thief who turned out to be nothing more than a helpful son fetching a purse for his elderly mother.. the secret lovers that faked their enslavement to run away and start new lives. There were often these times of moral dilemma, or simple misunderstanding having dire consequences. This would be the first time that the squirrel had committed one himself.. usually, he was the subject to these issues. Everyone thought he was a real squirrel.. tried to kill him if hunting. And then acted surprised when he started talking and explaining that he wasn't made of meat.

What he got, instead of stern rebuke, was quite the opposite. Respect, for a good fight. He felt his chest swell with pride.. and immediately afterwards, lots of aching. "Well.. that's nice to know. You've got exceptional speed, you know.. you could put it to good use if you worked a little more in your acrobatics." He wasn't exactly a novice, so he could see some parts needing improvement. Perhaps he could give it, as repayment for her services that day. Practically risking her life in the place of his. But, later. First they needed to get out of there before that creature reappeared, and brought friends. Creatures often worked in packs - he knew that from wolves.

He didn't mind being picked up in this situation. He was just too tired, and his dog was just the same. He couldn't imagine how the snake-person must have felt too, considering all of the shifting she'd been going through, on top of the fighting, and on top of the riding she'd now be doing for both of them. Once on her lap, he only shifted a little in order to remove his leg from one of the stirrups pressing against her stomach. Other than that, he'd be fine for their journey. "Oh.. well.. welcome to Syliras, I guess. Heh, if you've not already been to the city. I'll admit, I've never seen one of.. well, I've never seen a Dhani, in Syliras or otherwise. And I'm guessing you've never seen a Pycon. That makes us even?" The more he listened to the woman explain herself, the more sense it made. She pretty much answered all of his questions before he could even ask them.

"Wait.. do you have any relations with Kelvics, then? Because.. you guys change like them." Well, not exactly. They were much faster, the Kelvics.. and they only had two forms. Those were minor differences though, considering that the Dhani could shape-shift between human and animal forms, just like the Kelvics. "Before you ask.. we don't have any relationships either. I can change because I'm made out of clay. But it does take a bit of effort." And it hurt to high Syna when one of his limbs got disconnected in the way that it had that day. One paw held the other, even though it didn't really make much of a difference. The clay in him was the same as the clay in his arm.. all clay.

"But yeah.. as I was saying. I want to.. well, I want to make it up to you. For yelling and fighting and everything, without even the slightest hello. I thought you were a beast, and you're obviously not. I was wondering if there was anything I could do to help.. although I don't know a lot. The best I can offer, is some help in your acrobatics. Make you a bit more agile. That's, if you want it, anyway." He could always try to find something else, after all. Miza's to repay the debt, anything.. without her, he'd surely be dead at that very moment. A statue of stone and little else, ripped out by those massive rows of razor-sharp teeth.

by **Suresslynn** on August 6th, 2014, 7:25 pm

Suresslynn laughed slightly as he complimented her speed and said she could be even better if she worked on her acrobatics. "Thank you. I'm a viper Dhani, the fastest sub-race of my kind. Also the most venemous, but that's neither here nor there. Even my feral cousins can choose not to poison someone, I can certainly do the same thing." she said, smiling somewhat. When he welcomed her to his city, she glanced down and smiled at him, then nodded. "No, I've never seen a Pycon. But thank you for the greeting. I've been to the city, but...not for very long. Stopped in and took a look around, then came out here to hunt for food. Came across you, and...well, you know the rest." the Dhani laughed slightly at the end, then smiled as they came out of the woods, the city in sight.

"We're almost there. Good thing too. I'm getting tired, you certainly have to be tired, and I don't want to spend the night out here with that thing." she said as they rode towards the city. "I don't think we're related to the Kelvics. From what I can remember, Siku herself gave life to our kind, whereas Kelvics are some kind of mage creation, I think. I could be dead wrong, though. Either way, I doubt there's much connection." the Dhani still watched the forest behind them for the creature, but she was getting to be pretty sure that they were home free at this point. And even if it did show up, they'd likely be able to get to the city and some kind of reinforcement.

At Archailists offer to help her practice her acrobatics, the Dhani nodded gratefully. "I'd be glad of the help. See, my fighting style revolves around dodging my opponents attacks and finding the perfect moment to counter-attack them, like when I went under you and tried to poke you in the back, though there I was just trying to learn more about what you were. Being more agile would help me a whole lot." she said, grinning at her companion.

by **Archailist** on August 6th, 2014, 8:31 pm

My Words | Your Words | My Thoughts

Well, looked like he was really learning something. Dhani sub-races.. he was almost tempted to ask even more, because he most certainly had more questions to ask. What differentiated the sub-races, who was Siku? How dangerous was the poison that she could inject? Heck, her explanations even rose questions on the Kelvics and the like - after all, he'd not known that the Kelvics were the children of a different creation. Who had made them? Why? He knew the stories sung about his own race as well as any other Pycon - of an alchemist that had made them as nothing more than weapons for his own plans. Of course, utter shyke. Harameus was the reason they'd been created - the alchemist was little more than the will of Harameus, placed in a false prophet.

Then he saw the city walls and sighed in soft relief. He'd have to report to his patron at some point and explain his actions, but that was the least of his worries. Ideally, he wanted to find a healer and get the pain sorted. Something along those lines. He didn't know how many healers looked over how many Pycons a day but surely there'd be something they could perform in order to sort out his clay. That and probably a few days of rest and relaxation.. broken periodically by large amounts of clay consumption. Even from this distance, he could see some of the knights standing guard at the gates of the city throwing odd glances. Likely because a squirrel, on the back of a dog, on the lap of a woman, on the back of a horse wasn't a normal thing to see by any stretch of the imagination.

"What a coincidence.. mine as well. We will share our experiences, fight.. and all will be well. Although, haha.. you may have excuse a few days of absence. It seems it'll be a while before my body returns to its peak condition." He threw another smile - a little more confident than before - Then he turned back to the city and gazed at it longingly. He couldn't wait to return to his bed.. and see the look on Ser Iros' face when he explained how he'd come close to having his arm ripped permanently from his body. "I don't believe it," he'd say with a dumbfounded expression, "being squishy saved your life." Oh, the knight would have quite the hard time admitting that he was wrong about the squirrel. Being squishy wasn't such a bad thing after all.. in fact, it was quite the opposite. It wasn't really the way he'd hoped to prove it to the Akalak, but it'd work for now.

by **Nightmare** on September 13th, 2014, 3:30 pm

Archialist :

Suresslynn :

Additional Comments: Very interesting thread. Not your average meet and greet.

I enjoyed that real danger was present in this thread and that neither of your characters got out without taking a wound. It is hard to get out of that trap of not wanting to hurt your characters. So good job! You both did well!

Please PM me if you have any questions or concerns.

Skills	Amount
Animal Husbandry	+1
Intimidation	+2
Riding: Dog	+3
Unarmed Combat	+3
Tactics	+5
Observation	+5
Running	+1
Leadership	+2
Acrobatics	+1
Planning	+1
Endurance	+1
Socialization	+2
Land Navigation	+2

Shield Points	Amount
Patrol	+2

Skills	Amount
Hunting	+1
Observation	+5
Unarmed Combat	+5
Intimidation	+2
Tactics	+2
Acrobatics	+2
Planning	+1
Endurance	+1
Riding: Horse	+2
Socialization	+2
Land Navigation	+1
Stealth	+1

Closed [Bronze Woods] Showing Off.