Solo This Was a Terrible Idea

(And I regret all my life choices) Traveling Zeltiva to Kenash

(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forum. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)

While Sylira is by far the most civilized region of Mizahar, countless surprises and encounters await the traveler in its rural wilderness. Called the Wildlands, Syliran's wilderness is comprised of gradual rolling hills in the south that become deep wilderness in the north. Ruins abound throughout the wildlands, and only the well-marked roads are safe.

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:38 pm

Image
Spring 29 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Better. Oh she felt so much better. Stopping in.. what had it been called? Zeltiva? Something like that. Stopping there had been a good idea. The best of ideas. Well fed, well rested and relaxed beyond what anyone, let alone someone who had traveled so far already had a right to feel, Fiachra felt he strong pumping of her wings as she flew. Mostly west, a little north. No more sea to guide her, but East and West could be found by watching Syna, and north and south could be felt as long as she stayed Raven. Should be fine. Probably.

Still, had she been human she might have sighed. Her belly was wonderfully full and heavy, almost enough to slow her down, and she had to wonder how long it would be before she felt the pangs of hunger again. A fair amount of her however, insisted that she would be fine. Sure she had almost died several times so far, but she'd made it through hadn't she? She'd found enough food and she'd been fast enough and strong enough and smart enough. She'd survived. That was all that really mattered, and it was almost unthinkable that she wouldn't continue to do so. Besides, dwelling on that sort of thing wouldn't make it any less likely.

She was going to Alvadas and that was that. It either meant flying and being able to easily get there within the season, or going as a human and having to take boats and caravans and horses and walking and it taking basically forever. The downside to being a Raven was that she traveled with nothing. No weapons, no clothes, no food, just her own self. And she gambled that it would be enough. That she would make it, would survive. So far she'd been lucky. One would almost think one or more of the Gods had their eyes on her. Thus far this was not the case. It was more stubborn (or idiotic) refusal to not try, to not move forward, to not believe in herself. She thought she could do it so she did. It was as simple, and as complicated, as that.

She kept largely to the pattern she'd established before. Flying steadily for several hours before landing to rest and forage a little before continuing on. Today the best feed was when she'd found a downed, rotting log. Prying off a chunk of the bark, feasible in this form only because of how rotted it was, revealed a bunch of crawling grubs, wiggling blindly away from this cold new open world that had been inflicted upon them. This was met with a kraw of delight and success from the Raven who immediately set to work devouring them before they could retreat into a more solid part of the log where she could no longer reach them.

Really, given the amount of food she'd devoured the day before and this morning, she could have gone without today, but who knew what the coming days would bring? You ate when you had food, this was what was wise. Any of Caiyhas children knew this without ever needing to be taught. In any case, the day was blessedly uneventful, and she flew on, breathing, heart and wings all in unison until dusk, when she settled into one of the many trees, dropped her head down onto her chest, fluffed her feathers once, and slept. This was one good thing about such physical exertion, she never had trouble sleeping when the opportunity arose.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 16th, 2016, 6:44 pm, edited 6 times in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:38 pm

Image
Spring 30 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Waking when Syna did, 'Chra rose into the air once more, flying towards Syna, and just a little bit north as Raven senses told her. Wings were still pumping steadily, and she felt that if nothing else, by the time she reached Alvadas she would be able to fly for hours without stopping and be much less worn out than she would have been before taking this trip. This was good! What if her bondmate rode a horse? This way she would be able to easily keep pace, even if they rode all day! Not that she was concerned about that sort of thing of course. Just.. just in case was all. Just in case.

She flew for hours, stopped, foraged a little, flew on. Around midday something caught her eye. A nest up in the fork of a dead tree. It looked to her eye like it had been built by magpies, but now it held an owl. Dark eyes narrowed slightly. 'Chra was not particularly fond of owls. They were one of the main reasons she didn't travel at night. The larger ones, like the one she'd spotted, were happy to make a meal of an unlucky Raven and the way they flew silently was extremely unnerving.

She'd spotted this one first though, and in the day when she held the advantage. It's talons were sharper than hers and it outweighed her, but.. This was a threat, and one she could remove now, relatively safely, compared to leaving it and having the damned thing drop out of the sky on her with no warning. Dying without hearing anything until you heard your own flesh being pierced was not how she intended to go. I mean she didn't really intend to die anyway, but certainly not to an owl.

She kept flying as though she was just going to pass over it not having noticed it in case it happened to wake and see her, or it was just playing as if asleep. Once just past however, she looped up, gaining momentum as she came down in a dive. With as much speed as she could muster, talons were extended, ready to take the owl in the back and drive beak in until it was dead.

She was not an owl. Though quiet, her flight was not silent. Before she made impact the owl awoke with a startled hoot, flinging itself out of it's nest. She made contact but not solid, not enough to gain purchase or seriously injure it though her talons did catch and yank free a number of tail feathers.

She followed. Once a fight like this was started, it was almost always seen through. The owl was more predatory than she was, to try and disengage now would only invite it to take it's revenge. So she followed it, voicing a fierce kraw! as she did. The owl flipped upside down, allowing it to bring it's talons up at the diving raven, angrily clicking it's beak ready to turn the tide. It had the misfortune of fighting one of the best species when it came to aerial acrobatics however. Plus 'Chra brought that little bit of extra intellect to bear. She'd anticipated it's action, and was already rolling with it, flipping to also fly upside down, a move she'd done far more often, occasionally flying that way just for fun. This brought her back to it's unprotected back. She sank her talons in through feathers and flesh. As she went to bring her beak into action it twisted it's head around, hissing at her, and striking out. She pulled her own head back before striking at it.

This went on for several heartbeats, both trying to get the other with their beak, 'Chra fighting to keep her talons locked. The owl had flipped right side up again. It was then that another idea occurred to Fiachra. Waiting until just the right moment as they were about to go flying past another tree, she spread her wings, angling and flapping them to catch the air current. She forced them both into the trunk, owl first. The owl hit with a sickening thump. For a half second, 'Chra could not get her talons loose, and almost hit the tree herself before freeing herself and ungracefully tumbling past. Wings beating hard she brought herself back under control, heading back, ready to finish the fight.

The owl did not require finishing, lying crumpled upon the forest floor, dead from the impact. Never one to waste such an opportunity, after a cursory glance around, 'Chra landed and set her beak to work, making a meal of her adversary.

She flew for several more hours after this, until the light began to fade once more before she roosted for the night.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 17th, 2016, 2:05 am, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:38 pm

Image
Spring 31 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


The mountains were slightly less dramatic, though the land was still hilly and rocky, the forest still thick. There really wasn't all that much to see flying above the treeline. Green, green, green, ooh a clearing! That was the height of excitement as far as sight-seeing went. Had it been viable to do so, 'Chra might have sighed. She didn't though. Firstly because Ravens weren't big sighers and secondly because it would have thrown of the rhythm of wings, breath and heart. At least the wind was with her today so she could soar more than she might have otherwise, conserving energy and making good time.

An almost missed, barely audible noise caught her attention. It had sounded like a person. She was far out into the woods for people though. As a general rule you lived in a city, or you died outside of one. She'd heard what she'd heard though, and now she was curious. Dipping a wing, she changed her course, flying lower. She heard a louder yell, though she couldn't make out the words. This gave her a better fix. In a few minutes she dipped down below the trees, slowing, eyes scanning. She was curious yes, but not entirely stupid. Yelling often meant danger, and there was much out here that was dangerous.

It was several more minutes of slowly weaving in and out of the trees before she spotted colour that did not belong. There, on the forest floor. Welp. That didn't bode well. Dark eyes took in the shape crumpled in a way that humanoids were not meant to crumple. As well as obviously broken bones, there were also gashes and chunks in the man. A nasty predator had been at work here. The unfortunate man, hunter perhaps, was well and properly dead. Whatever it was was gone though.

'Chra briefly landed on a slim overhanging branch, bobbing gently in the breeze. For a moment she looked down, deciding what to do. She couldn't un-kill him, there was no way to tell who he was, particularly with a sizeable part of his face missing. Whatever had done this was gone. With a mental shrug she decided that he might as well not go to waste. Spreading her wings, she hopped off the branch, to glide leisurely down to the corpse. Carrion was carrion, and since she technically wasn't human, it wasn't technically cannibalism.

The hop from the branch at that precise moment was all that saved her life. A snarl as something large passed over her, in the space she'd been occupying only moments earlier. With a cry cut off in mid kraw from pure shock, she winged backwards, barely noticing movement from the corner of her eye and folding her wings to tumble to the side at the last moment as another shape passed by her, the wind from it's movement ruffling her feathers.

Now two creatures snarled at her from the ground. For a moment she fought to bring them into focus, realizing that the shaggy coats covering them were actually shifting colour to roughly match their background. The more they moved the less effective it became, and before long, pacing and snarling around the carcass they had turned a uniformly brown colour.

They weren't anything she was familiar with, but in all honesty, 'Chra was a city bird, she didn't know everything there was to know about the wilds. Perhaps these things were everywhere. Still you'd think someone would have said. Curiosity kept her in the area, though she went high, alighting on a particularly slim branch, ensuring there were no thicker branches above her for any more attacks. Head cocked, she studied them.

With a last growling snort at her, one of them started devouring the corpse, the other let out a low rumbling moan of a call, which was soon answered by higher pitched yips, and three smaller versions of the creatures tumbled into the clearing. If they weren't so obviously deadly they might have been amusing to watch as they nipped at each other, tumbling about before making for the carcass.

Their bodies were long and low, larger than wolves, slightly smaller than horses and hinting at flexibility that the young demonstrated in their play. Their tail was a brushy thing, perhaps a hand and a half long. Their heads looked decidedly bear like, with impressive crushing jaws, and long backward curving horns grew from their temples, rather like an ibex, the young had only small nubs, but both the adults sported a pair. These, 'Chra realized, had not changed colour with their coats and was one of the things that had helped let her keep them in view. Their legs were stubby in comparison to their size and ended in long, thick claws that looked equally suited to either digging or maiming.

She let out a fairly puzzled whirr as she eyed them. This caught the attention of one of the pups, who immediately ran up one of the trees, with a high pitched growling yip, claws leaving deep gouges. It was not the tree she was in, so 'Chra was wary, but not terrified. It launched itself from the highest point it could reach in her direction, and 'Chras eyes widened as she watched it splay it's limbs out, exposing a flap of skin that let it glide towards her. The adults with their weight could really only better control a fall. The lighter pup got a fair amount of distance. A dangerous amount.

With a disgruntled screech, 'Chra launched herself from her perch and headed West-Northwest once more. She wanted nothing to do with colour changing bear sized things that could hurl themselves through trees at you thank you very much.

Unbeknownst to her, what she had in fact witnessed was part of the legacy of an Alahean wizard who'd been prodigious in his experiments on the creatures of the Zastoska Forest. While many had been hunted down or simply died off, these and a few others lived, and in this case, flourished.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 20th, 2016, 5:19 am, edited 8 times in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:39 pm

Image
Spring 32 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Another day, same routine. Wake with Syna, having slept higher up on a thinner branch rather than her usual huddling near the trunk, just in case, and take to the air, wings pumping steadily. She was in all honesty feeling a bit cranky, her sleep hadn't been as good or deep as usual, the branch tossing in the light wind. Still, it beat being eaten by weird horned bear-weasels. That didn't mean she had to like it though!

She flew steadily, nothing interrupting her, the weather fine, the winds favourable. A little past midday a splash of colour caught her eye. Bright orange to be precise. As she wheeled lower and closer, a sweet scent reached her. Fruit. Anticipating a good feed, 'Chra approached the tree, landing on one of it's branches. Cocking her head, she took a good look at the fruit that had drawn her so. It looked a bit like an orange, which she'd often seen but only had the opportunity to try once or twice. She remembered the taste, and had her beak been made for it, she would have been salivating. Just to be safe, she looked at her surroundings, making sure that nothing was about to jump her, and that there were not a bunch of dead animals that had partaken in a poisoned feast. All signs pointed to safe though.

She edged out onto a branch, good and solid from which she could easily reach one of the fruits hanging from a branch above her. Impatient, anticipating the sweet taste of the fruit, tempted by it's scent, she struck with her beak, piercing the skin before using that wound to tear into the juicy inner flesh.

And finding it terribly sour.

With a disgruntled kraw! she eyed the traitor fruit. It smelled so good! Why was it so sour? It didn't look unripe! Perhaps that bit had not been very good. She hopped over to approach it from the other side. Pecking again, this time she grabbed a piece of the rind, intent of pulling it off to reveal more of the flesh beneath. To her surprise, the delicious flavour she'd been anticipating, though slightly different, flooded her mouth.

What sort of ridiculous backward orange was this? With a tasty peel and garbage, sour fruit within? Not that it really made that much difference to her. She tore into the fruit, peeling off strips of skin and devouring them. She spent a good bell there, filling her stomach. As well as being sweet, and like a treat, she was also refueling on much needed vitamins. Less important to her than a true human, since she could live on straight carrion when necessary, but to stay in the best shape and health, variety was needed.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 22nd, 2016, 11:02 pm, edited 4 times in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:40 pm

Image
Spring 33 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Yukmen? Everyone meets them at some point.. It's like.. Miz rite of passage. Steal their carrion. Lemmings? Could be good!
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:41 pm

Image
Spring 34 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Smashed up cabin, ghost, spooky ooooooOOooooOOOoo.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 11:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:42 pm

Image
Spring 35 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Things start getting swampy, note how plentiful food is, eat a bunch of delicious frogs etc.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 10:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:42 pm

Image
Spring 36 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Eat a frog, get super stoned, see things, get super lost
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:42 pm

Image
Spring 37 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Still lost, still tripping balls.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 10:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

This Was a Terrible Idea

Postby Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 9:43 pm

Image
Spring 38 - 516 AV - Heading West from Zeltiva


Trying to get back on course. Feel like shyke.
Last edited by Fiachra on April 12th, 2016, 10:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Fiachra
Player
 
Posts: 118
Words: 100578
Joined roleplay: August 12th, 2015, 7:37 pm
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Medals: 1
Donor (1)

Next

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests