Solo Job Thread One: The Nest

In which Rayt tries to steal some falcon eggs

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Considered one of the most mysterious cities in Mizahar, Alvadas is called The City of Illusions. It is the home of Ionu and the notorious Inverted. This city sits on one of the main crossroads through The Region of Kalea.

Job Thread One: The Nest

Postby Rayt on March 1st, 2017, 2:04 am

Spring, 58, 517

Rayt woke up before the break of dawn this morning and started his daily exercise for regaining his grip strength. Now he could push the tong-like apparatus an inch for ten repetitions three times before his hand ached too much. His left hand had been injured by an archery accident of his own doing. Rayt still couldn't fully close his hand after days upon days of healing...but it was getting better. Today the goal was to find a falcon or an osprey nest and steal some of their eggs, if not all of them. Rayt always justified the act of taking animals or eggs or cubs or what have you by the simple fact he could take care of them better and give them better homes than they could have in the wild. The birds he cared for often lived longer and he bonded with them in a special way most of the time. Rayt brought the backpack with him and threw some arrows and his short bow into it before heading out into the wilds. Rayt knew that falcons didn't build nests, they would often take unused eagle or pigeon nests and lay their eggs in there. Climbing a tree was out of the question, he wouldn't even know how to get up a tree in the first place. He would have to wander through the wilderness and hope he could stumble upon a nest a falcon was using, maybe he would get lucky.

Rayt looked around the wilderness, it was a lovely spring morning and the sun was just rising. There were many bird calls around. He recognized a few eagles, some sparrows. He thought about raising eagle chics... hmm...eagles are magnificent birds...but they may be too much for me to handle. It's a thought though if I don't find any falcons. Rayt continued through the countless trees and got on his knees searching through the underbrush. Rayt was surprised to see several eggs smashed in the underbrush. He wasn't sure which eggs these were but they were large eggs, maybe about the size of a human hand if they were whole. Rayt thought nothing of this, broken eggs were found all the time, predators needed to eat, accidents happened. What was disturbing was the fact that it seemed an entire nest of bird eggs seemed to be there. The eggs were brown and spotted and Rayt seemed to remember from his days in Wind Reach and under his master's tutelage from caring for the majestic birds that falcon eggs were of the same color and design. Rayt was still unsure if these were indeed falcon eggs, but now he was less unsure. He hoped this was not a foreboding sign as to the health or availability of falcon eggs...or even something more menacing to the falcons threatening their way of life. Rayt grunted and made his eyebrows arched in a determined expression. If the falcons were under distress for any reason he would have to find a nest quickly or risk not finding them at all. He just hoped it was an isolated incident and not some sort of epidemic.
Rayt
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Job Thread One: The Nest

Postby Rayt on March 14th, 2017, 10:01 pm

The wilderness was vast, Rayt thought as he ventured forward seeking the prize he sought after. Falcons didn't lay many eggs. This venture would not make Rayt rich but it would start him off in Alvadas as a falconer. The fact was, the falcon eggs he sought after were an investment in his future. If he could just get one female falcon he could breed her...within two years. It was a long term plan but if he could just find one egg he had two choices. Choice one was if it was a female falcon he could keep the female for two years and breed the falcon with another falconers male falcon. Choice two was if he had a male falcon. If that happened he would train the male falcon as a courier and hunter falcon and ask for around three hundred gold mizas per trained falcon. Now if he received more than one falcon that would be a god send. Rayt knew falcons could lay anywhere between one and six eggs at a time. In the wild that number varied wildly due to the availability of food, where the falcons laid the eggs, weather conditions and a number of other things while in captivity they tended to yield no less than four eggs at a time. Rayt would be lucky if he got two eggs out of one nest. Knowing this and knowing about falcon nesting habits he looked through the underbrush for any nests they could have made on the ground. This was seemingly unlikely as predators could easily harm the nest but it wasn't unknown.

The most likely candidate for the location of falcon nests were the trees. Living in Wind Reach for a time Rayt also knew that falcons would often times scratch a small pit with their talons in the dirt of a mountain side and lay their eggs there. Rayt was just about to walk back to Alvadas to search around the Gaping Maw for just such nesting signs when he saw a falcon flying around. The falcon was flying around a tree in frantic patterns. Excited Rayt ran for the tree trying to think of any number of ways he could possibly scale the tree, wondering if he had to shoot the mother falcon and kill it in order to even approach the nest. Of course Rayt abhorred this idea but hey, falconers gotta eat. As Rayt was rolling through ideas in his head the falcon screeched a shrill cry and dove at the nest. This behavior was alien to Rayt as he watched the falcon mother attack the nest. Rayt watched in horror as the nest fell and the falcon flew away in a frenzy letting out several more cries. Rayt ran to the fallen nest saying a hopeless prayer that the eggs were unharmed.

Rayt scoured the twigs for the eggs and found them...completely destroyed. He fought the urge to cry over this atrocity. There were three eggs in total as far as Rayt could tell. Talon scratch marks and piercings into the shell marked the scene. The worst part were the fetal bodies of the chics, motionless and lifeless in their own yolks and blood. Rayt sat on the cold dirt of the ground and wondered why in the world this would happen. Was the falcon who attacked the nest the mother? Or was it a random attack. That was not normal behavior for falcons, not in even the wildest stretch of the mind. Falcons did not attack other nests, not ever as far as Rayt knew. Maybe they did in this part of the world. Rayt sighed and decided to chalk it up to a behavior he had not witnessed before. He didn't like this...but maybe it was how nature went around Alvadas. This is going to make it harder to find eggs that's for sure. I wonder how any falcons can survive in this environment at all. That last thought was particularly disturbing. Maybe falcons can't, and if they couldn't...he couldn't stay here. How would he survive without one of the only skills he knew of. Frantically Rayt moved on, there has to be falcons in the area...I've seen them I'm sure!!
Rayt
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Job Thread One: The Nest

Postby Rayt on March 15th, 2017, 10:43 pm

Shaken up by what he just witnessed Rayt walks deeper into the wilderness looking high and low for any falcons or nests he can see. He finds nothing for a very long time. The air seems thick and almost fused with some sort of eeriness Rayt can't quite place. Uneasily he looks around as he gets the feeling things aren't right, and perhaps that other creatures or beings are around him. A mist almost suddenly forms and out of the mist a white horse with a rainbow mane comes out of it and disappears immediately. Rayt hears in the distant giggling and it sounds like a little girl. Rayt slowly approaches the giggling as the mist disappears and he approaches a tree he thinks the giggling came from. He sees no one but there is something strange. In a nest on the ground were sparrow eggs without any sparrows around. He was absolutely positive they were sparrow eggs, he had seen eggs like that before. Suddenly the eggs cracked open and live thick green snakes came out of the eggs hissing and spewing venom. Rayt startled and fell backward in terror and as he did he looked back at the vicious creatures to see the eggs completely unscathed and no creatures to be seen.

Rayt did not approach the nest for fear of what was happening. I must be seeing things, he thought and then a sudden revelation came to him. That's exactly what's happening. I don't know how but there's some sort of illusions being made. Maybe that's what happened to that falcon I saw. He pondered this for a moment. Of course that's what happened. If I were a falcon, going out to catch some food for myself. If I came back and saw that my nest had been invaded by snakes I would attack too. This was incredibly troubling to Rayt, if this were happening in the wilderness and the falcons becoming confused by wild illusions then it could mean all of the falcons would kill their nests. Rayt decided if he could save just one nest from the same fate he saw the last falcon nest he would be satisfied.

Rayt unsteadily took his bow out of his backpack and drew an arrow, aiming the arrow to the ground as he made his way through the wilderness. He was fearful as he looked around to have his bow out but it also made him feel more secure. He was fearful he would fire it at some wayward illusion, but it brought him security to have it. Even in his unsteady hands, even more so as he was shaken form his experiences seeing the falcon kill it's nest, it was deadly. He learned that lesson clearly when he shot it into his own forearm. Even now he could barely grip the bow with his left hand and it hurt him to do so. One nest...just one nest and I'll be satisfied. After that I'm having a stiff drink.
Rayt
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Job Thread One: The Nest

Postby Rayt on March 15th, 2017, 11:11 pm

A tell-tale screech ripped through the wild air and Rayt jerked his head back and forth looking for the very thing he sought after for bells upon bells now. After a few chimes he saw the figure of a falcon off in the distance. Running forward he chases the flight of the falcon and quickly loses the trail. Rayt grunts in frustration and quickly scans the horizons and the ground for any sign of the falcon. Moving forward he finds a few feathers and droppings here and there subtly marking the flight of the falcon. In the distance he can hear feint screeches and he follows the sound closely. After another few chimes he sees the figure of a circling falcon. Rayt grips his bow and stares down the circling falcon as he approaches. To Rayt's terror he sees the falcon dive and he immediately runs the few feet he needs to in fear of the worst. Sure enough what he expects is exactly the scene he finds. A brown speckled egg drops from a medium sized tree and sprays the ground with egg shells and yolk. The raptor dives once more and without a single moments hesitation or second thought Rayt aims, levels the bow and fires within seconds at the falcon. Rayt misses, but scares the falcon out of it's dive.

Rayt breathes a quick sigh of relief before grabbing another arrow. Rayt watches the falcon as it lands beside the nest. Time seems to slow as Rayt aims once more at the falcon for fear of what it will do to the eggs. Rayt draws back the bowstring of the short-bow, not paying attention to his aching left hand as he let's a second arrow fly. The arrow misses once more and the falcon gets scared once again. This time the falcon frantically beats it's wings and kicks off from the tree and sends the nest falling from the tree. Rayt screams and again without thinking runs for the nest, casting his bow to the dirt and diving for the mess of twigs and dirt making it's way to the unforgiving earth. It seemed to Rayt like a torturous bell when in fact it was a single chime before he held the nest in his arms cradling the two remaining eggs in the barely held together nest.
Rayt
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Posts: 21
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Joined roleplay: February 28th, 2017, 4:39 pm
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