The Unknown

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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.

The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:10 am


25th of Fall, 518AV


She normally didn’t like to sleep at night, but after the past two days, it seemed fitting. She didn’t like this city, and she didn’t like the people in it. She had nothing, and although she would not have considered the Drykas kind to foreigners, these people were even less so. As soon as she passed the fire heap, Ixzo shrugged out of her shirt, and undid her belt, piling her things inside the cloth and then tying it up. She did not care to stay in this city, but she knew she would need to stay close. Transforming into a lion, she picked up the linen, glanced around to see who saw, and then stalked into the forest.

She could see clearly, and had little issue with the thick undergrowth. She was not stealthy, but she was not hunting at the moment. She needed water and a good tree to lay in, and then the next morning she would make a plan. Unlike the Sea of Grass, the lioness did not fear these wilds, she understood the forest. This was not the jungle that she called home, and the vegetation and animals were vastly different, but neither was it the open plains she had grown to call home. Even now as she let her eyes follow the ground in search of a stream. She found herself skirting around the north of the city, remembering seing broken bridges over a north-south river of substantial size. She knew she wouldn’t want to drink from the stream south of the city, but north of it might be fine.

After making the decision she noticed the signs of water near by. Ground vegetation grew denser the closer she came, but it was light and did not disturb the path of the lioness where she tread. She smelled the tang of many humans in the footpaths that wound through the woods here, but she ignored their tracks, both fresh and old. Yes, her path definitely led to water. Within half a bell she could hear the whispers of Makutsi’s stream on the edges of her senses. The air still reeked of human, but it was growing clearer, being swept away by the river. What few animals decided to drink from here were small enough not to be noticed by or disturbed by the humans. Any prey of substance would be drinking further up the stream, and while she would have liked to do the same, the lioness was too exhausted to.

But she was no idiot. She approached off of a human trail, and paused before breeching the tree line to the bank of the channel of water that fed the city. Perking her ears she listened for sounds of approach by anything. A predator larger or smaller than her, an herbivore, or a human. The sun had only set a few bells ago, and so she didn’t trust that all the humans have disappeared, however it was unlikely there would be predators larger, or even smaller, than her wandering about. Still, she was not too tired to make sure.

Dropping her pack in the leaves below and letting her mouth hang open, she let the scents of her surroundings flow through her glands, reading them. She settled into a crouch and decided to watch for a few chimes, taking in everything that her senses would give her to read the area surrounding. She could hear the splash of a human further down the stream, although she could not entirely tell what it was. This bank was frequented, so she had to spend extra effort telling the stale from fresh human trails. But in the few chimes she waited, nothing approached, and she sensed nothing watching her. Leaving her pack in the bushes, she slowly crawled forward, rolling her paws on the crinkling leaves. She crawled with extreme slowness, not minding the extra time it took to hide the rhythm of her footsteps. When her paws touched shorter grass and then dirt, she relaxed. Wide eyes still looked around her, and she perked her ears as she leaned down to drink from the fresh stream.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:10 am


She could still hear the human down the stream, it hadn’t noticed her stealthy descent to the bank. She took in large laps of water, feeling the cool refreshing liquid course down her esophagus and into her eager stomach. Still, after a few gulps, she paused, raising her head from the running water to look with her eyes as well as her ears. After a few ticks, she returned to drinking, repeating the process until she felt adequately quenched.

The lioness watched the world around her, paying attention to the sounds of the human not far off, still rhythmic in whatever they were doing, still unaware of her presence. Slowly, remaining crouched, the lioness turned to head back towards the bushes. Keeping her steps slow and shallow as she entered back into the shrubbery, so that her movements could not be distinguished from the nature sounds surrounding her.

She followed her own scent to her pack, and paused beside it, tasting as much of the air as she could before picking it up again. Now her eyes looked up, finding a large enough tree to hold her. Like the jungle, this was not difficult. This northern forest lay host to much more shrubbery and many many new thin trees, but there were the occasional ancient figures in the forest, gnarled root systems foreshadowing their massive canopies that could not be seen in the dense leaves they carried. Perfect.

The lioness wandered north about a mile, making sure she was a reasonable distance from the stream, but not too far, before she began seriously looking. The areas surrounding the large trees seemed regularly void of bushes, as the canopy’s blocked out the sun. Instead the ground shrubs found themselves climbing near the newer trees, finding sun where they could. This meant the bushes would not act like an alarm for anything approaching her, but it also appealed to her human mind. If she was going to stay in Sunberth, and out of the city proper, she would want to create a hut somewhere. And while she was rusty on creating shelter from the world around her, she was sure she could patch together a reasonable hut for temporary use. The prospect of living in the city didn’t appeal to the Kelvic. She had no social ties, and no reason to go.

With large paws, she walked up to the gnarled base of the tree, pack still clamped in her jaws. She glanced at the leap it would take and then strained her muscles in preparation to make it. Digging her claws into the bark, she used the tree to boost her upward descent, springing up the side of the tree as far as it would let her, and then using the thick bark to direct her jump towards the large branch she intended to land on. Gracefully, despite her size, she set all four paws on the thick branch, and steadied herself now that she was still. The leaves shook and ruffled surrounding her sudden movement, and she stepped lightly forward to allow herself enough room to relax on the thick branch. Carefully, as she was nearly forty feet off the ground, the lioness settled into a crouch before letting her legs hang down from the branch. She let the pack fall into a crook on branch, and then picked one paw up to drape it over the branch so she could rest her head on it.

She was too exhausted to even preen herself, satisfied that she had at least found water and scoped out a relatively safe tree to sleep in, the lioness allowed her eyes to shut, listening to the forest sounds that surrounded her. Within chimes they lured her into sleep, her only surviving thought was the intention to hunt in the morning.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:11 am


When the lioness did wake, they were still under Leth’s reign. She felt the thick cloud of sleep having trouble departing from her conscious, and she straightened herself, looking up at the moon through the trees. If she knew anything about it, then time had somehow gone backwards. The sky was still light from the sun which must have set a mere bell ago. Leth still sat in the eastern realm, watching his lover go. Confused, Ixzo pulled herself up so she sat on the branch, feeling the soreness in her limbs at the action. To comfort herself, she ran a bristly tongue down the length of her arm, smoothing the hair that had committed to laying in the shape of the bark. Her tail lined with the branch as to not upset her balance during this action, but the cat still felt she had been here too long.

Perhaps it had been more than a few bells, but in fact nearly a whole day. Normally Ixzo would have been horrified at the prospect of losing so much time, but the lioness had nothing that demanded her attention.

As if to contradict her, her stomach let out a snarl of hunger, which forced the cat into action. She sprang to life, pivoting on the branch and turning back towards the trunk of the tree. Leaving her items on the branch, she lept into the trunk. Ixzo pushed against it with her paws to redirect her leap to the ground, clearing the forty feet in a much safer descent. Still, when her heavy paws reached the ground, they disturbed the leaves, tearing into the grass a bit. If her smell hadn’t given it away, it would be hard to assume she hadn’t been here. Knowing she would be able to follow her own scent back, the lioness padded east once again, heading for the stream that she had visited last night.

The lioness was ready to hunt, and although she desperately needed the water first, she did not allow herself to cause too much noise walking through the forest. There were no human paths for her to cheat with, so instead she rolled her paws into the leaves, ducking under branches and skirting shrubbery that was too thick. Prey might be able to smell her once she has passed, but if she happened upon anything on the way, they wouldn’t hear her coming.

Once she did reach the stream, there were fresh signs of humans. Now she smelled the tang of soap in the water, and when she reached the dirt bank, the lion padded upstream a few chimes so the smell could leave her nostrils, before she settled to drink the water. Again the lioness waited and watched her surrounding for a time before dipping her head to sip the cool relief of the stream.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:11 am


Ixzo knew that these parts of the world had smaller prey, but where definitely more abundant. Around the city would not be a good teller of this fact though, and Ixzo knew she would have to walk far out in order to get some of the good prey. After all, she had found the other two hunters nearly a day’s walk out, and even they were after simple prey. She missed Endrykas, whose city did not disrupt the wild around it. This appealed to her both out of respect for Caiyha, and because she would not have to travel so far to get reasonable game.

Still, the lioness found herself heading westbound, away from the city. Within the bell, the sun had finally sunk into the horizon, and the nighttime predator felt more comfortable stalking the eastern forest of Sylira. She moved slower now, putting more effort into sensing the world around her than trying to get away from the city. She was perhaps two miles out, which meant any humans she happened upon out here were not out here on accident, which also meant the prey was more suspicious. Luckily, she was not human.

The Kelvic passed up the trail of a few dear, a badger, and a hog. She was on the hunt for something that would satisfy her. Lion appetite, she hadn’t eaten in a few days, and was over due. The hunger gave her alertness, but also more desperation, and when the lioness happened upon the tantalizing smell of the herbivore she did not recognize, she began to follow it. Now that she focused on these tracks, she could smell the warm husk of a male, the comforting scent that seemed similar to dear, but obviously bigger and braver. Unsure of what it was, she followed carefully, she could not be sure if this thing was used to being hunting by things her size or how equipped it was to escape her. Rolling her feet into the crackling grass Ixzo paused at a pile of scat. It was not a scent she could name, but she recognized it to be similar to a deer, but much larger, and as far as she could tell, ate from the lower branches of the trees as well as the ground. Whatever this was would satisfy her for sure.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:12 am


And now that she could recognize its tracks, she began to realize that there were more of them. Whatever this was travelled in packs. Not nearly as large as the Ibex of the plains, but there were going to be between four and five of them whenever she caught up with them. The dung that she had originally assessed was over a bell old, not solid, but beginning to harden. But here there were fresher piles with stronger smelled, and the lioness was looking forward to the kill. She could see the indents of their hooves in the dry grass and through the leaves scattered on the ground, as they headed further west, and the lioness found herself following. It was more than a few chimes before the wind picked up in her favor, rustling through the tree branches and blowing the warm and welcoming scent of whatever creature this was towards her.

Excitement spiked in her veins, but the huntress was well experienced and did not let this throw her off. Instead she crouched lower, making her steps more deliberate and silencing as much noise as she could of them. She would have to learn how to be stealthy in this environment, but she was not too unskilled that this wouldn’t work. Within a few feet, she saw the prey. She had estimated there to be about four or five of them, but she only saw two. They were large deer-like things with antlers. Had they not been a simple dull brown color she might compare them to antelope, but their color was off, they were too muscular, and their antlers were larger and less sharp. Still, she didn’t doubt that one of these things could buck her with ease.

Ahead were one male and one female, the female was grazing the grass at their feet while the male was trying to get something from the tree. He would lift on his hind legs slightly, grab something, and while trying to yank it down shake the branches around them causing a commotion. It was what had originally drawn her attention to them, and it was what gave her the confidence that these prey creatures were not paying as much attention as they could.

Based off of their earlier tracks, they had just regrouped after having been separated for some reason, and were likely coming together once again for the night. When the buck shook the branch again, she realized that they were eating. They were creating nests out of the falling leaves, to keep themselves warm. How weird these forest creatures were. But then again, Ixzo supposed they didn’t have the pleasant tall grasses in Cyphrus to curl up in and sleep, and clearly they had few nighttime predators that would track them down like this. Whatever hunted these things did so during the day, which was to Ixzo’s advantage. Licking her whiskers back over her cheeks, Ixzo flattened herself, taking excruciatingly slow steps forward only when the male was shaking the branches, because her steps were night quiet enough to do so otherwise.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:13 am


She was waiting for him to shake the branch again so she could continue forward, but he didn’t seem to do it any more, instead pushing the leaves around on the ground with his nose like the female did. As he did so, the female seemed to find her space, curling up and sitting down. Ixzo could see her sink into the leaves and dirt, and watched as she nearly disappeared. So this was their tactic, and this was probably where the other’s were. Realizing this, Ixzo let her gaze drift from the male who was still creating a space for herself, and realized there were three more mounts in the ground. No more rack of antlers, but now that she knew what to look for, she could see the distinct shape of hip bones beside curled ears, and realized that they were all hunkering down the for night. It was a little chilly, which made their nest creation more reasonable, but it still confounded the open plains predator. This was too easy.

To easy to detect at least. She was still nearly sixty feet away, and there were tree, shrubbery, and noisey fall leaves in her way. She liked to be within thirty feet before dashing, and even then this environment was crowded enough it would be a difficult chase. She had the advantage of them already laying down, but the male was still up. Did she want to attack the male? She could probably take him, and the females would not likely attack her as well.

Instinct propelled her forward while the male was still standing. He seemed to be distracted with something, and once he hunkered down it would be nearly impossible to sneak up on them. She was closing in nearly forty feet when he must’ve heard her. She watched the massive head snap towards her, and she paused. It was night, she had the advantage. And although she still had to learn to walk on this ground, she could be entirely still when she needed to be, like right now. And so she paused, weight balanced on two of her feet, and her muscles locked against the wish to shift them. Even her tail, tucked low, did not flick with her anticipation. She needed to be just a little closer in order to begin the chase.

Last edited by Ixzo on November 24th, 2018, 5:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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The Unknown

Postby Ixzo on November 16th, 2018, 12:13 am


After a tense two chime standoff, where the buck didn’t seem to see her, as his head was spanning the area where she was, he turned back to his nest making. Only now he did not prepare for a nest, it looked as if he was nudging one of the other sleeping figures. She raised her head, ears perked for his breathes that was their communication, and then lowered it again, not putting any thoughts into his worries. The herbivore paced among the does with worry in his stride, and Ixzo used this chance to creep slower. She only walked when he walked, so he would not detect her noise. And within a few chimes, even though he was worried, obviously sensing her stalking him even if he could not detect her, Ixzo found herself far enough that she would be willing to run. Still, she would push this as far as she could go, and began to creep forward as he paced away again. This time he heard her again, and swung his head around to stare in her direction.

She watched him watch her, frozen in place, and this time she realized that he did see her, and she wasn’t going to waste time. Pushing all of her weight into her hind legs, she launched forward, bursting over a collection of shrubbery. In ticks she was on his tail, although whatever kind of herbivore he was fast. As she bounded into the nesting area for these strange herbivores, she let him bound away. The females were struggling to get to their hoofs quick enough. Three of them were up and out in an instant, only a tick behind the male, but the last one had tripped. That was more than enough time. The lion forgot about the others, coming down on the mare with vigor. She heard the snap of some bone breaking as she slammed this herbivore into the ground. Her claws dug into the thing’s flank, and she was easily able to reach around, clamping her jaw on the thing’s aorta.

The female herbivore struggled underneath Ixzo, but had never been in a position to properly run, and could not do it now, even with whatever was snapped. Still, this herbivore was nearly as large as Ixzo, and hurled the both of them to the side. Ixzo wrestled to get ontop of her prey, unlatching her claws to grab the mare by a more compromising position, but not willing to let the bloody neck out of her jaw.

It was a few chimes of grappling before the female was too weak to fight back anymore. The thick fur on her neck was covered in blood, that assaulted Ixzo’s nostrils and filled her senses. Shew as in a frenzy, once the thing was properly dead, she wasted no time digging into the belly with her claws, getting at the fur until the skin gave way underneath it. Strong muscles rippled beneath the skin as she tore at it, and she went in with her teeth, easily tearing the meat from the bones. She hardly wasted time chewing before she swallow, tearing again and again at the herbivore for over a bell, until she had devoured most of the thing. The organs had long since spilled out, perfuming the air with rot and methane, but as a lion, she did not mind so much. Her hunger had been satiated, she was tired from the hunt, and she had a long trek back. Not giving a care for what happened to the carcass, she licked the excess blood off her cheeks, sat up, and ran a paw over her ear. It would be a long walk back, but now she had the energy to do what she needed to do in the morning. To build a home for herself.

Word Count: 3,737

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Ixzo
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The Unknown

Postby Ssezzkero on December 5th, 2018, 7:06 pm

Planning +1, Land Navigation +2, Wilderness Survival: Forest +1, Stealth +5, Tracking +3, Endurance +1, Climbing +1, Grooming +1, Acrobatics +1, Hunting +4, Running +1, Unarmed Combat +1, Wrestling +1, Sunberth: Not Welcoming, Carrying belongings while in Kelvic form, Wilderness Survial: Drinking upstream from the city, Land Navigation: Forests immediately surrounding Sunberth, Wilderness Survival: Noticing the sings of water nearby, Wanting to stay near society, Grooming oneself as a lion, Hunting: Larger prey stays away from the city, Recognizing Scent: Deer, Hunting: Being aware of the direction of the wind
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