Field Trip (Jaeden & Sam)

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on March 31st, 2010, 2:19 am

"You're probably right. Next time I'll meet you at your place so I can stow it all there before we go out. We'll just bring a saddle blanket. I can ride bareback, but it's not so comfortable for long."

At the mention of dangerous wildlife, his hand brushed the hilt of his scimitar.

"What sort of things...? Wolves and bears or... bad things?"

by **Jaeden Kincade** on March 31st, 2010, 2:42 am

The two of them, with Jaeden settled along Horse's back, continued to trek through the forest. Weaving around a tree here and there. "Bears, wolves, puma and the like." Jaeden replied as paused for a moment, looking around. "There are some more dangerous creatures that lurk, but it's not likely that we'll see them. We're not in what would be considered their territory."

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on March 31st, 2010, 3:42 am

"Aren't the Sylirian knights supposed to keep the area around here safe from monsters? I'd heard they were trying to build a fortress of peace... It's not like we're that far from them."

He was too jaded -- cheerful demeanor notwithstanding -- to believe that honor and goodness would keep the monsters at bay, but he understood power, mostly from it being used to inflict depredation upon him, and he had hoped the Knights were powerful enough to protect their realm.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on March 31st, 2010, 11:51 pm

Jaeden slowly shook his head as he turned his head looking up towards the sun. “The wildlife don’t come out of the forest all that much, if at all. The knights have bigger things to worry about in the form of slavers and bandits. Such threats are and should be set ahead of wild animals, even the unique ones.” Jaeden explained as he stopped another moment to take a quick look around. “Besides, if they went around just slaughtering animals, even in the name of preemptive protection, they’re bound to anger a God or Goddess along the way. Such would then become a much larger problem than it should have been.”

“In the end, Nature has a course,” Jaeden then said as he began heading east. “Anyone who tries to alter such in a drastic way, normally gets laid to waste.”

Eventually the pair of them came into a small clearing, where Jaeden’s tent had already been set up. A fire pit had been dug out of the ground, sitting five feet in front of the tent, as a small bundle of timber sat next to it. “Well, we’re here.” Jaeden sad as he slipped his foot out of the stirrup first, before swinging his leg over Horse’s head. He then slid to the ground as a small wince appeared on his face. “Ow, my ass.”

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on April 1st, 2010, 12:55 am

"Careful," he scolded. "You almost kicked Horse in the head. Your leg goes around back." He took Horse's face and rubbed down from his forelock.

"I meant more like... never mind. What do we do first?" he asked. He was going to mention things like glassbeaks, which required warriors to subdue, but he didn't want to talk about Cyphrus or slavers or really anything else just then, so he focused on the learning to be had.

by **Jaeden Kincade** on April 1st, 2010, 10:29 pm

Jaeden nudged his head towards Horse. “Strip away all his burdens so he can lounge about.” Jaeden said as he walked over to his pack, picking it up off the ground. “He won’t be coming on the hunt anyhow.”

Jaeden slowly slipped his arms through the pack as they came to a firm rest along his shoulders. “This area should have some fair sized elk trampling around,” Jaeden informed as he buckled a strap across his waist. “That’ll be the grand prize today. Aside from that, we’ll be setting several small snares along the way.”

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on April 2nd, 2010, 3:31 am

Sam nodded and set about removing Horse's saddle and whatnot; he was an old hand at the care and feeding of horses, and so it didn't take long at all before Horse was munching down an apple and ambling over to a likely looking patch of tender green grass shoots.

Digging into his packs, he rearranged his stuff so he had his snares, water, and the like in his backpack. He then strapped his scimitar to his hip and was ready to go.

"Shall we hunt elk, then?"

by **Jaeden Kincade** on April 3rd, 2010, 10:42 pm

Jaeden gave a nod as he slipped his bow off his shoulder, pulling the string a couple of times to check the bow’s strength. His gaze then settled to Sam, making sure he was ready. “We shall,” Jaeden simply said as he began heading in a south western direction, his gaze traveling to the ground for hints of any tracks. “Of course, whether we bag one or not is entirely a different story.”

Jaeden then fell silent as the pair made their way through the forest, Jaeden’s eyes focused along the ground. Eventually, he was stopped as he ran headlong into a tree while he was tracking. “Ow,” Jaeden muttered as he rubbed his head slightly. “I gotta stop doing that.”

Jaeden the tilted his head slightly, catching a pair of small tracks that ran along a patch of moss, tearing it slightly. “Hrmm,” Jaeden mused before following them for a short distance before finding it running along a small bush. “Alright, here’s the spot for your first snare, Sam. You know which type you’re going to use?”

by **Sama'el Sunsinger** on April 4th, 2010, 10:55 pm

Sam maintained the quiet on their journey. Though he was not unfamiliar with the things Jaeden was teaching him, it had been some time since his initial training and he thought it best to build his skills up from the beginning again. If anything, he would learn a different technique -- he assumed they did things differently in Cyphrus than here. He couldn't remember if Jaeden was originally from here or if it had even come up.

He only smiled sympathetically when Jaeden hit his head, biting back a laughing remark about buying him a helmet so he wouldn't accidentally brain himself falling out of bed or something.

Instead he paid attention to the tracks as best he could, and again he was learning more from Jaeden than his previous teachers, his pavilion, had taught. For they were focused upon the grasslands, and here the terrain was different, as was the flora and fauna.

When Jaeden questioned him, he just pulled out his small snare, assuming a bird snare would work better in a tree or a bush rather than on the ground. He held it up.

"Am I right?"

by **Jaeden Kincade** on April 5th, 2010, 12:08 am

Jaeden took a lean along the tree nearby, giving a nod in reply to Sam’s question. “Yes, a small snare would be best for the animal there,” Jaeden commented, “but do you intend to use a stationary snare, or a lifting snare?”

“A stationary snare will just be anchored to the ground by a peg, or tied to tree or bush it rests near. It requires the animal’s own struggle against it to ensnare or kill it. It‘s quick and simple, but leaves the trapped vulnerable to nearby predators.” Jaeden then explained, pointing out the differences in traps. “A lifting snare will generally, as the snare notes, lift the prey above the ground, letting gravity do the work. It’s more efficient than a normal snare and will usually lift the captured prey out of reach of other predators. The drawback is that it takes longer to create as you have either pull a branch from a nearby tree down to create the lift, or use other materials around to create something that will lift it.”