Quest A Hunting We Will Go

[Razkar]

Razkar had Trikken fully-loaded when he swung his leg over him to get mounted, so of course Riaris would choose that exact moment to speak. The grinding of leather on leather and the whoosh of air as Razkar went from standing to mounted dulled the Akalak's words, but he managed to hear them.

He was more surprised he has spoken them at all. Nearly a full day without silence, and now...?

"Well... I don't know about you, but I didn't travel all this way just to run errands. If I see Zith or even hear anything that sounds like the off beat of their nasty wings I will find them and clip them at once."

Razkar mulled this over, wearing that blank expression that he usually did. He could understand the Akalak's restlessness. He was a warrior, and riding around the endless, featureless Sea of Grass running errands was not an action fit for one. But he knew Zith, too. He'd fought them and killed them and knew they very rarely traveled alone. If they came across a group, there would be plenty of blood to honor both their blades.

"A good idea." He said, consulting his map as Riaris did the same. He would trust the Akalak's sense of direction out here, being a native to the Cyphrus region. "Man in lodge said we might see Zith on outside from big group. He talk like we not."

Razkar snorted and spat off his horse. "I not hope that. Want to kill. Came to fight, not ride. We find Zith, now, later, tomorrow. But we find them."

"For all we know those scouts could already be dead. This could all be a waste of time going this route when the battle is being fought miles away. So... what do you say Razkar, shall we... venture off?"

Razkar thought a little harder about that one. He'd been a soldier for three years in Fayndar. Not only a warrior, which was a calling, not a trade, but a soldier. He'd followed orders without question, and trusted that those above him had the wisdom to give him the right ones. The idea of disregarding an order, deviating from an established battle plan... it rankled inside him.

Then he sniffed and saw things a different way, just as Riaris apparently got his bearings. Was he with the army of the Goddess-Queen anymore? No, he was not. Did he sign a contract or take an oath when he stepped into the Lodge? No, he had not. He was a mercenary, a sellsword, a volunteer, and so if he so chose, he could see those orders as... suggestions.

You came here for blood and battle, a voice inside him said, not to patrol and scout. Necessary things, true, but why send a blood-tested Myrian on such an errand?

"I think..." he said eventually, weighing up his words carefully, which he usually did anyway, considering Common was not his native tongue, "... that we stick to plan for now. We might find Zith. But if not by tomorrow..."

He shrugged, face even more carefully neutral, and voice nonchalant.

"It is easy to get lost in Sea of Grass. Make wrong turn easy. Read map wrong." His eyes slid over to Riaris as the Akalak studied his features. "Who knows where we end up?"

He waited for a reaction from the Akalak and bunched his cloak tighter around his shoulders. The sun was bright beyond belief in the sky, but the wind whipped and howled around them with the faint promise of snow to come. He spat again.

"If I am speaking truth? Be good to find scouts dead. Then no reason to go on plan. Can find battle." He shook his head, bitter and tedious memories of his service with Taloba returning. "Not always glory and exc... exca... excitement, to be a soldier."

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Riaris rubbed at his chin as Razkar spoke. His common wasn't the best, but he could understand the man just find. Although curiously, he would have thought the Myrian would have jumped at the chance for action, but it seemed that he preferred to stay in line and follow the orders of a group that he wasn't even apart of. Very curious...

"Find then, we'll do it your way and stick to the plan. Just remember that it was your decision should you get bored soon."

A smirk rose across his lips then as he removed his map and took another look at it. It was said that Myrians were bloody thirty savages, well in Razkar's case that didn't seem to fit. Unless of course he was hiding that side of himself for a purpose that Riaris had yet to catch onto...only time would tell.

"Let's be off then, we've still got a lot of ground to cover."

Taking the reins again, Riaris clicked his heels and the horse started into a trot and moved forward. The Akalak kept his eyes open for anything out of the norm, but he really didn't expect to find anything that he couldn't handle. So they were off again, the slow trots soon turning into fast paced gallops as the two raced through the forest and towards their destination.

[Traverse]

The day proceeded much as Riaris had expected, long and boring. Riding was a thing of beauty, a fusion of man and beast rolling across the endless ocean of grass that lay out before them, but when one knew little to nothing of riding, and when the air grabbed at your face and clung to it with icy intent, the whole idea of this wonderful experience was really much more of a petching nuisance than the story books portrayed. Why not leave the riding to the Drykas, aye?

Razkar kept a more tempered idea of the whole scenario; his stint in the military had taught him to keep a level head…well at least about some things. He wasn’t going to let his loin cloth get in a ruffle about a little riding, but as the day drew on, Syna climbing higher in the sky, yet giving neither of the men any relief from the biting wind currents, nor any clear signs of any quarry, the idea of straying from the plan began to appear more like an appealing option.

So the silence drew on between them. It was rather hard to carry on a conversation at that kind of pace anyway, and the cool quiet was broken only by the steady rhythmic beat of their steed’s hooves strumming out a drum of thumps and thuds that seemed only to record the length of this journey ever so much more.

There were no signs in the grass when they got the first whiff of it. It was faint, pulled across their noses by a playful breeze, but on their present course it took only four chimes for the scent to grow. Both men knew the stench of death from one event or perhaps several in their lives, and it wasn’t a smell you forgot. As they slowed the horses to try to pin point the location of the scent, it would take them about half a bell to track it down, veering somewhat off their scheduled path. When they found the clearing, where the grass had been trampled down in a wide swathe they would find a slain Olidosapux upon its side, a long spear sticking out of its ribs along with more than a few arrows peppered into its hide. Upon closer inspection the blow that had probably done it in was a broken arrow shaft lodged at quite the angle into its eye. Whoever had taken the beast down had clearly had some skill with hunting these creatures before, yet if one looked at the body of the large beast, the only wounds aside from the projectile weapons were a few incisions in the stomach, likely by carrion birds. The ground was trampled well and good, though whether this had been largely horses and Olidosapux or Drykas and Akalak or even Zith, it was hard to say. The carcass was old enough to stink, but clearly not old enough to have been devoured by every carrion feeder for leagues around.

[Razkar]

Looks like a Tskanna.

That was Razkar's first thought as they dismounted next to the hulking, stinking carcass. The smell was easy to follow, coiling around their nostrils like a decaying cloth and dragging them towards the scene of death. Without a word being exchanged, both Akalak and Myrian turned their horses towards the smell, until they found the rough clearing and...

Razkar paced around the creature, studying it with wide, curious eyes. Tskannas outside Falyndar? It didn't seem likely... and now he looked closer, that was fur on the creature's body, not scales and hide. And the horns were wrong, of course. He would have to ask Riaris what the same for it was. Might prove to be good eating one day.

But the wounds were what grabbed his attention, fresh but already blackening after time on the Olidosapux's side and head. That would in particular drew him. A beast of this size would have been fast-moving and enraged, but someone had the nerve and skill to plant a spear right into its eye, a tiny target. The handful of arrows would have just annoyed it, nothing more, barely piercing the thick skin. But whoever threw that spear...

The Myrian looked around at his feet, noting the churned up ground. Grass stalks and mud and dirt had been ripped up and spread all over, and he could barely make out a single imprint. He grabbed a handful of earth near the crature and sniffed.

Hmm...

He stood back up and felt the impact as all three hundred pounds of Riaris stomped down onto the ground from his saddle. He did not spare him a look, eyes focused on the creature, the weapons, and the thing that did not add up.

"Think was Zith that did this." He said bluntly, then pointed to the arrows and spear. "If was Drykas or Akalak or human, would have taken meat. Skin. Horn. Not have just killed and left. Thing killed this... killed it for fun. Just because thing was there. That what Zith do."

Razkar though he knew that much. The Zith, as he had seen them and heard of them, were sadists of the first order. He was amazed they actually managed to hold together a loose civilization, comprised as it was of amoral psychopaths who lived for mass murder and slavery. He snorted softly as that thought crossed his mind.

The same is often said about the Children of Myri, is it not?

He shrugged, aware that this was not just home and its ways were still a mystery to him in many ways. But all he had to contribute was what he saw, and how he could apply his experiences to it. Speaking of which...

"We look at spear." He said, bracing his hands around the shaft of the spear reaching skywards as it stuck out the destroyed eye socket. "Zith use bone many time. Maybe show us who did this."

He started to heave against the shaft and realized that there was a lot more of the spear's head inside the dead Olidosapux than he expected. As he strained he managed to clip out words.

"What is... this thing... name?"

[Riaris Dovukalis]

It was a horrid smell that called to them, drawing their attention from it's desired path and leading them to the body of a dead Olidosapux. Riaris stayed on his horse as Razkar quickly dismounted in order to investigate the body closer. From where he sat he could easily see the projectile weapons in the body of the beast, and that nothing had been taking for meat or other profits. It was clearly done for sport, for a savage fun. Riaris looked around them, scanning the area to see if the animal hunter was still around. The kill was cold, but it was still possible that it's killer hadn't left the area completely.

"This was done for sport..." he said as he slipped down from the horse and moved closer to the body. The smell was even worse now that he was closer, and the Akalak turned up his nose as he examined it for himself. The trampled ground beneath them was something of a minor note, but there was no way to tell what else had been there before they arrived.

"I have to agree, this was done by a Zith."

How fortune it was for the two, to find Zith so close to the city. It had to be Zith who had killed it, and now the question was, where did it get off too? Riaris was content to allow Razkar the pleasure of toying with the dead animal and simply observed his findings.

"The animal is called Olidosapux. It's common in the Sea of Grass, and Cyphrus as a whole."

Riaris watched for a moment, as Razkar attempted to pull the spear free and finally moved in to help him. It didn't take much more, and within a tick the object was pulled free with the collected blood of the beast caked along it's tip. He looked it over for a bit then allowed Razkar to take it alone and examine it. "It appears that the hunt is on.."

[Traverse]

The ambience was completed when the cry of crows brought the two men’s attention if only briefly to the sky where a collection of winged creatures, carrion feeders of all breeds had begun circling well above the creature’s corpse.

As Razkar wiped the blood and gore from the tip of the spear he would notice it was made out of ivory. Just as Myrians constructed weapons from Tskanna tusks, so too had some creature’s outward appendage been used in the construction of the spear head, perhaps it had even come off of another Olidosapux some time ago. It was a fine piece of craftsmanship, and bore the carving of a Night lion on one side, a lioness upon the other, simple, yet elegant. Shame such a fine piece had been left to degrade in the Olidosapux’s corpse like trash.

Tracking Zith was near impossible due to their flight, especially in the daytime, but as Razkar and Riaris moved back to their horses, they would notice a very clear trampled trail for the two men to follow if they so wished that formed off to the side of the decaying beast. Left by at least two horses, it led off nearly perpendicular to their original trail on the map. It was somewhere around midday tomorrow when the two were scheduled to meet with the scouts, and an important choice awaited them as the map and the trail off into the grass gave two separate paths for the warriors.

[Razkar]

The crows squawked and screeched, insulted by the bipeds' intrusion into their slowly marinating meal, but Razkar had no eyes for them. They were fixed on the tapered head of the spear in his hands. Smeared with old, blackened blood, it was ever-more beautiful to him. More than half a foot long, ivory or bone by the looks of it, with a delicate inlay in the side. Like... a lion.

"This was Zith." He looked around finally, trying to find some sign of them, but he might as well try and find signs of a hawk or an eagle. But his brow furrowed when he saw the space where the grasses had been rudely pushed aside by horses. "Something went that way. Horses, though. Zith not ride. Perhaps... our scouts?"

That seemed more likely to him that Drykas or humans. He could have been wrong, but judging by the size of the space, it was no more than two, maybe three horses who went through there. Drykas would not track or attack Zith in anything less than force. Ordinary humans would not have made it this far in the Sea of Grass. So who did that leave?

Is this a theory? His own mind whispered, turning in on him. Or a hope?

Razkar pondered this, breath coming out in cloudy gusts as the wind kicked up. They still had a full day before they would rendezvous with their missing scouts... and what if they were not there? This carcass had been there for longer than that; had the scouts come across it and been overcome with a Riaris-esque attack of impetuousness? Could they be riding into a track? Or would they stick to the plan and waste a whole day, but not only that, find that an attack force of Zith had slipped by them and slaughtered their scouts?

So many possibilities... and consequences...

"I think we should follow." He words were quiet and almost reluctant. He hated going back on what he had previously said, even though he knew any thinking creature could change its mind given the right evidence. But Goddess knew what an ego boost that would give Riaris. "Was group that did this. Our job is not only to meet scouts, but stop group from... ah... get through net? So, there is group." He pointed to the massive, stinking, pierced and bloodied carcass. "We go stop them."

His mind apparently made, Razkar marched back to his horse. With his bloody new spear.

[Riaris Dovukalis]

Sitting atop the horse, Riaris stared down at the ground, noticing the clear trampled trail that led away from the beast. Horses, drawing a wagon perhaps? He couldn't be sure about it, but those were definitely horse tracks, and by the looks of the bent and flatten grass it was more than one. Riaris arched a brow at Razkar's startling realization. Of course he knew that Zith didn't ride horses. There was no need when they could fly after all.

But he was right about one thing, and they both had realized that what they were looking at were horse prints. But the question remained, who had come through on horses. He had to wonder now, if the beast had been killed by Zith or if someone else had taken it for savage sport. There were many possibilities, and among those where that of the scouts they were sent to find.

"This is very strange, I wouldn't have expected them to wonder off without getting word to someone of their movements. "

Riaris knew that whatever the answer was, they wouldn't find it standing around a rotting corpse. There was a decision to be made. It was a rough one, as the unknown factor left them without any idea of how long it would take them to investigate the new trail or how far they would have to go. The Akalak stared at Razkar as he mounted his horse again with the spear in hand.

"Are you planning to use that, or are you keeping it for a toothpick?"

He had to agree with the Myrian however, and if they didn't find anything it wouldn't take much away from their long journey to find the scouts, who he now wondered if they were still even around. "Let's check it out. We will ride and if we find nothing then I think it's better to turn back before we lose to much time."

He waited a moment to see if Razkar had anything to add before clicking his heels and starting off down the trail. He was more wary now, the possiblty of near-by hunters could be dangerous even if by accident.

OOCHow much freedom do we have to write what happens while they are riding and searching?

[Traverse]

A new sense of urgency and purpose drove the warhorses onward over the grass. They were hardy beasts, and not to be tired easily. The trampled grass before them lay out a clear and present trail, and soon the caws of the circling birds disappeared over the hammering of hooves and gear as they rode, leaving black dots to circle over their motionless meal.

A bell, perhaps two had passed in this manner when the trail became a bit erratic. Now it was clear there had been two horsemen, for the path split in two, leading off in different directions. If Razkar and Riaris followed each path on their own they'd find that they could easily keep the other one in their sights. Strange that the two individuals had separated now of all times, yet if they rode for half a bell the trails conjoined like long lost friends, and here they would find another, smaller clearing, with their second corpse of the day. This one was much different from the Olidosapux. While that previous beast's body had barely been touched, this one had been picked clean to the bone. Not a scrap of meat or evidence of what had made the fatal blow remained, though it didn't take much to see the skeleton for what it was: a horse. Their own mounts snorted a bit as they were faced with the sight, but calmly entered the clearing. Razkar may not have been familiar with the type of creatures that could so effectively devour their prey with such efficiency and speed, move in great number, and leave no trace of their presence. They were much like the Zith in that way, but where the Falyndar resident was still learning of the dangers of the grass, Riaris would know the signature handy work of these creatures just as he knew the print of a Glassbeak in the soft spring earth.

A single path led on from where the horse had been taken down, and there did not appear to be any bones apart from the equines that were scattered about the smaller clearing. Syna had shifted past her Zenith, threatening the warriors with all the possibilities that night meant for them upon their journey as strange pieces of the puzzle were beginning to come together.

oocFrom here you have the freedom to do whatever you fancy, as long as it doesn't involve finding people, or Zith as you search and track. Give me a little ooc note when you're ready for me to post again. Regardless if you choose to return to the scheduled path or continue following this trail nothing shall happen until nightfall.

[Razkar]

"Goddess..."

The breathed word in the Myrian's mother tongue was all he could muster as they came across the decimated carcass. Their mounts shied for a moment but kept going on at their insistence, but their ears were flat on their heads as if mourning for their lost kin.

Razkar's eyes were wide and unbelieving. Tigers and lions and wolves were not half as efficient as whatever had done this. The only thing comparable he had seen would be the army ants from back in the jungle, those evil carpets of countless millions that could strip even a tiger down to bare bones within hours.

But he had never heard of those little monsters getting this far.

The Myrian stayed on his mount, head craning around and trying to find some evidence of what had done this. The ground was churned up again but he could only see a few unfamiliar imprints on it. That and another gap in the grasses, but... narrower.

So, there had been two horsemen, and one horse died here. So...

He got off his mount at the edge of the clearing, bending down to have a look at the dirt at the start of this new, narrower path. If the horseman had got onto his partner's mount, the two of them together would have made for deeper hoofprints. But were they following scouts? Who could survive... whatever it was that had devoured that horse?

The Myrian stood up, so many things beyond his ken. He frowned and looked over to Riaris, stoic and frowning on his war horse.

"What did this?"