Completed [The Cobalt Mountains] Exotic Meat (Ball, Roderick, Aoren)

[Radiant]

Outside of the Main Gates, 7th of Bell, 53rd of Fall 513 A.V

Nobles, rich and powerful, while they were still within the Knight's authority, one must admit that some wealthy Sylirans have influences and power. One such person was Kale Belmont, one of the most successful merchant in the Fortress City, his wealth could make common people gawked in awe. The man could literally bath in a pool filled with gold mizas.

Of course, with wealth comes eccentricity, Kale Belmont wanted to host a party in his wealthy abode and he was bored with serving the guests with ordinary, boring meat such as beef, pork, or poultry. He wanted to serve something rare, something exotic, and from the book he read combined with Sylir-knows-what going on in his mind, he decided he wanted a "Yukman" to feast on.

And so, he gave out the request, for hunters to bring him one live Yukman. He sent one of his guards named "Don" to guide the hunters.

Don, a tall man with brown hair and equally brown eyes, clad in leather armor, with a gladius on his hip and a bow and quiver on his back was waiting just outside the main gates of Syliras. Someone would surely come, there were many hunters in Syliras and some extra cash would be tempting for them. So there he was, tapping his right foot and crossing his arms over his chest.

OOCAlright, guys! Feel free to make your entrance!

[Ball]

The squired pycon sat upon his not-so-courageous steed a frown plastered on singular facial point. It was early morn and both rider and steed were not too excited to be up and around before Syna's rays graced the world, but then again, why should they care too much? Training for knighthood my arse. This is shyke. Nudging the dog with his left foot Ball had issued a simple command, and the dog looped his fur covered being around to the left taking squire with him.

Facing the large gate that was the entrance to the Fortress City Ball checked to be sure his sword was at hand, hanging ever so gently by the dog's hair. It wasn't the most comfortable thing Ball had done to his faithful mount, but the dog has done worse on his own. The walk wasn't a long one, the pycon had forced his mount to take the motions far faster than he normally would have. The gate quickly looming much larger than it was prior in less than a bell.

Standing before the gate he motioned he had business on the other side the and knightly guards took to rising the gate for the diminutive clay being, the looks on their faces showing signs of pure insanity. They knew what he was going out to do. Ball knew it to. Wealthy man wants crazy food. I go get crazy food. Stepping over the threshold before the gate was fully risen Ball and Imass were now on the other side of the wall. Protection was in their own hands now.

Ball shifted his mass from one side to the other, it was dark out here beyond the wall of protection the great city offered and Ball had to allow for some time to adjust. Once adjusted though he found the shrew looking man with a look of impatience scrawled upon his face. It was a chilly early morning in mid Fall and yet this man was out here alone!

Created goes to Euthisa

[Roderick]

Roderick worked his way past the few people that were out in the city at this ungodly hour, his cloak serving to keep the chill away from his neck, his clothes guarding his flesh. As he walked his breath left his mouth in little puffs of white mist, rising up before his eyes and then drifting away into nothing. He'd been letting his hair for some time now, so that it covered all his head - his beard had grown out quite a bit too. Altogether it served to keep some of the chill away from his face, which was something he was grateful for. The hunter did not doubt that he looked like some dirty ruffian that lived in the woods, but in this case he'd rather be warm and unkempt than cold and well-groomed. He brushed his hand along the belt at his waist, gloved fingers rubbing against the sword that rested against his hip; a bastard, the handle long enough to hold with one hand or with both. Good steel, he knew, though whether or not it would help in his task he did not. The walk through the gateway passed by quickly, taken in long strides; wasting time on a job was never a good thing. Passing through to the other side, he slowed slightly to gather his wits, searching quickly for the man who would be their guide; not hard, given he was the only person nearby. So far Roderick had been in the dark as to who would be working at his side, but now, as he drew closer, he saw a dog facing the man. Looking closer the hunter slowed himself down and turned towards the dog. Perched on the animal's back was a small figure made of clay, which rode the dog as though it were a horse. He had never seen anything quite like this, so he crouched down next to the dog to get a closer look at the little figure. Now that he thought about it there was something familiar about all this, but so far what the statuette was evaded him. It looked vaguely human, with a pair of arms, little legs and a head, but the slit in what he guessed was its face was rather odd. "Hello..." he told the thing, "I take it you're here about that mystery meat Belmont wants?" looking over at the guide, whose face could curdle milk, he knew he ought to get started right away, but he didn't meet a clay statue on a dog everyday.

[Aoren]

Aoren's adventurous side had been nagging at him for half a season now. He had done his best to ignore the itch to get out of the city and explore on a meaningful level. Why? He had been consumed with his work as of late. He had been spending hours upon hours under the tutelage of Mistress Sahfri Blackleaf, the proprietor of Stormhold Salves who was both his teacher and a friend in some regards. The work of an apprentice apothecary was never done. As such he'd become familiar with the layout of most of the city while out running errands for the apothecary of Syliras. It was due to one of those errands that he now found himself making his way toward the main gates at the hour when Syna's rays were just beginning to touch the skies.

Aoren had been delivering an order of various tonics, tinctures and potions to the residence of one Kale Belmount, one of the esteemed merchants princes of the city. There were few who did not know his name as he had dealings in most of the markets. It was while he was out on this errand that the esteemed, portly, merchant had noted that Aoren seemed of the adventurous sort. He'd offered him a spot on an "outing" he had called it.

"Some outing." Aoren mused. The man had spun words around Aoren and before he had known it the Drykas man had agreed to accompany Kale's henchman "Don". So, being a man of his word, rather than backing out upon realizing the insanity of Kale's request Aoren had finished his work at the shop, gone to his apartment within the bowls of the castle, prepared his effects for the upcoming journey then departed for it on this very morning. While the sensible part of him believed that he was setting out for what likely could become a horribly tragic endeavor the less sensible part of himself was giddy at the chance to flex his muscles, get out of the castle and put to use some of his less mundane skills.

Aoren was dressed simply or at least as simply as one could when describing a man who was hardly very simple himself. A brown travel robe was draped across his broad shoulders. He wore the hood up for added warmth so as to stave off the morning chill. Beneath the robe he wore a simple brown leather vest underneath which was a plain linen shirt. His brown leather pants were tucked into his boots. At his waist was tied his waterskin which had been filled the night before. In his right hand was grasped his trust quarterstaff. He scarcely went anywhere without it. Aoren was no master of the weapon but he found that its use came easier to him than any blade. In addition he liked the idea that one could seldom actually kill a person with the quarterstaff. As a fighter he opted for less lethal tactics in favor of just beating his opponent into submission. That was not always effective but it prevented a great deal of loss of life on his part.

Aoren did not enjoy killing.

He pulled himself from his thoughts as he came upon the gates, apparently the last to arrive. It made little difference to Aoren. He had been told to arrive at the 7th Bell of the morning and it was indeed just then the 7th Bell. With a casual glance at the group from within the folds of his hood he noted that he was the tallest individual present. He usually was in any setting. The reason for taking such a note was the fact that there was a very...odd...creature seated atop a dog amongst the gathering.

"Good morning, Sirs. And...ummm..." He quirked his head slightly at the clay figurine that had very obvious intelligence seated atop the dog. "...Sir?" He shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"Don." Aoren nodded to the henchman he'd met the day prior whilst delivering the aforementioned tinctures and tonics to Kale's estate.

This was certainly going to be an interesting outing. Of that, Aoren was absolutely certain.

[Radiant]

The first participant to arrive was a... dog? Don raised an eyebrow at the furry animal trotting to him. Upon closer inspection, he found a humanoid clay figure was riding it Oh, clay people... He rolled his eyes, what's a Pycon going to do? Poke the Yukmen with their tiny arms? Still, maybe the little thing could serve as a distraction, baiting one Yukman for them to capture. Every person has its uses. Don only gave a grunt as an acknowledgement to the Pycon, unaware of Ball's status as a squire.

The second man that arrived looked more promising, a young warrior, eager to mark his career with courageous deeds he suspected, or he could just be in it for the money. Kale Belmont paid good money for ridiculous requests such as this, being rich sure had its benefits. He facepalmed when Roderick picked up the tiny clay-man and thought of it as a Yukman, oh no, not another rookie. Don misunderstood what Roderick meant.

Don would have a hard time explaining from the beginning on what a Yukman is, maybe even babysit him along the way as well. "Young man..." He pinched the bridge of his nose, eyes shutting shut in exasperation "That Pycon is not a Yukman! Yukmen are in the forest there!" He said as he pointed to the Bronze Woods that lied ahead. He crossed his arms and shook his head, waiting for the last participant.

"Ah..." He sighed in relief when Aoren arrived, now this man truly looked promising. Tall, toned, and firm gaze on his eyes. He held this aura that told people not to mess with him. As an experienced mercenary and guard, Don knew people like these just by looking at them. Aoren's form was just an inch taller than Don, a look of respect could be seen on the guard's face "Aoren, great to see you here and I thought I would be stuck with a clay-man and a green leaf."

"Alright!" Now that the party had gathered, time to get to business. Don wanted to get home as soon as possible and get his gold, he was sure these three men - assuming the Pycon was male - wanted the exact same thing. "Now, I don't need your names, that's for your own to keep, I'm going to call you..." He pointed at Ball "Clay-man and you..." He gestured to Roderick "Green and you..." He nodded to Aoren "I know you already, Aoren."

He then began pacing back and forth, like a drill sergeant. "This job is simple! Find a Yukman, catch a Yukman, bring it back alive. Mr.Belmont only wants LIVE Yukman. Dead Yukman? No pay. Yukman travel in groups, we need to bait one, knock it out, and hightail it out of there! Any questions?! I hope not! Since I want to get this done ASAP and I'm sure you as well!" He commanded, voice firm and authoritative.

He would wait for any questions or concerns before motioning the group to depart. Rumors said there was a new Yukman group near the Sukina Geysers, so that's where they would go.

[Ball]

The grunt of acknowledge was beginning to become a norm towards Ball, its not like he had a title or even a crest to adorn his being with. He has his dog and his sword... That's it. Yet when the man that came after him stared at him and spoke. Ball didn't know what the man known as Belmont wanted, nor did he care. He was a squire and this was a duty thing.

The third guy to show, second after Ball, acknowledge Ball with a 'Sir?' but obviously he wasn't sure of gender and Ball just gave a nod to him in response. It appeared he was the only small man in the crew and that meant he had to be careful where he resided in conjunction to their footfalls.

When the men started to go on about Yukmen and him not being one and where they resided Ball didn't care, he just knew what the man wanted. One a live for food purposes. An odd request by the sounds of things but Ball cared not of what they thought about the request.

When the man called the squired Pycon 'clay-man' Ball piped up, “Ball.” A simple enough name, how could no one seem to know that? Ball grumbled at being called 'clay-man' There was no questions from Ball, he just adjusted his positioning on his dog and waited for them to head off towards the task ahead.

Created goes to Euthisa

[Roderick]

"Young man..." the guide had his eyes shut while he pinched his nose, "That Pycon is not a Yukman! Yukmen are in the forest there!" he gestured at the Bronze Wood. I know it's not a Yukman, idiot. Roderick turned his eyes away from the man to hide his scowl, taking a look at the newest arrival; a tall man in a plain robe loomed overhead, a sturdy quarterstaff readied for use in his hand. Recognizing Aoren, the hunter nodded in greeting. He set Don's name down to memory when he called him a green leaf. "Alright!" it was clear the small talk was over. Rising to his feet Roderick found Aoren still loomed over him, though at least he could see the man's face now; the gaze the robed man held Don with was steady. The thought of having this man - even though he was a stranger - nearby for this hunt provided a measure of confidence. "Now, I don't need your names, that's for your own to keep, I'm going to call you..." he jabbed a finger at the Pycon, "Clay-man and you..." a wave towards Roderick, "Green and you..." Don gave a nod to the robed man, "I know you already, Aoren." Clay-man, Green, Aoren and Whoreson. Quite a team we have here. Roderick chewed his tongue to keep himself from speaking - folded his arms so he couldn't throttle Don; trying to kill him over a few words wasn't worth the trouble. The man certainly seemed to be enjoying his role as drill master of this little hunting group, "This job is simple! Find a Yukman, catch a Yukman, bring it back alive. Mr.Belmont only wants LIVE Yukman. Dead Yukman? No pay. Yukmen travel in groups, we need to bait one, knock it out, and hightail it out of there! Any questions?! I hope not! Since I want to get this done ASAP and I'm sure you as well!" "You have any particular plans in mind, or are the details left to us?" the Zeltivan assumed the question was a reasonable one, especially since it applied to the job they would be doing. It would also save him the effort of thinking something up if their employer had already done all the work for them.

[Aoren]

They were a motley crew. That was fairly obvious to any casual observer. A Pycon riding a dog. An erstwhile adventurer and a stoic seer.

"Not that any of them know I'm a Seer." He shook his head marveling at the irony of it all. Again he found himself questioning the sanity of their endeavor. He nodded to "Green" and "Clay-man" as Don pointed to them. If they preferred to offer up their names Aoren would accept that but he would otherwise leave them to their own devices in terms of introductions. That formality had come and gone and he was not inclined to offer up anything more. He did note that the "Clay-man" did correct Don. Ball. A curious name. Appropriate given the Pycon's appearance but curious nonetheless.

"You have a particular plans in mind, or are the details up to us?"

Adjusting his grip on his quarterstaff he tipped the butt end up then kicked it upward draping the staff over his shoulders in a leisurely pose. Aoren then followed Don in the direction he set out. He didn't have any intrinsic knowledge of their destination so he settled on simply keeping an eye on their surroundings. The Bronze Wood was perilous enough for the wary. Let alone the unwary. There was no sense in wrapping himself up in meaningless chatter. They would reach their destination when they would reach it. It was when they did reach it that the plethora of problems would ensue. A fact that Aoren was quietly contemplating on how to prepare for.

He gave Roderick a halfhearted smile and a shrug of his shoulder as he passed him. It would seem they would be left to draw their own conclusions.

Yukmen were Yukmen. They could only get so clever. The difficulty would be in managing to obtain one. Alive. Without drawing the attention of the rest of the horde. Aoren was certain there were at the very least dozens of Yukmen wherever they were headed. The creatures never traveled alone.

All of that aside, the absurdity of this outing was something Aoren was still trying to puzzle out. Far be it from him to judge a man for his...peculiarities but of all the strange things Aoren had witnessed and seen this was perhaps one of the strangest.

[Radiant]

"Hmmm, Ball, huh? I'll still call you 'Clay-man'." Don raised an eyebrow, he thought of Pycons as simple creatures. After all, how big of a mind could they get being so small? The young man was no better either, by the looks of it, he could scream like a little girl and got them all killed "Make sure you keep your head cool, Green. Don't want you blowing our position..." Don knew boys like him, all heroic and thirsty for adventure, it was good and all, as long as they didn't act stupid. Aoren was the only person here Don deemed decent enough to take care of himself.

"Plans? Simple!" Don paced back and forth in front of the group, like a drillmaster "Hunters reported a Yukman group is wandering around the Sukina Geysers! We will go there, spot them, and bait one! The loud sound of the geysers should cover our movements. For the bait... hmmm..." Don rubbed his chin and his eyes locked themselves to Ball "You, clay-man, you're small, you can act as bait!"

Then he gestured to himself and the two human male "While we waited and knock that petcher out when it's close then we'll get the petch out of there! The Knights can handle the rest of those shykeheads. Are we clear?! Good! Let's go!" He didn't even wait for the group's acknowledgement or further questions. They could ask those on the way there. Don spun around and checked his weapons, before moving his feet, venturing into the Woods.

[Ball]

If the pycon had eyes they would've narrowed, instead what one saw was the facial expression on the pycon's body appearing to grind itself together, small bits of clay shredding themselves in small flakes to drift to the ground. Call me by my name you oversize oaf. And bait! BAIT! Why I oughta... The pycon dropped from his mount and stepped up to the man, angling his body to 'peer' upwards.

“I.No.Bay.Ta.” ['I no bait.'] Ball growled, the popping sound he normally would've had as an accent were replaced with a grinding sound, like rocks being grated against each other in opposite directions. The hands of the pycon were opening and closing, a motion Ball had seen fellow squires and knights do when they got irritated or angry. Sadly, it wasn't working well for the clay squire. When the guy went on about their plan of attack Ball frowned.

“Dat.May.Ka.No.Sin.Sa. Y.Nah.Ta.Yew.Sa.Da.Gur.Ee.Na?” ['Dat makes no sense, why not use the green?'] Ball pointed at Roderick, “I. Sqaw.Eye.Ur.” ['I squire.'] Ball nodded, hands on what would be his hips. “I.No.Bay.Ta.” ['I no bait.'] the small squire repeated.

He had no more words to say, just stared up at the man. Anger was rolling around in the spherical namesake mound of clay, but there was a small sliver of trying to calmly keep it at bay. The question was really if anyone had any idea how long that would last?

Created goes to Euthisa