Flashback Variety and Vicissitudes

[Fiachra]

Winging home 'Chra felt fairly pleased with herself. It was still early though. What to do with the rest of her day? Wheeling over the marketplace, she looked to see if there were any new performers, the answer seemed to be no. Those present she had watched before.

Wait, was that someone new? She'd not noticed the woman before because she was sitting quietly. No yelling or throwing or fire or dancing, just sitting. What was she doing that was so interesting she wanted to just sit? This bore investigation. Angling in she landed a few feet behind the woman who sat cross-legged on a blanket doing something.

Strutting closer, Ravens could in fact walk without hopping, thank you very much, 'Chra cocked her head, studying what was going on. The answer was apparently art! The woman was using charcoal to sketch the market scene around her, on the blanket were several portraits and a few animal or building studies. Boldly moving nearer, 'Chra closely inspected one of the portraits. An Isurian male. The medium meant there was no colour, so some details were of course missing, but otherwise it was extremely lifelike. 'Chra kworked her approval, looking at the other peices in turn.

"Oh!"

The woman breathed in surprise when the Raven 'spoke', looking over at her avian visitor.

"Are you a Kelvic?"

'Chra nodded once. She could in fact speak in Raven form, but she often didn't bother.

"Do you like them?"

'Chra nodded again, making deep resonant sounds to emphasize her approval.

[Fiachra]

"Some people think it's simpler than colour. It's not really. It's not harder either it's just.. different. With colour you can differentiate things just by switching pigments, with charcoal.. You need to be very aware of how hard you press, because shade is your only tool. And the parts of the canvas you've not marked are just as integral a part of the finished work as the ones you have."

'Chra made some more noises at her, encouragingly.

"I find it very.. peaceful. Trying to get things just right, to express in such a simple medium all the complexities of the world around us... You should come back some time so I can draw you. Drawing something black is challenging, though you're not really are you? There are blues and greens and.. Oh. Your feather are very beautiful! Iridescent almost!"

'Chra preened herself, pleased with this. A hop and a flap of her wings had her on the woman shoulder, where she ran a beak through her hair once affectionately before launching herself back into the air. Flapping hard she headed for the wall and the forest beyond. It only took a few moments to find what she was looking for. Landing, she switched, tough callused feet not bothered by the forest floor. A birch tree. Clever hands removed a layer of bark, not enough to hurt the tree, but a large fairly intact piece all the same. Another switch had the Raven winging home, bark flapping below it, clutched in her talons.

She had to switch back to human to navigate the many doors and winding corridors that took her to her apartment. She could do it as a Raven, but it was difficult. A few people stared, some leered, some disapproved, but this particular corridor was getting used to the naked Kelvic that walked it whenever the mood took her.

Entering her room she set the bark on the small table and moved to the hearth, humming contentedly when a rummage through the leavings revealed a decent sized piece of charcoal to reward her efforts as well as dirty hands. Moving, she settled cross-legged before the table, eyes moving from the charcoal to the bark and back again.

[Fiachra]

Hesitantly she brought charcoal to bark in one corner, scrawling a crude, unsteady stick figure. Well. A compassionate eye would concede that it was certainly a humanoid, but it certainly couldn't be identified as Intarus. Brow furrowed, she expanded. Stick figure was turned into something significantly stockier. Very rough facial features were added. Things were hardly symmetrical, and it still looked like something a child would draw. It certainly had none of the accuracy and depth the womans sketches had possessed. The character.

With no idea how to fix it, and lacking the dedication to devote herself to a talent like this without damned good motivation, 'Chra scribbled over the proto-drawing in a fit of pique. Besides, when she'd been listening to him she hadn't known she was going to draw him, when you knew that sort of thing you probably looked at a person differently.

The bark and charcoal both almost made their way back into the hearth before after pausing for a moment, charcoal was brought to paper once more. No figure this time. Instead the rough outline of the Outpost. She'd grown up there. Learned to fly there. Streets were added. Buildings. Fields. It was rough. Lines and shapes, no more. The scale was not quite on, but it was fairly accurate, all things considered. Why not? She more than most was able to get a birds eye view, she didn't have to make the mental leap to do so, she merely recorded what she'd seen.

This, this was more fun and satisfying than trying to draw a person. Sylaris was too big and too complex for her yet but.. Perhaps. She would have to start paying more attention as she flew. Some of it came instinctively. After all, Ravens naturally cached and had to remember the location of each cache. Translating that onto paper or any other medium however, was less than natural, and would take some work.

The bells ringing in the distance said the day was much further along than she'd thought. Particularly if she was getting up and meeting Intarus tomorrow morning. Though she didn't always sleep in her room, she was here now, she might as well. Curling up in what could only be described as a nest of blankets she'd made on the spartan bed, 'Chra pulled one of the blankets over her head, closed her eyes and promptly drifted off into the untroubled sleep of the uncomplicated.

[Sayana]

Don't forget to edit/delete your grade request. If there's anything I may have missed, please PM me and I'll be happy to look into it.

 

Fiachra

Skills

• Scouting: 1
• Planning: 1
• Stealth: 1
• Socialization: 5
• Observation: 2
• Intelligence: 3
• Interrogation: 4
• Persuasion: 1
• Acrobatics: 1
• Investigation: 1
• Drawing: 2
• Air Navigation: 1
• Foraging: 1
• Cartography: 1

Lores

• Syliras: Some places are out of bounds even for birds
• Location: Rearing Stallion
• Socialization: Making a distinctive greeting in bird form
• Intelligence: Eavesdropping as a raven
• Intarus Molora: Used to be the best hunter in Syliras
• Intarus: Story of how he lost his arm
• Oriana: Goddess of bears
• Socialization: Thanking someone who was helpful
• Foraging: Finding birch bark suitable for drawing on
• Cartography: Using a bird's eye view to sketch lines and shapes representing buildings and streets
• Drawing: Importance of shades of black and empty space for charcoal drawings
• Drawing: Basic stick figures

Comments: What a nice introductory thread. Unfortunately I couldn't award you much for Intarus's dialog and story (you tend to get more exp when you write about your PC doing things than the NPCs doing things). I still very much enjoyed the story and it was cute seeing how Fiachra got a brief introduction to mapping using her bird's eye view.

Your Grader,

Sayana

Boxcode design: Firenze