PM to join Getting To Know Camile

[Amunet]

30th day, summer, 515 a.v.
6th bell
Endrykas


Mornings were one of her favorite times of the day. It was fresh and clean. It was full of promise and exhilarating. Everything was new. The disappointments that usually happened in the course of a day didn’t come till later. The sun was just edging over the tips of the grass when Amunet rose. The red head crawled up to her feet and walked out of her tent to stretch as she looked towards the morning horizon. As she ruffled her hair a bit while she raked the tangle of ends loose and massaged her scalped long with one of those just waking up morning yawn. Those blue eyes then looked at the sliver of light that was the dawn. Those little rose lips curled into a smile as she basked in that simplicity just for a few chimes. The nuzzle at her side brought her out of the reverie as she looked down to find Camile had edged her head into her palm.

The Silkena she bought not too long ago she had been getting used to. Amunet had named her Camile. The animal had a sweet disposition but at the same time had the instinct to run. She was a young female and the seller told her she had hunting promise. The fawn haired dog was a sight hunter they said. Now it was time to get some training into her and to work on basic obedience. Amunet also realized she needed to train her to not only chase something, which wasn’t hard to do as the hound would chase butterflies lizards and other things that caught her sight. Getting her to focus on the Hunt would take some skill she may need help on. The girl took a deep breath in and let it out. The success of this meant good hunting. As the sun came over the horizon more in a showey display of orange, peaches and golds, the grasslands of Cyphrus lit up in the glorious display she wished she could capture. It was breath taking moments like this that filled her with such a passion for life, even one as hard as it was in the Sea of Grass.

Considering how hot it was getting, getting work like this done this early was a smart idea. Some of the others around her had the same idea. The girl pulled herself together, dressed, brushed her hair and then went outside the tent a little bit. The girl walked a bit away before turning around. “Camile, come.” The girl tapped on her leg to encourage the behavior. The dog looked around. “Camile, come.” The dog looked at her then. Silkena’s are intelligent for dogs, but putting the behavior with the words took time. Camile was looking around at different things before Amunet whistled. “Camile, come.” Tapping her leg again. The dog started coming to her, which she was rewarded with pets and ‘good girl’. Amunet tried to move back to another distance the dog followed. “No." She said flatly till the dog stopped. She managed to look mournful in those dark brown eyes as Amunet had a stern disapproving expression. The firm little voice raised and projected. "Camile, stay, “ putting her palm up and flat.

Camile looked a bit confused. To Amunet’s frustration, the poor dog followed the little lady again instead of staying. The red head took a good deep breath, exhaled a long one and walked back to the tent. What was the dog afraid of? That little brow furrowed looking down at her. Maybe it wasn't fear, maybe she was used to following the pack. The little herbalist got back to the tent and circled and stopped. The dog stopped and moved paw to paw as the fawn colored silkena fidgeted. Heeling was usually harder to teach, but it was what it was.

Amunet pivoted on her heel and placed herself in front of Camile. She looked squarely at her and said. “Camile, stay.” With the palm up and kept it up as she walked back. The dog moved and the little lady stopped. “No.” The girl moved right back to where they had started at the tent. Again she put herself in front of the dog and said “Camile, stay.” The palm was up vertical and flat. The girl backed away keeping a firm eye on the sight hound. ‘good girl, stay.” The girl moved a few feet before saying. “Camile, come.” The red head was being patient as both of them was still new to each other. “Camile, come.” Tapping her hand on her outer thigh, the dog came to her. She spent a little time petting and telling her she was a good girl.

Amunet repeated the steps. As her Grandmother Shimmerstone would say, “Repetition was the mother of skill. “ The girl brought the dog back to the tent and faced in front of her. With firm words, “Camile, stay, “ before backing up a little bit attempting to go back more than she did before. The dog shifted her feet a bit fidgeting. Then she said to the dog. “Camile, come.” The dog looked at her with a start and then came trotting to her. She got the reward for being a good girl. The little hands rubbed the dog’s sides and belly. The wag of the tail was all Amunet needed.

“What else do we need to teach you.” Amunet said as she scrunched her head thinking. “I think I have seen others have their dogs sit and lay.” The girl talked to Camile. It was better than talking to someone else who can talk back sometimes. All Camile did was lick her chin and wag her tail. This brought a smile out of the red head.

[Amunet]

Camile moved with her as she went back to the tent. She was combining common hand signs with the commands. This she figured would prove useful down the road. It was a Drykas advantage with the signing to be able to speak without speaking. The little lady moved around to face the dog. “Camile.” This was to get her to look at her. The repetition of the name was also getting her used to being called that name. Amunet put her palm up like the sign to stay and then closed her fist and motioned down. “Camile, sit.” The dog looked at her as well as looked around too. Amunet repeated the hand signal and the words. “Camile, sit,” as she moved into the dog’s space carefully and slowly her knee at her chest. The dog moved back a little till she sat down on her rump. This behavior got rewarded. “Good girl, “as she ruffled the back of her head. Amunet repeated the process. She moved around to the front put her palm out and closed her fist bringing the fist down to her side at the same time saying, “ Camile, sit.” The little lady moved slowly into the dog’s space with her knee aimed gently at the dog’s chest. This caused the dog to teeter back and sit. Again she was praised for the behavior.

The dog was proving to be intelligent and this was starting to become fun. The red head did it again as she came in front of the dog. The girl made the hand sign and said “Camile, sit.” The dog sat without her having to move into the dog’s body too much. This got a lot of praise from the girl. Amunet was going to need to do this every day. The slight formed girl did it one more time with the hand gesture. “Camile, sit. “ As the dog sat, she was petted and made a fuss over. “Good, girl.” Now to teach her to lay.

Amunet wasn’t sure how this was done and walked towards where some of the Hunters camp or the Emerald clan or at least anyone who has a dog. “Camile, come.” The girl would say as the dog came to her, looked up at her as the little hand scratched behind her ears lightly. The red head walked the city and stopped when she saw someone with their dog. There were a lot of scent dogs in Endrykas but she wasn’t looking for hunting training just obedience. The young lady didn’t know how much help she could get with a sight hunter. She wandered towards the diamond clans. That was when the diminutive girl located someone with their dog. The girl watched very closely how he handled his dogs. These were painted dogs as she watched carefully at how he handled those dogs. The lay command was performed only he said down instead of lay. That made sense. The palm was down flat parallel to the ground. It then followed all the way down to the ground. If the dog followed the hand, it would eventually lay down.

The young lady continued to watch carefully absorbing details. The way the man was firm with his dog and the way he was determined and patiently waited for the correct behavior from the dog. The man was also gave praise when it was warranted.

The man looked her way as she was caught staring. Amunet blushed and turned her head. Her head came back only to see his wife scowling. The girl quickly moved away as she wasn’t sure she would survive the explanation. Once she was back at her tent it was the ninth bell. It was already getting hot. She still wanted to get the down command into Camile’s day. She took a drink of water quickly and positioned Camile in front of the tent. “Camile, sit, “ as she tested the dog’s memory. It took a tick or two but the hind end met the ground. Amunet’s hand caressed the boney head of the dog. “Good, girl.”

The young Drykas girl stood in front of the dog. “Camile, “ she said to get the dog to look up at her. She put the hand flat and parallel with the ground. “Camile, down, “ as the hand slowly went down to the ground. Amunet would repeat, “Camile, down.” The dog’s eyes followed the hand to the dirt. The dog slowly was laying down. Once she was laid down, this behavior was praised. “Camile, stay.” The girl moved a little bit away and tapped the side of her outer thigh. “Camile, come.” The dog got up from the lay down position and walked over to her mistress wagging her tail a little. The little hand closed into a fist and move down and at the same time, “Camile, sit.” The dog took a tick of thought and then teetered to her behind and sat down. She looked up for that acceptance. The hand went flat and parallel to the ground while at the same time saying, “Camile, down.” She moved it slowly to the ground as the dog followed the nice hand and laid down. The dog was getting the idea as Amunet spent time ruffling her fur under her neck. “Good girl, Camile. “ The red head was offered licks from the silkena.

[Amunet]

She needed to get some foraging done before the heat settled in and they needed to lay out the rest of the day till evening. This evening she can try and fish, but the water was so low. Amunet called Shetanae to her as the mare came trotting up from the open grassland from the herd who was grazing before it got too hot. Animals were smart like that. The girl checked her Strider over. She ran her hands over her legs to check for any swelling or abnormalities. She leaned against her shoulder as the signal to lift her foot. With a snort and a sigh the mare picked her foot up for her bonded rider to look at her hooves. Amunet would use a stick to move the soil and debris from the frog and crevices in the hoof. The girl checked for any bruising. It looked fine. Amunet did this with all four legs. A horses feet and legs were everything next to digestion. Amunet checked her back running a thumb and finger on either side of the spine and with light firmness went from withers down the back. Other than a weird look from her horse, there was no reaction that indicated pain. Its not as if she hadn’t done this before. Each time she did this little bit of a health check, she got the weird look as if to say, ‘what are you doing, im fine.’ Amunet would quietly chuckle and pat the horses shoulder as her head came down to meet the little rider.

Shetanae was sixteen hands. The ten year old mare was tall for a mare. The mare was also a handful, but then so was her rider. Amunet wrapped her arms gently around the great big head. She checked her ears while down for ticks or parasites. The mare was healthy. Amunet would put just the yvas on her and tightened it up firmly. The industrious girl went into her tent to get the mesh bags and stuffed them into the yvas bag that was on the yvas. The girl was mounted with a deft and well-honed pull and lift of the leg that brought her on the back of the horse. Pressure of her left heel upon the ribs midway up and a slight lean forward had the horse turning left and moving at a walk towards the grass. “Camile, come.” She said to the dog as the dog started to trot after the horse and rider.

They rode out at an easy canter. The dog opened up and lengthened. Amunet got to watch how the dog moved. Camile was definitely a runner in watching the smooth graceful gate of the dog as the long hairs from the tail flowed back behind her. Amunet made note of this. She wasn’t sure what to do with the information but had a hunch it was important and filed it carefully away in her brain. The direction today was purposeful having recalled a patch of onion. Onion was sometimes overlooked. It was something that Amunet did not overlook and since it was plentiful, she took every opportunity. Onion was good for the blood in general. She heard an old timer once say that a hot poultice of onion was good for the catarrh but she wasn’t so sure of that. Early onion was milder in flavor and with the heat as it is, could be eaten raw. She picked several of these early onions and put them in a mesh bag.

Her dog was watching the grass flick and then off chasing a butterfly. Amunet chuckled and shook her head as she spied a bit of sorrel. That would be good raw too. She picked a couple of good handfuls of this. She didn’t want to pick too many as in the heat this wilted very quickly. This would probably be her lunch. Camile suddenly went dashing off after something brown. That was all that she had caught the zoom of and she dashed off towards the direction her dog went. Shetanae looked at the both of them with a rather remarkable disparaging expression. The amount of expression this horse could produce was rather interesting sometimes. Amunet didn’t quite notice as she was chasing her dog. Shetanae just put her head down and grazed.

“Camile!! Come.” The dog was in hot pursuit of something feathery it seemed. It darted right sharply the dog cut the corner rapidly. The red head stopped and watched. “Oh, wow.” The feathered fowl darted the right way suddenly and the dogs instincts darted with the bird. The bird right after that darted back the other way as Camile darted and ended the bird’s life. Amunet then started running as quickly as she could to the dog. The sight hound was already tearing into the bird when she came within reasonable distance. “Camile, drop it!!” The dog grabbed the bird and ran off. “Camile, come.” As she stopped, and looked at her mistress and the tapping of her thigh. The look of indecision of going against ingrained instinct was hard for a hunter like this. “Camile, come. “ The dog teetered and tottered fidgeting as she shifted her weight between her front paws. Then turned towards Amunet and came to her.

She was trying to catch her breath as she reached to take the catch from the hound. “well, Camile, you definitely are a hunter. “ Camile hadn’t let go of the kill. “Camile, let go.” There in laid the tug of war. “Camile, drop it!!” The dog just didn’t understand, but as Amunet’s soprano voice rose sharply she dropped the kill. Amunet took the half eaten bird. “well, it isn’t a complete loss. I can make soup out of this and I think a couple of feathers might be salvaged. Tapping her side the hound started to follow her as she returned to the placidly grazing Strider that looked up as if to say, ‘finally.’ Amunet scowled at her strider as if there was an understanding between the two.

[Amunet]

A thought came to her as the bird came from the taller grasses along the side. Amunet decided to look for a nest. The girl tapped her side again. “Camile, come.” The silkena started to follow her as Amunet found a longish stick to poke around the tall grasses. Putting your hand into unknown tall grass was a good way to get bit by something. She would use the stick to bend away the grass to look for indention and nesting material. Starting at a couple of feet away from where she saw the brown blur and her dog take off, she gingerly moved the grass away so she could see, then moved to the next section. The dog started chasing grasshoppers. Amunet let her eat all the grasshoppers she could catch. It was not a bad thing. She kept searching the grass till she came to a spot where the grass bent into one small space as if protectively. It was very subtle. She placed the stick in and parted the grass so she could see. There was the nest. It had eggs in it. Amunet grabbed the eggs and went towards her mare and the mesh bags.

Into a mesh bag it went. She turned the bags over into each other to create some cushion for the eggs before putting them on top of the onions in the yvas. Then the bag of sorrel on top of that. The half eaten partridge went into its own bag and tied to the side of the yvas. One did not mix storage of meat and non-meat. It could cause any number of health problems with the tummy. Her mother had once told her that meat can spoil non meat items if stored together. She kept to that method of storage. The girl then called her mare as she mounted and went to another section of the grasslands she thought she saw clusters of white flowers. It was getting hotter and the red head called her dog to follow as the easy canter was matched by the hound.

These particular cluster of tiny white flowers was indicative to carrots or its cousin root parsnip. Parsnip can be a bit more yellow in the flower though. The girl stopped to pick these roots. They keep well and the Run had plenty of patches of them even in the winter grounds. The girl was picking carrots when the darn dog found another prize. This greyish brown blur was immediately followed by a light golden blur of the silkena. Amunet took the half bushel of carrot and parsnip along with the foliage to where her mare stopped and was casually grazing. She sighed as it must be nice to be that casual. “You know you could be picking this. “ The strider looked up with a mouthful of grass and snorted its response as if to say, ‘if I picked it, I would be eating it.’

Amunet turned to go after her dog and the greyish brown blur she suspected to be a rabbit. The girl ran a good bit before spotting the fawn colored blur in its long speedy strides moving with the rabbit. She seemed to loose the rabbit a couple of times. The rabbit would move and Camile was in hot pursuit. It was really interesting to watch it in action. The girl started moving towards the hounds chasing direction. The fawn blur and the greyish brown blur merged and stopped. Amunet adopted an easy running stride to save energy. She had a feeling she was going to do this a lot. Camile was tearing into the rabbit when she came up to her. “Camile, come.” The girl tapped the side of her thigh insistently. The silkena looked up and down at the desecrated rabbit. The picked it up with her mouth. There was some indecision again. ‘Camile, come.” The red head tried again firmly.

The dog came to her reluctantly and having remembered the bird incident dropped the rabbit. Amunet got an idea. She took her dagger out and deftly cut off a leg at the hip joint. She had to do that on the ground. She then looked at Camile. “Camile, sit.” The dog sat looking at her mistress. The little lady then tossed her the hind leg. The dog snatched it up and ate it. “Well girl we need to see about mangling the kills a little less. “ It wasn’t a perfect system and she probably would need to seek help with training that out of her. She was going to eat and that was important. Amunet did want the hides though and for that, the hound would need to kill and not mutilate. She gave the come command and went back towards the horse. Once she made it back to the mare, she packaged up these things and went back home to wait out the hot day in the heat.

[Tribal]

G R A D E S!

Amunet

Experience

• Observation: 3
• Planning: 1
• Animal Husbandry: 4
• Intelligence: 1
• Endurance: 1
• Riding, Horse: 1
• Foraging: 2
• Organisation: 1
• Herbalism: 1

Lore

• Endrykas: A beautiful sunrise
• Camile: A new fury friend
• Teaching a dog to come to your call
• Teaching a dog to stay
• Keeping your dog's attention
• Teaching a dog grassland sign
• Rewarding a dog for good behaviour
• Animal Husbandry: Positive reinforcement
• The look of a disobedient dog
• Cooking: Safe food storage

Rewards

8 x Sorrel leaves (herbs)
3 x Wild Onions (herbs only)
4 x Small eggs (food)
1 x Small game bird (half eaten)
1 x Mangled Rabbit (poor)

Notes

Carrots and Parsnips I couldn't award because these should really be paid for at the marketplace. Otherwise, great thread! Keep training that dog; it’s going to take a long time before she is ready for planned hunting trips! Good work, Amunet.