Solo Paint It Black

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Not found on any map, Endrykas is a large migrating tent city wherein the horseclans of Cyphrus gather to trade and exchange information. [Lore]

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Paint It Black

Postby Dravite on November 15th, 2015, 7:01 am

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40 Fall, 515 AV
8th Bell, Morning
Endrykas


The horse lord sat near the fire with his legs crossed, eyes closed, and hands in his lap, palms open and turned up. For a few chimes he had been working on clearing his mind for the day ahead; though the fall had been relatively good to them, there was still a lot weighing on the watchman's mind like the deaths of Trail and Bayon. The weather couldn't seem to make its mind up though things were a lot colder now, and his wives seemed sombre, with little he did working to cheer them.

A cold little hand touched the nape of his neck and Dravite's eyes shot open, taking him from his trance to see that Kyanite had moved to join him. "What's that?" The boy asked pointing to a bowl sat on the fur pelt in front of Dravite.
The man picked up the bowl and let Kyanite touch the charcoal inside, "burnt wood," Dravite told him, "want to help me crush it?"
"Yes!" Kyanite grinned and sat down Bessie his father, crushing the small pieces of charcoal up just as Dravite showed him.

The watchman took another bowl for himself and crushed some charcoal until it resembled a fine powder. He raked out the bigger pieces with his fingers and added a few drops of water to the powdered charcoal so that it resembled a paste. Kyanite copied him, happily working away besides the man without any fuss. When the horse lord finished making the paint he paused and looked at his son, paint, he signed, "do you want some?"

The boy nodded and Dravite used one of his fingers to decorate his son's chest and shoulders with the black paste as if to mimic the windmarks on his own form, not in quite the same detail, but he got the shape right. Kyanite smiled up at the man proudly and dipped his chubby little fingers into the paint to start painting his father's skin, tentatively filling in the flesh coloured gaps in his windmarks. "What are you doing?" Dravite asked; curious, he then signed.
"Turning you into a night lion," Kyanite told him.
"What should I turn you into?" He asked the boy.
"A grass bear!" Kyanite beamed excitedly.
"I don't know about that," the watchman smirked, "you look more like a toad to me." He dotted some of the black paint to the boy's nose and laughed.
"What is the paint for?" Kyanite inquired, curious, fun, questioning.
Dravite dipped his fingers into the paste and closed his eyes before dragging the tips of his digits over the length of his face, leaving a set if dark lines wherever his fingers touched, "camouflage," the horse lord admitted, "I'm going hunting."
"What's camouflage?" Kyanite asked.
disguise, blend, similar, hide, Dravite signed with his hands, "to sneak."

Belkaia called to Kyanite from outside the tent and the boy went running to greet her. Dravite, meanwhile, cleaned up the rest if the paint, smothering some over his shoulders and arms before he set the rest aside. He stared down at the backs of his hands and concentrated once more, this time on the colour of his skin; could he change it with the magic Kavala had taught him?

Concentrating his djed to the area, Dravite attempted to make his skin then change to match the black pigment painted there, just as he had done once by changing the tip of his finger into claw. Everything is the same, he reminded himself, djed can be transformed. With a lot of focus, the tips of his fingers seemed to slowly change colour, but he couldn't hold the transformation past the point of his knuckles. Baby steps, Dravite reminded himself.

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Dravite
Ra’athi of The Watch Troha to Tavehk
 
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Paint It Black

Postby Dravite on November 15th, 2015, 7:11 am

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A seed planted by his son. What if, the horse lord thought to himself; what if he could become a Night Lion, or a Grass Bear, or one of the wild Striders that roamed the golden Sea of Grass? He sat, staring at the black tint that his skin had taken on to match the sooty colour of the charcoal and wondered. What if it were possible to change forms completely.

Dravite got up from his spot near the fire and wandered into the bedroom away from the living quarters of the tent. He sat down and marvelled at the grass bear coat that covered the expanse of the far wall and crawled closer on hands and knees across the bed of furs to get a better look at one of the large front paws. The horse lord studied the toes and intact claws, holding his left hand up to focus on the shape he would need to prefect or the hair, the leathery pad of the hand; there were so many aspects that made up what he needed to master.

One at a time, he scolded inwardly, you're getting ahead of yourself. The watchman took up his sketching book and one of the ink sticks he kept with it to write himself a list.

Shape
Size
Texture
Fur
Claws
Bone
Flesh
Muscle


He tapped the ink pen against page; there had to be more than that, but for now, it was something to work with and if he must master all, he should first learn one. "Fur," the man mouthed; if only because the choice was so novel to him, to imagine his fist covered in the same fur as the grass bear seemed so out of reach. If he could manage that small step, maybe the next would come a little easier.

Dravite started by studying the hairs on his arms where they grew thicker; he compared this to the fur on the bear pelt, parting the fur with his thumbs to see how close each thread sat. There was a lot more hair on the pelt than there was on his arms and he realised that even if he made the hair on his arms longer, they did not sit nearly close enough together to cover his limb as thickly as they did the bear's skin.

Pooling his djed, the man attempted to replicate his existing hairs so that there were more of them in specific, concentrated areas on his arm. By gently pulling on the hair he seemed to be able to make it grow in length, but only very slowly. Still, he thought, this hair was not like the fur on the bear; he needed to change it, but how did one mimic bear fur?

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Dravite
Ra’athi of The Watch Troha to Tavehk
 
Posts: 722
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Joined roleplay: April 20th, 2015, 12:38 am
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Paint It Black

Postby Dravite on November 15th, 2015, 7:16 am

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Dravite started pulling pelts out of the blanket chest nearby, caressing the different types of furs with the pads of his fingers, stroking them as if they were living animals. The Bear’s hair was rather coarse and grew a lot thicker than that of a deer, whereas a rabbit's fur was shorter and softer, the fine strands so small they looked almost invisible when he plucked out one alone. Concentrate, he reminded himself; had Kavala said something about meditation?

Sitting there with his eyes closed and his hands on the leg of the bear pelt, Dravite tried to clear his mind and focus on the strange feeling he felt as his energy gathered in the digits of his hand and seemed to pool in the limb, waiting to be commanded and used to help him transform and reshape the elements of his hand. Changing bone was somewhat uncomfortable, especially for a beginner and Dravite decided to steer clear of that after his first encounter with the limb numbing experience. This time when he opened his eyes he was ready and felt a lot more focused.

He pictured the Bear’s fur growing out through the skin on the top of his hand and studied the pelt every few seconds to make sure he was getting it right. Using a model for morphing had its advantages and Dravite intended to make the most of his time alone, stealing away any time he could to hone his craft and sharpen his skill. Soon the short, off black coloured hairs started to sprout up and grow closer together, causing the man to grin as if he had just discovered fire for the first time. Suddenly, there came the sound of foot falls drawing near and Dravite's focus was undone, the transformation slowly reverting back as his flesh took on its original shape once again.

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Dravite
Ra’athi of The Watch Troha to Tavehk
 
Posts: 722
Words: 775240
Joined roleplay: April 20th, 2015, 12:38 am
Race: Human, Drykas
Character sheet
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Medals: 3
Overlored (1) Advocate (1)
2015 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

Paint It Black

Postby Dravite on November 15th, 2015, 7:23 am

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Kyanite poked his head through the door and smiled as if he had just been let in on a secret which his father was not privy to. Curious, the man waved, "what did your mother want?"

The boy moved into the tent to lean against his father, a gesture Dravite didn't really mind, though he no longer encouraged it as Kyanite was growing and would soon be too big to get away with such things, "wash," the child admitted, rubbing his little hands over his face to re-enact the task.
"What are you doing today?" Dravite inquired, curious as to what the boy got up to from day to day while he was out hunting or working to provide for the pavilion.
"Nothing," Kyanite sighed, "I want to go out with you."
"Hunting?"
"To the lake," the boy admitted.
"One day," Dravite agreed, “when you're a little bigger."
Kyanite frowned, "how big?"
"This big," Dravite held a hand up a whole foot above the boy's head.
"Da!" The child whined, "please!"
"One day," he said again.
"Today," Kyanite smiled.
The horse lord stared at his boy for a chime, "no lake, too dangerous," he shook his head, "but..."
Kyanite's face lit up, a 'but' was promising, "what?"
"How about I watch you ride Txiro?"
"Yes!" The boy clapped and disappeared to fetch the yvas.

Dravite got to his feet and left the tent after packing away the pelts he had pulled out of the storage chest. He put out the fire to make sure nothing would catch light while he was out and picked up his belt, fastening it about his hips in order to decorate it with the assortment of tools he never left camp without. Kyanite ran up to him with an empty bucket and darted into the food storage area to find a treat for the fat little pony. "What are you doing?" Dravite called after him.
"Getting a carrot," the boy smiled upon his return holding the thick orange root vegetable in both hands.
"We need to give him some water and take a look at his feet first," Dravite explained.
"Can I feed him?"
"Yes," the man smiled, "have you seen the grooming kit?"

Kyanite pointed and with the kit set underarm, the two set off down the street to leave Endrykas and approach the herd out on the plain. Txiro didn't need much encouragement when it came to food. He raised his head after hearing his name and came galloping over to meet the pair. Dravite set the bucket down and poured the contents of a water skin into the vessel before rolling out the grooming kit. "You keep that end busy," Dravite laughed, "and I'll make sure I don't get kicked."


He set to work, taking in the length of each hoof with a glance before working on the worst of the pony's hooves. He started with the front, right foot, taking the rasp to sand down the hoof, "stand!" He scolded whenever the pony tried to pull his hoof away from the watchman. Each hoof took about two or three minutes to get right and Kyanite stood very patiently watching once the carrot was all gone, "what do you think?" The man smiled, "does he look more comfortable now?"
"Yes!" The boy grinned, "Can I help you brush him?"
"All right," Dravite agreed, "but you stay up that side and don't tickle his tummy; you just brush his chest, neck, and front legs for me," with that he gave the boy a brush and the two of them worked side by side as the sun rose higher in the sky.
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Dravite
Ra’athi of The Watch Troha to Tavehk
 
Posts: 722
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Joined roleplay: April 20th, 2015, 12:38 am
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Paint It Black

Postby Dravite on November 15th, 2015, 7:34 am

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The brush went over the pony's fur smoothly as Txiro seemed to get a lot more attention than the other horses, namely due to his size and approachability. The short little stallion was a real character and for all the grief Dravite had given Mayra about the useless, little creature, he had turned out to be quite endearing; not that the horse lord would ever admit to such a thing. Dravite picked up the palomino’s tail and combed out the tangled knots in the very end of the hair before working the brush up towards the mane.

He set his own brush down soon and lifted his son so that the boy could reach out and brush the animal’s mane in his place. Txiro seemed to adore all the attention he had been getting and made a content little sound that rumbled out through his nose.
"Can I ride him now?" The boy asked and Dravite presented the yvas for Kyanite to help him get on.
He made sure the safety straps that went around the chest were securely fastened before putting the boy on the pony's back, "hold on," he encouraged, offering his son a warm smile, "comfortable?"

Kyanite grinned and gripped the yvas like a frog latching onto a tree leaf in a wind storm; all white knuckled and determined to stay on the horse. As Kyanite had only just seen his third summer of life, Dravite stayed close, keeping one hand on the boy's fat little thigh as he led the pony around in a slow circle and marched him up and down the plain in Syna's light as the sky changed colour overhead. It was nice to see his son having so much fun, he thought, and when the ride was done Kyanite held his legs out and beam, "more! Again!"

So again Dravite walked back and forth with Txiro at his side. Another handful of minutes passed them by and before they knew it half an hour had come and gone. When Kyanite got down he ran to the water bucket to check what was left and when he tried to pick it up he found that the contents of the bucket made the task impossible. Dravite lifted the vessel with relative ease and carried it over to the pony, which needed little encouragement to drink after all of the exercise. The horse lord removed the yvas and slung it over his shoulder along with the water skin and took the rest of the water back to camp to offer to the goats,

"There you are!" Belkaia called to her son, "I was looking for you."
"Sorry," Dravite cooed, "I should have let you know we were heading out to check on the horses."
"I got to ride the pony!" Kyanite admitted excitedly.
Belkaia gave her husband 'the look' and slowly shook her head, "such dangerous hobbies you teach our son."
"Better he learns young," the man smiled and saw the boy grin gleefully, "or he will end up like me and struggle when his bones are a lot heavier and ache a lot more after a fall."
"Did you fall?" Belkaia asked her boy."
"No, Ma," he grinned, "I am good at riding!"
She ruffled his hair and let a slow smile curl her lips, "you are very good, my son, and soon you will be even better."
Dravite pecked his wife on the lips and smiled, “I’m going to go put this stuff away, finished getting painted up and then head out for a hunt.”
“It’s getting a bit late in the season for hunting isn’t it?” Belkaia asked.
“A little, but our reserves for the winter could do with a little more, I don’t want us to run out.”
The woman smiled, “You’re right, better we have too much and offer some to our neighbours than run short and have to go out in the snow.”
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Dravite
Ra’athi of The Watch Troha to Tavehk
 
Posts: 722
Words: 775240
Joined roleplay: April 20th, 2015, 12:38 am
Race: Human, Drykas
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes
Medals: 3
Overlored (1) Advocate (1)
2015 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)

Paint It Black

Postby Graham Whipmane on December 12th, 2015, 4:06 am

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GRADE!

Dravite :
XP:
Morphing +3XP
Animal Husbandry +3XP
Teaching +2XP
Childcare +2XP
Meditation +1XP
Camouflage +1XP
Painting +1XP.

Lores:
✦ Morphing: A Grass Bear
✦ Morphing: Fur
✦ Morphing: Easier With A Model
✦ Camouflage: Charcoal Body Paint
✦Kyanite: Learning To Ride
✦Txiro: Not So Useless


Notes: Hope I did okay for my first Grade! Please PM me if anything is not as it should be, or if I've missed anything!


Comments
This was a fun read! Short and sweet, but still very interesting! A great thread for my first grade!


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Graham Whipmane
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