Avanthal: Beauty in its people.

[Nemori]

18th of Fall, 516

It was a normal day when Nemori heard the first flutter of wings. She was taking a slow walk around the city, it was starting to get dark and the occasional shower of snow would find its way from the clouds towards the ground. Despite the occasional snow the sun still shone brightly through the clouds. A white owl landed and sat on a nearby building. She stopped to gaze up at it. It was a large creature with a rounded face. Its orange eyes seemed to look slowly around. It seemed unfazed by the movement of people within the city. Nemori admired the bird, it was beautiful and noble on his temporary perch. Its feathers would rustle slightly from the gently breeze that swept the city and it would adjust its wings slightly as it landed. Nemori loved to admire birds. Before long another one owl landed, a flutter of more white wings. This one was smaller and landed much further up. It stared warily at the gathering of people. It tucked itself into its wings almost timidly, Nemori wondered why it was so timid, it was too late in the year to be an infant. By the third owl Nemori was not the only person to have stopped and stared. More and more white owls started to gather, littering the road and buildings. Many took higher up perches away from people but some were more daring and would land on fences or small outcrops of buildings. They all had feathers white like the snow but other than that they varied significantly. Different breeds and eyes and personalities swarmed around the city. More could be seen landing in other parts of the city, the swarm of white feathers filling the air. Occasionally some of the snow would be knocked from the buildings and tumble towards the ground. Nemori wondered how nobody had spotted such a large number of birds flying towards the city to begin with, it would be difficult to hide this many. They would move and shuffle, occasionally changing perches or making noises at each other. Some of them seemed to argue over perches, flurries of feathers s their wings beat. Why were they so many? Why did they all have snow white feathers? Nemori hesitated. This was a very strange event for the city. Nothing about the owls seemed in time with each other and perhaps that was why when they finally settled and started to sing together it was so startling. They seemed to be singing the same song at the same time across the city. Their voices echoed and reverberated through the street and it felt like the entire city had stopped to hear their song. The sudden calmness of the city rang out with a sense of peace. A moment where the entire city was paying attention to the same thing, a moment of solidarity between everyone in the city.

[Nemori]

From where Nemori stood she could see someone hurriedly writing notes onto a scrap of paper they had found, the scrap was half torn and crumbled but it did not seem to faze the person writing on it. The drawings of musical notes were rushed and messy, in places becoming difficult to read. Nemori watched them for a moment, seeing the music that played being drawn out in front of her. The slow beautiful music filled the air around them. She did not recognise many of the symbols beyond knowing them to be music based. In another part of the street someone had settled down with pieces of charcoal and was carefully sketching onto a large sheet of paper. The lines were quickly forming the cityscape littered with the white birds. The contrasting black and white of charcoal on paper created a striking image of the snow covered city. Everything about Avanthal life revolved around working through the snow. The artist would glance up and down hurriedly, attempting to take in the entire city at once and scrawl it down before the birds could leave. They was no indication as to how long the song would take, how long the birds would linger. Another apparent artist was ignoring the birds, instead glancing up at the people littering the street before back down towards their pages. They had paint lined up with various bright colors but Nemori could not see what they were drawing from her position. As Nemori looked around it drawn on her, the thing that had struck them as the most beautiful part of everything. The street was littered with Vantha, all gazing up in wonder at the birds. Their eyes all danced with different colors and shades despite reflecting the same emotion. The black hair danced with various colors too, shades of green, blue, red and every other color reflected the light from the sun. For a moment Nemori was struck by the beauty of her people, the vibrant colors that were so commonly ignored in day to day life. The aspect that made Vantha special, the thing that many were so surprised by upon first meeting one. It was remarkable that a city littered with white and black was also so decorated with the more vibrant colors reflected from the inhabitants.

[Nemori]

The birds continued their songs for a few bells, the city slowly started to move again as people realised their tasks that desperately needed doing. Many people however lingered, Nemori being one of them. When the song itself had finished Nemori expected the birds to take off once more, however they lingered. They started to shuffle and hoot in disharmony once more. Flutters of wings and feathers sounded. A few changed perch or started to fly around the city but in general they lingered. A few were grooming themselves contently. Nemori wondered if they would be enough food for them if they stayed. The city itself was not used to such an influx of animals. Mentally she made a note to try and spread some food out in the morning if they remained, to try and ensure that they were healthy and happy within the city.

[Maro]

[shadow2=black,0,0,6] Nemori Skills +Animal Husbandry +1 +Observation +2 Lores -An Odd Occurrence: The Summer Influx of White Owls -Spotting Various Species in a Large Flock -The Owl Song Can Be Converted to Sheet Music and Sketches -Avanthal: Beauty in Its People -Owl Song and Vantha Eyes: A Chorus of Sound and Color -Animal Husbandry: Making Provisions for Wildlife Notes : Fun thread, Nemori. I love how you brought in the unemphasized part of this (the Vantha) and painted it in its true beauty. Please make sure to edit your request to 'graded' in the queue and feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns about your grade.