Solo (The Quarters) A Dirty Job

[Za'ir]

Za'ir 7th of Summer, 517AV Za’ir was ecstatic, the order he had placed at the Synchrograph Office had just been delivered. His rather grisly order had consisted of three Gibbat Hounds and three Wyfrists. They were to be dead of course and had been ordered to be in a reasonable condition with no major mutilation of the corpses. His judgement was coming soon, just about two weeks away, and he had quite a bit of work to do before he would be ready for it. Unfortunately, before he could actually begin his work, there was the job of removing the useless flesh from the bones that he coveted. “Might as well begin with the birds. Less blood than the dogs.” Reasoning that there was no use in dirtying up his tiny room before it was necessary. Za’ir walked over to the water basin that was sitting on a squat table next to his sleeping mat, picked it up and placed it on the floor next to the bodies of the Wyfrists. He then took his dagger and lay it carefully next to the birds. ”A clean workplace is a productive workplace" he mused. Taking a moment to study the Wyfrists before he began systematically pulling the flesh from their bones, Za’ir began to focus on the bird attempting to glean information from its aura. The size of the aura immediately jumped out at Za’ir, it was larger than a birds should be, there was something distinct and almost purposeful about it. It also was a pure white, not like paper, but true and unmixed white, a rare color in the natural world. Za’ir reasoned that the rumors he had heard of the bird were founded in truth, this creature appeared to be morally good and dedicated to that goodness. The amount of information that was just out of his reach was frustrating for Za'ir. ”I have to become more proficient in reading an aura, my incompetence is a great handicap to my research” he thought bitterly. Even this brief and inconclusive look had left him mentally fatigued, proof of his ineptitude, and he decided to move on; certain that his lack of skill would prevent any real access to the information contained in this aura. He began by recording his initial impressions in his log book. “Wyfrist: A small bird native to Sahova. Nearly as long as an average persons hand. White feathers. Some in the harbor say that they can sense right and wrong action, possibly even more. This theory is tentatively supported by viewing the aura of the bird. Further research could be interesting” He then took the first of the birds and began systematically pulling out its feathers and placing them in a neat pile to his left. The longer and stronger feathers of the wing and tail, he placed into a separate pile near the others. Za’ir continued this simple and yet tedious process until all three of the birds were stripped of their covering and lay naked in front of him. He then took his dagger and pressed it into the birds neck as he pulled the knife back towards himself, neatly severing the birds head. Before too much blood could drain on the floor, he hung the bird over the water basin and let the blood pour into it. Za’ir used his second hand to squeeze down the body of the bird until the blood ceased its flow, and then placed the head next to the larger feathers. For the Wyfrists, Za’ir really was only interested in the skull, as he could see no use in attempting to work with the tiny bones of the birds skeleton. The rest of the body, he placed in a separate pile, a pile that would later be thrown out. Za’ir repeated this process with the two other Wyfrists, carefully removing the skull and large feathers, draining the blood, and discarding the rest. He wrote of his progress in his log. ”I removed the heads for experimentation. The bodies I discarded, perhaps if I was more talented at working in small spaces they would have use for experimentation as well. The long and firm feathers of the wings and tail I saved for the talisman, the others I discarded, they are useless to me. They will need to be boiled to break off the last of the flesh.”

[Za'ir]

Za'ir Now that the birds were prepared, Za’ir looked over to the corpses of the Gibbat Dogs. They would be a more challenging project to take apart and prepare for his work, far messier as well. Za’ir grimaced as he considered the state his tiny room would be in after he finished this morbid task. ” Research can’t always be orderly” he told himself. However, before the true work could begin, the initial observation had to be done. Pulling one of the bodies over to himself he began to record the most basic facts. Gibbat Dog: A relatively small dog. Eight to ten pounds in weight. Long ears and tail. Four eyes; two normally sized, two very small, both a striking color of blue. The eyes don’t seemed suited for multi-directional sight. More research needed to determine why the multiple sets of eyes are necessary. Fur is black and white patterned. The tail is bright red and quite bushy. Za’ir grimaced as he began focusing on the dogs aura, he was already slightly wearied from his inspection of the birds. However, the research was far more important than to him than his discomfort, so he quieted his mind and got to work. Like the bird, this dogs aura was shockingly large, and again it seemed overly purposeful and distinct. This aura however matched the color of the dogs eyes and seemed to reek of the influence of magic. Za’ir continued studying the most basic elements of the aura and simply observing what he saw for a few moments before he stilled his thoughts for a deeper look. One element of the dog in particular seemed to practically reek of magical influence, the smaller eyes shone brightly, the same color blue and yet a more intense version of it. There was something special about this dog. Za’ir felt his head beginning to throb and told himself that he would have to stop his inspection very soon. He had given himself the worst headache of his life once when trying to determine the use of a created talisman. He decided to look more closely at the peculiar aura of the eyes when it suddenly hit him. He couldn’t explain why, or how it could be possible, but he was certain that he was right. This little animal was somehow capable of perceiving the auras around him. The shock of this discovery sent a piercing pain through his temple and Za’ir nearly toppled backwards as he shut off his mind to the dogs aura. He clutched his forehead and groaned before quickly snatching up his logbook and recording what he had seen. This dog has an aura that astounds my imagination. The color of it matches almost identically to that of its eyes. From the very first I could practically smell the fingerprints of magic emanating off of the animal. The eyes that appear so remarkable and mysterious upon physical inspection only grow in mystery when viewed auristically. Though the effort has left me with a piercing ache in my head, I do believe that I have discovered their secret. I am nearly certain, although with little proof, that in some way this remarkable animal has managed to dabble in the art of perceiving auras. Perhaps that is why the smaller eyes are mounted so close to the larger. It doesn’t see any larger of an area but rather has another mode of sight. I must study a living specimen. Possibly then, I could learn something more of this art, as well as how the dog has managed to utilize it. Ignoring his throbbing head, Za’ir tried to determine what parts of the dog he wanted to Maledict. The skull was obvious, he desperately wanted to attempt drawing out some manner of Auristic element from it. He debated with himself the merits of the other portions of the animal, but eventually decided that he would again focus on just the head. He didn’t have a proper workspace, nor did he have very much time before his judgement, and he figured that he would have plenty of time to explore other projects after he had been proven worthy of an apprenticeship. Also, if he just cut off the head, he could minimize the mess of blood in his little room. Za’ir took the little dog and placed its neck over the rim of the water basin, hoping that this would prevent any blood spilling out onto his floor. He held the dog firmly in one hand and began cutting at the neck with the other. The dogs hide was thick and took a great deal of pressure to cut through with his small dagger. However, the rim of the water basin actually aided this as it provided a firm anchor to cut against. After he had managed to cut through the dogs spine the job was fairly simple to complete. Unfortunately for Za’ir, the difficulty of cutting through the dogs neck had made the task quite bloody. His hands, his pants, the floor, and the front of his shirt were all speckled with marks of blood. "You can’t win them all" he thought in mild disgust. He let out something between a sigh and a groan, a sound equal part resignation and pain, then managed to force himself to finish the work. By the time all three dogs had been beheaded, his clothes and his room looked more like a butcher house than a place of rest. All that was needed now was to have the remains boiled. That process would soften the remaining meat and let it simply fall off of the bones, leaving them clean and ready for Malediction.

[Languish]

Here Lies Your Grades

Character 1 :

Skills	Amount
Observation	+2
Planning	+1
Organization	+1
Research	+2
Writing	+2
Auristics	+2
Butchering	+1

Sahovan Fauna: Wyfrist Birds	Sahovan Fauna: Gibbat Dogs
Butchering: Cutting Against a Firm Surface	Organization: Clean is Productive
Auristics: Vital for Research	Butchering: Hang Upside-Down to Drain Blood
Butchering: Boil Bones to Remove Meat	Malediction: Tiny Bones are More Difficult

Additional Comments:Graded first as Judgement threads take priority.

I liked how well I was able to tell Za'ir's personality just from his actions. I'm curious to see how he'll interact with others when they don't follow his strict ideal. I see much conflict in his future.

Don't forget to edit your request in the grading queue to show this thread has been graded. If you have any questions or concerns, please PM me.