RP: TGI Fly-day

  It's Kesenday, Daeshen 30 12:36:57 1018. The full moon is up. The tide is low and slack.
  Fair weather clouds drift through the blue sky from the west. The wind is gusty.

  H05: Redridge Mountains

This is a beautiful autumn day, the skies are blue with puffy clouds here and there, the wind gusting. On this day, Ga'Elian Ettin-slayer had decided to soar the drafts on the back of his majestic steed. As he was heading up over the mountainside, he had landed to answer the call of nature near, but outside of the Fate's Spire Monastery. On his way back to his mount after concluding his business, the Temperance, Jacob, happened to catch sight of him.

Jacob had a heavier coat on than usual, but still in dark blue with bronze buttons. He grinned up at the gryphon, running a hand along his right wing. "Majestic. Absolutely majestic."

Ga'Elian says, "No argument there, friend. How are you, Jacob? Been keeping busy?"

Jacob glanced toward Ga'Elian. "I have! Mostly for the research on current events, how the war's been going, more importantly how it started. Trying to find out a clean solution is not easy." He sighed and looked up at the creature. "So then! This may be what I need."

Ga'Elian smiles, "Ah, a bit of aerial reconaissance, eh? Sure, We could head out towards Rune if you'd like. Hop on." He mounts and assists the human to climb on behind him. He says, "Hold on tight."

Jacob chuckled and climbed on. "I mean the experience itself. It is not often that one gets to fly without the aid of some kind of magical equipment. This will make my heart race and my head spin, and perhaps that is the thing that will clear these jumbling thoughts!"

Ga'Elian nods, "Well, it certainly does give you a different view of the world--both literally and metaphorically." He spurs the mount into a running launch, and in moments they're airborne, climbing up toward the looming Redridge peaks and the clouds that drift past them.

The Temperance is fortunate at this point that he needs no glasses, not on a usual basis. Because right now they would obstruct the view, and it's quite amazing, even as the wind tears at his face and whips his hair around. "Spectacular! And you do this all the time?"

The young Sylvanori laughs with a mixture of thrill at the ride and amusement at Jacob's reaction. "As often as I can. Today's an especially fine day for it."

Beginning as a rumbling purr from deep within the griffon, then escaping into a screech that echoes off the mountains in front of them, Erithamiel gives vocal indication that he enjoys this as much as his riders seem to. The rhythmic beating of his golden wings continues to lift them all into the dizzying heights, as the delta of the lower Tormawr, wrapping around the Lord City below, comes into view.

There is other air traffic as well. An airship that has just departed the station in Alexandria is heading out, its course passing not far from where the griffon and his passengers fly.

Jacob blinks. "Wait you can speak to him?" He glances down at Erith, as he has come to call him. "Incredible. Would that I could do that!"

Ga'Elian says loudly, as the air races past his face, "Oh, I talk to him all the time, but not like I am now conversing with you. He is trained and we are bonded, but his intelligence is more animalistic than others of his kind that are not bonded as he is."

Un'eth arrives upon the ridge in what some would consider to be a mundane or limited fashion: via her legs. Wearing only a simple cloak, belt and minor accessories, the lack of clothing does not appear to hinder, despite air far more mobile and chill at this altitude.

Jacob whistled. "Impressive!" He looked up again. "You never did tell me what you hunted. Or rather, who!"

Ga'Elian waves as he notices the black-scaled shaman on the ridge below. "Well, at that time, I wasn't in any specific pursuit other than of knowledge. And you are much more skilled than I at following the tracks of knowledge, especially through the terrain of written archives."

A nod. "And so you hunt that which should not be here. I understand." Perhaps, perhaps not. But he wants to. "My job is only to keep the truth and the knowledge of such truths safe. Unmolested and unfiltered, so to speak! I have to travel to do that, but this is far more exciting!"

Un'eth looks upwards, as the banking griffon is rather conspicuous in the open sky, and far nearer and swift than the lumbering monstrosities that are the airships. A claw lifts to return the gesture and acknowledge griffon, rider, and passenger.

Ga'Elian says, "That is well. Such lore is right dangerous, indeed, and ought to be rigorously safe-guarded." A pair of egalrin fly some 50 feet below in a nearly-perpendicular course. "Do you see there on the ridge? It is Un'eth of Mictlan. Shall we go say hi?" He guides Erithamiel into an approach vector, aiming for a stretch of open terrain just below the sith'makar.

Jacob looked down for a moment with a nod. "Indeed! Let's get moving."

Un'eth watches as the griffon banks yet again. She stills to watch, and to avoid confusing or encroaching on wherever it chooses to land. Standing beneath a griffon and the ground upon landing is not a comfortable position.

The griffon touches dowm with a run of perhaps surprisingly few steps, as he brakes using the might of his 25 foot wingspan. Once he has fully stopped, he folds his wings along his sides, and bows his aquilene head toward Un'eth, whose scent is well-known to him. Ga'Elian tells Jacob, somewhat jokingly, "You can stop grappling me now." He helps the Temperance dismount, then does so himself, heaves a deep sigh, and bows to the Shaman.

Jacob blinks for a moment, then coughs as he leaps off of the gryphon. "Salutations!" He places his right fist in the crook of his left palm and bows. "Jacob. And your name?"

Un'eth thumps the chill ground with her tail and dips her snout. "I am Uneth of the Tarranik, Shaman and Warder of Ea," she introduces to the one not known. "Peace on your nests, all."

Ga'Elian bows. "And on yours, as well, Shaman," he says. "This is Jacob, a Temperance of Navos. He was of great benefit to me a short while ago when I was reaearching better techniques in battling fiend-kind. Today, the weather was just so inviting, Erithamiel and I had to bask in the currents, and we happened to cross paths with Jake just as we were setting out."

Jacob nods. "I heard Shaman... interesting. I would like to hear more about this!" His eyes sparkled at the thought of new information.

"Ea's Breath is especially welcoming this day," Uneth agrees with Ga'elian's and Erithamiel's opinions on the weather before eyes look to Jacob. "What would you hear more of?"

Ga'Elian looks out over the sloping mountainside and the distant, wooded valley below and to the northwest. He squirts a stream of slightly pinkish liquid from a skin into his mouth and swallows.

"Shamans, of course!" He clapped his hands together, just once. "How does one become one, what functions do they have, what can they DO? I mean, there's so much."

"One joins the shaman caste by choice, by competency, and by the will of Ea," Uneth explains. "Hunters feed the tribe, warriors protect the tribe, shamans council and heal the tribe."

A nod. "I hear things about the ability to speak to spirits. Could you tell me a little about that?" Were that Jacob had his notes!

Ga'Elian says, "Pardon me, but (talking about hunters gathering food) I'm gonna wander off for a little and gather some lunch while Erithamiel hunts. I won't be far, and will be back in a while to share my pickings. Besides, it wouldn't be right of me to bring you up here and scamper off, Jake."

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Survival/natur: (15)+14+4+3+1: 37

Jacob glances toward Ga'Elian with a smile. "Much obliged!" He clears his throat. "Now as we were..."

Un'eth considers the question and her answer for a moment. "We commune with Ea and those who dwell upon and around it. The plants, the animals, the earth, the sky... all are bound to one another. Some of these beings are considered spirits by some."

Jacob ran a hand along his chin. "And so you can speak with that which normally cannot be spoken to. Hmm... interesting." He clears his throat. "Perhaps an example will do. If possible, of course!"

"If you wish instruction and understanding," Uneth suggests, "you could receive both at Mictlan. Those yet without caste train and learn daily. Perhaps one of those sharing knowledge would allow you to observe, or ask you to share your own knowledge."

Jacob grins. "Do you think they could? I mean, it would be a unique opportunity!" He takes in a breath. "Apologies. I do get rather excited at the prospect of something I don't know."

Ga'Elian returns, whistling, with two ring-necked pheasants, a hare, and two racoons on a rope, a bag of crabapples and wild elderberries, and another bag containing a couple large chunks of golden, oozing honeycomb. When he sees the pair of you he says, the hunting here was just as fine as the flying today. Anyone hungry?" He positively beams with delight. A moment later, Erithamiel comes along behind the elf.

Jacob blinks for a moment. "You really are good at that."

"All are welcome at Mictlan," Uneth points out, "so long as they respect Ea and the others present." With the returning hunter, her tail flicks and she gestures with a claw at the whistling Ga'elian, adding lightly, "Even that one is allowed."

Ga'Elian winks at Un'eth's remark. He says, "Erithamiel's easy to feed. He does most of his own hunting, and doesn't have to clean or cook his game. Frankly, with him, the biggest challenge I've had feeding him is training him not to try to eat every horse he sees in the city." One-by-one, he tosses the racoons to the griffon, who makes quick work of them. Then he says, "As for the hare and the pheasants, they'll still take a little while to prepare, unless you like your meat raw. We'll need to gather sticks and build a cooking fire."

"Aye." Jacob gives a nod. "I'll take care of that." He moves to do so. "We must continue this conversation after all, and food will do that easily."

Ga'Elian set the rest of his cargo down on the ground and removes his mithral cap and his quiver, and sets them down, too. Then he bends over and shimmies out of his mail hauberk, then takes off his gambeson and shirt, too, and neatly lays all these things on the ground.

Apart from his magical lenses, his ettin-teeth necklace, and a finely wrought gold ring, he now is wearing nothing from the waist up, and despite the altitude and season, is glistening with sweat from his recent efforts. Filling his back is an intricate tattoo depicting a Great Stag gazing up at a full moon above the Ygdrassil Tree.

He sits on a boulder and begins to pluck the feathers from the two pheasants, resuming his whistling.

Jacob returns and begins the setup phase of the meal, but then takes note of the intricate tattoo. "My word..." He puts the sticks down and takes a look. "That's beautiful. Who is responsible for that one?"

Ga'Elian smiles and says, "Funny you should ask. I am told by the Hunters of Mahal—the priests, that is—that its appearance in my skin is by His divine will. I have never been inked by mortal effort, and frankly, have never had a proper view of the whole design, although my friend, Yelrona, once showed it to me in the long mirrors of a clothing merchant."

Ga'Elian adds, "Actually, I might not have even become aware of its presence, at least for a while, if not that she saw it on my back as I was swimming one day."

"Interesting. You know, I wonder if something will happen to me like that?" He ran a hand along his chin. "Would be quite the experience!"

Ga'Elian nods. "I think it's a fairly new phenomenon, but I have heard rumor of other people having similar things appear on them. As a matter of fact, it seems to me that Yelrona even has a smaller one by the grace of Tarien, but I can't recall for certain."

Jacob gives a nod and resumes his work. "Well then, I certainly hope I am worth the effort it probably takes to put one on. Perhaps someday." Oddly enough, he's somewhat good at it, producing a neat stick formation that will burn quite readily. "Right, let's do this."

Ga'Elian eviscerates the hare with his dagger, while Jacob builds the fire. He then spits all three animals on separate stakes. He says, "Once they're on the fire and roasting, I might take a few moments to go wash up in the creek over yonder." He gestures back the way he came. Skinning the hare did leave him a bit bloody.

  It's Kesenday, Daeshen 30 17:15:01 1018. The full moon isn't up. The tide is high and rising.
  The fair weather clouds in the west turn orange, gold, carmine, and purple as the sun sets. A chill wind blows from the west.

"You do that, I'll just admire your friend some more." He stood and walked over toward the gryphon. "Hello there, thank you for the ride."

The griffon paws the ground and swishes its tail. With careful attention, a soft purr can be sensed, more felt than heard from within his body.

Meanwhile, the sunset is breathtaking, painting the western sky in bands of vibrant hue. As the fire burns down to coals he places the spitted animals to cook, then takes off his boots, belt, and trousers, and walks away toward the creek, pausing by Jacob to remark, "Well, it's a good thing Erithamiel and I aren't so affected by the darkness. It's starting to get pretty cold now, and after a hot meal, I'll not want to fly in wet clothes. By the way, help yourself to the fruit and hineycomb while you're waiting for the meat to cook. I won't be gone long." To Un'eth he says, "Of course, you're quite as welcome to partake, too." The buck naked ranger then heads off toward the creek.

The aroma of roasting meat is intoxicating after a day in the wilderness, a day without food so far. About the time that the smell becomes irresistable, the elf returns, now cleansed of the animal blood that had gotten on him. As he approaches, a pair of tiny glowing creatures, too large to be fireflies, but with gossamer wings, flit around the ranger's head. Ga'Elian says, "Okay, okay. I'll sing. Just don't buzz my head, okay?" <Sylvan>

Jacob groans as he turns toward Elian. "One day I'll understand just what you are saying." He moves toward the cooking fire. "All right, I trust they're done. Let's get it going!"

GAME: Jacob rolls Knowledge/Nature: Trained Use Only: 0

Ga'Elian walks over and checks the meat, warming himself by the coals as he does so. "Yep, I think its ready." He removes the spitted animals from the coals and says to Jacob, "Which do you want to have first, hare or pheasant?" He waves aside one of the glowing creatures and explains, "These grigs have been insisting that I sing, and won't get out of my face until I do! So I guess you'll get to hear one of the ballads of my tribe as you eat, Jake. Then, maybe they'll go BUG somebody else!"

Jacob blinks. "Grigs, eh? And what are those?"

Ga'Elian sits on the ground, and, now that the cooking is done, gets the fire blazing again. He says, "Grigs are fairies that like to lull humanoids with the chirping of their cricket-like legs and some with little violins, or actually fiddles, I guess. Anyway, like most fey creatures, they like music and dance, so these ones found me at the creek, and insisted that I sing for them, AND THEY HAVEN'T GOTTEN OUT OF MY FACE SINCE!" With that, he takes another drink of the pinkish juice, takes a deep breath, and starts to sing.

GAME: Ga'Elian rolls Sing: (9)+4: 13

As the twilight fades, the campfire become the primary light source for the human present by which to see what he's eating, and so forth. Those around the fire are brilliantly lit on their sides facing it, while the opposite sides are lost in deep darkness. To those with low-light or darkvision, though, the effect is somewhat mitigated.

Jacob sits back and works on his cooked meal, rather enjoying it with the honey comb, and listens to the singing. After a bit, he smiles. "You're quite good at that."

Evidently, the grigs are satisfied, too. The song is melodic, but not the meelow tunes of the Llyranesi. Instead, this tune is wild and energetic, even interspersed with the calls of a few animals. After a few minutes, the grigs chitter something then flit over to the griffon instead, and play with him.

Meanwhile, the ranger says, "Thanks. (beat) Okay, I'm dry, those fairies aren't in my face anymore, and even with this fire, the wind is getting really cold. I think I'll put my clothes back on before I eat." He then does put his clothes back on.

"Well I have room for one more before I am full, and need to go back. So then let's have something to drink with this."

Jacob chews into the meat with an appreciative hum. "I think we did a good job, eh?"

Ga'Elian nods his agreement, then sits and eats. He hands the skin over to Jacob. "It's watered-down raspberry juice."

Jacob takes the skin and takes a sip. "For watered-down, that's good as well." He passes it back to Elian and continues his meal. "This was a pleasant evening, sir. Thank you."

Ga'Elian finishes up and says, "Dude! Thanks for sharing it with me. Erithamiel's a good friend, but not always the most satisfying company. I totally had a great time spending such an awsome day with you... and Un'eth, too. This kind of stuff is what made me want to be a ranger in the first place. I figure if more folks get to experience the richness of the wild, maybe they'll take better care of this world we share." He puts his armor and weapons back on now, then cleans up the area so that the evidence of their day's activities is not harmful to the natural setting.

Jacob stands and brushes the dirt off his coat. "We should be going. Perhaps next time, eh?"

Ga'Elian walks over to the griffon and says, "Yep. Time to get you back." Once he is on the griffon's saddle, he reaches out to help Jake mount up. "Again, hold on tight. I don't fancy trying to catch you if you fall off."