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Making a good impression with lower life forms aka etiquette
You find yourself standing in a precisely manicured field, pristine green grass stretching out in front of you for what seems like miles. A gaggle of large flightless birds stand in the shape of a horseshoe, a few of them already engaged by other Amityville students. A horseman of Conquest approaches you, her deep olive hair serving to help camouflage her in the surrounding foliage.
"Greetings. You may call me Rucha. Today you will be working with the adara." She sweeps an arm toward the birds, her long sleeves trailing through the grass at her feet. "On the whole, members of this species have a lot in common with humans as far as temperament and intelligence are concerned, so you should have no trouble getting them to tolerate you." She frowns and looks you up and down. "In theory." Rucha moves to one side, allowing you to step past her.
"Take this," She hands you a list of instructions. "Choose a bird, and make an effort to earn its trust."
Instruction One
First, you must bow to the adara to show it you mean no harm. Try to at least act sincere.
Roll 1d4.
1: Your bow is suitably impressive. The adara inclines its head and drops a feather. Perhaps it will be of some use later.
2: The bird screams in terror and pushes you to the ground before running away. You fail.
3: You don't make proper eye contact at first, but soon your adara is nuzzling up to you anyway. It seems you have a natural affinity for dealing with the beasts. A future as a DETH representative might be in the cards. You also obtain one feather.
4: You bow, but it's kind of a weak attempt. Still, your bird responds. It doesn't seem terribly enthusiastic about the whole situation though. You pass.
Roll 1d4.
1: Your bow is suitably impressive. The adara inclines its head and drops a feather. Perhaps it will be of some use later.
2: The bird screams in terror and pushes you to the ground before running away. You fail.
3: You don't make proper eye contact at first, but soon your adara is nuzzling up to you anyway. It seems you have a natural affinity for dealing with the beasts. A future as a DETH representative might be in the cards. You also obtain one feather.
4: You bow, but it's kind of a weak attempt. Still, your bird responds. It doesn't seem terribly enthusiastic about the whole situation though. You pass.
Instruction Two
Next you should offer the adara a refreshing drink of water or a salted cracker.
Roll 1d6.
1: The adara nibbles at your cracker, then turns away and starts to graze on the leaves near its feet. You pass, but not by much.
2: After you've fed your bird its snack, the adara puffs up and begins to gag. You've failed the challenge, but you do obtain a feather as a result of its misery!
3: Your adara drinks its water daintily, then allows you to pet it. You pass and you get a feather!
4: Sadly, after your bird eats your cracker, it quickly moves on to the next student, letting them pet it and collect one of its feathers. The two timer! You pass. Eventually your adara wanders back.
5: The adara in front of you ignores your cracker, but another animal wanders over to eat it instead, giving you one of its feathers in thanks! You pass.
6: You drop your water and crackers, watching in dismay as a passing bird tramples them. You fail.
Roll 1d6.
1: The adara nibbles at your cracker, then turns away and starts to graze on the leaves near its feet. You pass, but not by much.
2: After you've fed your bird its snack, the adara puffs up and begins to gag. You've failed the challenge, but you do obtain a feather as a result of its misery!
3: Your adara drinks its water daintily, then allows you to pet it. You pass and you get a feather!
4: Sadly, after your bird eats your cracker, it quickly moves on to the next student, letting them pet it and collect one of its feathers. The two timer! You pass. Eventually your adara wanders back.
5: The adara in front of you ignores your cracker, but another animal wanders over to eat it instead, giving you one of its feathers in thanks! You pass.
6: You drop your water and crackers, watching in dismay as a passing bird tramples them. You fail.
Instruction Three
Ask the adara something about itself, listening attentively when it answers, even though you can't understand a word of its reply.
Roll 1d6.
1: You ask the bird to tell you where it was born and it responds with a happy trill and a long, drawn out bird story. After a while, you begin to get bored. The adara stops mid-chirp, gets up, and waddles away. You fail.
2: The adara looks on in confusion and dismay as you try to stutter out an interesting question. You fail.
3: Your bird is pleased by your question. It sits down and shares a tweety tale of intrigue that you manage to remain bright-eyed and alert for. You pass.
4: Your question frightens the adara and it leaves your vicinity with a shiver. Its shaking causes one of its feathers to fall nearby. You fail.
5: In an effort to seem like you care, you ask your adara a very personal question that it refuses to answer. You fail.
6: You've coincidentally hit on your adara's favorite topic of all time, and even if you can't understand what it's saying, it's still pretty entertaining. You listen as attentively as you can, and are awarded with a feather for your trouble. You pass.
Roll 1d6.
1: You ask the bird to tell you where it was born and it responds with a happy trill and a long, drawn out bird story. After a while, you begin to get bored. The adara stops mid-chirp, gets up, and waddles away. You fail.
2: The adara looks on in confusion and dismay as you try to stutter out an interesting question. You fail.
3: Your bird is pleased by your question. It sits down and shares a tweety tale of intrigue that you manage to remain bright-eyed and alert for. You pass.
4: Your question frightens the adara and it leaves your vicinity with a shiver. Its shaking causes one of its feathers to fall nearby. You fail.
5: In an effort to seem like you care, you ask your adara a very personal question that it refuses to answer. You fail.
6: You've coincidentally hit on your adara's favorite topic of all time, and even if you can't understand what it's saying, it's still pretty entertaining. You listen as attentively as you can, and are awarded with a feather for your trouble. You pass.
Instruction Four
Lastly, tell the adara a secret. These animals love to think they're up on the latest gossip.
Roll 1d4.
1, 2: Your secret is a sad, boring one that nobody cares about. You fail.
3: The adara listens, rapt, as you tell it a little-known tale of intrigue and madness. When you're done, it drops a feather at your feet. You pass.
4: Everybody knows that secret! The adara shakes its head, accidentally dislodging a feather for you to keep. You fail.
Roll 1d4.
1, 2: Your secret is a sad, boring one that nobody cares about. You fail.
3: The adara listens, rapt, as you tell it a little-known tale of intrigue and madness. When you're done, it drops a feather at your feet. You pass.
4: Everybody knows that secret! The adara shakes its head, accidentally dislodging a feather for you to keep. You fail.
Horsemen Points
For each feather you have (up to three) at the end of this test you may claim a Horsemen Point.
The first thing she needed to do, if anything at all, was learn some proper manners. She was a lady after all, or a girl (not really a lady since she was a monster and therefore a beast) and wasn't it polite for all women to have good manners and be dainty? Chuppi really didn't know what to think about that but she went into the training grounds anyway, her cheeks red and her whole stature clearly nervous.
When the woman in front of her started to speak she nearly squeaked and jumped out of the room though her desire to learn and be good at her classes kept her in place. There was something about all this that made her want to show others she was capable, to have them be proud of her. It was a long shot, sure, but she wanted to make anyone around her proud. And so she took a few steps in, listened to the instructions, and prepared herself.
Hopefully, hopefully, everything would go well. The Horseman did things like this everyday, right? Working with these creatures and allowing them to become their friends? Surely if something was safe enough for the Horsemen then it was safe enough for the rest of the students. The clans would not have invited people to try and learn their lives if they had the intent to just let the children die on their watch, right?
Chuppi was thinking too hard.
