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 Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 7:43 pm
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Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 8:12 pm
Ceremony made it back to her platform, caught between the forest edge, and a boulder. The ground had a rocky terrain, with large slates of granite, as if someone previously had carved the area out. She had found this spot, and claimed it as her own. The different rocks served as places to stow away herbs and critters, to keep them away from the elements. Earlier that day, she had visited a local village and bartered a mortar and pestle as trade for some of the herbs she had been collecting. She had seen the bowl earlier in the week, and been intrigued as she watched the local grind an herb into powder with the two tools. This might be just what she needed! Pinching herbs with her teeth or hooves, proved challenging. Her crooked black smile seemed to stretch abnormally across her face. The idea of furthering her studies pleased her.
Nuzzling the burgundy bag open, she reached in and scooted the trade items out onto the ground. Without missing a beat, she sauntered off to her hidey hole, and withdrew some dry hyssop. The flowers still had their tint of purple, but were ripe with mold. Ceremony didn't know if this would hurt the herbs potency or not. She would experiment with the ones with less mold on them, and find out. She laid them on the ground in front of a low laying jut of rocks. Picking up the olivewood mortar and pestle between her teeth, she went to go place it up on the rocks. The pestle slid out the bowl and hit the ground. Good thing she had opted for wood instead of clay! Somehow, the olivewood seemed to be more in tune to her line of work, though this budding witch had no idea why. Ceremony tended to go off of her gut more than anything. Even if it didn't always work out.
With the bowl in place, nestled into a divot in the rocks, she returned to retrieve the fallen pestle. As she did, she stepped on the satchel, unintentionally. No matter, it was empty. She scooted it out of the way with a back hoof, without even looking back. Now! Where to start?
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:25 am
Regelus was mildly intrigued. In his long life, he had traveled far and seen much, but he couldn't recall ever seeing a regular Soquili so involved with Kawani possessions. Bags, baskets, or other carrying contravenices were one thing, but what the mare intended to do with that bowl and stick was beyond him. Whatever it was, she was very systematic in her arrangements, and seemed to be going about her...task in an orderly manner. He could appreciate that; it always pleased him when Soquili did anything with purpose and minimal fuss.
~~~
It would likely surprise anyone looking right at the Angeni to learn how easy it was for other creatures to miss him. Boldly colored and ornamented from head to hoof with intricate silver jewelry, he was a creature who seemed destined to stick out in the greens of the Kawani lands. That might be true in general, but like all Angeni, particularly all ancient first-generation Angeni who knew of life beyond the heavens, he was good at not being seen when he didn't wish to be.
Today, he was aided in his stealth by the dense forest cover. His dark coat provided mild camoflague, and without light to strike the bright surface of his accessories there was no tell-tale sparkle to give him away. In these conditions, he could (in theory) quietly observe for a long time without attracting any notice.
Emphasis on 'quietly.'
"What is it you intend to do with those objects?" His voice, although quite deep in tone, was quiet and his tone was mild. Although curious, Regelus had never been one to feel any emotion with strength. His calm acceptance of everything he encountered radiated out from him like a sunbeam, and this fatalistic air tended to rub off to some extent on almost everyone he met.
This, of course, was only natural, for he was Regelus, Angeni of Fate, and accepting the unchangeable was his life.
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:14 pm
When someone spoke, she kept doing what she was doing. She didn't stop, or look up. She wasn't intentionally being rude to whomever was standing so close to her work. The mare was in the zone, and already had her pestle in her mouth. Crafting first. Always. She had been thought deaf by a previous passer by.
Ceremony set the pestle down, and stuck a bushy dry stem of the flowery herb into the mortar. A few crispy leaves fell around the bowl like ash. Clenching the stirring wand back in her teeth, she began to pound the herbs as if she had done this several times before. After seeing it done, how hard could it be? Her mind was like that of a book, and recorded information constantly, regardless of if it was useful at the time or not. The muscles in her jaw however, would need to be strengthened. The motion was awkward for them. The pestle itself, had a long slender neck, which at least made it more equine friendly. These things weren't designed with soquili in mind.
Yellow eyes blazed underneath shadowy locks, as she continued her near finished pounding and crushing. That shadowy hair was everywhere, but where it shouldn't be; in the bowl.
As the task was finished, she looked up finally, pestle still clinched in her mouth. If the lifeform that had spoke earlier had left, or continued talking, she did not notice. A slice of red tinged her lip, where it had split from holding the raw tool. It did not seem like it would bleed, but it stung a little. No matter. She set the pestle down and licked her lip. It didn't hurt, but her teeth ached. The pestle had no bite marks. The wood was sturdy, and seemed like it would hold up to the abuse of hands being replaced by ones jaw.
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Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 7:15 am
Some Soquili might have thought it rude to be so unceremoniously ignored. For him own part, Regelus could be pleased to have his question answered so neatly via demonstration. From a purely technical standpoint, he now had an answer; she was using the objects to crush up some plants. Though aside of increasing the potency of their odor, he couldn't say what the point was. After all, the standard human reasons for crunching up food, to make smaller bits to mix together for a food hodgepdge, didn't seem to apply. To the best of his knowledge, no Soquili would want to eat their food so inefficiently...
So with one question answered, another arose. Having received no verbal answer to his first question, Regelus had stood by quietly watching. But when the mare finishing her vigorous crunching and had set down her tool, he tried again. He would only make this last attempt at conversation, though; another silence could only mean the mare wanted solitude. Far be it for him to impose company on one who didn't want it, especially one who appeared to be engaged in some sort of task! Indulging his curiousity was not worth being discourteous.
"What do you plan to do with the leavings?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 7:19 pm
Yes. There was the stranger. Still lurking close by. It appeared to her that he had been watching the entire time. The visitor, must be part of her current concoction. Ceremony didn't believe in coincidence. Everything tied into the cords of time and space, even if in unseen ways. Some could connect the ties in ways that others couldn't. That's what she seemed to be practicing. Taking different elements in life, and fusing them into new ones.
Ceremony flicked an ear, and zoned out for a second staring at all of the adornments on the crimson soquili of flight. They reminded her of scrying stones, and other crystals used to strengthen incantations. Her eyebrows raised, noticed perhaps only by the shift in movement of her bangs. She cocked her head, then shook it off, breaking the small trance the blue orbs gave her. They were all polished and rounded anyways. Their purpose was already made, and well in use. They weren't stones for her.
Leaning down towards the bowl, she gestured to it and made sure to catch the gaze of the feathered one. She then picked up the bowl, and looked at him again. This was to make sure she kept his attention, as she moved over to a basin that was carved into one of the rocks. It could of been there due to natural erosion, or carved into the rock by a humanoid. These details didn't cross her mind, nor did she stop to observe the source. Rain water pooled into the rock, and thus served as a convenient mixing medium, or for other ablutions. During the summer, she would likely have to fill the basin by retrieving water herself.
Ceremony stood by the rock, eying how she would do this. Deciding to set the bowl down beside the water, she knocked it over with her nose. The bowl clunked, and the contents spilled out into the water. "Are you thirsty?" An indirect answer to his question, asked without eye contact this time. She said it as she stepped around the rock, and fought to snap a branch from a low lying bush. Winter had been harsh, and the leafless bush snapped without much of a fight. Rounding back to the now settling leaves, she scrapped what remained in the bowl into the water. Some of the leaves floated on the surface, others fell to the bottom. The finer parts of once greenery, tinted the water a murky color. She stirred the water as best she could with the y shaped branch. The smell of the tea was pungent, with an almost medicinal smell. Granted, the leaves were not soaking into the water too much. The water was like ice, and would take time to simmer the leaves. In a few days, she could gather some of the essence after it had a good soak.
"This is a leaf used by the local shrines, to cleanse their temples, and ward off evil." Temple could be literal, or figurative, meaning ones body. A small explanation was given, not to instill trust, but to simply give information one might need to make a decision. Only a fool would drink without using the senses provided to them by nature. It didn't smell like poison, look like poison, but one could never be too sure. She stood aside, inviting him to take a sip of her cleansing tea. It could likely have healing properties too, though from the outside the Angeni seemed to be in the prime of their health.
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Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2014 7:09 pm
There was no mistaking that he had been noticed now, and Regelus held the mare's gaze as she went through the motions of carrying and mixing. Given the silent manner in which she went through her task, he was beginning to believe that the mare was in fact a mute; either that, or one who did not enter into conversation lightly. Either way, there was nothing repellant in her gaze or manner that suggested he was unwelcome or unwanted, so he continued to stand and observe what was proving to be a very unfamiliar ritual.
When the mare finally did speak, he nodded a slight acknowledgement, then shook his head in response to her question. "No, I am not thirsty. However, I will try your pool." In terms of general Soquili behavior, this might seem a very trusting action. However, Regelus had always trusted to circumstances, and now was no different. Never once in his long life had he felt fear or anxiety, because he accepted that if his time was to come, it would come. Once the wheels of fate began to turn, there was nothing he or anyone else could do to stop them. So when presented with a polite offering, he didn't think twice about striding over to the pool and lowering his head to smell. It was a strong smell, a bit sharp but not unpleasant, and the taste, while not something he would seek out, was not objectionable. He took a second sip, then glanced sideways at the mare.
"Is this a practice you learned through the local Kawani people, or a Soquili skill? I've not before come across this particular drink."
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