Welcome to Gaia! ::

Burn enjoyed listening to the seer's story, though he suspected it was in part the speaker who influenced his decision. She had a powerful, pleasant voice that carried without her having to shout. Burning Bush could probably make a string of insults sound like a lullaby.

But now his attention was on Feverfew. He hadn't talked to her, yet, just bumped into her once or twice. She seemed like a very nice girl, if a bit too shy for her own good. It was pretty obvious that the seer was doing her best to change that. Or, possibly, have a little fun with the doe. Or both.

Oh, but he nearly missed the riddle with all his wondering! Hmm... Two mountains, huh? It has to be something that's connected with them, then. A cliff? Boulders? Fir tree? No, there are too many options to chance on the answer that way. Alright, let's start from the other hint. When can I tell if someone is lying? Only when I know that what they're saying isn't true. And then it's a-- Oh!

Burn smiled contently, pleased with himself for figuring out the answer. He looked around carefully, looking for anyone else who could have solved the riddle, to see what exactly he should do to draw attention to himself. It seemed rather rude to just shout it out, after all. The buck settled on humming quietly, and meeting the healer's glowing eyes.

Minsuil

((Not sure what I'm supposed to do if my kin has the answer! Also, for the pilgrimage part of the apprentice entry, do we RP out how they find it, offer it up, or just describe what they brought and what significance it has for them?))

Well... Here goes nothing...

I'M ENTERING FOR DOE 5
Name Take It All Away
Proposed Role Gatherer
Short Personality Relief is quiet, some might think her too quiet, but for those in pain, be it emotional or physical, with her open ears and wordless encouragements, no judgment ever entering her eyes or slipping from her mouth, she is a balm on open wounds. She is not a healer, she does not help kin get better, but she helps kin get to a place where they may begin to realize that they can get better. She helps kin get up and brings them to the healer, she loosens their tongues so that they may open themselves up to the healer, and in the worst case scenario, she tides them over till the healer can come and set them free. She lends an impartial ear to anykin, squabbling children, heartbroken adults, the lost and the weary. She is the silent listener, the one who takes the sorrows, the rage, and helps carry it as if it were her own.

Pilgrimage Relief had set off on her pilgrimage, ever as always, with her mouth closed, her ears open, and her eyes watchful. She did not fret or search, instead she wondered, going wherever her whim took her, seeing the swamp as she had never seen it before. She did not worry, she was certain that the MotherFather would lead her to where she was needed.

And so she continued for many days that stretched and shrunk with pulling of the sun and the moon. Her bright eyes, gentle and serene, but heavy with the weight of the world, shone day through night as her hooves led her on her learning journey.

She met many kimeti and many others of various descent. She saw how they had adapted to the swamp and though they did not thrive so well as kimeti and therefore would be better suited to their own lands, she could not begrudge them their happiness, their life, and so left them alone. So long as they did not follow her home, she could be at peace with them.

It was one of these other kin that the MotherFather had led her to, the end of her journey.

It was a totoma, a doe, heavy with child, laying in pain, gasping sharp breaths and then sometimes crying out. Already, a wet little lamb lay by her side and Relief had never been able to turn away from those in pain. That it was a totoma changed not that her face was contorted in such agony that Relief was compelled to help. And so she approached and offered her ears, she knew not how to help otherwise. It was between those gasps and the cries that the totoma offered her a gift:

Search out a plant with fat, feathered leaves and flowers that bloom like pale blood, bring the roots, curved like dangerous claws, back to me.

So Relief did, though by the time she was back, the next lamb had been born. She watched the mother grimace and eat the roots that she had brought back. It seemed to ease the pain and the next two lambs were delivered with more grunting strength than heavy cries. Relief stayed and watched, marveling at the live little children that came tumbling out, so different from the sacs that kimeti laid. When it was over, Relief spoke for the first time since meeting the new mother, "What is this plant that you had me seek?"

"We call it Eagle's Talons. It eases pain and grows strangely well in this warm swamp of yours."

Satisfied and knowing her journey was over, Relief bade the mother good bye with a nod. She brought the plant back in a pouch filled with dirt to cradle the plant and approached Longclaw, speaking little as it was her way, "I bring back an Eagle's Talon to be grown, then eaten or crushed, to be given freely to kimeti in pain to relieve them of their physical sorrows."

(oh my goodness, why so long? The plant that Relief brought back is 'Devil's Claw' Harpagophytum procumben)

I'M ENTERING FOR Buck 2.
Name Dual Natures
Proposed Role Hunter
Short Personality He is fierce, with a thirst for the chase and the kill that can not be quenched. He despises hunting with others, wanting to be alone, as he thinks and moves faster when other voices are not muddling his mind. He is singular and mean; but only when he is on the hunt.
Once he has been called back and in a situation outside of his duties he a rather languid fellow who loves nothing more than to lounge, laugh, and love.

Pilgrimage
At first he'd caught the scent of a nearby wolf. He'd followed it, noted it was the rare sighting of one not with a pack, and decided to go for it. He'd harried it for a length of time before giving in to a real chase; it was exhilarating. As they ran he hadn't noticed that not only had they gone from the hunted and the hunter to more of their own small pack, but also he had failed to note how much closer to the mountain's base they had gotten. There was a chill to the air and the sight of breath on the air gave him pause. It was the first time in many a hunt that something had been able to make him stop.

As he took a few more deep breaths and gathered his wits to pinpoint which way to turn back, he spotted the unmistakable ears and fur of a fox bun. The hunt was back on- Or so he thought. As he edged closer for the kill Dual Nature realized the animal was not moving. Indeed, the majority of it's body was stuck in swamp muck that had frozen with the cold weather. How the foxbun had gotten there, he cared not.

It looked alive, but it held no scent and the spark of life that glinted in all creatures eyes was gone. He nosed it to investigate and was surprised by his find. It was cold. As cold as the snow and as he nosed at it again and the mud around it, he smiled.
---

So there he was. Edging away from the glow and warmth of the fire as best as he could while still presenting his find. His gaze, strong and prideful but somewhat lazy, settled on Longclaw. "I bring to you a way of keeping what we hunt fresh until we need them in the cold days. " Pushing away from him with a hoof, and no small amount of effort, he revealed a tree branch with a slab of rock and what looked to be a miniature mound of sticks and dried mud nestled atop it. With a careful kick he broke the top off of the mound and nudged the slab over enough to show the clan leader what he was so proud of.

Inside was a collection of snow, chunks of ice, and frozen stone. Sitting, fresh and solid, was a dead foxbun.

((I am working off of the assumption that while frozen preservation is not NEW to the swamp, finding a way to keep it that way is limited mostly to Rise & Co., and a select few others.))

"Oh? No answers? Are you all as witless as you seem?" The seer took a step forward so that she stood shoulder to shoulder with Feverfew. Though her words were harsh, there was a grin on Burning Bush's face that suggested she did not think so lowly of the group as she implied.

"Well then, I think we best have a game of wits then, for strength alone is not enough. Let each kin that can provide a riddle and we'll see who is the cleverest."


RIDDLE CONTEST
End: December 16th

• Have your kin offer a riddle to the gathered kin.
  
• Be sure it is Matope-appropriate and include the answer in spoilers in your post.
  
• Anyone may enter for the pet, not limited to just WF members!
  
• If you wish to RP out the response to someone's riddle, feel free too!

I'M ENTERING FOR Doe1
Name Cutting-The-Pulse
Proposed Role Gatherer
Short Personality Thinks quite fast at times leading her to not sound like she makes a lot of sense. She gets her point across though, and is very serious about what she does.

Pilgrimage
So many things that were out there could be so harmful...So harmful. She'd found something that could have been a threat. It was something to tell about, her eyes holding in the sadness until she felt it was time to let it go. Her travels had taken her out, far from the homeland and her eyes had always been looking around for everything that she could see to learn from anything to bring back...

She had found things. Dangerous things. Useful things. Just a bit had been brought back. Little bits of the dangerous things, just enough to let it be known she had found it. Carefully she'd looked at each thing, and now it was presented. Her head bowed to Longclaw, and the items were set out. "I have brought back hope and danger, to inform the clan of cautions that must be taken for life to thrive..." The berries were pointed to as the danger. The herbs were looked to as the hope.

"These here... I have never seen near our lands, but they seem to be spreading nearer... They were near the body of a buck. As were these." She nudged over a berry that faded to green from orange on one side. "The leaves with the plant are these... this one with this berry, and the other has this." She made sure the groups were neat, then looked to the odd herbs. A ringlet of grass, faintly blue, was settled with three others. "I've seen this chewed on to bring stamina back after a hard job half completed. And this was to induce rest for an ill one." She motioned to a soft spiky leaf, red at the tips with small flowers along the center. A bone ring was also within, and she nosed it forward, having forgot for a moment she'd taken it up. "This is simply a decoration. Carved with a sharp rock, for tail or horn."

(( Ahhh got distracted while typing XD

EDIT: Added in the one I'm trying for that I forgot what to put in >> Thanks thyPOPE for letting me know <3 ))

I'M ENTERING FOR BUCK 6
Name All as One
Proposed Role Gatherer
Short Personality All is shy around does. He's very soft spoken, really, really hates being the center of attention and is easily intimidated by other bucks no matter how friendly or nice they are to him. But, he is a very hard worker, excelling at gathering whatever the clan needs and is fiercely loyal to the Westfin. He'd like to settle with a doe one day and have many little ones to help Westfin grow, but doesn't see himself as desirable or having any traits that any does would want in their offspring.

Pilgrimage All as One's acquisition for the clan was easily discernible, even from the flicking shadow and light that was cast upon all who were gathered. He put his gift on the ground and it made a soft noise when it's backside hit the dirt.

The foal's nostrils wriggles as it sniffed around it's new, sudden surroundings. It leaned a little closer to the fire, smelling the scent of burning wood for the first time and make a tiny noise at it's discovery.

"Little over a day old.." he said, watching the foal squirm in the dirt, trying to smell all the new things but lacking the mobility to move around well. "Its' brother and sisters are dead...its' parents are gone I imagine. I came across several sacs that had been ripped open." He paused in hush, reliving the scene as he described it. "Gators or wolves I think..there wasn't much left." He swallowed hard, a look of distaste on his face.

The foal planted it's front hooves on the ground and made a bid to stand up, but only succeeded in scooting it's tiny body forward on the ground a little before it's legs folded back down.

"There was one sac still untouched though." All continued. "I thought it best I would wait, see if I a parent came back to claim or rescue it. It looked like it might emerge soon. Then, it hatched a few days later."

The foal tried again to get on it's legs. All stuck his hoof under the small one's backside and gave it a lift, allowing all four hooves to touch the ground. When he moved his foot away, the foal fell over with a flop and squeeked it's frustration. Other members of the clan tittered or cooed at the foal softly.

"I didn't know what else to do with it!" All said, sounding desperate. "I mean, I just couldn't let it be eaten right? So I brought it back here, thought maybe we could do something with it. You know..raise it in the clan...teach it from the start the ways..." he was beginning to sound sheepish about his ideas and he was blushing. "I..I don't know if it's a boy or a girl..someone else can check.."

All as One turned and slipped back into the night, looking downright flustered and embarrassed. The foal turned towards the noises of the others around it and squeeked.