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 Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 8:36 am
The Bard's retreat
Location: In the western part of Noctua, between cold and not cold and closer to the border than the center. In a stand of tall evergreen trees.
Description: The thick branches protect from harsh weather. Birch has one favourite tree with nice branches for sitting, and he likes the fact that the rest of the evergreens will hide him almost completely. Branches are braided to form enhanced protection from wind and rain. He has no close neighbours at this time so he can make as much noise as he wants.
Residents: Birch and his two companions Echo and Harmony.
Visitors: Birch don't trust many Sentinels enough to invite them to his home. Most will simply fly by without realising they're close to his home and that's the way he likes it.BirchHe's as comfortable as a hatchling in a nest with his role as the funny one and is fascinated with sounds. Despite his obnoxious, outgoing and friendly show personality he is hesitant to allow other Sentinels to get close to him in private. He is more likely to open up and feel truly comfortable around Sentinels that stray from the norm in some way. Freaks, bards and other strange birds are less intimidating than perfect, proper Sentinels.
Favourite things: Music, noisemakers, performing, finding new ways to make music, scandals, crafters that can make noisemakers, writing songs and poetry and causing outrage among easily offended individuals.
Dislikes: Being told off by someone he respects, reptiles, “Stop making that horrible noise!”, strict discipline, the proper way of doing things.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 1:47 am
Birch and Echo
Player: Annchen
Name: Birch
Nicknames: “That bard”, as in “What did you say that bard just did??” Also some less polite ones...
Species: Sentinel of Noctua
Age: Young adult
Hatch Date: March 1, 200?
Type: Wildtype
Task: Bard
Personality: When he works He's loud and sometimes obnoxious. He's just as likely to crack a joke at his own expense as to tease the Sentinels in his audience. He likes to try different ways to make music and has a small collection of instruments. His singing voice is... well it's not horrible but not anything to boast about.
He isn't your typical family male, but his secret wish is to start a family. Unfortunately females terrify just as much as they excite him, and he has yet to overcome his fear and approach a female without his professional mask on.
When He's not working he tends to keep to himself and keep watch from his tree. He is very loyal and feels a responsibility for the Sentinels in his area.
History: He was an awkward fledgling, but soon learned to make jokes on his own expense before others could start teasing him. The role as “the funny one” stuck and he started to work on other related skills. He started to experiment with music early and was more or less forced to live far from other Sentinels as soon as he was old enough to find his own territory. At this point most Sentinels that live in the same area are used to the strange noises that might come from his tree.
He has been known to use his Will to hang upside down from a branch and recite rude poetry, but since it's pretty taxing he will not do it very often.
Territory: When He's on duty he can be found wherever the action is. When He's off duty he'll take off the bells, put them in a padded bag and fly silently to his home. It's a tall evergreen tree closer to the border than to the deep woods. Partly to spare his neighbours from hearing him practice, partly for privacy. Unless he's practicing it's hard to see that the tree is inhabited.
If he is at home he'll be the first one to notice anything or anyone approaching the area from outside. He enjoys watching hunters, scouts and others with business further away come home and fly away.
Mate: None
Companions
Name: Echo
Species: Parus
Age: Young
Speech Ability: 1, but slowly learning how to communicate his needs to Birch.
Skill: As his name indicates he is very good at imitating sounds. Other than that he's not very bright. Sometimes he makes sense, sometimes he does not, but both outcomes are rather amusing.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:36 am
Birch’s bag of tricksNoisemakers – his biggest passion.
((Som of them are based on actual instruments and there are links to pictures))
Bard-bells: His trademark along with his gender-confusing chest dye. Birch is rarely seen without his bells.
Thunderbird: A smooth piece of wood tied to a string. The end of the string is held down with one foot and the noisemaker makes a powerful sound when the wood spins around, slicing the air. Will is usually what creates the motion, but a strong foot is also needed to hold it and adjust the speed.
It takes concentration and skill not to mess up and injure innoccent bystanders.
Used: [X] [X] [X]
Pictures: [X] [X]
Rattlers: Birch has several versions of this rhythm instrument. The simplest ones are dried seed pods, sealed with bright dyes. The trapped seeds make rattling sounds when Birch shakes them. The more complicated ones are made from hollowed out pieces of wood filled with seeds or carefully selected pebbles.
Used: [X]
His newest noisemaker: A hollowed out length of wood with a carved surface. The pattern is designed to create music as a beak is dragged across the surface. It is possible for more than one Sentinel to play it at the same time if the instrument is long enough and the Sentinels are good at working together. It works like this, but is longer and the carvings form spiral patterns on the surface.
Used: [X]
Wind whistlers: Reeds or other flute like noisemakers that are played by the wind. Both by hanging them from a branch or simply holding them and allow the wind to do the work. They can be held while flying if there isn’t a lot of wind, but it makes for awkward flying if the whistler isn’t tiny and unobtrusive.
He will sometimes use the branch he is sitting on as a drum of sorts if he finds a nice one. You can count on him carrying at least one simple drumming stick or stone just to be able to bang them against other things to test the resulting sound...
Birch is always on the lookout for talented crafters willing to make him even more noisemakers. He did try to make his own once but he lacks the talent for precision work with his will and the result was not pretty. That part of his clumsiness has not improved since his fledgling days. The noisemakers he has that weren’t created by crafters are the natural ones he has been able to find. Nice drum-branches to sit on, drumming stones and drumming sticks. His talent is in his ears, and not in creating things.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:42 am
Family and friends
Birch parents are both tough wildtypes and a lot of his relatives are or where gatherers, hunters and rangers. His choice of profession was a bit of a surprise to the family...
Fern: Birch's mother. She's a Corporal in the Elites and is often away on missions with her team.
Tousled: Finally someone that seems to understand Birch's noisemaker obsession! She is quickly becoming Birch's best friend.
Vinch: One of Birch's friends.
Fjord: A fellow member of the Brigadier's Bards. Birch admires his singing voice and considers him a friend.
Sentinels Birch have met
Hawthorn: Not a close friend, but the teacher kindly tried to help Birch during the longest night. Birch would probably offer his assistance if he found out that Hawthorn needed anything the bard could help out with.
Liam: The minder approached Birch about one of his wards who wished to help the bards out as a crafter.
Granny: He had a run in with his mother's old teacher and did not make a good impression...
Westwind: The crafter is making a new Thunderbird to replace his broken one.
Merlin: A god natured hunter who wanted to hear a tale.
CloudChaser: Birch met him in the theatre and they didn't get a very good start since Birch misunderstood the situation...
Sequoia: Birch has not been properly introduced yet, but he thinks the Artisan is a nutcase.
Brightling: Oh, he really likes her.
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Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 2:57 am
Birch's timelineThis is a basic timeline of Birch's roleplay with others, single role play and other key events. Mostly for my own sanitys sake, but if it's useful to others too - great.
* = finished rp. (*) = dead/fizzled out rp
History
Birch has been a proper bard a year or so, but he only recently dyed his feathers. Before his graduating ceremony he watched bards, experimented with noisemakers and was trained by Char. After he graduated he kept on practicing and watching, gradually building a reputation for himself.* [X] Autumn colours. Birch gets his feathers dyed in several sessions as the leaves turn gold. The finishing touch is his unusual chest spots. The storm when the egg was found.* [X] The meeting place. Birch shows off his new feather dye, tries out a new noisemaker and recites his newest poem. He also talks to Char about forming a bard troup and is "talked" into handling the recruiting.
* [X] Later he encounters Tousled and they are both caught in the storm.The storm when the Spectre hatched.* [X] The following morning Birch meets Fjord near the meeting place and asks him to join the newly formed group.
* [X] Birch is taking a break from fixing up the CrownLeaf theatre and is getting a visitor.
* [X] The longest night. * [X] The Crownleaf theatre. Birch is telling a spooky story to the Sentinels who are not sick of celebrating yet.(*) [X] The graduation Birch checks out all the new crafters and makes a proposal to Tousled.* [X] Pink? Birch finds a paint splattered song bird and decides to get creative.* [X] Birch's Thunderbird is broken and he's visiting a crafter to see if it can be mended.* [X] A crafter's retreat. Birch is not trying to find Tousled. No sir!* [X] The storm. Birch is stuck in the theatre, waiting out the storm with a fellow bard. Ah... It could be much worse!* [X] Return to the Crownleaf. Fjord is safe at least.* [X] The Fledgling Festival(*) [X] Fun with colours[X] A female with many admirers* [X] Carry a Tune. It might be part of a conspiracy against Echo, but Birch can't help but to like his new little companion.Something rotten...(*)[X] Fledglings and fools... Birch meets Bracken, but he is not sure what the Seeker wants from him.[X] Birch tends to his wounds, with a little help.
* [X] Reckoning[X]Old Blood
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Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 10:32 am
Master timeline - all my SentinelsThe time line is not entirely solid, but it shows if something happened before, after or during a main event. [X] From the beginning. FLASHBACK. The first meeting fight between RainbowChaser and Fjord is interrupted by an observant teacher... * [X] Autumn colours. Birch gets his feathers dyed in several sessions as the leaves turn gold. The finishing touch is his unusual chest spots. The storm when the egg was found.* [X] The meeting place. Birch shows off his new feather dye, tries out a new noisemaker and recites his newest poem. He also talks to Char about forming a bard troup and is "talked" into handling the recruiting.
* [X] Later he encounters Tousled and they are both caught in the storm.The storm when the Spectre hatched.* [X] The following morning Birch meets Fjord near the meeting place and asks him to join the newly formed group.
* [X] Fern's mate can not be found in his territory so she decides to visit her son instead. Birch is taking a break from fixing up the CrownLeaf theatre and is getting a visitor.
(*) [X] The longest night. Birch is showing off and getting in trouble with his new friend. Granny is not impressed, and all the commotion scares Rose.* [X] The Crownleaf theatre. Birch is telling a spooky story to the Sentinels who are not sick of celebrating yet. Later he listens to Fjord's and Char's stories.* [X] Life lessons. Craneberry meets a new friend and tries to kill a rotten fruit.[X] Routine check-up. Craneberry gets a visit by the medic Lichen and they both travel to see Drywood, the Apothecary.(*) [X] The graduation Fern is on the lookout for talented graduates for her new team. Birch checks out all the new crafters and makes a proposal to Tousled.* [X] Pink? Birch finds a paint splattered song bird and decides to get creative.* [X] Birch's Thunderbird is broken and he's visiting a crafter to see if it can be mended.(*) [X] Ready for a new generation. Granny is preparing her territory for a new batch of fledglings.* [X] A crafter's retreat. Birch is not trying to find Tousled. No sir!The Storm * [X] Too close for comfort. Craneberry is in deep trouble but rescue is on its way.(*) [X] Granny's smallest classroom. The classroom was a cosy shelter for Granny and the two fledglings until disaster struck...* [X] The Crownleaf Theatre. Birch is sitting out the storm backstage at the Crownleaf theatre. It's wet, cold and unpleasant, but he's got entertaining company at least.* [X] Weary old bones. Granny is comforted by her apprentice after the storm.* [X] Return to the Crownleaf. Fjord is safe at least.[X] Duty and logistics. There are thieves around...* [X] The Fledgling Festival(*) [X] Fun with colours. Ohhh... A live target to paint on!* [X] A slow recovery. Granny gets a visit from an old friend, and he brought a squirrel, how thoughtful!* [X] Welcome to the world. Honeysuckle is watching her eggs hatch with her mate.* [X] Mommy's night out. Honeysuckle makes up for lost time and decides to check out a crafter she has never visited before. [X] A female with many admirers. Birch is visiting Tousled.(*) [X] Granny, shed some light. An unexpected visitor comes to Granny for some advice.* [X] Carry a Tune. It might be part of a conspiracy against Echo, but Birch can't help but to like his new little companion.[X] Honeysuckle has got a customer, and she's itching to get some work done again.Something rotten...(*)[X] Fledglings and fools... Birch meets Bracken, but he is not sure what the Seeker wants from him.[X] A friend comes to visit.[X] Birch tends to his wounds, with a little help.
* [X] Reckoning[X] Gossip girls.[X] Hazelnuts and Tonics. Craneberry has got a customer![X] Fernfeather happens to spot one of the Scouts reporting to her.[X]Old Blood[X] Craneberry visits her old friend and mentor and gets to hear the "good" news.[X] Nothing like a little makeover to prepare for meeting you assigned mate.[X] Granny might not agree with every single choice in Hazels life, but she is not going to be rude about it.[X] Craneberry fails to find the Keeper she is looking for, but Mus are nice too, right?
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Posted: Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:34 am
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Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:15 pm
Autumn colours
Birch admired his newly dyed wings. It already showed that they would look great when he was done. He couldn't see his ear tufts, but he was confident in the artisan's ability. He had thought about this for a long time after all, trying to decide on colours and patterns. Up until now he had only acted like a bard, after this he would look like one - always. Bells could be removed, and noisemakers stashed away, but his feathers would be there until he moulted.
He would have one more session to give his wings the finishing touches and after that his brand new bard colours would be ready. It was thrilling to know that from this day on his profession would show on the outside, for everyone to see.
The only problem was breaking the news to his parents. He had told his father already. Well... Sort of. He had at least brought up the subject when he last met him. Hypothetically speaking.
“What would your mother say?” the older male had asked with a sigh that said: Well, it's not like I could talk you out of it, son. Birch honestly didn't know what his mother would say. She wasn't impressed by Sentinel who felt the need to get attention by using gaudy feather dyes, and Birch knew it.
He spread his wings again to see the bright colours. Perhaps he should ask the artisan to dye his chest spots too. And that was when the idea hit him. Why not dye in another row? No, two additional rows! A Sentinel with three rows of chest spots would be the silliest thing ever. Not male and not female, but a Sentinel quite unlike any other.
That kind of uniqueness and attention would be priceless, and every thought of his mother was gone. Oh, he would help the artisan sing their chicks and grandchicks to sleep for the rest of his life if he could just have that.
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:11 pm
Pink?
Birch was deep in thought, freshly killed Parus in paw. Could be some other kind of small bird too, it was hard to tell since it looked as if a sadistic wannabe artisan had used it for dye practice. It was pink, and Birch wondered why someone would waste precious dye on an animal and then let it go. He hadn’t seen this colour used much at all and couldn’t imagine quite how it would be made. Perhaps by diluting a red pigment with something white?
Maybe artisans and apothecaries needed the practice to find new colours, and that was why this unfortunate bird had ended up colour splattered and confused in his territory. It had been extremely shy and didn’t respond to commands, so it couldn’t be a trained companion animal. He had lured it out with some help from Echo and promptly caught it.
And now, holding the still warm body, he was unsure about what to do with it. He wasn’t really hungry, but at least the bird looked interesting. Echo seemed to be a bit uncomfortable by the dead bird so Birch quickly made a decision.
“I’m flying out for a while, Echo,” he said to the skittish companion, “Stay here.”
This would be fun!
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Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:28 pm
Carry a Tune
It was his father who came by the theatre one night and handed over a wicker cage with a small yellow bird, but Birch just knew that his mother was behind this. She had pestered him for ages that he should replace Echo with something more useful, and now it seemed that she had arranged for a replacement.
"This little bugger actually sings," the large Wildtype explained and prodded the cage to demonstrate this fact. A frightened 'CHEEP!' was the meagre result and Birch rolled his eyes. "Err... apparently. How do you make them sing again?"
"No, no, you can't do it like that," Birch said and grabbed the cage as carefully as he could with his will to remove it from his father's curiosity. "You need to gain their trust first."
The bard put the cage down in a secure place and proceeded to chirp like a fledgling at the imprisoned Parus. After a few tries the bird answered cautiously, to Birch’s great delight.
"Good bird," Birch cooed, "You don't happen to have any berries or nuts on you?"
Hornbeam watched his son with ill concealed amusement and handed over a leather bag filled with an assortment of goodies he just happened to have brought with him. It didn't take long for Birch to coax some singing from the Parus, and when he let it out from the cage it willingly hopped closer to him.
Birch had to admit that the new Parus could actually carry a tune (unlike Echo), and already knew how to whistle a few melodies. He waved a distracted good bye to his father, and continued to feed and train his new companion.
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