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 Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 6:49 pm
 Lately Synestra had been feeling the itch to wander more than usual. She had stayed in this area for quite some time now and had grown tired of seeing the same trees, river and meadow each morning. Today she would leave this area and seek out something new. She had recently visited with her mother and father and come to find out that her brother had fathered two foals. That was a bit shocking and Synestra looked forward to the day when she would meet them. For now however she was looking to stretch her legs and see more of the world. Lifting her Synestra glances about, looking for an interesting direction to go to.
West, she would head west. With her direction pick Synestra began to trot off. Her legs carried her quickly along through the grassy plains, eyes and ears alert to anything of interest. With the sun high overhead and a slight breeze in the area it was the perfect kind of weather to travel. Thick forest lined the far side of the plains, and she could catch a faint reflection of the sun off what appeared to be a small lake up ahead.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 10:13 am
 Biddulphia was wandering farther afield than his norm. Looking for supplies to help survive the winter, he had traveled down out of the mountains and through the forest. Now that he was on the edge of the woods, a grassy plain lay before him.
A large scrap of cloth draped across Dulph's back would be perfect for carrying gathered grasses back to his cave for drying. Some would be put aside for food and some would be good bedding.
Most of his food supplies had already been taken care of, the forest was full of edible treasures. But dried grasses for bedding would make a great deal of difference when there was ice on the ground.
Biddulphia didn't notice the mare trotting across the plain, his eyes still adjusting from the dimmer light of the forest.
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Posted: Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:02 pm
Being on the move again gave Synestra an extra burst of energy. And the best way to release that energy was with a couple fo good bucks paired with a high spirited whinny. Of course as soon as she did just that and her eyes landed on a stallion across the way Synestra felt the heat rise in her cheeks in embarrassment. Oh dear, please say that he hadn't actually seen that. Chances were slim, but perhaps he had only heard her whinny and missed her bucking. However now that she was aware that she wasn't alone Synestra took a moment to look the stallion over. He was quite interesting looking. Were his eyes glowing?
Not just his eyes it would seem, as she slowly trotted forward, but there were other portions of his body that seemed to have that same glow to them. Had it been a full sized soquili Synestra might have thought twice about approaching, but she had yet to encounter any Usdia of undesirable personalities. With that thought in mind the grey mare continued forward, at the very least she could speak with him, perhaps he was from around here and could tell her of anything interest in the area. "Hey there!" Synestra called out as she got closer.
Best to announce her presence early, one could never be too sure when they stumbled upon an easily frightened or quick to react stranger.
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Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:28 am
Biddulphia's eyes were beginning to pick out details against the bright field when he heard a whinny. Standing still, he looked, his eyes taking another moment to resolve the image of the pale mare against the green field.
As she approached, Dulph looked over the markings on the mare's rump and wondered if they were an indication of her personality. A slightly foreboding thought, he watched her mannerisms.
At the cheerful greeting, Dulph decided that the web of skulls was likely as misleading as his his own thick hide and glowing rune tracks. As she got closer, he noticed the blood red of her hooves and eyes, but filed it away instead of dwelling on it.
"Greetings." His voice was strangely metalic, an odd buzzing undertone in an otherwise monotone droning. "I apologize if I am intruding upon you." He tried to give the mare a pleasant smile, but his face didn't move correctly for that and the closest he could come was to have a slightly open mouth and wide eyes. Dulph hoped she understood his intention.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:21 pm
Bringing her hooves to a stop at a short distance away from the stallion. Her ears flicked ever so slightly as he spoke, his voice had an odd tone to it, but nothing that would indicate that he was the hostile or unfriendly type. Still it intrigued her a bit, she had never heard anything even remotely close to it. Synestra smiled and gave her head a bit of a shake. "No you're not intruding upon me. I was actually just passing through when I spotted you."
She let her eyes fall upon the cloth that lay on his back for only a moment before settling back at his oddly glowing green eyes. "Do you live around here?" She questioned in a friendly tone. "Anything of interest in this area?" Whether or not there was something of interest she was certainly not opposed to having a conversation with this stallion. Suddenly she realized that she had failed at displaying the common courtesy of introducing herself. "Oh forgive me I seem to have forgotten my manners. I'm Synestra, what is your name?"
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 10:42 pm
Biddulphia nodded slightly at the introduction, "I am Biddulphia, though Dulph is an acceptable shortening. It is good to meet you Synestra." His voice didn't vary as he spoke, but he tried to seem pleasant.
"My residence is of modeling distance from this local, though not greatly removed. I have little familiarity with the immediate area. Should I have some reference to indicate what you may find of interest, I would gladly direct you to any such confluences of which I am aware." Biddulphia wasn't very good with interpersonal interactions, though he was much improved from some of his previous attempts.
To him the questions were direct enough, but lacking of the specificity needed to allow for accurate responses. He did appreciate the directness, but the vague quality slowed the process of arriving at an acceptable answer. To his mind, Dulph was giving as direct an answer as was possible under the current parameters. It didn't occur to him that such a question was as much to gather information as to his interests as it was to get a specific response.
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2011 10:12 am
"It is nice to meet you Dulph." Odd name, odd looks, odd way of speaking, and not exactly answering her questions the way she had hoped, but yet Synestra did not find that off putting, in fact she was a bit intrigued by the odd stallion in front of him. Never before had she met a Soquili, either full sized or small like herself, that has so many quirks to them. But she could dwell on that later, right now she needed to think of a better question to ask him, something a bit more specific. Question was, what did she find interesting? Well plenty of things, plants, rocks, rivers, plains, they all were interesting in her own way. Yet she got the feeling that if she asked the stallion if there were any interesting rocks around he might very well point her to the nearest rock and leave it at that.
"Well, I suppose what I am looking for is something that you wouldn't find anywhere else. Something unique, perhaps one of a kind or an object that can only be found in a certain location. Would there be anything like that in this area?"
While she awaited his answer she tried to look him over without making it obvious that she was. Those glowing marks really caught her attention and she was curious as to exactly how they glowed in such a way, much like his eyes did. Could it be his fur was somehow reflecting the suns rays, but distorting them to cause the glow to be green instead of golden? Were there others out there, perhaps his family, who also had glowing markings? Giving her head a slight shake because she had realized she was staring Synestra then asked another question. "Is there a good source of food around here? Any food will do." Hopefully he wouldn't direct her something unedible to her, like say a skinwalkers discarded meal or something to that effect, but the way he had answered her earlier questions if was hard to be certain.
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Posted: Thu Feb 17, 2011 9:26 am
Biddulphia mulled over her first question for a moment, trying to process it and come up with a reasonable answer. Despite his amnesia, he had some idea what was and was not common elsewhere. Before he could articulate a response, she posed another question.
As he pondered nearby depleted food, he remembered something that might interest the mare. "There is, through the forest a bit, a gathering of rocks near the river that rather resembles a large sleeping mountain lion when looking upon it from upstream of the river. Also near there, along the river banks, are some blackberry bushes that, last time I was there, still held some berries. And between here and there are many pine trees with pine cones that also make for decent sustenance. Is this the information you seek?"
Dulph really wasn't trying to be obtuse, it came natural. But, in his own way, he was trying to answer her questions and be helpful.
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Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2011 7:17 pm
Taking a moment to digest the information he provided Synestra gave her head a bit of a nod. "Yes I do believe that information will be helpful." She would certainly check out the rocks he talked about the looking like a sleeping mountain lion. That was certainly something you didn't see everyday. Berries would be a pleasant snack if there were any left. But pine cones? She had never eaten pine cones before, nor ever considered eating them. "I've never eaten pine cones. Are they any good?" Surely they would be horribly crunchy and quite bland, but one could never be certain until they tried it.
Her eyes tailed along the glowing markings on his body, she was quite intrigued by them. And his eyes as well. She was curious about them, why and how did they glow. "Have your eyes always glowed like that? I don't think I've ever seen anyone with glowing eyes before, or glowing markings for that matter."
With a pause Synestra considered that perhaps that question was a bit intrusive. "I'm sorry, if I'm prying, I'm just a bit curious."
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Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 7:11 am
Biddulphia nodded slightly, "Pine cones provide nutritional requirements. I met a mare who particularly enjoyed them, though she only partook of the nuts within the cone. The flavor and texture of the nuts is apparently considered preferable to eating the cone as a whole." Dulph hadn't tried them that way before he had met Fran, but then, his mouth was just as tough as his hide and unless something had a very strong flavor, he didn't much notice the taste of the thing.
Biddulphia was accustomed to others being fascinated, frightened, or repulsed by his appearance, and took the question as typical. "To the best of my recollection, yes my eyes and runic tracks have always emitted a glow. I have no reasonable explanation as to the cause of the glow."
"Would you prefer directions or being led to the area of interest?" Dulph was fairly certain that courtesy required he offer. He didn't mind, though it would mean he would have to return another time for grasses for his bedding. Whenever he had the option, however, Biddulphia would interact with other soq, finding the company enlightening.
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Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 4:06 pm
Synestra nodded and thought about trying that at some point. "Well should I ever eat pine cones I will know to try the nuts that they contain. That's very useful information to know." Sometimes food was scarce in winter so knowing that a food source, perhaps one that you normally wouldn't consider, could provide enough nutrition was a handy thing to know. She would need to tell her father about this whenever she returned home, for the herd may benefit from such information.
So he always had that glow, how very interesting. "Well, I must say that the glow is quite unique. It could prove interesting to find out exactly why they do." Now she was curious if there were other Soquili out there who also had glowing eyes. Something to search for on another trip perhaps."
"If you wouldn't mind showing me way I would greatly appreciate the escort." Not only would that ensure that she would not get lost but also allow Synestra to spend a bit more time with the fascinating creature. It wasn't every day one ran into one such as him.
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Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 9:47 pm
Biddulphia nodded, "Of course. If you will follow me then. . ."
Turning back the way he came, Dulph lead the way. The forest trees started thinly, but quickly the great trunks took more and more space, the path he was following becoming more obvious. The light that filtered down through the branches would have been green only a month before, but now many of the branches were bare and others filled with flame colored leaves. Evergreens still stood sentry over a wood that was otherwise losing its vibrant life to the encroaching winter.
Biddulphia was mostly quiet for the first part of the journey, but as they approached a split in the trail, he again spoke, "You may note a lightning scorched trunk just a sort way to the right. That is the landmark for this path. We are making a right, so when you return, should you not wish a return guide, you will need to make a left here." He waited for her to get a good look around so she would be able to tell where she was if she came this way again.
A careful look would show there were recent, Dulph sized hoof prints on the trail they weren't taking.
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Posted: Sun Apr 03, 2011 7:15 pm
Ah excellent. Turning Synestra fell into step beside the stallion as he showed her the way to the landmarks he had told her about earlier. Her eyes constantly roamed over the area they walked through, taking every detail in and memorizing the path they were taking. It was a very beautiful place, even if most of the trees had already shed their leaves, she could need to revisit the place in the spring whenever everything would be in full bloom, then perhaps again in the fall to see the visit colors of the leaves.
She didn't mind the stallions silence as they walked, as she was certainly well distracted by the sights. So when he did speak she peeled her eyes away from what she had been looking at and turned her attention to Dulph. As he described the land mark Synestra swung her head around to look. "Yes, I see it. It's a good thing you point out important markings like that or I could get lost." One thing that Synestra always hated during all of her travels was being given vague directions, she greatly appreciated the detail this stallion added to his directions so she would know not only the way she came but an alternate route should she not want to return.
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Posted: Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:18 am
Biddulphia nodded. "I will endeavor to point out all such markings. Wandering in the forest lost is not helpful at any time, but as winter approaches and food becomes more scarce, being lost becomes dangerous. There are unfriendly creatures who live in the woods and would enjoy a meal of an unwary Usdia. It is still early enough that they are unlikely to risk attacking us, but in a few months the same can not be said."
With that, Dulph again continued down the path, occasionally stopping to point out landmarks and trail markings. Then he stopped under a strand of pine trees. "Here you may find some pine cones still bearing nuts. Look for the ones that have not yet opened, with their tines still close to their core. Once they have opened, the squirrels raid the cones for their nuts and they are not longer worth taking the time to examine." Looking around for a moment, Biddulphia spotted a closed pine cone. "Here, this is a good example. You always want to turn it over to make sure it hasn't rotten on the bottom or bugs havn't gotten into it before you eat it. Once you are sure it is good, the apparently preferred method of eating is to crush it open under your hoof and pick out the nuts."
Biddulphia demonstrated as he spoke. Having turned the pine cone over, he then carefully stepped on it, breaking it open. Then, with extreme patience and care he moved the bits around with a hoof until he revealed a nut. "This is what you are looking for, each pine cone may have anywhere from ten to thirty of these nuts. You are welcome to try it if you like." Dulph took a polite step back so she could get at the pine cone and the exposed nut.
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Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:44 pm
"I truly appreciate all this information. New areas can hold a wealth of knowledge and dangers as well, so any forewarning is good." Certainly she would be sure to avoid this area during the months where predators would be far more active and looking to score a easy meal. This was the reason why she always sought out a local during her travels to new areas, to learn important facts about the lay of the land and those with it.
Bringing her hooves to a stop Synestra listened and watched as Dulph described what types of cones to look for, to check for rot and that the cone was still unopened. The careful manner in which he separated the nuts from the shell was probably not something she wanted to do too often as it would certainly test her patience. None the less she was certainly willing to give them a try. Waiting for Dulph to take a step back Synestra lowered her head and carefully picked up the nut and then chewed it. "Not bad." Certainly would be better in larger quantities and if you could find enough to provide a decent snack and have the patience to go through it all to gather the nuts. "Has a decent enough favor, I will have to try them again sometime."
After a moment pause to savor what remained of the flavor of the nut Synestra turned her attention back to Dulph. "Shall we continue then? I don't want to tie you up too long."
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