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 Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:29 pm
Sun was shimmering through the recovering tree's of the Harpy's ancestral home in the high mountain valley's of the Elbow of the Western Range, as a pale stallion with sky blue hair and nimble toes worked diligently with what materials he had to build a rough 'roost' for the captured chickens and pheasant chicks he hoped to someday have sent over to the Oracle once returned home. Around him, fabrics dried in the sun, having been dyed with the dye powders he had brought with him.
Panting a bit as he shook his mane to try and get the sweat from his efforts out of his eyes, Taarab licked his salty lips, nipping at his bottom lip as he continued to build the rough framework with sturdy branches, binding them with wild grape vines. Finally secure, he stepped back to investigate the rough enclosure, the area having been cleared so there'd be a pecking grounds for the fowl. He looked over at the good, honest work he had done over the week since his arrival with their queen, clearing out ground and planting seeds so fresh food would grow, dyed fabrics, charms set out in the sun to dry from their cleaning and waiting for the fabric to dry to be bound to... And now, while the fabric looked about ready to start, he had the foundations of sustainable meat for the oracle.
With an edge of nervousness from being so far out of the safety of the flock and familiar ground, he observed the area to double check for intruders before he looked back towards the mistress who'd been observing him during her mediation, making sure she was still there
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 1:44 pm
 She had found a spot near the temple entrance where she could do her daily meditations, but still keep a keen eye on the stallion that her dear friend had left behind for her. Aviania had brought with her a very useful male. His skilled talons, among other qualities, had intriqued the oracle. While Aylin had no thought that the stallion would wander, it was still in her nature to watch those of the other gender closely, A habit that would not soon be broken. The pale blue male had done a wonder in the area, completing tasks that he Oracle had only thought of attempting herself. In the past days, her charms and trinkets had been removed, cleaned, and repaired if needed. Taarab was working on new strings and ribbons so that they could be rehung or delivered to the sisters in the future. She took a break from her meditating, focusing in on the work that the stallion was completing. He was providing her with a way to be more self reliant, she would be able to produce her own meat without having to hunt if she wanted. Fresh meat and produce, the life at the temple was about to drastically get easier thanks to the work of a single stallion. She could only imagine the success that the Flock would have in winter months with such help at their beckon call.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 2:30 pm
Nodding a bit, he made a soft chirruping noise, testing the fabrics to confirm they were no longer tacky with their dyes or bleeding, before gathering them up into a basket and gripping it in his teeth. Trotting over towards her, slowing as he reached the temple steps and climbed them with a bit of reverence. He paused a few steps below her and bowed deeply and easing up the last few steps, "Oracle Aylin, I present fabrics for your approval for the temple..."
He took out the course but breezy materials out of the basket, laying them out -- what was once an off-white material woven with talons and tools made to fit on the claws for daintier work from spun puffs of wild cotton shrubs transplanted by his father when Taarab was just a foal in his first year, was now soft to rich purples and blues and deep indigos. A few of the fabrics had swirls of colors, the blues and purples spiraling like clouds, with hints of pink edging where the purples met the white. , The Pink was something he kept for the Honor, Harmony, compassion and faithfulness, as well as the Chakra the color represented, rather than the love, friendship, and romance it often meant to other cultures, rather than working to rid the fabric of the hints of warmth.
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Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2011 3:18 pm
She watched with a solemn expression as Taarab neared and set out the products for her approval. She had to admit that he was a talented stallion. "They are beautiful, Taarab. I will start stringing the first batch of charms back onto these." she nodded in approval.
She broke into a small smile as she continued to look over the fabric. Her home would look much better with her trinkets and charms repaired. "You've been a big help. I appreciate your work here." Her golden eyes flashed at him, a pride in her expression that she hadn't shown in some time.
"This winter will be much easier than the past," that she was thankful for.
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Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 6:47 pm
"Thank you, Oracle." Taarab nodded slightly, smiling sheepisly, lips quirked as he dipped his head to the side and looked over what he'd been working on, "the Roosting grounds for the pheasant chicks I'll be sending over is almost completed... Hopefully by the time I leave, We'll be seeing some sprouting from the garden, and provide you plenty of food for winter and for feeding the pheasants so you can raise them for egg and meat. They'll be talon raised before sent to you via eagle.."
He mind wandered slightly, since over all this whole experience so far seemed a surreal dream. Being in the Ancestral lands, working with and for the Oracle of their people, his own claws leaving their mark on the land of their ancestors. Patches of it still seemed marred by the upheaval, burned patches just starting to sprout back, great groves of fallen trees and rocks, Mountain passes filled, and the occasional skeleton of what had been stallions and mistresses that had died in it sending chills. It would be a long time before the flock in its entirety could return to these lands and not have it be unsustainable. A smaller herd would have to come and work the land, they'd have to restock it with game if they didn't wish to wait for the decades it could take for the animals to return naturally.
Already though, his mind was piecing together ideas for how to set the earth and return their home to its previous glory, and to perhaps see the Oracle and the Queen smile, knowing their sisters in arms could return home if they so desired.
For Aylin to not be so alone for so long.
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Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2011 7:49 am
With a content look on her face, Aylin just nodded at the stallion's remark. It would be a welcome sight to have an abundance of fat pheasants within her reach without having to hunt. While she enjoyed the hunt, she did not enjoy starving as winter neared. The majority of game went into hibernation or migrated to warmer climates, colder months were not a welcome sight to the oracle.
Quietly she picked up some of the delicate new threading for her charms and began placing securing them in place. A smile crept across her face as she thought of how magnificent the temple had once been and how it would once again look in the future. She hoped in time that her sisters could return to their home and flourish.
After threading for a while, she stopped and watched as Taarab continued in his tasks. She had begun to get a bit stiff from lieing so long, she stretched, setting down the ribbons and trinkets.
"Taarab, care for a walk?" she inquired of the stallion as she stood, stretching her legs and talons one at a time. "I'm sure you could use a break by now,"
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 5:53 pm
Taarab looked up from his own work, having been lacing charms into complimentary fabrics decoratively and strengthening the fabric edge as he worked to support them, and set it down, getting up with a stretch, "I am getting a bit stiff from sitting here."
He flexed his claws and shook his limbs, trying to limber himself back up before joining Aylin, standing loyally by her side with a cheerful smile.
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2011 6:16 pm
She smiled as she did a few small final stretches. Aylin wanted to use this time to search the creative mind of the stallion at her side. Since his time here, Aylin had come to realize just how much of an asset to the Flock he and his ideas were. She started making her way from the temple grounds...needing to get away, just for a while.
Long steady strides, her body moved gracefully as her talons fell silent on the earth below. She wasn't sure where to start with Taarab.
She was impressed with his skill, his loyalty, and his creative abilities. She was curious as to which of her sisters were seeking to intice this stallion for their own means. "Tell me Taarab," she cast an almost playful look at the pale male, "Which of my sisters has come calling on you?" she nudged him gently. "You have, by far, some of the most desirable skills of the males, yes?"
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Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:25 pm
"Ah..." Taarab swallowed slightly, ears drooping slightly and head bowing slightly, "To be honest, oracle.... They do call for tools, Accessories, foods, and other trades, I actually.. Haven't had any of the mistresses call upon me in... Hmn."
He glanced down, trying to think of a polite way to put it, "... In the Same manor you have, which I believe is what you are implying. I am well into my First year of adult hood -- It is in fact nearing the anniversary of the day I was born, and moved from the nursery to the young stallions classes to learn about how foals are actually created... As well as explain how, while it is voluntary, it is our duties as males to aide in providing the catalyst that allows mares to produce Strong Harpy mares and true born stallions as the spirits decide to gift us.. ."
Tipping his head back up, his eyes tightened slightly -- numbers and astrology never were really his strongest point, he had to think of how many times he's fired his kiln since joining the main group to figure out how many months it had been.
"Its been about.. Six or Seven moons since I joined the Safe Zone, fully realized as being of Age. And.. Well... I haven't had a mare come 'calling' until I was brought here." The snow white, honey, and sky blue stallion gave the mare a sidelong glance, eyebrow quirking as he smiled, "While a bit of a slow start, hopefully the time spent in furthering my development and staying loyal rather then wandering proves to have the spirits favor agreed to unions."
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Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 9:28 am
"That is quite shocking to me," she looked over to Taarab. "Certainly my sisters have seen what benefits you could provide to our future," she looked back to the path and took a small jump over a fallen tree.
"You've some of the best genetic build we have at present," while she knew that males were plenty, there were few that bore talons, much less a full set. In Aylin's eyes these were nessissary traits to the future of the flock, they must be able to hunt for food..... and defend themselves.
"You carry the needed genes, and your mind..." she bobbed her head slightly, "You're mind is sharp, but dedicated. You do not have a tendency to roam, even in your own thoughts it seems." her voice calm and rather 'matter of fact'.
Her curiousity seemed to get the better of her, "If these traits do not have my sisters calling on you, what characteristics of these other... males do they call upon?" her head tilted as she again looked over to the pale colored male. Apparently her sisters' opinion of what was good for the flock's future had begun to change.... But then, the spirits had already spoken of uncertain futures.
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Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2011 12:33 pm
"Unicorns seem fairly popular at the moment." Taarab pondered, thinking about it and the flock-born his age that existed, the foals being raised, and the currently more popular stallions, "Those with the healing horn. Perhaps it is a subconscious cry for the wounds caused by the 'Cataclysm' here in the ancestral lands to their souls, in hopes that future generations would be able to save others should something of the sort happen again. Wings for flight are common as well. Perhaps for hunting in the local plains."
The pale stallion leapt gracefully over a tree trunk, bounding a little while to get across the somewhat torn up landscape, looking it over as he landed on other side of the crop of fallen trees and broken wood -- there was plenty of material to work with if he took the stone and rough metal tools to the trees to build things with, without harming the live wood, "My mother selected my father due to his intelligence and loyalty to the Flock after adjusting to his position. He taught me much of what I know, of planting seeds and raising animals, how to make tools. While he lacked the claws to do so, he had the knowledge of it because of his godfather -- The Angeni of Learning."
He waved a clawed foot dismissively, flushing slightly, "But enough of my father... There are a few stallions with talons of my generation and a couple younger ones as well. It is mostly a case of there having been only been Garuda and those like him remaining before, most of the flock born stallions lost in the first migration.. And a few who wandered, ill of mind and seeing cruelty where there was none in your sisters.I am sure that, eventually, focus will return to claws."
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Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:40 am
She had not thought of how the sisters may have been silently reacting to the deaths and illnesses brought on by the migration. It would make sense that they would breed to create more healers within their ranks for future use. Logically, it was not a bad choice of genetics. Wings... while impressive in flight, did not really impress the oracle otherwise. She thought them to be large, bulky, and in the way during the hunt... at least during the hunt as she knew it.
"We gained much needed... assets... to the flock when your family integrated with us, Taarab." her head bobbed again as she moved along. "It was a shame to see so many of the good stock go down in the move. Even worse to see those that turned their back on our traditions." She shook her head slightly. "One day, you will provide our sisters with knowledgeable and very useful offspring. I am quite intrigued to see what comes of your future."
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:15 am
Taarab warmed at the praise, smiling sheepishly at the oracle with a humble but pleased expression, "I do hope the spirits allow it. And my father would be honored to know he has your approval as an Initiated Outsider-born*."
Pausing at a copse of fallen trees beside a dried up river bed, Taarab frowned slightly, the hairs at the back of his neck prickling as he noticed the scattered bones of what had once been at least one harpy, killed in the cataclysm of the earthquake that opened the pocket of natural gas into the lower valleys. He bowed his head respectfully for the dead, his voice hushed, "Mother never truly spoke of what happened here in detail.. It's humbling to see the echo's of it in person."
*Initiated: A male accepted into the flock and recognized as an adult
Outsider-born: A soquili who spent any part of his life outside of the Flock after having left their basket, but is now a member of the flock. NOT an insult, but more a descriptor of someone raised in a different culture. For males, this means even more limitations on freedoms. For Females, it just means a few ranks aren't available to them, such as queen, Commander, Oracle, priestess, Nanny (though assistant is allowed), and cannot take Flock-born stallions out of the territory without an escort from a Flockborn mare. This does NOT mean Non-harpy...
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Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:53 pm
Aylin paused for a moment as she looked down at the remains of a fallen sister. "It is still so fresh in the minds of our sisters that many can not believe or accept that it happened. With time, as all things, the memories will remain but the hurt will dull." She knew that her family would never forget the terror of the day that claimed the majority of their kind, but she knew that the spirits would watch after the flock as they always had.
She raised her head and began to continue on, "Tell me of your family, Taarab. Where do your lines come from?" she referred to his father's side. She knew little of what abilities his ancestors bore.
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Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 8:11 pm
His attention jerked away from the skeleton, Taarab made a respectful motion with one claw before following Aylin, glancing over his shoulder, unsure of whether or not he should offer to assist in creating a burial mound of some sort for those lost and left behind, "My family, you'd know more about that than I w-... Ah, you mean my paternal line?
He chuckled softly, flushing slightly as he pondered, "my father's line... From what little I've been told as my father did not wish for me to be tempted by the outside world, they were mostly nomadic, musical, danced a lot, and were traders, harking from the desert to the northeast of here though he never lived there himself. Though he was apparently told to avoid this area so they seemed aware of the flock so... They often wore headscarves and their culture involved bells as a form of currency and wealth."
He chimed his own bell, and chirruping, "As well as luck. Even the poorest has at least one from childbirth as it helped them stay together during sandstorms and chase away bad spirits so the good, like the great mother and the Three sisters and our ancestors can find us and know we are welcome to their presence. However now they now make a good reward system for males and help with keeping track of where they are just by sound, making it easier for the guards to keep track of us as we work.."
Frowning, Taarab shook his head before his eyes sparked brilliantly in mirth, "But that is just the grandfather's side -- the mothers side also values bells and live in the great plains. Her family names each other after songs and dance. I don't.. Know as much about my grandmother's family, unfortunately, but I was named by my mother by my sire's maternal naming traditions, after a form of Dance, but in her families traditions of dance and music."
His ears drooped as he quieted once more, spotting bones covered in weeds, males and females alike having fallen en mass from the silent gas leak that had filled the valley as part of a low fog, suffocating many. The air seemed to hang heavy as he made another respectful motion towards those lost once more, praying under his breath to the great mother and thanking her silently that so many had been saved in what was clearly a massive disaster among those of the flock.
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