Karayan -- Orpheus Solon

[Orpheus Solon]

Thinking in a New Manner

Karayan was deep in thought, contemplating quite a few things at the moment, like the trip he would be going on soon with his Grannie, the first dragon hunts that she said he was going to be going on, and various other things that seemed to be important enough to think about at the moment... though as he thought on them he found himself realizing that there was a lot about the world that seemed so much more different now. He supposed that it wasn't exactly due to the fact that they were going on a journey soon, it was something else, something more important to the moment he was living in. Likely the fact that everything was upside down, making it all look quite strange and foreign. The boy's purple eyes scanned the strange scenery, taking in the way that the grassy terrain was, for the moment at least, on the top and the sky was on the bottom. It did make everything look interesting, that much was certain, though he doubted that hanging here all day probably wasn't good for him. In fact it felt as though all of his blood was rushing to his head, giving him a bit of a headache. He should probably get down...

As he thought that his eyes lifted to look up at the V shape in the tree where his foot was caught between two branches, having caused him to stay stuck up here instead of falling to the group. When the fall had happened it seemed as though this was for the best, he didn't want to fall and crack his skull after all, but now that he had been hanging here for a while found himself wondering if many falling to the ground would have been better in the long run. At least he wouldn't be stuck like he was now, but he couldn't complain, could he? At least he was, for the most part, unscathed. He did have to wonder though, how was he going to get down from here? Thus far he'd just been waiting, hoping that maybe someone would show up to pluck him out of the tree and put him back on his feet. In doing so that world would return to the way that it should be, that way being right side up, but until that happened he was stuck hanging here. Lowering his gaze down toward the ground that was under him by maybe around ten feet. Perhaps if he wiggled around enough he would fall down there? As he thought about that he saw some birds that came fluttering over toward him, landing on his horns as though they were a perch.

"Silly birds." He murmured, deciding not to wiggle around since he didn't want to scare the birds off. They seemed happy enough where they were at the moment, using him as a place to sit and rest. Still, they seemed to be impeding progress as far as his escape from the three went. No matter, he was sure that he would get down eventually, and if he was lucky maybe the pretty, brightly colored birds would drop some of their feathers while they were making use of his horns as their perch? That would be nice, the male of the this particular species of avian really did have nice feathers, they were very bright and very colorful, "Alright, birds, try to drop some of those feathers for me." He said, a comment that was answered by a chirp by one of the birds but he couldn't tell if that was an agreement on their part of not due to the fact that he didn't speak bird. A shame that, being able to speak with birds would be nice, it would make it a lot easier for him to get feathers from them if he could just ask them about it.

"Hey, whatca doing up there little bit?" Came a familiar voice, one that caught the attention of Karayan as well as the birds that were sitting on him. Everyone looked in the direction of the woman that was standing there, another Dovaa like himself, an older one, with the same sort of skeletal body paint that Karayan bore upon his person. It was Karayan's powerful Dovaa Grannie. As she walked over to where he was standing the bird instantly flew off, obviously not trusting the woman as much as they did Karayan who was a lot calmer and more laid back then the other woman was. As she reached him, starring up at the boy, she gave him a smile, "Silly little thing, that doesn't seem the best place for you to be hanging out." She said, chuckling at her own joke before she reached up, taking hold of her dangling grandson, carefully plucking him out of the tree, flipped him over, and put him back down on his feet on the ground.

The boy shifted from side to side in place, giving himself a moment to get used to being back on his feet again and to let his blood return to where it belonged. He gave a bit of a smile, finding that he was glad to feel the grass on his bare feet once more, "I was just getting a new perspective, Grannie." He said with a chuckle, then reached up to take the woman's hand, "So! Are we going soon? You said that it would be soon! Can we go? Can we?" He started asking in a rushed and excited manner. It sounded like it would be too much fun getting to go places he'd never seen before, to meet strange new people, see new environments, and maybe get to battle with dragons all by himself. There was so much that he hadn't done in his life and he knew that the moment that they headed out away from the Dovaa homeland that the fun would start! He also knew that they wouldn't be able to go until she said that he was ready, something that was driving Karayan crazy. He had been ready to go since he could remember but she always had reasons why they weren't going yet.

"Well... we can't really go until you are packed." The woman told him, something that caused him to go completely still and silent... and then suddenly he was turning on his heel, running out of the garden and toward the house. He only had to pack and they would be able to leave?! That was amazing! Time to go, time to go, time to go! He just couldn't wait! They were going somewhere new! Somewhere that wasn't home! And it was going to be amazing, he knew this for certain. The last thing he heard before heading inside was the laughter of his Grannie who seemed quite amused by the way he went racing inside as fast as he possibly could.

(( Word Count: 1151 ))  

[Orpheus Solon]

Testing the Waters

 

[Orpheus Solon]

A Shared Hunt

 

[Orpheus Solon]

A Planned Hunt

 

[Orpheus Solon]

Dovaa in the Forest

During one of his misadventures in tree climbing Karayan is found and saved by a rather kindly Ysali Dovaa woman. The two of them chat a bit, visit a lake, play some games, and otherwise enjoy the afternoon. He probably shouldn't be off playing when training needed to be done but surely nobody would notice him slacking off a bit.  

[Orpheus Solon]

~ Reserved Post  

[Orpheus Solon]

What Brings You To This Place?

 

[Orpheus Solon]

Alone Again

 

[Orpheus Solon]

So Much Sand

 

[Orpheus Solon]

Poking Around in the Sand

 

[Orpheus Solon]

Fail Stalking

Karayan knew that starring wasn't exactly the best thing that a person could do but at the moment he just couldn't help it. The one that was standing there before him, a merchant of sorts, was just awe inspiring. The young Dovaa couldn't help but to stare, wondering exactly what it was that this man was... Dovaa, obviously, but what clan? What clan made a guy that massive?! He just had to know! The boy was quick to creep forward, out of his hiding spot and toward where the man had set up shop, deciding the best thing to do was to take note of all of the details about the man that would help him to discover the secret to what clan the man had choosen for himself. There were obvious clans that were right out, those like Ysali, Peisio, and Aiskala were right out, his eyes were the wrong color after all, no if one just took into account what he looked like, his coloration, and things like that he would have to say that he was either Kiandri or Gaili, they both had coloration similar to what this man had. Which was he though, that was the question.

He wondered if he coulk just ask the man, was that something that was alright amongst fellow Dovaa? Even if it was though how to ask it politely when he wanted nothing more then to run over to him and demand to know what he was. No, that was far from what he should do if he wanted to keep from having his ears boxed by his Grannie who was also perusing the market place. He would have to go about this in a manner that was smooth and covert he thought to himself as he slipped forward once more, wanting to get closer, feeling that getting a better look at the big man would aid him in his endevour. Karayan was many things but a sneaky spy wasn't really one of them, in fact as he got close to where the big man had set up shot he managed to trip over his own feet, not really paying any attention to anything but the other Dovaa, staggered, arms windmilling, before he landed in a heap in front of the man.

He lay a long moment, his cheeks getting quite hot, before he peeked up at the merchant through his bangs. He starred up at him for a long moment before he crawled up to his feet, brushing himself off, then gave the best smile he could muster, "Heh, oops, wasn't paying attention." He said, shifting in place for a moment before realizing that he had not only been starring at the man for some time but also that he'd tripped his way into the big man's presence, and he he struggled for a moment to figure out a way to fix it so that he didn't look like a complete fool... but was compling up a blank. Damn, damn, how to explain what he was doing save for making a fool of himself?! Ah ha! He was quick to scoop up a random potion before declaring, "I'd like to buy this!" Not really but at least it was better then 'hello, I'm stalking you like a creeper trying to figure out what clan you are' which didn't sound good at all.

Karayan was quick to dig into the pouch at his side, getting out a handful of coins, and handed them over to the man. Phew, that was lucky, good things his Grannie had given him some money to spend or he'd of been in real trouble he thought to himself. He took a step away, back toward, Arick, struggled with his next words, then hastily asked, "What clan are you?" The moment he was given an answer, that being 'Gaili' he turned on his heel and ran off, wondering what in the world he was going to do with the potion he'd bought but decided that he'd figure it out later. For now he just wanted to put as much distance between himself and the merchant as possible. How embarrassing... but... if nothing else at least he'd figure out what clan the guy was from as well as got himself a pretty neat looking potion! The bottle was quite pretty and surely the potion inside would be useful as well. He'd just have to take a chance at it when he was feeling brave and take a sip.

Until that point in which he suddenly became braver he figured that it was best that he find his Grannie and see about talking with the older Dovaa woman about the idea of him perhaps becoming a Gaili. The strength that man must have was a draw, to have such power, it would aid him in serving the Dovaa as well as the rest of the world, not to mention aid him in becoming a hero. He really did want that, to become someone impressive like his Grannie or that nice Ysali lady that he'd met. He was more then certain though that before he was able to become a Gaili, or really any clan, he would be made to study up on said clan. It was a boring task he was willing to undertake if it meant taking some large strides forward toward his goal of 'hero'.

(( Word Count: 896 ))  

[Orpheus Solon]

Studying is Boring...

Exactly as Karayan expected the moment that he had expressed his interest in the Gaili clan to his Grannie he found himself starring at a massive tome with a somewhat glazed look to his eyes. Augh... why did books have to be so... big? This one especially, he felt as though he was going to be at this forever... or until he went crossed eyed for information overload. Giving a grunt he muttered to himself, "Keep at it Karayan, need to make it through this if we ever want to become a full fledged Dovaa." He encouraged himself best that he could but it was proving more and more difficult the more pages he was forced to thumb through. It wasn't all this information that would cement his choice, it was the man that he'd been stalking earlier. The way that he looked, the way he carried himself, the air of strength about him, all of it. He felt that if he could be even a little bit like that he would be a happy little Dovaa. Though if he were able to be like the merchant he supposed that he'd be far from little, huh? He too would be an amazing giant able to battle dragons and get things off the top shelf all on his own!

Augh... but b before any of that was having he had to survive the current battle against this book and he felt he was about to lose. It was just so damn boring... why did it have to be so wordy and... Oooo, wait a second... alright, here we go, he thought to himself as he turned a page, this was looking interesting. It was a picture of a Gaili dragon took up a whole, eye catching page, and it was a rather big, brutish sort wasn't it? It was a lot of the big merchant, making his lips turn up into a bit of a smile, excellent. So if the Gaili were just as big as Arick then surely becoming a part of their clan should have the same sort of effect upon him? It was something that he could appreciate, becoming as big, bold, and powerful as the beast on the page! It would be this decision that would help him to become a great hero in the future!

Rubbing his hands together in delight he started to read the description, even finding that to be interesting as the page spoke of how Gaili used their power to increase their defense as well as damage their enemies. There was a list of some of the magic that a Gaili dragon, or in his case a Gaili Dovaa, could possibly wield and he couldn't help but to find it quite tempting as well. So many cool tricks he thought to himself, closing his eyes for a moment as he imagined himself wielding such powers, defeating dragons and dangerous men left and right with it, and hopefully he'd finally be able to impress Madryn Col. The boy was strong, stubborn, and a bit hardheaded, he was the sort that he felt would be hard to impress but maybe... maybe with this sort of power he'd be able to do it? So yes, Gaili was the clan that he wanted to become a part of, he wanted to wield the power of those earthen brutes, wanted to be a giant, and wanted to impress not only his family but Madryn Col as well.

Pushing up to his feet he closed the heavy tome before scooping it up, "Alright, time to put you back where you become, I am sure if I read anymore today I am going to just lose what smarts I have instead of getting more." There was only so much room for information inside his head and too much more ready and stuff he already knew would be forgotten. Last thing he wanted was to learn everything about the Gaili only to realize he could no longer tie his shoes... not that he wore them too terribly often so he supposed that wouldn't be too terrible a thing to forget. Anyway... now that he'd chosen his clan it was time to find his Grannie, let her know, and then... well, do whatever it was that he had to do to become a part of the clan. Given what the Gaili were capable of he just hoped that it didn't involve him having to fight one of those biggens one on one because he wasn't sure if he could pull it off. Maybe with a lot of help or with a lot of training but as he was now, it was unlikely, "Please be anything but that." He muttered to himself as he went in search of his Grannie.

(( Word Count: 795 ))  

[Orpheus Solon]

Waiting for a Ship

 

[Orpheus Solon]

Karayan Becomes a Gaili

This was one of those moments where he couldn't help but to feel utterly embarrassed and he wasn't even a shy kid normally. It was just the fact that he was standing there, surrounded by various family members, all of them here for him, all of them starring at him, waiting on his Grannie to return. They had come home with this particular task in mind, not that he quite knew yet what it was that he'd be doing. All that Karayan knew for certain was that he had expected it to be a thing he would have to do on his own... and yet here everyone was. Well, not everyone, his parents weren't there, something that struck him as a touch depressing. Once this was all over and done with though he would see about going to visit their graves, to show them what clan he'd become a part of, and then talk to them about everything he'd seen in the outside world. It was because of them that he was so determined to become a hero to his people one day. Grannie had told him all about their heroic exploits in stories since he was tiny and he couldn't help but to walk to follow in their foot steps.

Ahh, but now wasn't the time for sadness he reminded himself, today was a good day, one that he wanted to remember fondly, it was the day that he became a member of a powerful, wonderful clan after all. He was going to be an amazing Gaili! He would be big, strong, powerful, and he would use his powers for the good of the Dovaa people... though he wouldn't use his power against the other clans unless he was forced to. He'd met them, people from the Orderite Clan, the Oblivionite Clan, even a Hybrid and he saw nothing about any of those individuals that made him feel as though he needed to take up arms against them. Now dragons on the other hand, those intimidating monsters... those would be something he would be only too happy to test his power again. He couldn't help but to wonder if he would get any of the spells straight away after he became Gaili... or would he have to learn them from books? Or maybe it would be through trial and error? He'd almost prefer the latter option but he somehow saw his Grannie giving a whole stack of books to read.

The chatter in the room seemed to fade, leaving everything silent, as the matriarch of the family, Karayan's Grannie, came into the room carrying a Great Gaili Orb in her hands, a special one that carried inside of it multiple dragons souls. The woman gave a smile, motioning to Karayan to come over to her and the boy hurried over, his bare feet tapping against the floor the only sound, "Here you are, Karayan, let it be known that the moment the ritual is over you will be a member of the Gaili clan and it will be permanent. There is no going back." She told him, wanting to warn him one last time. She knew that he'd decided upon his clan but felt it was best that she giving him one final warning.

Karayan reached out to take the large, beautiful orb from her hands, starring into its swirling surface before he nodded his head, "Yeah, I know Grannie, and I really want to be a Gaili." He said, breaking his eyes away from the orb so that he could look up at her over the top of it, "So... what do I do next? How do I use this to become Gaili?" He asked, a question that had the gathered Dovaa around him laughing in an amused manner. It was a question that many of them had asked in the past so they couldn't help but to find it funny to hear a younger Dovaa asking the same thing. It had Karayan looking around for a moment, looking a bit confused, wondering what it was that he'd said that was so funny but when he heard what his Grannie said next he jerked his head around, eyes going wide, "W-What?! I break it?!" That couldn't be right, could it? It was such a beautiful orb and he was to break it?

"Of course, you must break the orb, take the power of these souls into yourself, and it will transform you into a Gaili. I assure you, my dear Kara, that is how it is done." She reassured him before looking at the other members of the family, "Isn't that right?" A question that had them all nodding in agreement, "See? Now, break the orb and become a part of the earthen clan of Gaili, Karayan."

The boy starred down at the orb for a moment longer, taking in a deep breath, before he lifted it up over his head and threw it down toward the ground at his feet. There was an explosion of power as the orb shattered at the boy's feet, power that was absorbed into his person, shifting the color of his eyes to a golden brown and caused various colors of brown to blood into his hair, a sure sign that he had been accepted into the Gaili clan. The moment the changes ceased the family started to cheer, with one of his uncles dragging the boy up off the ground into a hug.

"Carry Karayan into the other room, let the celebration begin!" The family matriarch called out, watching the group of head into the dining room where a spread of food and sweets were waiting for them. She gave a little smile then murmured, "Your son is doing well, let's hope he keeps going like this, he will make you both proud." She murmured to her lost son and his darling wife before she set to work cleaning up what was left over of the great orb. Once that was done she moved to join the others for a celebration that would go on for the next few days. It wasn't every day that such a thing happened and she meant to make a big deal of it every time it happened in her family. These were the sort of parties that tended to get the neighbors a bit riled up but she could care less, they could get bent if they thought to ruin her grandson's big day!

(( Word Count: 1074 ))  

[Orpheus Solon]

Delivering the Orbs

It was three days after the celebratory party for Karayan's Clan Choice started that his Grannie pulled him aside, telling him that he needed to clean up, that they had an important chore to do. While he wasn't quite sure what it was that they were about to do but it was something that must be exciting given the air about the older Dovaa. Where were they going? What were they doing? And why? Those were his questions but he figured he'd know when they got there. Karayan was quick to race back to his room, changing into clean clothing, scooped up a pair of Dragon Orbs as per his Grannie's request, and then he was heading down the stairs once more, his hair sticking out in all directions, "Ready!" He chirped happily, smiling up at the Firani woman who was waiting for him by the front door. Even now he could hear the celebration continuing on even without him. He didn't mind though, happy that his family was happy, "They seem to be having fun, huh? Heh, Uncle picked me up so that I could hang off of the chandelier. That was pretty fun, a bit like hanging from a tree."

The older Dovaa starred down at him for a moment before chuckling, "It amuses me, a Gaili that so enjoys trying to fly. One would think you might be more grounded then that." She said, finding it quite interesting. He really was going to be an interesting Gaili for certain... but then again given the boy's strange behavior and personality he was certain that he'd of been interesting no matter what clan he decided upon. She wondered if perhaps being a part of the Ayrala would have suited the boy's strange, airy personality better but he'd been so adamant about becoming a Gaili and nothing would sway him. It was because of that adamant front that she had gotten the Great Gaili Orb for the boy to use to become a part of the clan he so desired to be a member of. The way she saw it there was something in the earthen clan that called out to the boy, something that made him want to be a part of it no matter what, and she wanted nothing more then to help him. Now that he was Gaili she would help him in the future as well... such as this very moment, she was bringing him for a meeting with Marcus himself. Bringing dragon orbs their leader would be a good way for the boy to show his good intentions toward their clan.

As the pair of them walked along Karayan finally asked, "So... where are we going?" They had been walking a while and seemed to be moving toward a place that he knew well enough, that being the place that he'd gone too for schooling since he was old enough to do so. His Grannie had taught him a lot but there was other stuff that he'd learned by going to school there... but he'd never needed to bring dragon orbs there before. Odd... was this because he'd finally chosen a clan? Another rite of passage or something? After a moment of thought he asked, "Will I be learning my magic from the teachers here?" That would be great actually, there was bound to be a Gaili teacher amongst the other teachers, right? That meant that soon enough he would be slinging around all sorts of amazing earth based spells!

The woman chuckled, "Well yes, you will be learning magic here, but not today. Today you are going to be meeting with our most esteemed leader Marcus Ysaride... Kara...? Are you alright?" She asked, turning to look over at her grandson who had managed to face plant himself into the walkway. Perhaps she should have had him sit down before she told him that he was meeting with their leader she thought to herself, giving a soft chuckle as she helped the boy back to his feet, brushing him off as he did so.

"Ahh... G-Grannie... r-really? Oh, I don't know... I've yet to d-do anything that makes me worthy of m-meeting with him..." He said, clutching the orbs he was holding to his chest, wanting to run back home, not wanting to meet with their leader, finding the entire idea of doing such a thing to be far too intimidating. Marcus Ysaride was the leader of all of the Dovaa, what would such a man want with someone like him? He wasn't a hero yet, wasn't a warrior yet, he'd just chosen his clan and was still in training. Surely he wasn't ready for such a thing yet? What would someone like him have to say to such a powerful heroic man?

Reaching a hand out the older Dovaa woman ruffled her grandson's hair gently, "This is an important part of what you need to be doing for our people, Kara, you need only bring the orbs to him, bow, and then come back to me. If he speaks with you then you are to talk back, of course, but he is a busy man. This is merely another ritual that you are to perform, after that we can return home and return to the celebration." It was still going strong and probably would be for a few days more. She hated to draw her grandson away, especially since the celebration was for him, but this had been the only chance for the two of them to meet with Marcus Ysaride. The man was quite busy so one had to meet with him when he was able to do so instead of making the man wait on them.

Karayan nodded his head, still not exactly sure about it all, but he'd do his best to get through it. He wanted to be done with this daunting task so that he could return home, back to celebrating with the family, and then soon enough he'd be back to his studies. Soon enough the two of them were standing there in front of Marcus and Karayan couldn't help but to stare, his now golden eyes quite wide. So this was it he thought to himself, swallowing hard before he started forward, closing the distance between himself and the Dovaa Leader. He was nervous as could be, to the point that he was shaking ever so slightly, and the moment Marcus turned to him he was thrusting the orbs forward toward him. The words of thanks from the man were, to say the least, a shock, and after saying a quick, stuttering 'your welcome' Karayan was racing back to his Grannie, wanting nothing more then to cling to her.

The woman couldn't help but to laugh, giving Marcus a smile, a nod, and a bow, "A good day to you, Master Marcus." She said, "May Abronaxus bless you." She said before she took Karayan's hand, leading the boy off. There seemed to be many other young Dovaa waiting for their chance to meet with him and they wouldn't take all of his time when he had so much to do. They had gotten the task done and now they could return to their celebrating.

(( Word Count: 1200 ))