Welcome to Gaia! ::

Raemos: Oblivionite Adept Mage
Taming info:
No tamings done!

Attempting: Olrawk

Bonuses:
20% base
+5 for help
+5 for Oblivionite!

(Capture Fail)

Raemos was fixing something. He was pretty handy, so he'd been put to work fast when he wasn't out patrolling or assisting Sueno. He was hardy from his desert childhood, and awake early as heck anyway, so he had really helped out. He felt good about doing laborous, honest work.

Cearlan was out patrolling and checking on the nearby farm's guardians, and Raemos was left to do his fix-it work alone. It was always sad to see Cearlan go... or not. It was a good view, he had to admit.

Still, it meant he was alone and surrounded by strangers who, he could tell, did not trust him. It hurt to not be trusted.

He'd heard Sueno walk up and was not startled by the poke in the back. "Hello Miss. Sueno." he said, finishing fixing the small cart wheel he'd been working on this time, "How are you this morning?"

He listened to her query, and set the cart wheel down - it needed some extra things anyway. "Of course I can." he said, giving her a slight bow and straightening up. He was ready for anything - that was part of guard duty. So he didn't even have to get his weapons - they were already strapped to his waist. "Are we going for anything in particular?

"I've heard of those..." said Raemos, nodding. He'd read that Flora and Fauna of Magesc book quite a few times now, and even annotated it. He knew what an Olrawk was... but he'd never seen one. "Well, you will not be alone." he said, smiling, "We will see if we can find one."

As they started to the woods, Raemos's sockets narrowed thoughtfully. "Ah. I see. You think one will sing for me."

I'm not an Oblivionite his mind responded, automaticall, but during his stay here - and indeed on the way to the farm - he had given up on asserting it out loud.

At least Sueno wasn't afraid of him, and was attempting to use him effectively, which was - like it or not - what he had offered.

"Perhaps." He looked to the trees. He knew, intellectually, that they were golden, brown, and green, and he could smell the rich smells of the Serenian summer. It was a beautiful land, too bright - perhaps - for most Oblivionites, but not for Raemos. Hidden holidays in Serenia aside, the desert days were brilliant and harsh, and there was much work to be done in that time.

"Those taller trees over there." He commented, pointing to a grove of tall, proud, verdant hardwoods, "They look promising." He remembered, vaguely, that Olrawks nested in tall places. "Lets check them out, shall we?"

Raemos searched the trees, but he could see little through the intervening, lush layers of leaves. Still, the copse was the most likely spot for a bird – of bird of prey size, if he wasn't mistaken.

He was looking up one of the trees and thinking about how he would climb it when a sound reached his ears. It was, he realized, the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. It's gentle, haunting melody slid through his body, warming him like mulled sheron milk. He closed his eyes and listened, only realizing he was swaying when his hand touched the tree's trunk for support.

As the song ended, he looked up and, feeling wetness on his cheeks, realized he was crying.

Was that an Olrawk's song? he wondered, searching through the trees for it, seeking some measure of it's song's beauty. That such a song could come from a mortal throat (or beak) was difficult to comprehend.

He had heard that the Olrawks were creations of Seren, made to warn her people to the presence of Oblivionites. If so, let it not be said that Lady Seren had no mercy, for it lifted his heart from the dark nothingness he drew his magic from, allowing him, briefly, to touch the beauty of the light.

He looked around for it's source, and saw Sueno approaching a particularly tall tree. ”Is it there?” he asked. The song began again, and answered his question with a beauty greater than words. ”Well, then...” he said, when it finished, ”Now... How do we get it?”

Another time – perhaps even later – Raemos would reflect on the absurdity of the girl's wings.

Wouldn't her wings tire after being used like that? he would wonder, or, Does she need to eat more to sustain her flight?

But only later.

For now, the song – and the beast that sang it – held his full attention. When Sueno caught the Olrawk, however, the song ended with a shriek that was, to Raemos, as jarring as a scratched phonograph record. He flinched as the girl jumped down, the imprisoned bird struggling against her light cage.

“Er.” he commented, “Impressive use of magic.”

He held his hands out to take it from her.

“So, we have captured an Olrawk. What do we do now?” he asked, “I believe the next step is... will we be feeding it; bribing it to stay?”

(144/300)

So – he let his hands fall to his sides - The girl still feared him to some extent. Or feared for her magic? She need not. He knew how to handle magic. Either way, it did not make him feel particularly happy, though the memory of the Olrawk's song was enough to remedy that somewhat.

She was allowing him to follow her alone into the woods, he thought, That was at least something. He couldn't expect the girl to trust someone with his horrible appearance, not overnight. The familiar despair threatened to return, and he found himself longing to hear that Olrawk's song again...

“I see.” he said, “Is this coop covered?” He followed her, politely, back towards the farm. “It does fly, after all.”

He thought back to his nature books. “I believe it does. I actually brought my copy with me. I'll check it when we've gotten the creature situated...” he paused in his speech. “Fae dragons?” he asked, curiously, “I have heard of them, but never seen them myself...”

(318/300)