Saun 15th, 718
The half-breed wasn't entirely sure why she ended up taking a walk that morning, let alone why she'd done so much flying. She was still recovering from her most recent flight based endeavors. The lasting effects of her trip still leaving her slightly sore. It wasn't like it was hard to ignore, not for her anyway, but she stressed making it worse if she did too much physical effort the next season. That being said it likely wouldn't be long before she was racing off again to handle immortals know what kind of situation. Vhalar perhaps. Her expedition had proved to be more useful and not and she'd be lying if she said she'd never had the urge to travel. It was mostly her sense of honor, duty, and obligation to the city that had left her bound to it. If it wasn't for the terrible state Etzos was in she might be tempted to leave. And if the situation got better and she wasn't vital to the current workings, then the same could easily be said. Of course, there was the potential of becoming an important force to the city which could bind her there even more.
She quickly shut down her musings, realizing they were getting terribly off topic. If she even had so much as a topic to begin with. She was conscious of the fact she was starting to wander a little closer to Lakewatch. Right. She was already vital to the workings of the city, she couldn't leave for long. Even that little piece of time she'd been away during Ymiden could have turned nasty. Everyone involved had been understanding of course, but it didn't make it any less dangerous. She was just glad she'd spent such a large chunk of Cylus trying to help all the mutants with brand new wings learn how to fly. She was uncertain if it was fortunate or unfortunate an avriel had not made up the mutant ranks. She was sure if one had they would have thrown a gigantic stink about now being what they would dare to call a monster. Though, the half-breed couldn't see it in such a light. She'd applied the same logic of the mutants that she did to herself as a half-breed. They, just like her in her own mind, were the next model. An evolution. Better. From what she'd seen of them there was little room to argue. Some were smarter or stronger or faster than a human, let alone any other race on Idalos, could mortally be. Others didn't see it the same way. She'd had quite a few encounters where people got a little too close for comfort to Lakewatch but luckily didn't find the town or the mutants. She and those in charge were well aware that the average person couldn't possibly be allowed their life after discovering the town, let alone the population. Which was part of why she'd started patrolling the area around Lakewatch this Saun. It was safer this way as she could help turn people away before things got bloody. Usually, they didn't, most people were reasonable.
Some weren't.
There were always those she charged up to the Lakewatch area, zealots, convinced that the city had to be doing something dark or malicious if they're using the Flapper to keep it a secret. She always resented the name. It implied she was a full breed, one of her biggest pet peeves. She was half and always would be half, she would be addressed as such. The way her very blood boiled when they called her 'the Avriel'. Was half such a hard word to pronounce! Either way, usually she sent them home crying if they tried to muscle their way through. Zealots they might be, they came in small groups of untrained warriors, and the woman was anything but untrained. Her sword arm was a force to be reckoned with most certainly. But there was also the fact she had abilities not typical person in Etzos would have access to. Mark abilities. Lots of them. At least her constant preservation did something good for her besides her renown. She was hoping to become one of Her Lady's favorites. And so far, the idea didn't seem too far-fetched! She shouldn't get ahead of herself though. She still had yet to reach Exalted, though it was a possibility for the future. Her eyes were drawn to the back of her hand which had the shield on it. It was so plain when she first got it, but now it had become a bit more extravagant. Nothing special yet, but it looked better crafted almost, and she could see tiny gemstones at the corners. Still no coat of arms, she figured it would be a while yet before that happened... She'd been told once that the mark of shield bearer was unique to each person and only got more unique, and beautiful, as the shield bearer grew in rank. There was something encouraging about that thought. This honor was hers. It was special.
She stopped, her head turning as she made note of a noise. Of course, it was a forest, noises were bound to happen. But this wasn't an animal or a plant noise. No, it was more human than that. It sounded like yelling but it was still fairly distant. She followed the noise on foot until an animalistic screech caught her ears, yet still sounding human enough to distinctly carry a voice. Her blood froze in her veins as she realized she recognized that voice. She'd put so much effort into memorizing each and every voice, face, and name. Someone was hurting one of her mutants. She spread her wings and gave them a powerful beat, tuning out the sharp ache at the base of her wings. She flew until she caught sight of smoke and circled a few times. It didn't seem any of them noticed her, but she got a good look at what was happening. She couldn't tell if they were bandits or citizens, but there was a group of what seemed to be 5 looking down at a mutant, assumably yelling by the way their venomous voices traveled all the way up to her position in the sky. The mutant, Ashbel, was a hunter. He was a rather important member of the town because he was a hunter, a good hunter, usually, any food provisions that Etzos couldn't spare to trade over without ending up hurting or raising suspicious he took care of. With the recent famine during her time away from the city his job had become even more important, keeping the larger of the mutants fed was an issue due to their extreme muscle masses need large quantities of protein. His importance was all the more emphasized by the fact he was the sneakiest of all the mutants, meaning it was the safest for him to hunt in broad daylight.
There were a couple different hunters in Lakewatch. Even some more well-known ones like Hellica who used to always get the most peoples attention during the Roast. But most were confined to night hunting due to not wanting to get caught by people. Ashbel was different. He was only 3 feet tall for originally being a full grown man, he was covered in soft velvet fur that was a dark greenish brown. He could easily blend in. Which usually meant there was no danger with him going out to hunt in broad daylight. On top of it all he was one of the stronger mutants in spite of his size. He could easily lift anything he caught, barring maybe a bear which he could easily get buried under. How did they even manage to catch him? The half-breed flew a little ways away looking for a place to land and trying to come up with some kind of gameplan. She didn't want Ashbel to get hurt most of all. He was tight lipped and he wasn't likley to tell the group where Lakewatch was, though they were likely grilling him by now. She could feel a sense of panick quickly rising up in her chest. Where was another shield bearer when you needed them!?
"Common"
"Ith'ession"
She quickly shut down her musings, realizing they were getting terribly off topic. If she even had so much as a topic to begin with. She was conscious of the fact she was starting to wander a little closer to Lakewatch. Right. She was already vital to the workings of the city, she couldn't leave for long. Even that little piece of time she'd been away during Ymiden could have turned nasty. Everyone involved had been understanding of course, but it didn't make it any less dangerous. She was just glad she'd spent such a large chunk of Cylus trying to help all the mutants with brand new wings learn how to fly. She was uncertain if it was fortunate or unfortunate an avriel had not made up the mutant ranks. She was sure if one had they would have thrown a gigantic stink about now being what they would dare to call a monster. Though, the half-breed couldn't see it in such a light. She'd applied the same logic of the mutants that she did to herself as a half-breed. They, just like her in her own mind, were the next model. An evolution. Better. From what she'd seen of them there was little room to argue. Some were smarter or stronger or faster than a human, let alone any other race on Idalos, could mortally be. Others didn't see it the same way. She'd had quite a few encounters where people got a little too close for comfort to Lakewatch but luckily didn't find the town or the mutants. She and those in charge were well aware that the average person couldn't possibly be allowed their life after discovering the town, let alone the population. Which was part of why she'd started patrolling the area around Lakewatch this Saun. It was safer this way as she could help turn people away before things got bloody. Usually, they didn't, most people were reasonable.
Some weren't.
There were always those she charged up to the Lakewatch area, zealots, convinced that the city had to be doing something dark or malicious if they're using the Flapper to keep it a secret. She always resented the name. It implied she was a full breed, one of her biggest pet peeves. She was half and always would be half, she would be addressed as such. The way her very blood boiled when they called her 'the Avriel'. Was half such a hard word to pronounce! Either way, usually she sent them home crying if they tried to muscle their way through. Zealots they might be, they came in small groups of untrained warriors, and the woman was anything but untrained. Her sword arm was a force to be reckoned with most certainly. But there was also the fact she had abilities not typical person in Etzos would have access to. Mark abilities. Lots of them. At least her constant preservation did something good for her besides her renown. She was hoping to become one of Her Lady's favorites. And so far, the idea didn't seem too far-fetched! She shouldn't get ahead of herself though. She still had yet to reach Exalted, though it was a possibility for the future. Her eyes were drawn to the back of her hand which had the shield on it. It was so plain when she first got it, but now it had become a bit more extravagant. Nothing special yet, but it looked better crafted almost, and she could see tiny gemstones at the corners. Still no coat of arms, she figured it would be a while yet before that happened... She'd been told once that the mark of shield bearer was unique to each person and only got more unique, and beautiful, as the shield bearer grew in rank. There was something encouraging about that thought. This honor was hers. It was special.
She stopped, her head turning as she made note of a noise. Of course, it was a forest, noises were bound to happen. But this wasn't an animal or a plant noise. No, it was more human than that. It sounded like yelling but it was still fairly distant. She followed the noise on foot until an animalistic screech caught her ears, yet still sounding human enough to distinctly carry a voice. Her blood froze in her veins as she realized she recognized that voice. She'd put so much effort into memorizing each and every voice, face, and name. Someone was hurting one of her mutants. She spread her wings and gave them a powerful beat, tuning out the sharp ache at the base of her wings. She flew until she caught sight of smoke and circled a few times. It didn't seem any of them noticed her, but she got a good look at what was happening. She couldn't tell if they were bandits or citizens, but there was a group of what seemed to be 5 looking down at a mutant, assumably yelling by the way their venomous voices traveled all the way up to her position in the sky. The mutant, Ashbel, was a hunter. He was a rather important member of the town because he was a hunter, a good hunter, usually, any food provisions that Etzos couldn't spare to trade over without ending up hurting or raising suspicious he took care of. With the recent famine during her time away from the city his job had become even more important, keeping the larger of the mutants fed was an issue due to their extreme muscle masses need large quantities of protein. His importance was all the more emphasized by the fact he was the sneakiest of all the mutants, meaning it was the safest for him to hunt in broad daylight.
There were a couple different hunters in Lakewatch. Even some more well-known ones like Hellica who used to always get the most peoples attention during the Roast. But most were confined to night hunting due to not wanting to get caught by people. Ashbel was different. He was only 3 feet tall for originally being a full grown man, he was covered in soft velvet fur that was a dark greenish brown. He could easily blend in. Which usually meant there was no danger with him going out to hunt in broad daylight. On top of it all he was one of the stronger mutants in spite of his size. He could easily lift anything he caught, barring maybe a bear which he could easily get buried under. How did they even manage to catch him? The half-breed flew a little ways away looking for a place to land and trying to come up with some kind of gameplan. She didn't want Ashbel to get hurt most of all. He was tight lipped and he wasn't likley to tell the group where Lakewatch was, though they were likely grilling him by now. She could feel a sense of panick quickly rising up in her chest. Where was another shield bearer when you needed them!?
"Common"
"Ith'ession"
