51st of Ymiden 721
Hiking through the Mistral woods took some nerve for Karolis. He was dressed richly, with a fancy adamantite sword tied to his belt, a well-tailored silk-lined leather jacket, with a shining crystal broach upon its lapel. Beneath the jacket, he wore a simple linen white shirt. On his legs a pair of deep brown buckskin trousers. They were all well-made, however humble they might've compared to Karolis' usual wear. Yet he didn't want to attract too much attention to himself. He was already overdressed for a stroll through the woodland paths.
The domain bag slung over his shoulder carried much of the remnants of his life within them. Trinkets, keepsakes, and necessities brought forth from his former life in Scalvoris. Back when he'd been an avriel. He knew full well that galavanting as the red-feathered avriel Kalortah would only attract undue attention, and possibly the bounty hunters who even now sought his scalp. No, he could leave no clue or indication that he was still anywhere remotely in the orbit or reach of Scalvoris. Kalortah had to disappear, and in his place, Karolis arose. The transformation gem that made it possible was tucked into an amulet in his inner pocket. There, he could change back into Karolis, should he be startled into dropping the disguise.
He kept his eyes peeled as he walked along, yet was getting weary already. How humans could abide merely walking when flying was a more sensible option... Well, obviously they had no choice in the matter.
Karolis sighed, tired already from all of his walking. He sat down to a nearby log, which was dry enough for him to safely rest upon without worrying about dirtying his clothes too much. He pulled out a whistlewood ocarina from his pocket and tested its tune against his lips. Not bad, so long as he kept it simple. Even simple combinations of notes were beyond him at this point, but it made a sweet sound besides the fact that he had little experience in its use. It was a decent accompaniment to his voice, and lyrical style.
Uninvited, a starling alighted to the ground nearby. It was then that Karolis recalled the errand that had brought him to Rharne. He was to raise the profile of bird adoration of the Glass Quarter. Yet how could he inspire anyone to love something, when he had perennially been afflicted by the love of nothing but his own self? He supposed he would have to learn to love birds, at least enough that he could convince others. Certainly, he could appreciate their aesthetically pleasing forms, the fact that they could fly, and their sweet voices. Otherwise, the avriel he had been, usually regarded them as little more than mice with wings. Pests to be driven off or scorned.
Sighing to himself, he drew a long note from his whistlewood ocarina. And so began a song, a scrapped verse of a half-completed song he'd written a long time ago. Only this was altered to be less about the 'glories' of avriel kind, and more about birds generally. Karolis had always had a penchant for improvisation and alteration of his lyrics on the fly. And so he began on that long, drawn note.
"Tunes so soft as fresh down floating on the wind,"
He whistled another tune into his ocarina, and the Starling seemed to take notice of him, hopping around and tweeting its little voice out at him, as he went along.
"Softly falling upon the ground of merry-made mankind.
The bird hopped up closely to Karolis now, sidling up to where he was seated, so it could listen to the words and tunes coming out of this stranger.
"Moons above shed light there, upon an echo of the din,"
So he finished, with a pair of notes, and then one long drawn-out refrain from the ocarina.
"To where the gentle nest of the Starling lies."
He finally conceded to the creature that was his audience, smiling down at the bird. It was then he began invoking the bird's tongue, and spoke to the Starling in its own language, perhaps to its surprise. "Hello there, friend. What news do you have of this woodland path?"
The bird stood silent for a few moments. After a long pause, it began to respond...
