Taisper looks down into the pit. Something about the creature looks familiar but he can't quite place it. "What is that thing? Anyone know? Something about it rings a bell, but I can't remember." Taisper backs off a little bit once he gets a read on its nature; evil, good, or neutral, chaotic or axiomatic. Still not confident in his horsemanship, he's backing away just out of sight for fear the canine would startle his horse.
Tandlara saunters closer on Avansatra. She leans forward in her saddle so she can see from further away.
'I'm not sure either Taispar. It seems to be a normal animal, but maybe I'm mistaken.'
When Taisper looks at its aura, he sees no gold or dark tendrils coming from it, but the simple neutrality of a wild animal.
"Whatever it is, guys, it hasn't been Judged, it's just an animal of some sort. It has no overarching evil or good tendencies. 'Course, having said that, it doesn't appear particularly eager to be our friend, but I suppose if I was stuck down in a pit I'd be crabby, too. 'Stuck in a pit.' Man, does that sound familiar."
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Verik moves up to peer curiously at the creature. "Whatever it is its obviously been down there for a while, its skin and bone. I don't think anyone who wanted its pelt would leave it there for so long would they? Seem needlessly cruel, can we free it? Maybe drop a tree in there so it can escape? I mean it would just run off right, not attack a group of people?"
Eying the canine from a distance, Zander brings his bow to the ready. "If it is desperate for a meal, it could attack us, but we may as well give it a chance; it doesn't look to be anything we couldn't handle."
Climbing down from his saddle, the archer nocks an arrow, "We should all dismount if we're to make any moves to help and probably tie the horses off a little ways away so as not to spook them."
Assuming that freeing the creature will be the group's next action, Taisper leads his horse even further away from the pit, dismounts, and ties off the reins. After requesting from the Keeper, he too draws his bow and readies a shot for if the creature elects to attack its helpers.
Verik lugs over several logs, carefully dropping them into the pit to give the animal a way out. After maybe half a dozen stacked up on each other, the thylacine scrambles up and makes the leap to the edge. Pulling itself with its front legs and clawing with its back, the strange-looking creature makes it up.
It stares at them for a moment, emitting a sound that is half-whine, half-growl. It looks undecided on what to do, its fight-or-flight instincts coming to bear. On the one hand, it hasn't eaten in days and they look tasty; on the other, these people did get it a way out.
Jemini follows Taispers efforts, and by the time the creature can attempt to scramble out she has readied a food ration that she tosses carefully into the vicinity of the creature.
The animal leaps on it hungrily, devouring it in moments. It stares up at Jemini, an inquisitive whine on its throat. It looks more amenable but still quite famished. It bats a paw against the ground, yipping softly. It still appears skittish but less likely to try to snack on them.
Berrin dismounts of Bessie, giving it a glare as he does, the nag was not making his day any easyer. "Well it looks less hostile now. Shall we scare it off or does someone want a dog?" He then goes into his pack for a piece of dried meat and tosses it to the thing. "Who's a hungry fella? Poor boy, been stuck down there for who knows how long. Thats it boy, eat up."
The thylacine hungrily snacks on the dried meat, its tail beginning to wag. It gulps down the ration, then whines some more at Berrin. It actually looks quite happy to be there, not hostile towards them anymore. It trots over towards Berrin, sniffing at him cautiously.
Taisper very slowly lowers his bow, not wanting to make any sudden moves. "Berrin, looks like you have a new buddy." he says softly. He still doesn't know what this thing is, but he knows enough not to suddenly start shouting or moving quickly for fear of startling it while it's so close to his friend.
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"Hehe, should have guessed Berrin would be a regular animal charmer, his horse is so obviously in love with him." Verik says smiling. "Um, should we feed him more or try to, uh, get him to go away? I mean it is a wild animal isn't it?"
He checks the beast over to see if it has a collar or any signs of domestication.
After letting it sniff him Berrin slowlie gets up hands showing so there's no sudden moves. Taking out more meat from the ration pack he let's it sniff it before tossing it into the bush. "Hya! Scat! Go on! Hya!" he says to the thing, gesturing wildly shooing it away.
As the beast scampers off with a whine, obviously confused, Berrin turns back to Bessie and mounts up. "No sence rearing a wild animal, that thing looked dangerous." he states simply.
"I've seen stranger things called pets. In fact, I'd not be half surprised if Tandlara were to decide to keep Verik."
"I don't know about that... the Ustalav shepherd is a great example of pedigree with purpose: powerful, loyal, intelligent, all in an attractive package. But contrast that with a Tien spitzer. At best an adorable fluff explosion on stumpy legs and a tail so retrogade it doubles as a hat," Jemini mumbles on, not really addressing the speech to anyone anymore, "pedigree is nothing if it is not supported by the basic requirements, training, presentation. I'm surprised, though, that you would mention that - there are after all some parallels with pedigree and nobility."
As Jemini continues ruminating on pedigree, Taisper gives her a worried glance but says nothing. He instead looks questioningly over at Zander, his brows knit in a "huh?" expression. He recalls the archer also having some pointed opinions about nobility.
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"Do not make me hit you with another snow ball." Verik says waving a finger at Jemini admonishingly. "Bad girl. Now we just have to see if Berrin's new buddy follows him home, it could be interesting. He looks like he might make a good hunting dog, and they do say masters begin to resemble their pets - and Berrin's already started premptively - they both seem to like falling down pits..."
As he speaks Verik also tries to see if the creature has any wounds from its initial fall.
The animal appears to have scampered off into the woods, scared by Berrin's sudden outburst. Examination of the pit shows that it is otherwise empty. It is identical to Orlivanch's other pits, suggesting that the trapper had been the cause of this as well.
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"He was an evil old monster, but he certainly had a work ethic, shame he had no other kind of ethics." Verik says soberly regarding the pit. "We should cave the sides of this in so nothing else gets caught and faces starving to death."
He ties Virtue off to a convenient branch, rolls up his sleeves and sets about tumbling down the sheer pit walls to gentle escapable slopes.
Tandlara keeps well away from the Thylacine, wary of its wild nature, she keeps a respectable distance. She smiles at Jemini's joke, but keeps somewaht silent, she seems to have returned to her distance from the others once more now that the immediate threat of the group dissolving seems to have passed.
She rides alongside Zander for the remains of the day, watching and listening to everything, but contributing little, she seems content to let the humans get about their discussions and activities with little input from her.
The next few hours are fairly smooth in terms of their explorations. Verik and Zander really seem to have quite the system going for mapping the area, resulting in a meticulously accurate map. It loses a tiny bit of a corner when Riddleskin scampers over during a break and tears off a small piece before anyone notices. Tandlara snaps her fingers at the wizened rat, who returns to his pouch to jealousy guard his new treasure.
The arrival of dusk without finding any more traps means that they likely determined the edge of Orlivanch's trapping area. They set up camp, ready to keep moving onward. They can practically taste Svetlana's cooking. After a long discussion of food, Zander disappears for a few minutes. He returns with a stag on his shoulders, an arrow through its heart.
Looks like venison tonight.
Taisper, who's bringing up the rear again, catches notice of the canine they rescued earlier snuffling around, following a small distance behind as they make their way back. At dinner, as the group enjoys venison from Zander's kill, he nods at Berrin. "Berrin, hey, I don't think your new four-legged friend is gonna give up as easy as we maybe thought." He jerks his head in the direction of where the creature is waiting. "Wanna give him some more scraps?" He asks this question of the group as much as Berrin himself.
'This is unfortunate,' Tandlara says quietly.
'He may attack us if he doesn't get any food, and I'd rather not interfere with the ecosystem. That said, if we do feed him he won't go away, no animal passes up a free source of meals. Me included,' she smiels at this last and takes a small strip of venison she hs dissected with a knife, placing it in her mouth with a smile. She had requested her bits on barely cooked, and it seems to drip red juices as she drops it on her tongue.
Buisying himself with skinning and quartering the stag Berrin strips down to his trousers for the job, not wanting to bloody his shirt. First he burries a hole to put the innards in then he takes the skin off as carefully as he can, using his knife to cut through the fat layer and letting it fall of almost by itself. Letting the skin lie on the ground as he hangs up the carcass he then scrapes the fat of the skin before setting to the carcass. Using his axe Berrin splits the stag first by separating the rear from the spine, then taking the sides off he separates the spine from the front and then splits the front down the spine. Setting the spine and the legs aside for eating tonight he cuts off strips of the skin to make loops to hang the rest up for preservation. Using the hole he dug previously he dumps the innards, exept for the heart, liver, bris and kidneys, in and covers them up with a heavy stone on top. Taking out his needle and twine he sews a little bag from the pieces of the skin to hang up the innards he's keeping.
Done in about twenty minutes Berrin sits on his haunches and looks at his work he tries to assess how much will be needed to feed the group at a time. "Between the six of uf I'd reckon we have enough meat for two meals and maybee a third meal from leftovers. We can roast the legs and spine now for some fine game and chuck the rest in a pot to stew. The stew migh do for two meals if we can find some vegetables, some potatoes or onions or other roots."
Then setting up the fireplace with stones to support a stative he scewers the legs and spine and sets them over the low burning fire, turning them over often so they don't burn to much the party can eat the stag as it gets cooked, bit by bit, first one side, the the other and then the other side again.
Seeing that the party doesn't actually have a couldron with them Berrin sighs and digs another hole. Stacking it with wood he sets a fire going, letting it burn down he places some skin over the coals and stacks the rest of the meat on the skin. Placing more skin over teh meat he burries it in the hole to cook for the night. "Best I can do." he mutters apologeticly.
Jemini considers, then speaks against handing out more easy scraps to the creature. "He's been following us quite a bit - so he's clearly healthy enough again to forage for himself again. Or herself. I don't really want him to follow us all the way to Oleg's." Looking at Berrin's gourmet handiwork she mentions: "We'll need to put up a watch, if only to protect the food. I imagine the beast will go nuts smelling all this on an empty stomach. But good job Berrin! I've only ever heard or read of these techniques. It's something entirely different seeing it applied for real."
After a moment of afterthought she adds, "Maybe we should find something good for Svetlana on our way back. She'd probably appreciate if we can get our hands on something. And even though Oleg is too grumpy to show it, he'd like it too."
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Verik looks at everyone, "Ah come now, he was nearly starved to death he might not be able to hunt for himself. There's a big difference between hunting and following surely? Lets give the poor fella some meat, we have plenty, and things won't go well if he decides he has to get it without our consent. Lets give him a leg."
I wonder if any of the soldiers are any good at training animals, they came on horses... Imagine if we could find a female, or a male if this one is female. Hunting dogs bred off that thing would be quite something!
Looking up from turning the meat as Taisper reveals the precence of the canine he sighs and turns back to the cooking. "Seems we've attracted it to us. Durn stupid dog. I've always wanted a dog actually but I don't really see myself rearing the thing. Just look at how well I'm doing with Bessie. A trained riding horse hardly listens to me, how will I manage a wild dog."
Cutting off a piece of meat he nevertheless goes closer to the canine and tosses him a chunk. "Still, one can dream." he mutters as he feeds it. "Now go on! Scat! Get lost!" he again waves his arms, shooing the thing away.
Getting back to the fire he sits back down to the cooking. "Did anyone actually recognize the species?" he asks curiously.
"Oh! And Jemini. Svetlana said somthing of moonradishes growing west of Oleg's. Maybee we'll come upon a patch if we head through there on our way in."
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"Maybe one of the soldiers could train it? We could ask, they are not doing much and he looks formidable enough that the effort would be worthwhile... If he is going to follow us anyway it is better to have him trained, dangerous otherwise. Maybe Oleg can suggest someone, there must be someone skilled with animals in these parts, I bet some of the trappers use dogs." Verik says enthusiastically, throwing a large meat covered bone over to the canine.
"If you keep him, it's up to you. I'm not much interested." Jemini gives of cat-person vibes.
"No, sorry! She said south. Somewhere to the south. And yeah. A trained guard dog would be handy out here, maybee we could train it to hunt as well? That would be absoulutely beutifull I rekon." Berrin says dreamely, lost in thoughts of stalking through high grass with the dog.
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Verik shrugs, "What would you have us do? He's following us. We either have to get rid of him, or train him, we cannot bring a big wild dog close to Oleg's it would be dangerous, he needs taming. You should give him a name Berrin. Those moon radishes would be good, a nice surprise for Svetlana, but we have used up a lot of rations, how much would it slow us?"
I always wanted a dog, if we can find another and they have puppies...
'Some animals can never truly be tamed, or trained. That creature is not a regular dog. I would be wary of whether it can ever be properly tamed. Worth a try perhaps, I don't think we'll easily get rid of her now, but don't be too dissapointed if it doesn't work out.'
The thylacine scoots into the firelight to tentatively snatch the offered bit of meat and carries it back to the brush it was hiding in. With a contented series of quiet yips, it eats the snack with a tail that wags hard enough to offer a light breeze. It sits calmly and happily in the brush, giving them a chance to look at it fairly closely. It looks to be similar in appearance to a jackal and canine, with powerful back legs and strangely small front legs. Its jaws are impressively large, almost oversized in proportion to its head. The red fur is fairly vivid, though its poor nutrition is probably taking some of its luster.
"Well it's a strange dog to say the least." Berrin mutters as he eyes the dog. "What did you call it again?" he says, looking a Tandlara and Taisper, hoping either of them will have more insight into the unusual canine. "I don't mind a dog really, as long as it behaves."
"Beh. Spare me all that yipping and yapping and excessive licking and the stink and of course the leg humping."
Zander smiles as the canine eats the offered meat and says, "I don't know, a hunting companion would be pretty useful and he seems friendly enough. I don't know much about animal training either, but we could ask around Oleg's to see if he or Svetlana or any of the newcomers could help. I bet he'd make a good guard dog too; I say we let him stick around. Maybe we can give him those guts to fatten him up a bit?"
Tossing another scrap in the direction of the thylacine, Zander thinks for a moment before saying pointedly, "I think we should name him Reggie."
"Reggie huh? You like that boy? Are you a Reggie? You look like a Reggie, don't you? Reggie it is than." Berrin muses as first but nods in affirmation at the last.
Zander nods an affirmative, "Definitely a Reggie."
Turning to Jemini, he asks, "What's wrong? Don't like dogs? They're pretty great if you ask me. We had an old hound dog when I was a kid. My dad and I used to take him out with us whenever we went hunting," Pausing in mid speech, Zander's eyes focus on the silhouette of a distant leaf out in the woods and he gets a faraway look in his eyes, "That old hound could smell a stag from a mile away it seemed like. One time he helped us track an elk for six days and never lost the trail once. My old man was about to give up at the end of it, but he led us right to it... I wonder what ever happened to that old dog..."
"I guess it's my blood showing through - but I just do not enjoy the company of most dogs. Cats, now them I like, but dogs are just so in your face. My dad, too, loves dogs - though our kennels aren't particularly extensive. I must take from my mother's side."
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"But dogs are useful, and when trained dependable, cats are just... You know, lazy, haughty, and self serving. Plus everyone knows that puppies beat kittens." Verik says shaking his head, "I mean I suppose they keep down mice... But that's just what they eat its not like they are doing it as a favor to you. Each to their own I suppose, and I do admit dogs can be a tad odour rich for my taste. My mother would never let us have either, let alone a kennel, but then we never had a garden... My parents are lawyers," he manages to make the word lawyers sound faintly unsavory, "So we had a townhouse, nice, but no garden."
Tandlara looks oddly at the humans at their discussion of pets. In her youth, and throughout her life she has befriended many animals, but with the elven lifespan a dog dies before you even get to know them, and cats are mere fruitflies. To keep bets and bond with them as humans do is alien to her. Even Riddleskin was growing old, and he was a magically imbued familiar, more ally than anything else. Certainly not a pet. She shakes her head and examines Reggie again. Trying to remember what she can from her studies of animals.
The thylacine is actually of a subspecies called Blood Cougars by the Tian-Xia, where they are more common. They're considered a loyal pet if tamed, and far more intelligent than regular thylacines. The breed has far more in common with a marsupial, as the females have a pouch for their young. Reggie has no such pouch, suggesting it to be a proper name.
As the night wears on, Reggie makes his way closer to Berrin. His yips and yaps are both infrequent and strangely cheerful. It seems Berrin is 50-50 for having animals like him. Bessie glares at both Berrin and Reggie, pointedly looking away whenever Berrin glances at her.
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"Bessie thinks you are two timing her Berrin." Verik says chuckling and he lies upon his bedroll by the fire holding his stomach - having partaken in perhaps a little too much venison.
"I'll take last watch if nobody minds." He says yawning hugely, having removed his breastplate he stares at his chain shirt for a long time, but cannot bring himself to put it on and is soon asleep.
"Bessie probably knows what she's on about." Jemini gives Reggie a long look and inadvertently smiles when he wags his tail at her. She quickly looks away, "Stupid mutt."