Event Start: Renzu's Flock; Predator or Pray

[greatbeasts]

There's a commotion by the ocean.

At dusk, a strange and unsteadily honored tradition begins to cause unrest within the city. It's nearing the end of a trade season, and the approach of winter brings with it a tenuous and uncomfortable truce of necessity. A small trading group of Beast Hunters dock their ships at Outer Nuren's pier, just within Dragon Bay. They have brought with them hides, trinkets, meat, fish, rare plants, magical items and caged common creatures from the wildlands beyond the city's walls. In turn, they seek fabric, clothing, lumber, weaponry, armor and food from Nuren's harvests. Most of the Beast Hunters have come to trade their goods, while others are there to relax for a week in the seedier Outer Nuren, where the citizens are less likely to bother them and they can pick their fights and conversations with little concern for the preaching of the devout or the judgement of the sheltered citizens in the city proper. Beast Hunters are fond of tavern brawls and games of chance, though their regard for a scion's dragon, or any magical creatures, is visibly and openly one of disgust and discomfort. Despite this, many of the traveling traders enjoy sharing stories and will pass on tales of the fearsome and dangerous creatures they proudly boast to have killed or survived encounters with. There is open distrust or curiosity toward the scions and their worlds, but in general the Beast Hunters are a far more survivalist group of Remnants with a scattering of Touched. They're grim, rough around the edges and quick to violence and anger, but a bit of gold, flattery, charm or gambling can soothe most tempers. For a few gold, a scion skilled at games of dice, chance, or drinking competitions might find a profit in Outer Nuren throughout the week, and curious souls could learn more about the world beyond the city walls. Including its dangers and potential treasures, stories of the Wastewalkers or wild magical creatures and lands, and boastful accounts of survival against horrible odds. The Beast Hunters have a low opinion of the city citizens, calling them soft and worthless creatures who lean too heavily on their faith and security. Likewise, the citizens of Nuren have low opinions of the Beast Hunter's, calling them dangerous cut-throats and warning that they will gladly stab you in the back or poison your drink for a single gold coin or to steal the young and vulnerable dragons from their scions. Open scorn from both sides is apparent while the Beast Hunters linger in Outer Nuren, with fights both physical and magical breaking out. While the citizens may not venture far beyond Nuren's walls, they are practiced magic users and skilled fighters, albeit a bit less prone to fighting dirty. By the end of the week, the Beast Hunters will have sold their goods, and will pack up their ships and leave, refusing passage to scions and citizens alike. Only Beast Hunters may sail aboard their vessels, and any stowaways will be thrown to the sea serpents and sharks.

Strange magical feats in the streets.

In stark contrast to the rough and rowdy Beast Hunters, another group has grown active in Upper Nuren, becoming very visible during the week. A group of Scholars of Renzu have returned to the city from a trip to Renzu's temple, and bring back with them more of the great Griffin's teachings and knowledge. Throughout the week, the scholars try to get involved with the Scions. They offer to help the Scions understand and learn what their elemental alignment is, and how to use the ability they and their dragon now share. Several of the scholars hold daily 'classes' in the squares of Upper Nuren. Displays of elemental ability occur in the squares, along with discussions on how the different elements relate to and interact with one another. In the evenings, the Lorekeepers of the group tell tales to small gatherings of young citizens and any interested Scions, teaching them about Renzu and occasionally delving into tales of Chelba, Benra, Mouros, and Lysheu. A few scholars with powerful shield and healing magic offer to help Scions practice their magic, so that they can learn how to use their new abilities, and learn what to expect if their dragon decides to use their magic as well. At the end of the week, when the Beast Hunters have sailed away, the scholars will still be present, but less visibly active away from the smaller temple of Renzu within the city.

And a fine feathered friend around every bend.

Osaaru's sparsely filled streets have begun to fill in with the sounds of life. Excited citizens, exploring scions and intrepid young dragons have to learn to live with one another in the city. The adjustment is easier for some than it is for others. None understand this better than the Great Griffin. Renzu, the Great Griffin and Guardian of Knowledge, is a prominent and active guardian, revered and respected by a large portion of Nuren's population. The wisdom of the Great Beast is spoken of by any Scholar, Mage or devout citizen who mentions either of the Great Griffin's names. Though largely viewed as a gentle guide and known to be the Observer who watches over the city, there are occasions where the Great Beast takes a more direct approach. As evening descends, a distant chime begins to fill the air. The darker the sky grows, the more the melody seems to grow, always faint but with new melodies whispering and intertwining their way through the winds that sweep as gentle breezes through the city streets and alleyways. The distant sounds create a melody of wind chimes accompanied by a faint song that seems to resemble the soft music of wind instruments. It fills the air for a week, always faint but present, and all who hear it are likely to feel a calming, peaceful emotion settle over them, that comes and goes over time. With the winds and music, a flock of Griffins and Grifflings have entered the city, taking perches on buildings and walls. They play with or assist the citizens of Nuren and any scions who do not attempt to attack them. Grifflings race across rooftops in playful games of tag and chase, or engage young dragons in tag or hide and seek to sharpen their hunting skills. Griffins, some larger than lions in size, stroll through the streets, lending their backs to the pulling of wagons, or their wings to the creation of helpful currents. With some dragons nearing an age of testing their wings, and other young hatchlings beginning to fill the city, Renzu decided to take the young creatures and their scions under wing and give them a first lesson in their new lives. Renzu's flock are there to help the young dragons with their first steps toward flight. Throughout the week they can be seen acrobatically soaring through the skies above Nuren or creating small controlled winds and gusts to lift young dragons and their scions into the air. Gently approaching a Griffin may even see the creature allowing citizens or scions to ride on their backs, provided the person in question is respectful. Their powerful wings and large forms allow them to carry scions and their young dragons, or up to two people, on their backs. While they may be unable to ferry about larger creatures, they will gladly assist others where possible. The citizens of Nuren caution against injuring or threatening Renzu's flock. Most will insist they are gentle and harmless creatures as long as no harm is done to them. Injuring or killing a Griffin or Griffling is severely frowned upon by the citizens, though a Beast Hunter or two might be willing to pay a high price for one. Any harm or threat scatters the flock, making them distrustful and even aggressive toward the attacking or threatening party. From then on, the Griffins and Grifflings will not allow the scion in question to approach them or others of the flock. At the end of the week, Renzu's flock take wing, returning to the mountains they came from and leaving only a few scattered Grifflings playing in buildings and on the streets. With them goes the music, fading away on the gentle winds.

Notes

Please direct all questions to the Q&A on the plotting post. Additionally there is a post on the OOC community for talking about upcoming wishes in the Tide of Wishes Here. You are welcome to use this post to toss out open or closed starters and tag around, or to make your own posts within the community. Another post will go up for the Tide of Wishes, soon. In the meantime, there is an OOC post for you to leave your character's wishes, if you so choose, or to discuss them with others.

Comments

Ruri Kurosaki | Open for business!

[lyrical_nightingale]

[I. Even demons refuse to do business with a monster]

[If it wasn't evident before, Ruri likes shopping. While part of it is because of the novelty of doing such a thing- something she hasn't been able to do in years- shopping and trading were impertinent to survival, and while Ruri was comfortable with the few things she did have, she was aware she lacked a lot of knowledge and was short on resources. So when she hears that some rather curious traders have come in, she packs herself the few things she's can offer to trade, along with some coins and a dagger and sets off for Outer Nuren with her dragon at hand.

The hides and meat don't interest her at all, but the common creatures, trinkets and the magical items certainly do. And every day Ruri would be glancing at the selection of goods that are laid across the table. A large number of them are a ludicrous price, but they're pleasing to the eye, and there's a couple of them that Ruri actually does consider buying, like what seemed to be some plant that continuously produced small but juicy fruit no matter how much it was picked at.]

Excuse me! Ah... no, please. Excuse me. Over here!

[Ruri's small, and she's easily ignored by the hunters, who pretend who didn't see her and went to tend to other people interested in their wares. Ruri frowns deeply and grits her teeth, trying to hold in her temper after numerous attempts to try attract attention.]

SSsscccrrrreeeeeeeekkkkkkk.

Obsidian. No... Easy boy. I don't want to start anything. [Ruri says, stroking the black lump in her arms, trying to calm him down. Those who see her dragon though may not be too surprised why she's being ignored, even if Ruri is baffled herself. In her arms, it looks like she's holding a demon potato, with red, beady eyes and way too much teeth. It looks outright evil and like it would kill someone, even despite being a newborn. Yeesh.]

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[II. But I will continue, swearing on my honour as a Scion.]

Ruri is surprisingly sneaky when she wants to be, and she blends in the crowd more or less when she's quiet. It's not hard to slip into a bar, even if she's underage, and she just lingers in the background. She's got no skill in gambling, nor can she drink, and she's not willing to try her luck, so Ruri spends her time mostly listening to boasting Beast Hunters telling tales of great monsters and far off lands. It's a new source of information and Ruri notes down anything she deems important, though the rampant use of profanities and the way the men talk about Nuren's locals and dragons make her sick to the bones. However, being sneaky involves being patient, and even though she's uncomfortable in the crowd, Ruri retains her composure like a proper lady.

Unfortunately for Ruri, her partner is not a fine lady, but a baby dragon that's connected to her emotions. Obsidian doesn't quite understand what's going on, nor does he understand the potential danger they're in, but he picks up on her discomfort and he climbs up on her head, in attempt to make her laugh.]

Obsidian. No. Come on, baby. You have to be quiet. [However, despite her best efforts, Ruri was unable to calm her dragon down in time to avoid being detected. A few Beast Hunters look her way and begin jeering at her dragon in particular.]

'Look at that one, he's really a monster.'

'Oh man, how can you even bare to look at him? And all that teeth. He must be a nightmare.'

He's not! He's really sweet and kind and gentle.

'I think you're not all quite there, girly.'

I think you're being quite rude. You have no right to be saying these sort of things.

'And you got no right to be raising magical beasts, foreigner. Get that purse to be out of here. And get lost. Go back to your mommy, little girl.' [Ruri purses her lips at that comment and Obsidian snarls immediately, showing three rows of baby teeth off for the Beast Hunters. Ruri balls her fists, and she looks around. She's about two seconds from taking a bottle and smashing it over the man's head (who is clearly three times her size).]

Please, I don't want any trouble. Stop.

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[III. Teach me how to vanquish my foes.]

[The scholars are much more tolerable for Ruri, and after that tense night at the bar, the girl is more than happy to retreat to Upper Nuren when she finds out about the people trying to educate her about the world. While the safe way to learn about things wasn't always the best, it was far more pleasant a bunch of brutes that didn't have any regards for her or her partner.

But she finds being here a whole lot more educational. Ruri finds herself in the squares at every class, 'ooing' and 'ahhhing' the many magical displays and talking to the people. Even after the classes are supposedly done, Ruri lingers back so she can engage one on one with the scholars and ask more about theory, like an excited student talking to a professor. By the end of her first day, Ruri has a little book with the list of elements and which ones interacted well with each other and which ones didn't.

Her element is wind, and when she finds that out, Ruri can't keep the smile off her face. She loved everything about the air, and her dream was to bring smiles freely, soaring through the air as the birds did. Her ability was a little tricky to find out, but Ruri found out what it is before too long, she just had to figure out how to use it. And... well, the safest ways weren't always the best.]

Excuse me. [She smiles gently as she approaches, politely bowing.] Would you... be up for some sparing? I'm still trying to learn about my magic, and I need all the practice I can get. [Her dragon next to her waddles up and gives a toothy grin, trying to get the good favour of anyone who passed by.

And regardless of how her search for a 'sparring partner' goes, Ruri will remain in the squares until late, listening to the tales about the numerous Great Beasts that made up part of their worlds. She's utterly fascinated by it, and she's happy to share or chat about what she's learned, or just the strangeness of their new world.]

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[IV. And open my wings. We were meant to fly. ]

[The wind, flowers, birds and the moon. Four natural beauties of the world, that sung a faint song that tied life together. Despite not knowing who she really was, Ruri's always had a special kinship to this sort of thing and hearing the music when it first echoes through the evening affects Ruri deeply, in ways she doesn't quite understand. The gentle sounds makes Ruri feel a little sad, but ultimately at peace, and whenever she heard the melody any concerns and fears she had were tided over, especially when she needed it the most.

After hearing about Renzu, Ruri naturally wanted to go and see the griffons that the locals were talking about, and quickly made the habit of getting up shockingly early each morning (before even dawn broke) and creeping out to the city to get an early morning view of the griffons. Whenever Ruri had a free moment in the day, she and Obsidian would go and search for a griffon or five around town and just spend time around them.

Obsidian was possibly more in love with the griffons than Ruri. Playmates! Playmates that had actual legs (Habuto's legs certainly did not count) and were willing to play with him despite how scary he looked. Ruri couldn't help but laugh as Obsidian bolted after Grifflings and tackled them playfully, and engaged in every game. Of course, being a friendly sort of demon potato, Obsidian often ran up to a stranger or their dragon or both, and tried to entice them into playing with him with his slasher smile.

However, it became clear very quickly that despite his size and weight, Obsidian was enamoured with flying. Ruri was astounded to find that the downy feathers around Obsidian's body wasn't just ordinary feathers, but wings that were tightly curled around his torso. He wasn't strong enough to achieve liftoff, but whenever Renzu's flock decided to make currents instead of let their young ones play, Obsidian was up with his wings open, Ruri hovering around him like a worried mother, ready to catch him at any given moment. Obsidian wasn't scared though. In fact, he was making happy little screeches as he flew.]

AWwRGRGHHHHHAAAAAKKKK!!! ARRRRRGHHHHH!

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[V. So come join me in flight together.]

[Ruri was a respectful woman. She was gentle and she knew her place. She wasn't sure if the Griffons wanted meat or bread or fish, so she ended up bringing a bit of everything as an offering in order to just touch one. She was more than surprised to find that she was allowed far more than just touching the soft fur of the griffons.]

This. is. AMAZING!

[She told herself that the first time she hopped on was purely to honour the privilege the griffons had given her, and the second time was so she had a better idea of what to expect when Obsidian was big enough to ride. But by the eighth time she took to the air, her rapunzel-like hair whipping behind her, Ruri was out of excuses and just there enjoying the experience. If anything was taking away the homesickness and worry, this was. She felt in her element, the wind skimming all around her as the griffon flew over Nuren. Obsidian was basically doing the same thing too, roaring at the top of his lungs as he clung onto the griffon's head, wings spread out and tongue hanging out like a dog's as they took sharp turns in the air.

Ruri was really getting used to the feeling and slowly, without realising it, she was getting used to directing the griffon which way she wanted to go. There was no sharp yanks, or digging of her heels. The griffons guided her to lean with them preemptively, so they moved together as a single unit instead of the griffon taking passengers for a ride.

If not met circling in the skies, Ruri will eventually land. She bows to the griffon as she gets off and Obsidian follows her lead, bowing his head.] Thank you so much. It was such an honour to do that again. Thank you so much.

[She turns and beams at possibly everyone and anyone else who was watching, her cheeks flushed red and her hair messy, but the smile on her face unable to be defeated.] Ah... You should try ride them too. They're amazing.

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[VI. Wildcard Why do I have so many prompts?]

[Hit me with anything you'd like! Or find Ruri anywhere around town, building the equivalent of bird houses for the Grifflings.]