Otataral, 956th Year in the Time Dying

[albatross]

In the market...

The official says to Bellephobe, "For silver we will trade grain, leather, furs or wool at ten to one." He smiles, "For information about a band of raiders that big, a short stay at a tavern could be arranged. If you can track them again I can send a scout with you to check them out."

[shiivster]

Aki uses her gift to check on the mare with the twins as the other mares are not as close to delivering.

Animal husbandry skill check to determine how long before she'll drop her foals
Result of the throw of dice "1d100" : 27 [pass]

if its inside an hour or two she'll get her water for cleaning ready, otherwise she'll settle on the fence and hum to herself while getting a few more things ready

[thorley]

Bellephoebe responds

"Scouting them would not be difficult, as the men who met us as we arrived can doubtlessly attest I am in possession of a flying mount, which is how I covered so much distance so quickly. I have no problem with bringing one of your scouts with me for another fly over, providing they are light enough since Starlighter will have to carry two."

Bellephoebe also realizes she will have to remove some of the gear she has packed onto Starlighter (which should still be being watched), but she's interested in finding out more about this large band of men, and this seems to be the only way.

[albatross]

Aki realizes it will be at least another day before the birth, unless something unexpected happens... hard to predict after all. Aki should have time to gather anything she needs to get ready

[albatross]

The trade official sends for a short scout, little more than a boy. "He'll do? They don't come much smaller then him. When can you fly out?"

[albatross]

The huge wildcat recovers and leaps at Romidus [dice=20]+2[rand=2631437135860324382062860764563157455322705209269187351204454899]

[Dome]

Romidus raises one of his chain wrapped arms to ward off the beast, at the same time bringing his other hand up under the beast to push it up and over his head.

[dice=20+4](13)Block wildcat attack
[dice=20+4](11)Throw cat over shoulder[rand=429581126533867158737294956125531066143813744120485278658799805175]

[thorley]

Bellephoebe says "I can leave immediatly actually" Bellephoebe will then introduce herself to the scout as she bring him to Starlighter "I am Bellephoebe, my mount is a creature called a Gryphon, he's quite fierce but if your cautious in approaching there shouldn't be a problem. Once we lift off, hold on tight, we'll be moving at a fairly good clip. Hopefully you'll get a decent view but keep in mind that a lot of these guys have bows so I'm going to want to prioritize keeping out of their range".

Bellephoebe will then introduce Starlighter to the scout, remove some of the heavier gear from Starlighter since he'll be carrying two, and then making sure to also arm herself with her composite bow & plasma arrows and a few of the grenades (6) Darrel sent just in case things don't go as smootly. Then she'll do a flyover, trying to make it as safe as possible since she doesn't want to get Starlighter pincushioned.

[albatross]

The wildcat takes a tumble and attempts to land its feet [dice=20]+3. Before it can recover Ora drops her boomerang and draws her long thin stone rapier. It is thin for her, but still a huge sword. She lunges at the big cat [dice=20]+

The cat doesn't land on feet and Ora sticks it with the big sword. The thing howls in pain and lashes at Ora with its claws [dice=20]+

Ora moves to parry [dice=20]+

Damage from sword strike...[rand=14081615861505275779579812660813577402416616678208047904446721077]

[shiivster]

'be brave little one. i will be back shortly. unless you become stressed you should drop them tomorrow' *that said she moves about the fence line checking things out. her companion has hopped out to continue its snooping as well. between the two of them, then clear the ground of sharp objects.

*once done with that, Aki and Yumi head towards the market place to look for certain grains that are already preground, otherwise she'll simply ask 'who own little mare? *describes perfectly* she is needing ground grains for before babies and for afterward. i need talk to owner to buy them for her. other mares strong enough, not need'

[albatross]

The town inexperienced master of horse is at least able to get Aki ground grain. He even thoughtfully stocks up quite a bit so there will be enough for the later pregnancies.

[albatross]

Even on Starlighter it takes a while to cautiously backtrack the horsemen. From the air it seems the band follows a dry streambed up into the mountains. The scout holds on tight and seems to grip tighter at any sudden altitude changes. He says little, trying to keep a brave face things. When they catch sight of the riders, he curses quietly. Starlighter tries to hang back but its possible some of the riders saw them. "I've seen enough, let's go back, the scout says."

[shiivster]

Aki leans on the fence and is nuzzled from time to time by a horse, who she pats without thought. giving comfort from one that seeks it. she takes the time to slowly explain various cures for injuries. a yearling moves forward to be the one that gets demonstrated on and acts proud that he's helping.

*she motions the towns horse keeper in and picks up the front foot without an issue. she shows how she 'asked' physically for the horse to lift and the reward of a bump with the head. she shows various things on the hoof to watch for and pries a stone out.

she goes over the information she 'learns' from the horses, and what she knows in general. then waits for him to ask a question. her answers are slow, to ensure that they are spoken correctly. she is smiling near the end of the chat. this one wants to learn

[thorley]

Bellephoebe will turn Starlighter around and head back to the village asking the scout "I assume by the cursing, you know who these guys are and they aren't friendly?". She isn't concerned about having been spotted, since she was figuring she was noticed before, her major concern being to not see Starlighter injured.

When she lands and returns to town for the scout to give his report she'll give a single portion of silver to the town trader and tell him "I'll need a bunch of meat, as raw as possible, to feed Starlighter. She's now done two pretty decent flights and deserves the treat. Besides turning her loose to hunt this close to the town might cause some problems, though if you don't have the meat for sale, I'll probably send her out to hunt back the way we came to minimize problems."

The tavern stay aside, Bellephoebe is mostly concerned about finding out more about these riders since we have to travel through them it seems.

[albatross]

The big cat flees upon being injured, limping away and growling.