faderift | [Closed - Warden Assignment] So Take These Broken Wings...

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[Closed - Warden Assignment] So Take These Broken Wings...

WHO: Bethany, Carver, Inessa, Alex, Audra, and Myr
WHAT: Summary of content
WHEN: Timing (backdated, covering a span, etc.)
WHERE: Location
NOTES: Content warnings, OOC notes, links to other relevant posts, etc.

In the Beginning of our Tale, the griffons were acting oddly.

Well, let us get more specific ... some of the griffons were acting oddly, and that was causing some distress to the other griffons. Enough that Bethany was standing outside of their nesting area, frowning with no little concern. Flea was snapping at poor Butterball and Potato. At the bottom of the stairs, Button was making a distressed noise, turning around in circles as he tried to find a way to climb up to the tower.

Not to mention that Burp and Uggie were nowhere to be seen. The Senior Mage warden put down one of the buckets of food to watch the griffons for a few moments longer, before she put out the meals in piles, all around the top of the tower. She knew others were there, and she knew they all looked as concerned as she did.

She went over to Carver, where the two started a quiet conversation as they went to check on Buttons down below. By the time they reached the base of the tower, however, it was not as quiet as it could have been...

" -- well yes I know you're worried, Carver, but it's not like we have a griffon doctor on hand." Came Bethany's voice from inside the tower, "All we can honestly say is that they are acting ... 'odd'."

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"And 'odd' might not bode well." See, this is what Carver feared. They have little to no information about griffon behavior patterns, so they have no guide to know if this is normal or not. "It's not like we have other griffons around. If something happens to this lot, it's over."

And he's not about to let that happen. He scrubs a hand over his face. "At the very least, we need to see what Burp and Uggie are going. Not sure where to start with Flea and Buttons."

What's that, friends? You're trying to have a private discussion? That's just too bad, because it relates to animals and behaviour patterns and their general wellbeing, which is a flame to the moth that is Alexandra Karahalios. Or maybe she's the flame, accidental destruction is occasionally her second greatest talent.

"First of all, love the names," Alex leans against the entranceway to the tower. "G'day Muscles, long time no see." What a shame. She's so devastated. Look how sad she is to have been parted from his obnoxiousness. A tragedy. She returns to talking to Bethany, who is clearly the superior person to address by virtue of not being Carver, "second of all, I heard something about trouble and griffons. Lucky for you, you have a fantastic veterinarian on the scene. Here to help."

Heading from the opposite way, clearly on her way up to the rookery, Inessa pauses and changes course as she spots her fellow Grey Wardens. Alex isn't recognized at first, but her voice brings to mind that recent conversation about bees. Her brow furrowing, she steps over and addresses her fellow griffon riders.

"You noticed their behavior too, then? Potato seems uninvolved, thank the Maker. I was thinking of taking her and following the others." Shifting her gaze to Alex, she nods. "I'm one of the Griffon Keepers. Griffons were thought extinct in Thedas for ages, until our clutch was found. We're still relearning much about them. Assistance is certainly welcome."

Edited 2018-04-03 01:18 (UTC)

"'Odd's' putting it mildly," another voice chimes in--and what would you know but it's Myr, carrying a small paper package wrapped in twine and stained through with grease. "Given he's not even paying attention to bacon any longer." He stops near...near-ish...not shouting distance from the others, incline his head in what's roughly Alex's direction.

"Seconding Warden Serra on needing the assistance. I'm glad to say our little project in research has turned up a text with a mention of griffons in it, but it's from late Steel, so well after there were any living specimens around."

Bethany starts as a strange woman appears before them, and she glances over at Carver, mouthing 'Muscles?', before she puts on a polite smile. "We're glad for it - ah - what is a ...veterinarian?"

Her polite smile melts into a warmer one for Inessa, and she adds in a greeting to Myr, to let him know he is also welcome to the conversation. "Hello Inessa, hello Myr ... come on over. Let's not go shouting about 'odd griffon behavior' all over the courtyard. Those without trousers will get nervous."

She turns her attention back to Alex, "As my compatriots have said, we've noticed some of the griffons acting ... well, oddly. Burp and Uggie, two of our females, have been flying off on their own to Maker knows where. Button has anxiously been trying to get to the top of the tower, but with the state of his wing, it's not really possible. And Flea ... well. Flea is snapping at the other griffons, Potato and Butterball. Potato and Butterball seem to be unaffected, but the rest of it is quite troubling."

She gave her brother a little smirk, "'Muscles' and I were about to discuss following the females, to see what they were getting up to."

Carver (barely) refrains from sighing heavily and bashing his head against the nearest wall. Of course she shows up. Just what he needs. "Alex," he says in greeting, and also to introduce her to Bethany. He'll leave it to his sister to do the questioning, since he's half sure if he asked what a 'veterinarian' was he'd get some smart-ass remark from her after their last tiff. "We didn't name them. The Wardens at Weisshaupt did, unfortunately."

Inessa and Myr's arrivals relax him a bit. And he's glad they're not the only ones who have noticed the griffons' odd behavior lately. "Ghost hasn't been involved either, but he seems just as confused. It's not like those other ones to get that snappish. Sure, they'll squabble over food occasionally, but not like this."

He slides his sister a mild glare. Don't you even start, Beth. Don't you dare. He's got blackmail on you, remember.

"Animal doctor," she clarifies, although she's... letting her gaze rest on the guy with the bandages wrapped around his eyes for a second. Part curiosity, part medically-based concern, concluding it might have something to do with an injury, although if so the dressings seem woefully inadequate. She opts to leave it alone for now, since from a glance his face doesn't appear inflamed, or having any other clues that might indicate danger, danger, horrifying and recent injury.

She rubs her neck for a moment. "I suppose you aren't referring to the dog breed." That'd be too easy. "Well, my world only has fictional griffons, although across different mythologies there's some different creatures with parallels. Front legs and wings and head of an eagle, body and tail and back legs of a lion, yeah? Royalty of the land and the sky, just about. Does that sound like your griffons?"

Alex chews the inside of the cheek. "Without seeing them it's hard to guess, but are there any threads in common between the ones actin' up and the ones not? Changes in diet, places they've been, people they interact with, habits? Do they groom each other?"

Inessa nods at the description given, raising an eyebrow a little. "Yes, indeed. That's quite an accurate description, for a land where they are fictional." Normally, she would want to discuss those parallels and their significance, but the griffons remain her focus. "Their diets remain unchanged; wherever Uggie and Burp venture to, they return often enough for meals. Buttons lacks a wing, so he cannot fly as the others. Recently, he's shown more distress over this separation, poor thing. And Flea has become downright territorial and short-tempered. It's unwise to tread close to her without explicit permission from her end."

"Maybe Uggie and Burp have found friends?" Audra ventures, having overheard at least part of the conversation as she was approaching regardless, also concerned about the wellbeing of the griffons. She's been visiting them fairly regularly, and has developed a fondness for the creatures. She smiles at the others as she stops next to Inessa, giving her friend a gentle squeeze on the arm in greeting.

"There are big creatures in the mountains, maybe they're going to play."

Her eyebrow quirks, not unkindly, but a little... bemused, verging on incredulous.

"Mating season, not enough mental stimulation or exercise, maybe... inconsistent stuff in their environment or routine? I mean, they could be going to play, but... that seems unlikely if one of them's gettin' territorial. They might be being more aggressive with other animals, not goin' out to socialise."

Her knuckles graze against her jaw, a pensive habit. "Are there any old documents about their temperaments, and that? Even if it's heaps out of date and maybe off base, it'd give us something to work off."

"They're not playing. That's not how they play. Rough, yes, but not that nasty." He shares Alex's incredulous look. And even if that's what they were doing, it didn't explain what was going on with Fleas and Button.

"No, there's really not anything. What exists is probably in Weisshaupt, and let's just say we're not able to go back up there and ask nicely for the copies." It touches on a source of frustration for Carver as of late, as he explains, "I tried scouring our books here, and there's nothing. This is exactly what I was worried about happening: a change in behavior and we've no idea what to attribute it to."

Bethany nodded her head in agreement to what Carver was saying, before adding after that, "They all came from the same place, were all born together. They would never hurt one another outside of some roughhousing, honestly."

She made a face herself, matching Carver's, at the mention of Weisshaupt. "Well I still think your idea is a good one, Carver. We should follow them, make sure everything is all right. That they aren't eating something they shouldn't be, or whatever else is happening here."

Inessa perks up and smiles at Audra upon realizing she has joined them, nodding to Carver's assessment as she's observed them enough by now to see the difference as well. "Their playing style is different, yes, and we try to give them as much stimulation as possible, so that seems less likely. Though...mating season? Would they be old enough? They're large enough to carry riders, yes, but...."

She perks up, intrigued and hopeful at the prospect. "At any rate, I can take Potato to investigate. I believe she can accommodate another rider, as long as I'm there."

"Are they going to get much bigger than they are now? If they're not growing any longer, wouldn't it make sense they're old enough to breed?" Myr picks up the idea Inessa's laid down, worrying at it aloud. "Though-- ... 'scuse me a moment."

Over by the base of the stairs--mostly out of sight of the little clump of Wardens and bystanders--Buttons has begun whining in his distress. It's Not Pleasant; nothing to be done but for Myr to go over there and see if he can't soothe his feathery friend's agitation. "Come on, fella, it can't be that bad..."

True to his unhappy form, Buttons doesn't even notice the package of bacon. Whatever's gotten to him has gotten him bad.

(Note, I'm just writing the initial post! Everything after this is all you guys.)

It happens quite suddenly, while the group is sitting here with their own griffons, watching Butterball and Potato move here and there away from Flea, when suddenly Uggie appeared from nowhere and headed over to the buckets of food that Bethany had left out earlier. She gobbled down one, and then without even batting an eyelash, grabbed two more with her front claws and flew off once more.

Now ... now might be the time to save Butterball and Potato, to see just what Uggie is up to.

"Uggie! Potato, come here." She's unusually impatient as Potato heads over and crouches to let her tiny elven partner aboard, then glances over to the others. "Hurry, we'd better go before he gets too far away!"

She beckons quickly; if anyone cares to join her, they'd better do it fast. Otherwise, she'll take Potato and they'll have to find another way to catch up; the griffons' and their current issues take priority over everything else.

Carver seizes the chance as well, whistling for Ghost. "Come on boy. Let's go see what your sibling is getting up to." Ghostface hurries over, bending to let Carver on.

"We can take a person or two with but get on now. You've got like seven seconds before we go." That means a ride with Carver or Inessa, both who are primed to go and ready to fly.

"I'm coming!"

Audra nods her head, not giving it a thought before pulling herself up onto Ghostface behind Carver. She might otherwise have gone with Inessa, but she doesn't have time to pick and choose, and Ghostface is closer.

That works for her; Inessa nudges Potato and the light grey griffon swiftly takes to the air. She's relieved that her graceful mount is apparently seeing the urgency and refraining from showing off, as Potato is prone to doing. Instead, the griffon responds to her urging by keeping focused on her clutchmate and their ultimate destination.

Carver spares Audra a glance to make sure she's on and holding on tightly. "Keep a tight grip on me!" As soon as she's on, Ghost gallops towards the edge of the tower before leaping off. It's a short dive before his wings spread and they even out. He's a bit slower than Potato, given that he's carrying two, but he keeps pace with her well enough.

Uggie's soaring above the city, heading towards the coast, from the looks of it. She swings south, then west. Without a rider, she's a bit faster than Potato and Ghost. But perhaps it's for the best she doesn't know she's being followed at the moment. She's still in sight, and that's what matters.

Eventually, she finally begins to descend. Very pointedly, she's heading for a set of cliffs near the seaside.

Audra doesn't need to be told twice to hold on tight, especially after Ghostface starts flapping those powerful wings. She tries to angle herself so she can see where they're headed but honestly she forgets a few times that they're in urgent pursuit of Uggie. The view is beautiful and distracting.

But she remembers often enough to catch glimpses of where they're headed, and she shifts a little in her seat, trying to get a better look at the cliffs they're headed towards.

"Why is she headed down there?" she wonders aloud, not really expecting an answer.

Inessa narrows her eyes, taking in the seaside cliffs as they approach. Urging Potato into a descent as well, she keeps a lookout for anything of note. If it's Uggie's new home-away-from-home, there will be signs. Glancing back, she's encouraged to see that Ghostface isn't far behind with his own riders.

Unable to hear anything other than the rush of wind, Inessa knows better than to attempt conversation even over the crystal. Carver's paying attention, he'll know to follow them. When Uggie touches ground, she'll keep Potato in the air just long enough to keep from immediately alarming the first griffon with their presence. Only when Uggie heads off with those buckets does she urge her mount to land in the same spot. Potato's descent and landing are smooth, and she looks smug as Inessa jumps off.

Edited 2018-04-30 13:38 (UTC)

Carver can barely hear Audra either. All he knows is that she said something or other; he hopes it wasn't anything important, though he suspects she'd be poking and pointing if it was.

Uggie's landing spot is located just at the mouth of a cave, high above the waves but still close enough that the sea mist is ever present. Ghost lands right next to Potato moments later, chirping to his sister in greeting. But the happy mood doesn't last.

They're within sight of Uggie, along with Burp, who's further back in the cave. As soon as the griffon sees them, he charges. Wings spread and every inch aggressive, he squawks and screeches at them, going so far as to snap at his siblings. Someone is NOT happy to see them here.

When the griffons touch down Audra moves to slide down off Ghost's back, that is until they're charged by the upset Uggie. She grabs onto Carver again, in case Ghost takes flight suddenly.

"Uggie, it's okay, we're here because we're worried about you!" she tries to reason with the griffon, which ordinarily when she's visiting with the griffons in the tower seems to work well, but where Uggie is agitated she's just kind of hoping she doesn't have to start throwing spells.

Potato barely gets a chance to chirp back, when Burp squawks and charges. He's met with an angry squawk in turn -it's rude to attack your siblings for no reason, you know- and stands her ground, snapping back as soon as he invades her space.

"Uggie, no!" Inessa calls out in her best authoritative tone as she moves back. Potato repeats the squawk and blocks Burp from reaching the Warden, who is making no sudden movements or signs of aggression. "You know us--most of us. We're not here to harm you! Potato, don't escalate." She doesn't dare look over at her companions, ready to cast Barrier over them, if need be.

Ghost backs up, screeching in warning but otherwise not looking to attack his brother. His sister's got more spunk and bite than he does. Carver holds out a hand towards Uggie, both as a sign of non-aggression and to indicate for him to stay back. "Easy now. We're not gonna hurt you or Burp. We just want to know why you're here."

Uggie, for his part, seems to be more focused on his siblings rather than the Wardens or Audra. He reacts little to Inessa or Carver, but as soon as Potato or Ghostface squawk or make any movement towards him, his hackles raise again and he shrieks his displeasure.

"He's way too riled up."

As soon as the others left, leaving the other half of the group watching Flea, Bethany finally stood up and stretched, giving Flea a considering look. She lifted her hand to push another one of the buckets over to Flea, then walked over to the edge to see what Buttons was up to.

"All right - so - if we are still working with the theory that they're breeding ... is it possible that Flea... and Buttons, are mates? I mean - she would have to go down to him but. Clearly. She's not that fond of Butterbal or Potato."

Buttons is, in a word, disconsolate, stomping back and forth around the base of the tower with his tail lashing and a high-pitched whine vibrating his throat. Life isn't fair, everything about his demeanor says. Life isn't fair and somebody two-legged, with opposable thumbs and more control over the universe than he's got needs to fix it.

For his part, Myr stays well and cautiously away from the edge, seated on bale of straw with a frown on his face as he thinks Bethany's question over. "Have they been spending much time together when she's out and about?"

"Well..." Alex hums a little.

Truthfully, she's more in awe of seeing the griffons, a bright smile quirking the corners of her mouth. She keeps a respectful distance, but she's kind of bowled over, watching them intently. "Animals can have one particular mate, but not always. I mean, if I tried to figure it out based on the animals that... that make up griffons, lions tend to have one male and a whole pride of females they breed with, but some types of eagles have just the one mate at a time, or they mate for life. And in breeding season, I mean... they'd definitely be territorial, is my guess."

She chews her cheek, and looks to Bethany. "Is it alright for me to touch 'em?" Her question is rooted in respect for the animal and wanting to approach them right, rather than any kind of fear.

Bethany hummed softly, putting her hands on her hips as she brazenly peers over the side, with no fear of her possible demise from falling over the edge. Then she leans back, glancing over to Myr, "Yes, usually. However they are usually very family orientated - everyone flies down to see Buttons."

She gave Flea a more intent look, as the griffon idled her away towards the buckets of food. Looking over at Alex, she stated simply, "You can try. Buttons might be your best option, because Flea ... Flea rather looks like she's in attack mode."

Another pause, "In fact, she hasn't been able to settle down for days."

"So--hard to guess, in that case." And from what Alex is saying griffons might go either way--if they could rely on zoological knowledge from another world entirely as a guide for a species that wasn't either of its parts. Still, it's better than anything else they have.

Myr continues to frown over it, chewing briefly on his lower lip. (Ruminating over the whole thing buys him time and space to squish a moment of strange, misplaced jealousy over Bethany suggesting the other woman might approach Buttons. Where did that come from?) "You'll want to be careful of him, though," he adds. "He's not himself, lately, but he'd a reputation before for being a bit of a bully if he could get away with it. Snapping at people, and the like--since he'd nothing else to do."

With that said, he gets up off his impromptu seat, dusting bits of straw from his robe. "Is Flea--what's the word, uh--" He racks his memory for what little he knows of birds, which isn't...much. There'd been a woman in the alienage who'd kept chickens, though, who'd traded eggs to his father for wilted herbs and bruised fruit. But for the life of him he can't pull up what she'd said of the things (though given he'd been six at the time...). "--damn. Birds get strange when it's time to lay eggs, don't they? Can they be hostile about it, too?"

"Don't fret yourself, mate. I get along with animals better than people, most times."

Not dismissive, just... a reality. She struggles with people. Tends to think they're dicks, more often than not, but animals, they make sense. She might be difficult and rude and sometimes obtuse, with varying degrees of deliberateness, but with this she's just being honest. Maybe it shows... or maybe she just sounds cocky, because even in this she'd be better at communicating with an animal, probably.

"Broody," she says, softly, as she moves. Alex's body language is careful, and she takes care not to walk straight onwards to the griffon, in case it seems threatening, aggressive somehow. "Though that can be even when they don't have eggs to be broody over."

Her hand is held out, out of habit - let the animal sniff, see if they want you close. The eyes, a bloody brilliant gold, are a real thing to behold, but she keeps her gaze respectfully averted, unchallenging. Stopping short, rather than presuming to walk all the way over to the griffon, Alex waits to see if the griffon might approach, as she pats her pockets down for treats. She's able to produce a few pieces of jerky, which she swaps into the hand she's got extended.

"It's to do with hormonal changes. They tend to want to stick to their nesting spot. Might get a bit inclined to peckin'. Is that what's going on, mate?" (She's talking to the griffon. Beautiful perfect angel lion bird.)

"Actually, one of my best friends is like that ... Carver is too." Amusement flared over her face, before her brown eyes widened. She looked from Alex, and then moved over to Myr. Holding onto his elbow, she asked quietly, "Have you heard Buttons trying to find someplace comfortable to lie down?"

It does sound an awful lot like bravado to Myr's ears--especially given their last exchange--but this is her avocation and he'll trust someone else to that until proven otherwise. Still, he'll listen warily to her approach Flea, waiting for--and hoping not to hear--the sounds of an irate griffon disturbed. It's tension enough he nearly misses her words, soft as they are, though what he does hear he tucks away. "Broody," he echoes, to make it stick. "That'd certainly explain Flea and Burp."

He wants to follow that up with a question--but Alex is speaking to the griffon, and going on his own introduction to Buttons, now isn't the time to interrupt. Besides--here's Bethany at his elbow with a question of her own. "You mean--just now, or have I heard him do it before?" he replies to her, in an undertone.

Gently, almost reverently, Alex brings her hand to very slowly rest on the griffon's neck.

"Hey, now. How you goin', mate?"

Her hand stays still for a moment. Soothing, steadying. For all that she's terrible at talking to people, she has something of a calming effect on animals. Even so, this is a bigger, more dangerous animal that's different from anything else she's encountered. She isn't scared, just... appropriately respectful. For now, she doesn't try to keep running her hands over Flea, doesn't want to over stimulate or stress. Instead, she just stays still, allowing Flea to acclimatise to her.

"Don't worry. I'm on your side. We'll figure out what's up." Just one step at a time, no rushing. That didn't tend to be good for the patient, or the people in biting range of the patient.

And, addressing the others, "I don't think Carver'd hatch anything near as cute as this one, mind."

Bethany sucked in a breath, her hands going out then pulling back as Alex managed to touch the griffon without startling her. Her brown eyes went wide, and those hands that were clutched together suddenly put her hand to her mouth in wonder.

"....I meant, have you heard him do it before?" She finally manages to whisper to Myr, before she lets out a laugh.

"As one part of the Hawke Twins, I shall officially say, 'OI' to you, Alex. But ... is it possible?"

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[Closed - Warden Assignment] So Take These Broken Wings...

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A. To the Cliffs

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B. At the Tower

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