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

[sunshinethroughgrey]

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'."

Comments

[unshadowing]

"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."

[periastron]

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."

[circleprodigy]

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."

[faithlikeaseed]

"'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."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

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."

[unshadowing]

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.

[periastron]

"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?"

[circleprodigy]

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."

[winterwinds]

"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."

[periastron]

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."

[unshadowing]

"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."

[sunshinethroughgrey]

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."

[circleprodigy]

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."

[faithlikeaseed]

"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.