Summary:Cerin calls upon Grala for a favor.
XP:C1
Tags:< Innocence and Guilt | Sol Invictus Logs | I Have No Words >
Cerin Cerin stepped down from the airship outside of Grala's Sanctum. He had not approached from the direction of the Cascade, having taken a detour to check a certain woodland glade and the house it contained--and the strange grove of trees--for any signs of activity. It was something he'd been doing semi-regularly for some time now, almost since he had become aware of who Swift Falcon had previously been. Nothing had concerned him there, yet.
Cerin "Grala, Mistress of the Eternal Hunt, I, Cerin the Wolf, have come to visit you," he announces, and then pushes aside the animalskin door of her sanctum and steps within.
Grala Grala is perched, as is her wont, upon a branch set high upon the wall, between the skulls of innumerable kills, many of them no longer recognizable to any mortal living in this age, her black and golden feather-cloak wrapped around her, and her eyes glazed in the attentive slumber of the true predator.
Grala wakes, and shuffles herself slightly into an imposing pose, even as Cerin steps through the door. "Cerin," she says.
Cerin "How does this day find you?"
Grala As if in response, she shifts her cloak just enough that Cerin can clearly see her talons, still caked with fresh blood, and one corner of her mouth moves in the slightest imaginable imitation of a smile.
Cerin nods, with a small smile "What was it?"
Grala "A khrodjan," she says. "I have not hunted one in three thousand years."
Cerin "Your hunts extend over the whole of the restored Creation then? That is good."
Grala nods quietly.
Cerin "How fares the hunt in general? Are there any areas of especially rich hunting, or problem regions?"
Grala "Humanity is beset," she says. "Much of Meru is uncivilized and wild." She settles her cloak around her once again. "The hunt is strong everywhere."
Cerin "That is good for you, yes," he nods.
Grala She settles in. "Why have you come to see me today, Cerin?"
Cerin seats himself in a large chair made from the bones and skin of an animal even older than the khrodjan, and then replies. "I have come to talk about some aid I would like at some point in the future and a much more immediate hunt I would ask of you. And I also thought it only proper to enquire about the state of your Domain." The last phrase is said with a slight smile.
Grala "Please continue," she says, idly preening with one foot.
Cerin "First, the future aid. At some point in the future I would like your blessings and benefactions for those in the Shadows Resplendant, to aid them in stealth and stalking."
Grala "I can provide such," she says. "I am sure those under your protection will be agreeable to that which I ask in return."
Cerin "And what will that be?" he enquires.
Grala "Proper homage, alone."
Cerin "I will consider that," he says.
Grala "It is but a small thing," she says. "If naught else, other gods must see the signs on those who are under my protection. That is all."
Cerin nods. "Of course."
Grala nods. "And you speak of a hunt, to be made now," she says.
Cerin "Yes. I would very much like to find Lai Misuna."
Grala "Hmmmm," she says. "But Lai Misuna is dead."
Cerin "Yes, he is. And yet he is not."
Grala "How unusual," he says, rubbing her chin with one extended claw. "What scent have you to guide me by?"
Cerin pulls from his pocket a simple looking knife with a carmine blade. "I am not sure if this will suit, but it was his once, until he gave it to me."
Grala reaches out one extended talon to grasp the knife. She pulls it up to her nose and sniffs, even as she passes it gingerly back and forth between her talons. "Yes..." she says. "Yes. I think this will do."
Cerin "I will need the knife back at some point," he says. "I am strongly considering returning it to him."
Grala nods. "I will be sure that you do," she says.
Cerin "Thank you," he nods. "I hope that he provides you with an interesting hunt."
Grala nods one more time. "I trust that he will," he says.
Grala *she
Cerin "Is there anything you wish to raise with me?"
Grala "For now? No," she says. "I am well-known, well-respected, well-feared," she says. "Those amongst the gods who stood to defy me when the Lily cast its shadow over all now grovel and scrape beneath me; those who might think to impinge on my purview learn of my association with you and are cowed." She grins a vicious, deadly grin. "I am satisfied with this."
Cerin "That is good, then. I shall leave you to plan your hunt."
Grala As Cerin gets up to leave, Grala adds, as if thinking of it for the first time: "...you have not... eaten khrodjan."
Cerin "No, I do not believe I have."
Grala "Take some, then, on your way out," she says, and licks her talon in remembrance of the joy of the kill.
Cerin "Thank you," he says with a nod. "Although I would like to hunt such a creature myself."
Grala "I am certain you will find it a rewarding hunt, when you do," she says.
Cerin "Where might I find them?"
Grala "In the far southeast," she says, "where the trees burn with orange flames."
Cerin "Thank once more, and good hunting."
Grala nods and then huddles back down underneath her cloak once more.
< Innocence and Guilt | Sol Invictus Logs | I Have No Words >