A large expanse of dry terrain. Tall rock formations have eroded away into hills, cliffs, and canyons. The terrain is difficult to traverse for the weak or inexperienced. Dry desert grasses, shrubs, and cactus grow here. At night the land comes alive with creatures, from snakes to antelope.
The previous night had been a restless one. Eon had barely gotten any sleep, but he felt a dire need to find the location that had been revealed to him in his dream. His wings were now sore and tired after traveling all night and all morning into midday. He hadn’t stopped for a break, but the longer he pushed onward, the more he realized he’d probably need one. Swooping downward, Eon perched on a ledge to catch his breath. It felt good to sit, though he didn’t want to allow himself the opportunity to rest for too long. Tsillah had given him a gift, and it would be rude not to retrieve it as soon as he possibly could.
After a moment of heavy breathing, Eon took a moment to look over his surroundings. He was getting close. Not only could he sense it in his bones, but the area was beginning to look familiar, too. One of these ledges was the one he had found himself on in his dream; he just knew it. Despite his tired, weary state, excitement kept him bright-eyed. He’d begin to scan the world below, searching for clues that might point him in the right direction. There seemed to be nothing but miles of sand dunes, rocks, cliffs, and cacti. He knew he was in the right area, but how could he find the precise location of the bone when everything around him looked the same?
He’d sigh in annoyance, giving a silent prayer to Tsillah to point him in the right direction. Just a moment later, he spotted it - a small spark in the distance. Energy once again fueled him as he excitedly leaped into the air, ignoring any backlash his wings might have to say about being used again so quickly. He’d propel himself in the direction of the spark. As he got closer, the spark began to glow larger and larger until he realized the spark wasn’t a sign from his goddess - but instead, a campfire.
The wind was chilly as it brushed through his fur. Maybe Tsillah was telling him to rest. After all, he hadn’t slept well the past few nights and had just flown hours without stopping. If he wanted to remain his strongest self, he needed to allow himself some rest.The fire felt nice and warm as if telling him to sleep beside it. He was hesitant, though. This fire couldn’t have started itself, which meant someone else nearby had started it. He had to remain alert, no matter how tired he was. There was no telling if he had just flown himself right into danger.
With the help of his father, Gatlin brought the herd back to the wagons. When they arrived Gatlin's Ma and sister were setting up camp. While father went to greet the girls, Gatlin would wander over to the sleepy ranch hands watching the fire. "Why don't you three go catch supper. A rabbit or something Ma could use to feed us!" The hands nodded sharply and got up, going out to look for morsels to eat. Gatlin sat down on an elk skin that had been laid out in front of the simple lean to tent. There were still plenty of furs and tents that needed to be made up before night fall. "Gatlin, me, your ma and Nova are gonna look after the cattle this shift- think ya could finish up camp?' Gatlin chuckled to himself. "Course I can Dad!" And with that thr family split ways.
While he was busy finding the right sticks and wedging them just deep enough into the soil to hold their canvas flap lean to tents. He'd gotten three set up aand a few more skins laid out- the cowhand camp wss really coming along great, when he heard what sounded like wings approaching. The wolf looked up, and to his surprise he found another canine! "Well lookie here!" Carefully Gatlin approaches the stranger, sniffing as he did. "Who are you?" Never mind that the stranger just wondered up on the campsite- he wanted to know just who he was dealing with here.
Luckily, for now, it was just the pair of them. His family seemed blissfully unaware, singing to the cattle in the distance to keep them calm.
"My name is Gatlin, Gatlin Westwood- and I'm not quite sure where we have ended up- some strange looking hole brought us here..do you know by chance..where here is?" He arched an eyebrow and moved closer to the fire and set down, never facing away from the new comer. One could never be to careful.
It wasn’t long before Eon was spotted. "Well, lookie here!" Eon stood to his feet and jolted around to face the stranger. "Who are you?” Eon remained quiet. Had he been so careless as to wander into someone else's camp? The sound of others in the distance, along with a myriad of scents, gave him his answer. He wasn't too happy with how careless he had been. He really should have taken a break; if he was awake enough to think clearly, he wouldn't have made such a stupid mistake. Now, he was sure Tsillah was watching him wander right into a stranger's camp for no good reason whatsoever. How embarrassing.
The stranger was quick to introduce himself. "My name is Gatlin, Gatlin Westwood- and I'm not quite sure where we have ended up- some strange looking hole brought us here..do you know by chance..where here is?" It was funny how quickly this wolf gave up information to him, a stranger, who had just entered their home without any warning whatsoever… wait…. Was he lost? So this wasn’t his home? Eon was becoming increasingly more confused by the second, but he supposed he might as well be polite and introduce himself, given Gatlin had been curious enough to do so.
“My name is Eon, a messenger of the goddess Tsillah, and noble of the kingdom Duskorna.” He spoke with a hint of confidence in his voice. “I’m no more sure where here is than you are, I’m afraid. Tsillah sent me visions of this place in a dream, and I followed her guidance to find it.”
He watched as Gatlin sat down beside him. At least he was smart enough not to let him out of sight. There was a moment of silence, and Eon took the opportunity to collect his thoughts. Maybe the campfire was a sign from Tsillah… maybe, he was supposed to meet this strange wolf. Perhaps he could point him in the right direction. “You haven’t seen the bones of a bird wing around here, have you?” He knew how strange this question probably sounded, but he didn’t care much about what the other thought; he only cared if he had seen it, and was willing to share where it might be.
The stanger spun around, seemingly caught off guard, but Gatlin remains calm. Moving slow and deliberate; careful not to startle the new being.
He honestly found himself staring at the males both dark and bright plumage. His colors were fantastical. When the stranger spoke however it re-drew his attention. Now, he had a name and title for this one. Gatlin smiled warmly. "Well it sure is good to meet you Eon!" He was always taught to treat others with respect and hospitality until given other reasons not to.
Now the goddess he spoke of Gatlin had never heard of. "Neverheard muchof your Goddess Tsillah, but I have seen bones and wouldn't mind takin' ya in the mornin'..Sure one of the cowhands could take my spot for a few hours.."
-time skip-
Ma, pa, and everyone else eventually piled back into camp where they would either meet or get an explanation about who Eon was and what he seeked. It was clear to tell Gatlin was a carbon copy of his father in looks but carroed his mother's kind demeanor. His mother was white, silver, and sooty black in color- gatlins sister took more after her. His father looked between Gatlin and Eon. "Help him of ya can son, its the right thing." Gatlin only nodded after his father as he went off to bed. Before Gatlin himself settled into a fur for the night he looked to Eon. "Get some sleep, I can help ya, an talk more in the morning."
The next day Gatlin rose to the smell of coffee grounds burning over the fire."hot damn" yelled one of the cowhands, spilling the drink all over the ground. His mother was mad but kept calm as she cleaned the mess. Gatlin bit his lip holding back his laughter as he turned to look for Eon. "Ma's got some steak for breakfast. One of our cows didn't make it last night." He was somewhat sad as he spoke. "After ya eat we can get moving to the west, thats where I found bird wings."
Eon was thankful his head was finally clear enough to sleep. The night was uneventful, which was just what he had needed. If he had any dreams that night, he didn’t remember them by the time he opened his eyes. He awoke to the smell of coffee and steak. His stomach gave a low rumble. He would need to eat at some point, but he wasn’t so rude as to insist on taking some of Gatlin's and his family's food. They had been kind enough to let him spend the night and help him on his quest. There had to be something small around here that would make an easy catch but provide enough meat to fill his belly.
Rising to his paws, Eon would sniff the air to see if there were any other scents, but It was hard to distinguish anything when the smell of steak was so strong. A moment later, Gatlin appeared. "Ma's got some steak for breakfast. One of our cows didn't make it last night. After ya eat, we can get moving to the west, thats where I found bird wings." With the rumble in his stomach, Eon almost took Gatlin's offer, but he stopped himself. He shook his head in refusal. “You’ve been plenty kind enough; keep the steak to feed yourself and your family; I’m fully capable of hunting for myself.”
Without giving Gatlin much chance to argue, Eon would spread his wings and take to the sky. “I’ll meet you back here after I’ve caught myself breakfast. Then, you can show me where you’ve seen the bones.” He then flew off. Eon scented the air for potential prey, making sure to stay downwind. There was a herd of antelope somewhere nearby, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to try to take down something so big on his own and risk injury. After a bit more searching, he was able to scout out a plump rodent. He couldn’t immediately recognize the species, but it didn’t matter much. With a quick swoop down, Eon would have the limp body dangling from his jaws.
He’d lay down to eat it before returning to the sky. He hadn’t traveled far from Gatlins camp, and it only took a couple of minutes to find his way back and scout out the wolf. “West, you said?” he looked to the sky. The sun had just risen not too long ago and still hovered in the eastern sky. They would be heading in the opposite direction, then. here
It didn't take long for his newly found friend to rouse to camp life- aside from his sister, he didn't think anyone could sleep through the sound. Gatlin chuckles, speaking to eon with a smile. "Sorry if'n they are a bit noisy in the mornin' "
A smirk drapped across Gatlin's lips as Ron spoke of his families plenty of giving, and that he could find his own meal. Gatlin liked that, a man of independence. "Of course, go on'n' find ya some grub we'll see ya back here when ya finish up!"
Gatlin would watch the winged wolf take flight in search of food, briefly wondering about the views from above. But his wondering wouldn't last long, as he turned to fill his own stomach with meat. The journey west would require the energy. As he ate his food with his father Gatlin spoke up about his plans. "My friend Eon," well he wasn't exactly a friend yet- but Gatlin jeber met a stranger in his life- or so he likes to think. "He needs help finding some bones- and I think I saw some out west about a days travel." His father nodded briefly. "We have things safe here. Take a roll pack and lantern with ya just in case son."
After he finished eating he would gather a hide and roll ot up, using his telekinesis to wrap it with string and tie it to his saddle bag along with a lantern.
Now he just waited for Eon to comeback with a full belly.
Once he arrived Gatlin pointed his nose west, opposite to the sun. "Lets get moving then." He remarks, limbs trotting westward. "So these bird bones, what do ya need em fer?" His head tilted toward Eon, curious of what he planned to do with them.
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(OOC notes): we could roll to search for bones if you like? Maybe run the risk of finding a predator or hunting?
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"So these bird bones, what do ya need em fer?" Eon hesitated to reply. Would Gatlin think he was crazy if he said he had seen it in a dream? His thoughts drifted back to the day prior when he had first met Gatlin. He mentioned then that Tsillah had sent him visions of this land in a dream. Gatlin had said little to allude to his visions seeming odd. He was beginning to think it was more normal than he thought to have such visions come through dreams.
“You remember that dream I told you about yesterday?” Eon began to reply as sand and dust came swirling in his direction. He couldn’t wait to return to Duskorna territory and clean all the dust and dirt from his coat. The sooner they could find the bone, the better.
“Well, the bones appeared to me in that dream, too; Tsillah wants me to have it, I’m sure of it.” He continued to recall the dream as he paced forward; his legs were moving twice as fast as Gatlins to keep up, thanks to his small stature.
“She had said it could be used as a channel of sorts to control my powers. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but I’m sure it will make sense in time,” he spoke, realizing now he was almost as confused about the bones as Gatlin was.
As he continued forward, and the dust storm was blowing harder and beginning to hinder his vision, making it hard to see what was directly in front of him, never mind bones that could be hiding off in the distance.
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Constitution Roll for the sand storm (feel free to do one for Gatlin, too, if you want.)
Success: Eons able to make it through the storm with no effects
Fail: A - 1 level penalty is added for Eons perception dice until the storm clears.
Character Diceroll 1: Success Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Deception.
553 was added for Level 1.
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
When Eon spoke up, Gatlin turns to face him taking in each word with care. As Eon spoke he noticed the smaller creature fighting to keep up with Gatlin's longer stature, so he slowed to make it easier. "Yes I recall you speaking of a dream," he nodded egarly. Some things were beyond his mind but he did his best to understand what is meant.
Gatlin didn't mind these lands much. In a sense they almost reminded him of home- though maybe a tad less dusty in his opinion. Eon seemed to fair well against the storm when the dust rolled in suddenly and tried clawed at their fur; tring to fit up eyes and ears. All Gatlin could do was reach for his bandana to tryand cover his nose to keep the dust away. His ears fell back to protect the insides as well.
As they paced onward Gatlin continued to listen to the other male speak. "So these powers, they're kinda like my telekinesis right?" Gatlin still had much to learn about abilities and powers and how they worked. "Personally we need to learn more about this stuff. My family is very new to this land..whatever it's called. We wanna find a safer place for the herd. Here hasnt been the best." Gatlin admits, paws leading him in the direction of the wings.
He couldn't help but notice Eon's lackof bags to carry things. "When we get to da bones, stick em in my bag, I'll carry em back." Gatlin offers. "So you're Goddess, shes going to help your magic with the wings? What kind do you have?" He suddenly felt very curious of Eon. "Our God is more of a Christian one. But I love learning of new things and religion."
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Dice roll ?:
Success: Gatlin gets his handkerchief on and is able to withstand / avoid the dust.
Fail: he is unable to get his bandana on in time and swallows a mouthful of dirt, before he can fit the bandana on to avoid any more of the storm!
NPC Diceroll 1: Fail Diceroll must be above 500 to be successful.
0 was added for Perception.
452 was added for Level 0 (50/50).
0 was added for A. No Enchantment.
0 was added for A. No Buff / Penalty.
