Social: BAD DOG!
For being a god of the natural world, Gilead's Temple is one of the most active within the City. Sacred Hounds mix with the mutts of the City and roam throughout the ancient stone temple. The temple itself resembles a kind of large dais or low pyramid, surrounded by stubborn trees and the vestiges of the wild that insist on growing even here, in the center of Alexandria.
Tne temple's exterior platform is reached by ancient stairs. It is upon this platform and beneath the open sky where most of the activity takes place. For more formal affairs and for offerings, a modestly-sized building rests within the platform's center. Ancient of look and of craft, a great tree grows within this building, reminiscent of the First Tree of the World, Ygdrassil.
If one enters the central building, one will be treated to a circular-cut out in the middle where sunlight (and wind, and rain) pours in, at the whim of the weather. A grove populates this building, with the one, great tree at its center. It towers over the other trees present--they appear almost dwarfed by its appearance, though are actually quite normal in size. Too, any number of wild creatures that should never be found within the City proper rest here, yet Gilead's presence here allows it. Many of them are under treatment by the Hunters, though some have become permanent residents.
While Hunters tend the grove, the Wardens serve as guards. If one ascends the central tree itself (for there is a door built into it), one shall find a palatial altar among the branches, waiting for supplicants to lay fresh-cut branches and fresh-killed game upon it.
The temple here is one of the busiest in the City, approaching the realm of Daeus and Althea, who stand as mother and father to the Son of Hounds. Gilead's hounds lie along the benches, near workers who sit to the side on the stone benches atop the platform, crafting arrows, discussing the recent hunt, and more. Druids openly walk the grounds, frequently accosted by farmers from out of town seeking veterinary advice and treatment for their livestock, or in some cases, solutions to vermin problems. The clerics themselves are actually more reclusive, frequently passing their time in the rooms beneath the stone temple, or hidden among the light, forest-like grounds that insists on growing around it.
EXTRAS: +view
Kama'o Older Egalrin female, greyish-brown in color. 1m 1h
Ashlynn A scarred archer with soldierly bearing. 0s 6m
Out <O>
Moonshadow has arrived.
The screech that emanates from the light woods to the right of Gilead's temple can really only come from one source--a potentially injured and certainly horrified Egalrin, considering the fact that a roc is not likely to have landed in the middle of the city. The screech nearly drowns out the sounds of the baying hounds, which seem to have declared open hunting season on...something.
The something in this case happens to be Kama'o. She has climbed a tree, but unfortunately said tree is too small to put her completely out of reach of the dogs. This may be the reason why several of the dogs at the base of the tree are playing tug-of-war with some of the poor Egalrin's tail feathers. A few others have mouthfuls of body feathers, which they are busy shaking back and forth.
Kama'o is barely keeping her 'perch' in the tree, because it's not really large enough to hold her weight. Despite being spread-eagled across the top branches in the tree, she's barely out of range of the snapping jaws of the pack. "BAD IIWAS! BAD IIWAS!" she is yelling...for all the good it's doing.
Hearing the noise from outside, Moonshadow walks her way inside.....to find the dogs pulling at the egalrin's tailfeathers. She winces in sympathy before runing forwards and lightly nudging the dogs with her hands and feet. "How about you chase something on the ground?" She yells at the dogs to get their attention. Pulling out feather must be like pulling out hair.
The temple's peace is rarely, if ever, broken by such noises. When it is, they tend to be brief - a mouse's or hare's cry when a hawk snatches them, perhaps.
Certainly not a continuing howling and mad cries of an avian, that's for sure.
The unusual noise is likely what has Ashlynn exiting the main building of the temple in a rush, bow already drawn and arrow set upon the string, ready to fire. The image that greets her eyes, however, gives her pause. After all, neither Kama'o nor the hounds are a suitable place to put an arrow in, and that makes things complicated.
Ashlynn, as is well-known, is not a huge fan of complicated.
One thing's for certain, however - Kama'o needs help. The bow's discarded outright and Ashlynn begins a mad dash in the direction to... do something. She is, as of yet, unsure what.
"Help! Help Kama'o!" the Egalrin begs, clinging to the tree for dear life. The dogs, meanwhile, think this whole thing is a -great- game. As soon as they're pushed away, they run in a circle--right back into the pack, to continue tugging at feathers and leaping up to try to grab more. "BAD IIWAS!" Unfortunately, Kama'o does not appear to have any special skills at handling animals, and there's little else to capture the dogs' attention.
A cry for help is all Ashlynn needs to jump into action.
Unfortunately, despite being a servant of the Hunter, she is not especially handy with animals, unless one counts hunting them.
The combination of these two elements has Ashlynn do the very first thing that comes to mind in order to save the bird under attack...
... as she turns her run into a leap and tackles one of the canine assailants bodily. Oh boy.
Well, it might distract them?
There's a pained, confused yelp as the dog goes down under Ashlynn. Suddenly, this isn't very fun anymore, and he tries to wriggle out from under her. That's one down, but the rest of the pack doesn't seem especially concerned about his fate. They're still happily wrestling with feathers, and a few are still jumping up to try to get at poor Kama'o. "Bad iiwas! You get away from Kama'o! Bad!" Unfortunately, the dogs interpret the extra noise as attention--and as an even better game.
Moonshadow blinkblinks as Ashlynn tackles one of them to the ground. She shakes her head and starts pushing the dogs away from Kama'o's butt....er...tailfeathers. As the dogs jump, Moonshadow uses a palmthrust with just enough force to keep the dogs from biting at Kama'o's tailfeathers. and yes....she can be that quick....
Ashlynn is not completely without sense. Her time at the temple has taught her things. Dogs will be dogs, and dogs will misbehave - and the temple does house those who actually know what to do about it, people she's seen do exactly that. She grabs for the scruffs of their necks, and sternly spits "BAD DOG!" at the pack, even as she rolls about to get back on her feet.
It's not ideal handling of dogs, but that's about as much as she's got.
Needless to say, her hair and clothing has now been stuffed full of dirt, leaves and twigs, and just a bit of dog hair to top it off. One sleeve has earned a particularly nasty grass stain that will take a hell of an effort to wash out.
Between the two women, the dogs begin to have less fun--particularly those grabbed by the scruffs of their neck. That's just not -fair-. One member of the pack takes off with a tailfeather, and the others go bounding after. "YES, YOU RUN, YOU BAD IIWAS!" Kama'o yells from her precarious perch. The Egalrin is much the worse for wear, missing several mouthfuls of feathers on her body. A solid quarter of her tailfeathers are broken or missing all together. Rather than get down, she continues to cling to the tree for all she's worth. "Iiiiii. Are they gone? They are not gone, are they?"
Moonshadow says, "It looks like they are gone." She says after walking out from underneath of Kama'o. "Are you all right?" She says first to Ashlynn, then to Kama'o. "I didn't know you could just say 'Bad Dog' and they'd run off.""
"PTUH!"
That'll be Ashlynn. It's not a word, exactly - just the noise of her spitting out a leaf that got in her mouth in the mess. When she regains her footing, she looks almost - but not as - bad as Kama'o. Definitely as though she was dragged around through the dirt.
This is because she has.
"Are you injured?" Ashlynn asks her own question of the unfortunate Egalrin, uncaring of her own scrapes and the fact she, right now, possibly looks scarier than the dogs what with all the things sticking to her. There's several torn branches tangled in her hair - hair that is very slowly, but surely, growing towards the length it used to be.
"Iiii. Are they gone?" Kama'o looks utterly ridiculous laying on top of the tiny tree, but she is steadfastly refusing to let go. There's a moment where she takes stock of herself, and an angry screech. "Kama'o's tail! Do you have any idea how long it takes to grow tailfeathers?" This is, probably, a no. She does not appear to be bleeding. "Those are bad dogs. Kama'o should have eaten them." She glares after the pack, who are still playing with a few of her feathers.
Moonshadow says, "I'll take that as you're all right." She says to Ashlynn. She then looks to kama'o and winces again at her missing tailfeather. "Must be as important as an Oruch's hair." She says simply as she walks around Kama'o's front. "It seems they're gone for the moment...""
"I am unfamiliar with the time needed." Ashlynn answers Kama'o, head cocking to the side with mild puzzlement.
Ah. She answers rhetorical questions. Lovely.
There's a glance over her shoulder at the dogs, a small frown furrowing her brows, before she turns to look back at Kama'o. "These are sacred hounds. Refrain from eating them. I shall notify the trainer of their misbehaving."
The solemn - blank, really - expression on her face could make a War Golem uncomfortable - and perhaps wondering if she's a newer, more humanlike model.
"It should be safe to come down." is added, after a second glance to make reasonably sure that's indeed the case.
Finally, she turns to regard Moonshadow, now that the crisis has passed. "I am well." she replies. She must have a strange definition of what exactly counts as being well.
There's a long pause. "...Kama'o is...comfortable," the Egalrin insists finally. Another pause, as the Egalrin desperately attempts to appear as such and fails miserably. "Iiii. How are they sacred? They behave like wolves. Kama'o does not like wolves." For obvious reasons. "Cernan would not put up with them. -He- would eat them," she insists. Ah. Cultural misunderstandings.
Nadara has arrived.
Moonshadow looks up to Kama'o but tilts her head. "Uhm......shouldn't you find a more stable tree to perch on, ma'am? Like one that'll......better hold your weight?" She says as she looks at the really really bent tree that Kama'o is perching on. However, after saying that, she decides to look around. "Or are there any?"
Ashlynn's brows furrow again, with doubt - but who is she to dispute whether an Egalrin is or isn't comfortable up in a tree, truly?
Even if it IS clinging in an awkward pose and with a deathgrip.
"I do not pretend to know the will of the gods." she says at Kama'o's note, as serious as ever.
Standing at the base of a small, bent tree containing Kama'o, Ashlynn looks like someone or something dragged her through the grass and dirt below, stopping to make sure everything she encountered found a spot to cling to on her person. There's little twigs sticking out of her hair at haphazard angles, and one elbow is scraped. She does not seem to pay it any heed.
"She is frightened. She was threatened." Ashlynn explains to Moonshadow, as if it weren't painfully obvious. Tact? What is this... tact?
"No, no, thank you, iiwa, Kama'o is...fine." Kama'o looks horrible--she's got patches of missing feathers and part of her tail is broken off. She is stretched across the canopy of a tiny tree which is definitely -not- meant to hold her weight, and is balefully eyeing a pack of dogs in the distance. "Iiii. Well, -our- Cernan -eats- wolves," she insists. "He would not mind if we did. You tell this trainer, you tell him that if these dogs come after Kama'o again, Kama'o is going to eat them." As if she could.
"Gwaaaugh."
That is the sound coming from a goblin. The goblin in question has been wrestled to the ground by one of the resident hunting dogs and is apparently intent on slobbering her face endlessly.
"Waaauuuugh," says the red-haired goblin.
Moonshadow holds up her hand to Kama'o. "Come on Ma'am. Let's get you off that tree and then we can argue what Cernan does and does not do. Okay?" Pretty....polite for an oruch, isn't she? However, upon hearing the sound of a yelp.....the oruch steps in between kama'o and the dogs.....which isn't necessary. "I think you can come down now. they're distracted."
Another attack?!
Thankfully, Ashlynn does not go for a dash and tackle to Nadara's rescue. That lesson seems to have been learned. There's a quick nod to pardon herself from the Oruch and Egalrin, and then takes in the direction of the downed greenskin with huge strides - and upon arrival, she simply goes to pull the dog off the goblin.
Certainly, close up it does not look like it is biting her or bothering her TOO terribly, but the animals should not rightly menace guests so!
Besides, it's unfair. The dog is bigger than Nadara is, more likely than not.
"Iii. No thank you, iiwa. Kama'o is just fine up...iiii! Iiii! The dog is eating the iiwa! The dog is eating the iiwa!" The Egalrin leaps off of the tree with no regard for her own safety and dashes after Ashlynn. Luckily for the dog, Ash gets there first--the Egalrin snatched up a rake, and seems more than ready to defend both the goblin and herself this time around.
Seeing the Egalrin go after the dogs causes Moonshadow to go after her, and try and stop Kamao from using the rake. If Moonshadow has to, she'll take the rake out of Kama'o's hands.....
Flail flail flail.
Nadara is being mauled! Mangled! By dog tongue. She is now as wet as that one time she was thrown overboard, purely form slobbery dog tongue.
She finally is able to get to her feet with a bit of assistance from Ashlynn, she is able to get to her feet.
"Whew," says Nadara, not the least bit eaten.
Lumina has arrived.
Ashlynn rather awkwardly (but with conviction!) ushers the waggy-tailed slobber-monster back to its pack and away from both Nadara and Kama'o. Offering a hand to help Nadara up (or hoisting her up bodily) should she appear to need assistance, she looks after the bounding hound.
"This is unacceptable. I shall have to speak with the trainer of this behavior." she says, with utter seriousness - enough of it to freeze a small lake over.
And somewhere in the bowels of the temple, the hair upon the back of the neck of said trainer stands on end for no discernible reason.
Letting out an inhuman screech, Kama'o steps after the fleeing dog and swings the rake...with what would be deadly precision, if she were actually aiming to hurt it. Instead, she makes a few warning shots. "BAD. IIWA," she insists, hefting the rake one final time lest the dogs decide to come after her again. Or Nadara, for that matter. "Are you all right, iiwa?" is directed over her shoulder toward the goblin.
Moonshadow simply blinks a few times before standing off near the entrance, letting Ashlynn handle the dogs.
Lumina bounds up the stairs towards the Temple, her dark eyes wide as she glances around. An ever present smile rests on her lips, and she ooohs as she spots the great tree. When she notices the commotion with the dogs, she tilts her head to the side, focusing her attention on the dogs and their handlers. "Puppies!" is her exclamation, happily.
"ogh. Truthfully, the only thing that's been hurt is my pride. Dogs. They really ought to get the howling under control around here!" Nadara flails a bit more and combs her fingers through her curly red hair before adding, "Thanks. That dog was going to maul me with its tongue for as long as it could."
Moonshadow snerks. "I think it was happy to see you." she says before looking towards Lumina, whose.....exclamation says it all.
Dog handler? Ashlynn is hardly one. She deals with misbehaving dogs about as well as a pair of antlers would look on the average duck.
That is to say, not very well.
It's only fortunate a trained hound responds to the very crude method of bodily moving the animal and shouting 'bad dog', else she might be sporting bites to go with dirt and scrapes.
"If you are well, now, I ought to go speak with the head trainer." Ashlynn tells both Kama'o and Nadara. "Please do not harm the hounds." is asked of Kama'o. Just in case. Awful pointy rake she's got there.
"Kama'o thinks they should eat them. Then there would not be so many," the Egalrin proposes, keeping the rake in front of her like a shield. Nadara saved, Kama'o begins backing toward the entrance, careful not to make any sudden moves. "Kama'o is going to go now. Next time Kama'o will bring her spear." This is, sadly, most likely a promise and not a threat. "Kama'o will not hurt them if they do not hurt Kama'o," she tells Ashlynn.
Lumina knits her brows a little bit at Kama'o's words, and her head tilts, "I am not sure that will be a good thing." She notices Moonshadow's look, and just smiles widely at the woman, "Hello!"
"....eat the dogs? I had to do that once. It wasn't pleasent. The eyes. They still look at you with that... look. It's terrifying." She shudders. shudders after Kama'o's decleration. She turns pots Lumina and eyes her. EYES HEr. "Hi," she says. To her and Moonshadow both.
Moonshadow waves to Nadara. "You are a silly little goblin, aren't you?" She says with a chuckle and a wave to Lumina. "Greetings again. Fancy meeting you here, hmm?'
A puzzled and mildly concerned Ashlynn looks after the retreating Kama'o, ignorant of the massive headache she's about to cause the priest in charge of taking care of the hounds.
"Excuse me." she offers with a bow of her head in farewell, turning about and retreating into the temple to report in, stopping to pick up her discarded weapon where she tossed it down in the trek. Soon enough, she's gone as well, into the main building and below to the quarters of the clergy.