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Old Bones and New Magic [DragonSong! <3]

Started by Rhindeer, April 21, 2016, 04:00:43 PM

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Rhindeer

"Hmmm..." Makani frowned as he examined the tooth, swishing it around in a bowl of salt water to dislodge the blood and leftover bits of flesh. He had extracted it from an older woman not long ago, as she had the sore tooth and an impressive amount of swelling, and sadly, it looked like the thing was far too rotten to be of any use.

With a low sigh, he tossed it away into a bush. Oh well. Not every tooth could be a winner, and there was usually some decay involved in any extraction. But sometimes, it wasn't so far advanced as to render it useless. The healthier the bones, the more potent the magic, after all, and decaying bones only lead to a rotten sort of magic.

He would just have to find some healthier sources. It was about time he got off his ass and replenished his stock.

With a tired sigh, he rose to his feet and stepped inside his home to examine the jars and bottles and baskets that lined the walls and tables of his cozy hut, all of them filled to various degrees with bones and teeth, all organized by animal. He kept their claws, too, and some of the bones were carefully labeled when they were particularly special.

He tapped his short nails along one of his shelves. Hm. More rabbit, he definitely needed more of that; Noelani was apparently having difficulty conceiving. More hawk, too, and perhaps some boar tusk.

And so, taking up his spear, Makani headed back outside and strode into the jungle.

Time to collect some bones and meat.
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DragonSong

Kiri was perched in a low branch, hidden by thick leaves and vines. She crept along the branch with her spear held in one hand, moving with an almost feline grace as she kept an eye on the boar snuffling his way through the foliage below her.

Her wings arched up slightly as she came to the end of the branch, prepared to extend and slow her fall when she jumped to make her kill.

She moved silently, bare feet barely bending the branch beneath her as she swung down. Her spear pierced the boar just behind his skull, passing straight through his neck and killing him almost instantly, painlessly. Pleased with herself, she braced a foot on her prey and jerked the weapon free, huffing out a breath as she ran a hand through her hair to push it back off her face.

Rhindeer

"Well! Very nicely done!" Makani said as he stepped from behind the tree he had been crouched behind, and twirled his spear over his head and across his shoulders so he could rest his arms along the shaft. His wings shifted along his back and he flashed the girl a jaunty smile, looking from her to the dead boar and back before stepping closer to get a better look.

He had been hunting the boar, too. Only he had been hunting from the ground. Had a nice, clear shot lined up and everything, but alas. She was quicker and neither he nor the boar had seen it coming.

"Good, clean kill," he said, noting she'd stabbed the boar through the base of its skull, no doubt severing its spine and piercing through the brain stem. Dead would have been instant--and its skull would be nicely in tact.

He cocked his head. "I don't suppose you'd mind giving me some of its teeth?"
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DragonSong

Kiri started slightly, surprised, and instinctively fell into a crouch with her spear raised as she turned toward the voice. Strange, she was usually much more vigilant.

Oh. Just another hunter. She relaxed and straightened up, nodding slightly. "Thanks," she murmured in acknowledgement of his praise with a small nod, her eyes flicking over his form to take him on. The man must have been hunting the boar too- ah, well.

Her brow furrowed slightly at his question and she cocked her head to the side. "Ah...I suppose you can. But why on earth do you want them?"

Rhindeer

Makani raised his eyebrows in surprise, as though her question was the unusual factor here--and not the his collecting bones.

"Why wouldn't I want them?" he asked, blinking. "They're very valuable. Oh, the skull too, if you don't mind. You can have the brain, I'm really mostly interested in the bones."
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DragonSong

"Oh." She glanced down at the boar with a small frown. "Um. Yeah, sure." Why not? It wasn't like she was going to use the bones.

"Are you a shaman or something then?" Kiri asked, tilting her head at him as she bent to begin the process of binding the animal to make it easier to carry. After a moment, she added, "And where will you be taking these pieces?"

If it was nearby, it would probably be easier to cart the boar home with him and butcher it there.

Rhindeer

"A shaman? Mm...hm, no, no, not quite," Makani said with a flippant wave of his hand. "Nothing so strict and rigid and ceremonial. Ew. What I do is far more...intuitive. Also more experimental."

He bent down to help her--and to also take stock of the animal. While she worked he lifted its lip to check the state of its teeth, clicking his tongue at their condition. Not too terrible, but there was an abscessed tooth. That must have been terribly painful for it. What a good find.

A quick look over revealed some other old injuries. If he worked fast, before the creature's spirit was gone, he might be able to take advantage of those, too.

He realized a second later that the girl had asked him a question, and he blinked up at her. "Hmm? Oh, yes, right. Where. They'll be going to my home, of course, but if your home is closer we can go there to work. It makes no difference to me."
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DragonSong

Kiri chuckled and tilted her head at him. "I'm about a day's journey away. I only asked because if your home is close it will be much simpler to just butcher the creature there."

She glanced down at the boar with a small sigh as she finished binding it, closing her eyes for a moment, and murmuring a quiet prayer, something she'd neglected to do when Makani's appearance surprised her.

She stood with a quick shake of her head, lifting one end of the animal with a grunt as she did. "Right, lead the way then."

Rhindeer

"A day away? Oh, oh my, no. My home is far closer," Makani said with another click of his tongue. "The creature's spirit will be long gone by then. I need to work while its energy is still fresh, still tethered to this world."

Walking around to the creature's other end, he hefted it up with a soft grunt to help carry it. His wings ruffled, a few feathers shaking loose and drifting away. Adjusting his grip, he gave a jerk of his chin to point the way as he started to walk, taking the lead.

"This way, now. Step lively, while its body's still warm."
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DragonSong

She nodded quickly and bent to heft her end of the boar. Her eyes flickered to the dropped feathers as she started to move.

"Are you in molt?" Perhaps it wasn't the most polite question, but if he wasn't, dropping feathers like that could be a sign of illness. And even with what little she knew of this man, she had an odd feeling that he might not notice such a thing unless it was pointed out to him.

Rhindeer

"Excuse me?" Makani said, snapping a wide-eyed look at the woman. Had he heard her correctly? Implying his wings were shabby? Really? What a rude thing to say! "Am I what? Of course not. Why would you think--"

He trailed a look to his wings as he spoke, just as another feather fluttered loose. He paused, watching its twirling journey to the ground. He pursed his lips and gave his wings a good shake, and in the process shook free a couple more.

He frowned, then signed and began to walk. "...Perhaps," he conceded, though he had molted earlier that year. Hm. Concerning. "Don't concern yourself with it."
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DragonSong

Kira had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as this odd shaman watched his own feather twirl to the ground with all the befuddlement of a toddler going through his first molt. She managed to give him a straight face when he looked at her again though, and nodded quickly.

"Alright, if you say so." He was the wise man here, not her. With a mental shrug, she shifted her grip on the boar as she followed after him.

"What exactly are you going to use them for?" she puffed after a moment. "The teeth?"

Rhindeer

"I'm not really sure yet!" Makani admitted with a light shrug. "But I'm sure I'll need it at some point. It would make a potent vitality spell, or--ah! Fertility, too. That's it. I was really looking for rabbits, but I wasn't thinking! A boar is far better for that."

He spoke as though Kira would know what he was talking about, excitement lighting up his features as he flashed her a bright grin. "Thank you, huntress! You solved a problem for me! This'll do very nicely, especially since it's male. Perfect."
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DragonSong

"Umm..." Kiri blinked, eyes going a little wide as her feathers fluffed up slightly. "Yeah, uh, sure... What did I do exactly?" she asked with a little laugh, bemused.

Rhindeer

"Why, you killed the boar, of course," Makani said as though she was silly not to realize it. "And you made me realize that what I was seeking was not what I needed! So thank you for being where you were at the same time I was where I was!"
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DragonSong

"Ahhhh....yooooooou're welcome?" Kiri shook her head, bemused. "So, what exactly is it that you needed, anyway?"

Rhindeer

"Well, bones of course," Makani said with a raised eyebrow, as though it were, once again, totally obvious. Hadn't he told her that before?

But for her sake, he decided to elaborate, pausing briefly to adjust his grip on his end of the boar. They were almost out of the jungle and to his home; thank goodness, too, because he was not meant for this work.

"It's for magic," he said. "My kind of magic. Blood and bone, pain and pleasure, extremes like that, they are all fantastic ingredients in my sort of work. I need things that connect to that, that connect to the world and life in its rawest, most potent forms. It can be dangerous and unpredictable, but goodness knows it works."

He flashed a smile and a shrug. "You see, my friend Noelani wants a child, but she's had trouble conceiving. I tried to help her in other ways, but once we ruled that out, it's time to consult the spirits."
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DragonSong

"Oh." Kiri turned that over in her head a few moments, considering. Hefting her end of the boar a bit higher, she asked curiously, "How do you use things like pleasure and pain as-- as ingredients? Aren't they just...feelings?"

Of course, she was no shaman, so what did she know, really? Still, she couldn't help being curious.

Rhindeer

"They are feelings, that's true, yes, but they can be, ah..." Makani pursed his lips, searching for the right word. "Harvested, you could say. Extreme emotions leave an imprint. They linger for a while in your very flesh and blood. They are a part of you, and they change you--for a time. I'll give you an example!"

He looked down at the boar, motioning to it with his chin. "This boar was killed quickly. You were an efficient hunter, and it died before it could be afraid. Have you ever tasted the meat of an animal that died terrified? I have. There is a difference in the very flavor--it tastes terrible. Whatever happens when the animal is afraid, those extreme emotions--it stores in the flesh. This boar will no doubt taste delicious; it never even realized it was dead. Emotions, feelings, they are part of us down to our bones."

He smiled, looking satisfied with his explanation. "And that is how you can use it as an 'ingredient'. If I'm you're in pain, your blood will be different. If you're in pleasure, your blood will be different. I can use human blood for all manner of things, but some magics need a different component when human sources aren't enough." He cocked his head. "Does that make sense?"
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DragonSong

"Um...yeah, I think so." Kiri tilted her head to the side, looking down at the boar. She'd certainly eaten meat that had been toughened by fear or rage, so...she supposed it made sense that the same thing happened in a human body.

"How do you get the blood then?" she asked, unable to stop a morbid sense of curiosity. "Doesn't cutting someone open then change their blood again?"

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