[b]Kaldorna, The Beast Mistress[/b]

[i]The Sable Lord’s Might[/i]

“Secure those beasts so they can be healed,” Agathina yelled at the hunters from the commentators box after Rodias had finished his tutorial and the dust in the arena had settled. At her command the pack of beast tamers who had watched the lengthy battle with casual interest finished their idle discussions, exchanged the results of various bets that had been made and got to work.

”and someone find the Svelths before they sneak away,” she added, referring to the ferret like creatures that had been released and then never taken part in the battle.

The vampires descended upon the bloody battlefield and got to work as the gates of the arena rolled up to release hordes of thrall assistants armed with nets and [url=https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsharpexindia.com%2F591-tm_thickbox_default%2Fanimal-catcher-pole.jpg&f=1&nofb=1]Animal Catcher Poles[/url]. 
 
As the bests where re-secured, knocked out, calmed or otherwise pacified Kaldorna released the [share senses] spell that had linked her the hawk her assistant had been carrying around to let her see the fight even as she was out on the hunt. 

[color=Crimson]“So, our Lord fights like a dancer without a partner”[/color] she mused wistfully to herself as the hunt rode onward.

[hr]

[i]Hunt for Answers[/i]

[color=Crimson]”Well that’s certainly one way to do it,”[/color] Kaldorna said when she heard how the gardener had acquired the beast’s servitude by butchering its kin before its eyes. 

[color=Crimson]”However you do run the risk of enraging rather than modifying the beast depending on the species. I’d suggest that instead… Ah,”[/color] the beast Mistress said in an instructive tone before she paused, realized what she was doing, and then her shook her head apologetically [color=Crimson]”My apologies darling. You’re not one of my tamers that I need to lecture on how to properly handle beasts. Please. Do go on,”[/color] she insisted before listening to the rest of what Zouyu had to say  

The beasts probably not being domesticated which was good in Kaldorna’ opinion. Her master's collection came before all but that didn't mean she wanted to get into a conflict with the natives over some livestock even if Zouyu predicted that they where weakling that couldn't even handle these simple creatures. 



[color=Crimson]”We’ll have to wait for the village scouting party gets back to confirm any of your theories about the natives. As for the name of this beast, well you did discover them for the chateaux, so I think it’s only fair you get to decide what we call them, at least until their actual names from the locals,”[/color] she told Zouyu before getting to his question about whether they would be heading back immediately or continuing the search.

[color=Crimson]”When it comes to creatures, well, I have to say I’ve never seen such an abundance of species in my unlife”[/color] Kaldorna said, unaware of the vast difference in biodiversity found in actual living breathing landscapes when compared to a virtual one that only simulated what was strictly necessary for gameplay or atmosphere, [color=Crimson]”Reginald, he’s the master’s bug catcher, is in quite the tizzy about all the types of insects to be found in this area alone. Back home it was quite a challenge to track them down but here, my goodness you turn over a rock and there's dozens of new species under there.”[/color] 

She reached her hand inside her jacket and when she withdrew it had a small spider on it, its eyes glowing red like those of the lesser vampire thralls [color=Crimson]”This little one’s particularly interesting. You see it’s venom petrifies its prey, bit like a Catoblepas’s breath. On his own the little guy’s not a danger, couldn't even break our skin if he tried, but I think his venom might be of interest to our dear director Graft or too rogues who like to poison their blades.”[/color] 

She put the spider back in her coat and then continued, [color=Crimson]”Sadly it seems to be one of the only useful species around, excluding your own find of course. Ah, such biodiversity there is to be found here and yet all of it so… useless,”[/color] she said with a sigh. [color=Crimson]”For the moment there is nothing else here that we need to take back. Whether we ever should take them in… well that's still being hotly debated that I can assure you.”[/color] 

Kaldorna seemed like she would happily yammer on for hours but Zouyu was spared from having to listen to the details of the discussion regarding the future of the collection when the vampiresse was interrupted by a bout of roaring coming from far to the north.

[color=Crimson]”Oh yes, there is of course the matter of whatever is making those sounds.”[/color] she said after the noise had subsided [color=Crimson]”Arthanar was hankering to go after it all morning before I insisted he got some shut eye instead of charging off into the woods during the day. I wished to await your return and some success in finding a food supply before we looked into it. Now that you've returned with your livestock I think we can afford to take a look, don’t you?”[/color] she said with just a hint of mischief before she reached out and offered a hand to the Gardener [color=Crimson]”If you like I can use my [Share Senses] skill to let you see through the eyes of a hawk I’m using for scouting. Then we can both watch as I have it go take a look see at whatever’s making that racket.”[/color]