Muttonhawk

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius made Kaleeth quiet with another kiss.

Janius was cautious at first for obvious reasons, but Kaleeth was also particularly tough. They knew the boundaries before long and the two of them spent enough time and energy to release much of the tension of the day. Some idle thoughts entered Janius' mind at times, worrying whether they should have been supervising Julan more closely. He did not speak up about it.

---

Monderyn nodded. "Yes, he just kept going with the bow. The extra arrows were right beside him."

Unfortunately for Monderyn's trick, Rhazii couldn't keep himself contained. He snorted and laughed briefly. "He's pulling your leg, mother."

"Fine," Monderyn raised his hands. "I admit it. I only landed six."

While Fendros was glad to have steered the conversation away from Ahnasha's secrets, he was out of the frying pan and into the fire. He rubbed the side of his head with his hand and looked down, worried. "Aaaah...not very? Well, that is to say, I don't think Meesei would be very interested in sharing her secrets in that way. She is a person who generally stays out of business, and politics, and...civilisation in general."

Fendros inwardly cringed at the implications of that last detail.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius rolled his eyes and took Kaleeth by the shoulders. With a sudden heave, he rolled to one side, bringing Kaleeth onto her back and looming over her, pinning her arms to the grass. He brought his face close to hers. "You are peculiar, Kaleeth," he said with something of a smile. "But you are also beautiful. If you really trust me in this form...maybe I am tempted."

---

Monderyn held out the bow for Ahnasha. "Very well," he said as Rhazii returned to them with his hands full of arrows. "Let's see, I landed nine..." He turned slightly. "And Rhazii here managed eighteen."

Rhazii's momentary surprise was the only indication that Monderyn was lying. His face remained still as a stone.

Calia stopped and looked at S'nashi, blinking. "...The only magic I have ever heard of to speed travel in such a way was before my time. Before the Red Year, before..." She grew serious. Her eyes wandered down. "If it is what I think it is, the secret died long ago. Is it true, Fendros?"

Fendros looked briefly at Ahnasha's back as she returned to the competition. He turned back to Calia and nodded. "Yes. Meesei has uncovered quite a number of secrets."

"She would surely be famous by now," Calia said suspiciously.

"She's a private person," Fendros answered.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Before you ask about the new avatar, just know that it's an in-joke with some other people on the site. Yes, it's exactly what it looks like x)

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth's excuse made Janius tilt his head. It took him a moment to notice the way she was inspecting him. A few different possibilities ran through his mind.

He did not respond with more than a look to the spot Kaleeth pointed out before carefully following her to the shore. He crawled up and laid down beside her, leaning the side of his head on his hand and looking at her with as bemused a look as he could manage. "I know that look," he said flatly, "and that smell. You want to try something. Are you sure it's a good idea?"

---

After Calia's little scene, Rhazii, Monderyn, and Shevari were left standing and waiting for the other participants in their archery game. Monderyn took a second to get over his shock, though an idea struck once he realised everyone was so distracted. He leaned across to Rhazii surreptitiously. "How about you fetch the arrows, I have an idea for a joke."

Rhazii lowered his brow. "You do jokes? I mean, I meant no offense, but...you're pretty serious, uncle."

"Trust me," Monderyn looked ahead with his persistent resting frown.

Rhazii glanced away, confused, but walked off to the target anyway.

Fendros and Calia pulled away and rejoined the group quickly enough. Calia's grin was infectious. "See, Llarasa dear? I told you our family has this potential in them, even if they don't realise it at first."

Surprisingly, Llarasa was downcast and low. "Mother, you know I'm not..."

"Oh, never mind," Calia moved on back to Ahnasha's family. "I dare say you are correct, S'nashi. Humble is the right word here. Perhaps it was wrong for me to ever doubt Meesei's abilities. Beast folk have a strong penchant for surprises." She wiped the half-formed tears from her eyes.

"Ahnasha, Fendros, are you ready to prove who is the best archer now?" Monderyn called out.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius blew some air out of his nose, amused. "Me neither. Wolves don't kiss." He paused for a step. "But I did not know Argonians did, either. Not before I met you."

They danced three more slow steps before Janius twirled Kaleeth under his arm and out before him, holding onto her hand. After bringing her back towards him, he leant her back and gazed into her eyes.

"I should change back," he said quietly. "This is far too romantic for this form."

---

Calia drew in a breath as her eyes visibly lit up. She even brought a flat hand halfway up to her mouth. "Fendros, you learned magic as well?"

Fendros nodded, a little abashed.

She looked to him with equal happiness and disbelief. "But how? You never liked the taste of magicka potions and you could barely puff a gout of fire from your hands! We had you written off as a locked away atronach."

An abashed Fendros shrugged. "I guess the different perspective helped me get around the parts I couldn't understand. Meesei sees magic differently. She also knows as spell to replenish my own magicka as needed, so that helped me practice."

"Show me." Calia grabbed her dress and stood up abruptly.

Fendros looked up at her. "...What?"

Calia beckoned him. "Come and show me how you do it! I simply must see for myself." She hastily walked a few paces away from the group and pointed to her right. "Stand over there and let me see your ward."

Fendros reluctantly followed her up to the spot she indicated and faced her. After trading an unsure look with Ahnasha and Llarasa, he held his hand forward and brought the spell to his hands.

The sound of another spell made Fendros flinch. Calia flourished with one hand, sending some sort of red draining spell out towards him. The spell impacted and was absorbed almost effortlessly. There was no telling whether it was a particularly harmful spell or not.

"Mother!" Fendros protested. "You could have warned me-"

She tossed another spell, this time more intense than the previous one. Fendros caught it just as easily, albeit on guard this time.

"One more, my son!" Calia said with a beaming smile. She used both hands to bring together a bright red spell that she tossed before her in a roiling, dangerous-looking orb.

Fendros braced. The spell struck, and though Fendros tensed on its impact, the red completely dissipated into the bright light of his ward.

The next moving object to come speeding towards Fendros was Calia herself, laughing with outstretched arms. Her the decorum in her accent gave her wild laughter something of a malignant tone, but there was no doubting the sincerity of it. Fendros lowered his ward with some relief and they joined in a tight hug.

"Oooh, I never thought I would see the day. I'm so proud of you, Fendros!" Calia was almost crying.

Fendros' response was less excited. "Please don't ever do that again, mother."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

The corners of Janius' mouth quirked up. "That's one other thing that hasn't changed," he joked. "You do bring up some fine memories."

Janius motioned to stand up, helping Kaleeth up with him. He did not let her go, instead taking her left hand in his and bringing his other hand to her waist. He gave her a knowing look, and with slow and deft steps treading through the water, lead her in a slow dance. He remained surprisingly balanced for his current form.

"I know there have been times where I have not been...everything I should have been," Janius said as they swayed. "There were times where I thought you deserved better than me. I did not know what I was doing half the time once we started travelling together, in the sense of committing. I am not sure whether I am a hero, but I hope I have been a good mate for you so far."

---

Fendros agreed. "That was Ahnasha's goal in it." He glanced at Gwindir. "I couldn't convince her otherwise."

"And a noble goal it is," Calia added. "Ahnasha, far be it for me to pry, but did you get assistance in getting the process worked out? I assume your friend Meesei was an instrumental part."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

I have family over at the moment. Posting will be a little slow, sorry.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth's description of Janius as a hero made him laugh briefly, even if it sounded strange in his current form. It did not last long as she got intimate. Despite the length of their relationship, Janius could not say he kissed Kaleeth as a werewolf very often. It was awkward for him, not least of which because his instinct in this form was to simply lick her face.

After Kaleeth spoke again, Janius spent a long moment just looking at her in the eyes. After which he spoke gently. "I never asked myself that question for a long time. But when I did the answer was obvious. You chose not to give up."

---

Fendros only gave a small nod before he ducked back into a seat nearby, wearing a broad smile. "Talking behind our backs again?" he asked light-heartedly.

"Son, we would not dream of gossiping." Calia once again had all the answers. "We are merely proud of our children and wish to express it."

"What's this about the store, then?" Fendros asked.

Calia gestured forward. "S'nashi and Gwindir were, I believe, impressed by the scheduling you and Ahnasha have managed. Time for hunting and for study and for child rearing. Our timetabling of your studies must have had a good affect on you."

"...Right! Yes. It did." Fendros took the bone Calia had thrown him, so to speak, even if he did so nervously. "You and father were very strict about it. I think the discipline gave me the right tools. It has also been much easier since Rhazii has been at an age to help us." He glanced over to Ahnasha for help.

Monderyn shrugged and looked to Rhazii, who was just as unsure. "I'll try to take my turn now, then maybe we'll wait to see when your mother and father are ready."

Whatever scores Monderyn and Rhazii were setting, Ahansha and Fendros were not paying attention.

Divinus: The God RP, Mk. III. Finished in Record Time™!

Upon request by the author and for the integrity of the GM review process, feedback for @Cyclone's character:

Katharsos the Kute Killer Kitty

Your choice to write the CS freeform had nice style. That can tend to be annoying to compartmentalise but I'm glad you highlighted the words pertinent to the original CS template so I could refer to the sections quickly anyway. Thanks for that.

How I'm seeing the take on the god of Death is one limited in capability to the traditional Grim Reaper; that of taking souls from dead bodies to move them onto the afterlife. I like the shake-up of the character being rather more emotionally involved than the traditionally detached the Grim Reaper (Book Thief narrators notwithstanding). Having a power over souls as you describe it makes a more vague than usual portfolio, but not too vague to make you flesh it out any further. The limitations that are there give sufficient definition.

The Sky of Pyres is a cool sphere and a cool afterlife. The idea of the living looking up and seeing a star glint with the light of a recently departed relative is a nice idea, as is whatever beliefs could arise from cremation vs. burial vs. whatever else. It's odd (but not in a bad way) that the destiny of a soul is to burn, given all the Abrahamic stuff pushing burning of souls onto hell. I can see certain vested interests trying to reward virtuous souls with a nicer afterlife or reincarnation, or conversely punishing evil souls in an opposite manner. Or, you know, Chopstick Eyes'll just sell on the ashes to the Chthonics as part of some kind of IVF enterprise.

The persona is something I would usually worry about from a player, given that Katharsos is rather reclusive, stoic, solemn, and dutybound. This does not make for a particularly proactive character. However, the reason I'm letting you get away with it is because you are a GM who is going to be playing the architect and you really should be using more of your free time getting other CS reviews done!

Approved by me.

And hell, let's do @BBeast's character, too:

Ashalla sha-sha-sha-shalla shi shai sho shalla

The Abyss is a suitably inhospitable sphere, true to its Earthly namesake. I've seen documentaries of those dark places and they are weird and wonderful. Non-deities are going to need some serious kit to survive down there, but it's shaping out to be quite a nexus for the Chthonic spheres. Maybe we will see one sooner or later, buried at sea, eaten by sharks and fish and ultimately sinking below that which their soul can grasp out to the Pyres. The undead adventures of Davy Jones.

The ocean portfolio is clear as crystal. It all makes sense to be and I don't doubt you'll have plenty to do.

While the temptation to call the persona a rule 63 Poseidon is damn tempting, there's a little more nuance in that. You've got a goddess with just enough insecurities to make a real mess and still learn from it emotionally, and that's sufficient for just about any character here in a broad sense. You'll just have to forge those relations with other deities to make that happen, even if it means throwing a tsunami here and there. Then again, like I said for Cyclone, there's less pressure on you, being a GM and all.

Approved by me.

And before you gooses honk at me for being too easy at approvals, I'll put it out there that I've rebuffed the least number of CSs behind the scenes than both the other GMs. Fite me, boi.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Janius couldn't help but laugh a Kaleeth's antics. "When did you decide to get so lively all of a sudden?" He turned and took Kaleeth by her sides, falling back into the water near the shore such that his head could still be above water. "Nothing is perfect. You're close enough to perfect for me."

---

Calia responded somewhat dismissively. "Oh, no, extending one's life need not be by such a shortcut as speaking to evil daedra. They are more likely to destroy your life before giving you immortality. Ahnasha is too smart for that and...well, I know why she would not take that route either way and I believe that is a reason she would need to tell you herself. No, Ahnasha will have performed it from her own hard study and determination."

Monderyn whispered back. "I wish I could tell you more, but it sounds like this is more about your parents than mine. I don't know them like you do."

With Fendros taking an interest as well, Rhazii was left confused and frowning. "I'm...just going to take my turn then. Shevari, could you tell me when to start?"

Fendros numbly passed off the bow and Rhazii took his shots as fast as he could.