What Hunts in Avarra
[13:10:55] Crow (melchior.wardell) returned to Avarra without announcement, as was his habit. There was no entourage, no banner, no reason given for his arrival. This time, however, he was not alone. The massive sleen moved with him, keeping to his pace with the quiet, unsettling confidence of a creature that knew exactly what it was capable of. Hecate was no ornament and certainly no pet. She was a hunter. A good one. His gaze moved over the city as they approached, taking in the walls, the streets beyond them. “Try not to eat anyone important.” He continued toward the city,
[13:13:48] Hecate growled softly in response to the words, she heard the word eat and try not too before she tilted her massive head to the side. Giving a baleful eye towards Crow, as though he had said something funny. Not that a sleen could understand common speech but she was intelligent, and thus she slunk after him, heeling to his side in a crumbly manner as she hissed to those who got too close but she attacked no one.
[13:18:39] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) had already met Crow before, though the enormous sleen accompanying him was considerably harder to dismiss with a polite nod. Her gaze settled upon Hecate almost immediately, and despite knowing the beast travelled with Crow, Neeve instinctively gave her a wider berth. With the recent attacks still very much in her thoughts, the sight of a predator quite capable of tearing a person apart did little to put the physician at ease. “I would rather she did not eat anyone at all, important or otherwise,” Neeve remarked dryly toward Crow, though her attention remained fixed upon Hecate as the beast hissed at someone foolish enough to wander too close. She resisted the urge to retreat another step, instead drawing herself upright and smoothing a hand over her skirts. “I am trusting you have considerably more control over her than appearances suggest.” Her attention eventually shifted from the sleen to the purpose of their meeting. The wreck needed surveying, particularly after everything that had happened of late, and standing here staring suspiciously at Crow’s hunting beast would tell them nothing. “Come then. We should see what remains of the wreck while there is still enough light to make a proper assessment.” She gestured toward the direction they needed to take before starting forward, though she made quite certain Crow remained between herself and Hecate whenever possible. Physician she might be, but she had absolutely no desire to discover firsthand what a sleen bite looked like from the patient’s perspective.
[13:23:26] Crow (melchior.wardell) ‘s eyes shifted briefly toward Hecate as Neeve spoke, the corner of his mouth lifting almost imperceptibly. “Considerably more.” The sleen’s hiss drew his attention, but he made no move to reprimand her. Instead, he gave the creature a quiet look and a small gesture of his hand. Hecate remained where she was, alert, her head following the movement of the fool who had ventured too close. “She knows the difference between curiosity and command.” His gaze returned to Neeve. “And between prey and someone she has been told to leave alone.” He fell into step beside the Physician as she started toward the wreck, deliberately keeping Hecate behind them. His attention, however, was already working over the surroundings. The scent was still there. Faint. Old. But unmistakable. He glanced toward the wreckage, then toward the ground around it. He wasn’t looking merely for bodies this time. He was looking for signs that something had returned. “You are right about one thing,” he said quietly. “There is little value in standing here staring at the wreck.” His eyes narrowed. “But I did not bring Hecate because I expected to find nothing.” He paused near the edge of the wreckage, letting the sleen’s instincts work from behind them. “The scent of animals is still here. When Sheikh arrived he would again signal to Hecate that there was no need to charge.
[13:24:40] حكيم Sheikh Jaziran عظيم (anvarra.alecto): Having followed the healer he chuckles low seeing the large sleen and remembers the days uncle Yusef use to hand over the sand sleens and say ..go hunt down the lost slave animals..And he ran off to go hunting .Seeing this one he saw a great forest sleen and knew the larger breed is well fed and tended “Bring the animal by the meat stall will toss em a full side of tarsk to knaw on some morn should enjoy that good sleen master”
[13:25:42] Hecate followed along with crow, stopping suddenly as her nostrils flared. She turned her head off to the distance where she saw something skirting around, as though eying them up. Only for the large beast to fall back into step and run her shoulder against Crow in the only warning he’d get for now. They were being watched by something and the giant creature who was massive even for her own kind bared dual fangs for a moment. However as Neeve spoke that head swiveled towards her. A chuff coming from the large furred almost reptile. Her six legs moving before she noticed the fire. She paused and then looked to the wreckage. She was not a cuddly creature, but nore did she step out of line. She was well trained since birth. The moment however crow motioned for her to stop her head lifted and she held still. As the next signal from crow with the new person arriving she gave a grumble and then continued to survay the around areas. Her ears flicked back against her head. She was on edge but not about to maul anyone. It was evident from her posture, though she still held that grumbly demeanor.
[13:33:22] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw): me glanced back at Hecate when Crow spoke of the sleen knowing the difference between prey and those she had been told to leave alone. That was reassuring in theory, though Neeve was not entirely convinced she wished to discover how firmly she had been placed into the latter category. “I shall endeavour not to resemble prey, then,” she murmured dryly, continuing alongside him. Sheikh’s arrival drew a brief glance and a faint smile at his offer of an entire side of tarsk. “Do not encourage her. She is quite large enough already.” Her amusement faded as they reached the wreckage. Neeve slowed, eyes passing carefully over the remains before Crow’s words drew her attention. “Animals?” she repeated, brow furrowing. “The same as before?” Recent attacks made that considerably more concerning than merely finding old tracks around a wreck. Then Hecate stopped. Neeve noticed the change immediately: the flaring nostrils, the sudden turn of the sleen’s head and, more importantly, the way she pressed against Crow. Whatever reservations Neeve held about the beast, she trusted an animal’s senses considerably more than her own when it came to detecting something hidden beyond sight. Her gaze followed Hecate’s toward the distance, one hand instinctively gathering a little of her skirt as she moved closer to Sheikh and Crow. “Something has her attention.” Her voice lowered, all humour gone now. She knew there had been animals here. The empty cage still stood discarded. She saw the tracks that lead away. She remembered all too well the bodies – the blood possibly still evident on the ground. A slight shiver down her spine made her a little cold.
[13:37:47] Crow (melchior.wardell) ‘s attention shifted immediately when Hecate stopped. The change in the sleen was subtle to anyone who did not know her. To him it was as clear as a shouted warning. His hand lowered, resting briefly against the thick hide of her neck. “I know.” He didn’t look at Neeve at first. His eyes remained fixed on the direction Hecate had chosen. The scent was there. Not merely the old musk lingering around the wreckage. Something fresher. Fainter, perhaps, but present. He slowly crouched, examining the ground without touching it. His gaze moved over the dirt, the broken timbers, the old tracks and the places where weather and footsteps had disturbed them. “No…” he murmured. He rose again. “Not the same.” His eyes narrowed. “Older scent beneath it. Something else over the top.” He glanced toward Neeve and then Sheikh. “Whatever she smells, she doesn’t think it is gone.” He lifted one hand toward Hecate, keeping her settled. “And now I am wondering whether bringing a hunter to Avarra was unnecessary…” A faint, humorless smile touched his face. “Or simply late.”
[13:43:11] حكيم Sheikh Jaziran عظيم (anvarra.alecto): “Too much blood for too late for sure and there is something morehere” leans down and breaks off a small bit of the tree root near the ground and smells”scales like a tharl but small not very large ,I am sure you know the smell of tharls. In the desert we use too many breeds not to know the stink of em”
[13:44:20] Hecate gave a low rumbling thrum from her chest. Her claws digging into the dirt and sand as something continued to watch them. A growl rippling through next in a clear ‘shove off’ manner towards whatever was watching them. The massive sleen keeping an eye on the ridge and ignoring the two new comers for now as she observed. She didn’t burst from her position, instead watching, waiting. Patience that came from years of training clear while she herself sounded like a warning bell for those humans near her. The scent of those creatures that had escaped and something new. She turned her head after a time towards Crow, looking to him with those dark golden eyes as he touched her long fur. The hunting sleen huffing once in a self soothing manner before she turned her head back up. Waiting and poised, like a larl ready to pounce, but in this case as sleen. Whatever was watching them, had not left yet.
[13:50:44] Natalie (natalie.blakewell) The journey south had been long and unforgiving, each day pushing her closer to the edge of exhaustion and desperation. How had circumstances conspired to strand her here? Her stomach gnawed at her insides, yet caution kept her movements deliberate, controlled. The young redhead secured her canoe and set off to explore. She needed to blend in, to disappear into the fabric of this place. A veil. A free woman’s dress. Without them, she was nothing but a marked target. That’s when she heard them, their voices. Her breath caught in her throat as she moved forward with practiced stealth, each footfall barely disturbing the earth beneath her. Then she saw it through the bars: the distinctive, bone-chilling image of a beast shifting. A sleen. Her pulse quickened, blood roaring in her ears as her body went rigid. Every nerve ending screamed at her to run. Instead, she forced herself to breathe slowly, deeply, pressing her body against the nearest wall. She became stone, she wanted to become invisible.
[13:52:04] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) remained where she was as Crow crouched to inspect the ground, making no attempt to follow his examination as though she might somehow discern what he did. Scales and animal scents were well outside her expertise. Give her blood, wounds and a body and she could likely tell them considerably more, but dirt beneath her feet was simply dirt as far as Neeve was concerned. Her gaze instead settled upon Hecate. The sleen’s behaviour was enough to make the hairs at the back of her neck rise, particularly when those claws dug into the earth and that low growl carried through the air. Whatever Crow and Sheikh were smelling, Hecate certainly appeared convinced it was still nearby. “Well, I smell blood,” she said, nose wrinkling slightly as she looked toward the wreckage. “Human blood, unless I am very much mistaken. Beyond that, you gentlemen may keep your tharls, scales and mysterious scents. I would only embarrass myself by pretending to know one beast’s stink from another.” Her eyes moved toward the ridge Hecate continued to watch. Crow’s remark earned him a sideways glance. “Considering what has already happened here, I am inclined toward late rather than unnecessary.” Neeve edged nearer to Sheikh almost without thinking, though she attempted to make the movement appear entirely casual. Her attention remained fixed upon the same distant point as Hecate’s, despite seeing nothing herself. “If whatever is out there has enough sense to understand that growling, perhaps it will decide we are not worth investigating.” A pause followed before she added more quietly, “Though given our recent luck, I rather doubt it.”
[14:00:33] Crow (melchior.wardell) s gaze remained fixed on the ridge as Neeve spoke. Human blood. That changed the calculation. He slowly turned his head toward her. “How fresh?” There was no alarm in his voice. Only the quiet precision of a man adding another piece to a puzzle. Hecate’s growl deepened. His hand settled against the sleen’s neck again, not restraining her so much as reminding her that she was not yet given permission. He looked toward the wreckage once more. “If you can smell blood, Physician, then something bled recently.” His eyes lowered briefly to the ground. “And if Hecate can smell something else…” He paused. “Then we have two pieces of information pointing in the same direction.” A faint, dry smile appeared. “At least not until we know whether whatever is watching us has decided we are prey, competition…” His fingers moved once against Hecate’s hide. “Or simply an inconvenience.” He could sense something nearby but was unsure. He signaled for Hecate to guard the area and bring anyone that came to close and was not yet pointed. He knew she could herd too. He looked toward the Physician. “I sense we are not alone.” he would moved beside her if it was to protect or simply to overlook the area was for anyones guess.
[14:03:10] Hecate smelled something different, the sleen already on alert pressed her head against Crow once more, a silent warning as those baleful eyes turned towards the area behind her. Her head turning slightly before she let out another rumbling warning hiss of something approaching her. The creature already on edge now being torn in two directions. However what ever was on the ridge left for now. The nostrils flaring of the sleen returned to whatever was near by. Her claws kneeding that ground but she didn’t move, nore attack. Simply warning and waiting, that hand upon her neck reminding her of a signal that had yet to be given. However as Crow moved off, she turned her head, looking to where the new smell was coming from and turning to it. Though she made no move to the target, she still pointed out whatever it was. A low rumble emitting from her. It was a human. Though to what end the sleen had no clue. Simply….that it was less of a threat than whatever she had smelled.
[14:10:02] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) looked to Crow at his question, lips pursing. “I am not certain.” Rather than pretend otherwise, she moved cautiously nearer the wreckage and bent to inspect the blood again, drawing a careful breath. “Some is old…” she murmured, before indicating another trace. “But that smells newer. Not much blood…. a cut, perhaps? I cannot tell you precisely when, only that it was not all spilled at the same time.”Hecate’s sudden shift had Neeve straightening, eyes immediately following the sleen. “Oh, I dislike it when she does that,” she muttered, though Crow moving beside her was certainly not discouraged. In fact, Neeve edged subtly closer to him a little like he was suddenly her protector now Sheikh had gone. Her gaze flicked back toward the ridge before meeting Crow’s. “Between your instincts and hers, I am beginning to feel rather outnumbered in opinions that we are not alone.”
[14:14:17] Crow (melchior.wardell) studied Neeve as she examined the blood, listening without interrupting. A cut. Little blood. Recent enough to matter. His gaze returned to the ridge. “Then something bled here after the rest.” Hecate shifted again. He felt the movement beneath his hand and glanced down at her. He gave the sleen a quiet look before looking back toward the ridge. “You’re not outnumbered.You’re simply standing beside two hunters who happen to agree.” There was the faintest hint of amusement in his voice. He noticed Neeve edging closer and made no comment on it. Instead, he shifted half a step, placing himself between her and the direction Hecate was watching. “Stay close to me.” His attention sharpened. “If it is merely an animal, Hecate will tell us and most likely deal with it far more efficient than we both can.” His eyes narrowed. “If it is a man…” his hand drifted nowhere near his weapons. Not yet. “I’ll tell you.” He studied the physician for a moment. He could see that her hair had escaped the ribbon and flowed over her shoulder. “One wonders … all the animals were trained one time or another. But I doubt the one that cut himself here, came for them.”
[14:17:30] Hecate flared her nostrils as whatever she had caught wind had left. The creature on the ridge had retreated for now but whatever it was would most likely come back later she knew. She sat down after a moment, a sign that everything had passed for now. The humanoid gone and the ridge beast disappeared from her bellowing and warnings. Her eyes looked back to the hunter and the woman. Her massive haired body shaking just once to give a sign that the coast was clear before she yawned. The tension clearly having gotten her rialed up as nails continued to stay digging in the dirt. Yellow eyes turned to Crow before she chuffed at him. And then looked back to the woman he had been protecting.
[14:26:04] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) heard the distant toll of the Physicians’ bell carrying from the city, her head turning instinctively toward the sound. Whatever called for attention would have to wait; for once, she ignored it and remained exactly where Crow had told her. “Two hunters who happen to agree sounds suspiciously like being outnumbered,” she replied, though there was a trace of amusement beneath her unease. When Crow stepped between her and the ridge and told her to stay close, Neeve did not argue, remaining comfortably within the protection he offered.
She caught his gaze lingering upon her and followed it down to the strands of hair that had escaped their ribbon and fallen over her shoulder. One brow lifted as she swept them back with her fingers. “My hair is hardly the most suspicious thing out here, Crow,” she teased lightly, though she made a small attempt to tuck it back into place. Her attention returned to the wreck as he spoke of the animals. “No, I doubt it too. Which leaves us with the rather unpleasant question of why someone came here at all.” Hecate settling finally eased some of Neeve’s tension, though she eyed the enormous sleen when that yellow gaze turned upon her. “I take it sitting down means I may breathe again?”
[14:30:40] Crow (melchior.wardell) ‘s eyes followed the loose strands of hair for only a moment before returning to the ridge. Her teasing earned the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. “I wasn’t looking at your hair.” he lied. “I was looking at what was behind you.” His gaze shifted toward the wreckage again, though the dry amusement remained. “Your hair is considerably less suspicious. For the moment.” He stepped away from the Physician only enough to crouch near the edge of the wreckage, studying the disturbed ground. “And yes. You may breathe.” He glanced over his shoulder at her. “Quietly.” The question she had asked lingered. “That is the part that interests me.” He rose slowly. “A ship carrying dangerous animals doesn’t simply break apart, lose its cargo, leave bodies behind and somehow produce four different beasts wandering around a city. Someone put those creatures on that ship.Someone restrained them.” He looked toward Neeve. “The question isn’t why they came.” His voice dropped. “It’s what they were looking for.”
[14:34:48] Hecate grumbled and looked towards Crow and Neeve before she chuffed, her tail flicking behind her thoughtfully before she stood up once more, waiting, watching, observing. She was peaceful for now. But for now she was just observing. Her eyes tracing where the other creature had gone and not returned.
[14:39:34] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) gave Crow a thoroughly unconvinced look at his denial, fingers still gathering the escaped strands of hair but failing a little. A job for a mirror and some decent clips. “Of course you were,” she replied, the hint of a smile betraying that she did not believe him for a moment.
His instruction to breathe quietly earned him another look. “You are becoming terribly demanding,” she murmured, though she did lower her voice and watched as he crouched beside the wreckage. The humour faded as she listened to his reasoning, her gaze travelling over the broken remains. “Four different beasts…” Neeve repeated thoughtfully. “Which means someone went to considerable trouble to capture them, restrain them and transport them together.” She looked back to Crow. “So perhaps the wreck was never the important part at all.” Her eyes briefly moved toward Hecate, relieved to see the sleen calmer now. “If you are right and they were looking for something…” Her brow furrowed. “Do you think they found it? Or are they still looking?” She thinks a few moments – clearly her instinct kicked in “Or perhaps….. They were the ones that caged them thinking they would arrive safely and now…” she lets that thought just wonder into the wind “There’s someone behind this and they are still here. In Avarra.” Conclusions perhaps… but it was like creating a dot to dot in her head.
[14:45:42] Crow (melchior.wardell) ‘s expression remained unreadable as Neeve’s theory took shape. He listened without interrupting, eyes moving from the wreckage to the tracks and finally toward the ridge where Hecate remained fixed. “That…” he said quietly, “is considerably more interesting.” He crouched again, fingers hovering above one of the disturbed marks without touching it. “If they were transporting the beasts, then someone had a purpose for them. They weren’t cargo in the usual sense. They were chosen.” His gaze lifted. “Which means the wreck may indeed be incidental.” Hecate gave another low rumble. Crow’s eyes immediately followed hers. “And if the person responsible is still here…” He slowly straightened. “Then they have been watching what happened to their animals. Perhaps watching us.” His hand settled against Hecate’s neck, keeping the sleen calm while his attention swept the ridge, the shoreline, and the wreck.”That would explain the newer blood.”He looked toward Neeve. “Someone may have been injured while trying to recover one of them. Or while trying to control one.” He glanced toward the Physicians’ bell in the distance. “Either way, I don’t think we should assume the animals are the only things hunting in Avarra. But that is not something we can resolve from here.” He dipped his head towards Hecate. “She will be hunting in Avarra. She wears my insignia and is easy to be recognized. Now go to that bell … or call. I do not wish to detain a physician from saving a persons life.” he would give her a playful wink. “What do you think I am ? A murderer.” he laughs there.
[14:47:12] Hecate rumbled, continuing to idle there. Her eyes looking about before she started to pace about, sniffing at things but not eating or even licking the blood. She kept her head high for the most part, the creature though dangerous had strict training, she was not going to get into anything she shouldn’t. Before she turned her head to the water, sniffing at the air to check if it was fresh or sea water. She was cautious now, as though trying to get her barings. However during this whole thing she never left the vision sight of Crow, keeping him in her vision as well. As though ready to heel to his next command. As the bell sounded however she raised her head and looked to the sound in the distance and then back to the two conversing. The sleen giving a rumble before moving back to Crow.
[14:49:52] Neeve Barbosa (kristie.tigerpaw) glanced toward the distant bell again, knowing she could ignore its summons no longer. “No, Crow, I do not think you are a murderer,” she replied with a small laugh, catching his wink. “i know you are. But that’s not for now.” Her gaze passed once more over the wreck and then Hecate. “I doubt we have heard the last of this.” She gathered her skirts, stepping away before looking back to Crow. “Try not to find anything too interesting without me, and keep your sleen from eating anyone important.” With that, Neeve turned toward the city and the insistent call of the Physicians’ bell.
Crows Murder 
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