Where's the Elf Help Section?

[holtfinder]

WHO: Moonshine and you!
WHERE: The Bishop, Town Center, near the flood plain
WHAT: Getting her bearings, making friends and influencing people, getting into trouble
WHEN: After the superhero event, as she arrived in the aftermath
WARNINGS: None, will edit if that changes

[Closed to the Crew of the Bishop] Queen Takes Bishop
Upon being informed that she's been assigned to the Bishop, the ship becomes one of Moonshine's first places to explore. The larger rooms make her height look even more ridiculous against the proportions of the ship, but she still makes a point of poking her head into as many of the rooms as possible. At one point, she even picks one of the exposed cords in the wall, following its length to see where it leads. It's as useful as anything, as any signs indicating what's where on the ship are useless to her.

One particular place to find her poking around is the Galley, where the refrigerator and freezer seem to confuse her more than anything else she's seen. "What's the use of a big box of cold?"

[OTA] Nyoom!
It's a bright day in the city center, when suddenly a grey wolf with a small purple-clad woman riding on his back bolt across from somewhere near the livestock nursery, around the fountain toward the Whale Come Sent Her. Someone's excited to stretch his legs, it seems, though he alternates between zoomies and stopping to sniff around things. It is entirely possible that those who aren't paying attention to their surroundings may be half bowled-over by an overeager wolf and his apologetic rider.

[OTA] The Wild Hunt
Eventually, Steadypaw catches the scent of a nest of piglet-squirrels toward the south end of the Town Center, tracking their scent down toward the flood plain. Those within earshot may hear a loud "AYOOOOOOAH!" from Moonshade as the pair harry their prey. If anyone's interested in a delicious breakfast of fresh piglet-squirrel meat, feel free to join the pair as they hunt. After all, Moonshade's without the knife or bow and arrows she'd normally be packing for such a hunt. She has, however, fashioned herself a slingshot and gathered some rocks, but more firepower would obviously be appreciated.

[OTA] Wildcard
Feel free to reach out on Plurk (darkersolstice) or Discord (darkersolstice#9463), but honestly if you just want to throw something random at me, I will roll with the punches!

Comments

Re: Nyoom

[holtfinder]

"He's not a dog, he's a wolf. Dogs are weak, tame, human-bred creatures. Steadypaw's still mostly wild." You know, except for allowing a whole person on his back. But Moonshade slows the wolf down, approaching Kaz at a more sedate pace.

[demjiin]

"Wild except for having someone riding on his back?"

Well, at least they were both thinking it. His bewilderment is wearing off too, and his wits were starting to work again. The wolf seemed to be about average size for a wolf. The woman, however, was child-sized but seemed to be a fully formed adult, was caucasian, had black hair, and her features were pointed. She was wearing leather that was dyed a dark purple, too. Making an educated guess, Kaz decided she must not be human.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but wolves don't do very well when they're all alone."

[holtfinder]

"You're not wrong. Without his pack, he's likely to get restless, but he wasn't exactly given a choice in coming here. Nor was I. So for the moment, we're a pack of two, and perhaps as we get to know people more, he'll feel less alone here. It won't be the same as home, but..."

Moonshade has, so far, managed to put on a chipper face. Tried not to think about her mate and cubs, on another world, in another universe. Tried not to consider her tribe, who must be worried sick about her absence.

"...We'll make do. We're survivors."

[demjiin]

At least she has a family that would miss her, Kaz doubted he had any more than the one person that would even notice his absence. Unfortunately, Kaz wasn't about to say any of those things that could possibly be comforting.

"He'll probably be better off eating some of the domesticated animals here, I think they're called glownies? At any rate, people can eat that meat so it would be safer than rolling the dice on finding something in the forest."

[holtfinder]

"A wolf is meant to hunt, and so am I. Sure, we could survive on the meat of herd-beasts, but that's not the Way. Even if it's not as safe, we can't be happy without letting the moon sing in our blood."

She explains it patiently, not expecting him to understand completely. But it matters deeply to her, it's something she can't merely give up for something like safety.

[demjiin]

"If you just mean hunting something down and killing it for the sake of killing it, then just do that. But don't eat whatever you find."

While Moonshade is probably right, and he wouldn't understand the Way, Kaz understood the urge to kill something perfectly well.

[holtfinder]

"I would never waste meat like that." Sorry, Kaz, the concept of hunting without making use of the animals you kill is kind of utterly foreign (and apparently even a bit offensive) to her. "That's just murder, at that point. We kill to use the meat, and the bones, and the skins of animals. That's the Way."

[demjiin]

Kaz raised an eyebrow at that. Since most people find the things he says offensive, Moonshade isn't the only one.

"If you're going to hunt something down and use all of it, then okay but what happens when your wolf gets poisoned and dies from something it ate. Then neither it, or you would be hunting much anymore."

[holtfinder]

"I would have hoped those who came before me have some idea what's poisonous and what's safe, and can help steer us away from anything dangerous. Is there anything known to be safe to hunt?"

While it wouldn't surprise her to learn the locals have only been eating plants (the Sun Village was like that before the Wolfriders found them), it would be a disappointment.

Of course, no one's explained the protein dispensers on the ships to her yet. But synthesized protein is decidedly not the Way.

[demjiin]

Kaz's second eyebrow joins the first but his tone is still dry as dust.

"Then you're out of luck there. No one hunts and as far as I know it can get risky trying to eat just the vegetables in the forest. Most of what we have to live on is the protein dispensers on the ships."

There's also a greenhouse and the Diner that does its best to jazz up that protein, but neither of those is suitable for hunting.