Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:04:41 GMT -6
(anti-grown here)OcrenosStamina: 5 Strength: 8 Resistance: 3 Dexterity: 3 Mentality: 1 Special Abilities: Uncontrolable Rage (blood), Run Moves: Crunch
The problem with having so many different minds in your own head on the regular is that sometimes you end up ghosting up their thoughts out of habit. For one, about half of those ghosted voices would have said that this would have been a bad idea, while the other half cheered on the reckless abandon and pursuit of excitement. A much more smaller part of the voices would have condemned both sides, in that Ras would have largely though everything was stupid and it should have been him pulling the sled to begin with.
But, instead, the sphinx opted for the much more faster, and much more dangerous, option of attempting this with a seeker of all things. Not exactly a creature known for snow (their fuzzy cousins not withstanding) but undoubtedly one of the fastest land creatures known to the Labs. And, well, if it was a race for speed, then surely a fast creature was what you needed.
(1) Ocrenos: 0 (1/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:05:10 GMT -6
Of course several of the voices would have raised objections purely out of the insistence that they were actually the faster creature. The tat-lung would have openly offered to partake instead, but unfortunately, as this was a sled race, the movement had to be all land - can't exactly offer up a fair race if you're flying while others are running, now was it. And, well.. the sphinx had a bit of a debt to clear before all was said and done..
Namely the debt of time. While not a parent herself, quite many of the creatures were raised from hatchlings and eggs, sort of making her still quantifiable for the role by proxy, if not by experience. However, as it tended to happen, the world seemed to move at a pace much more different to what it was perceived as, and no sooner do you blink that suddenly the hatchling has become a young adult, and then suddenly fully grown. (2) Ocrenos: 0 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:05:38 GMT -6
Something which wasn't necessarily a problem with most creatures, seeing as one could still make up time even then, but with some it became a bit of an.. issue. Case in point, the seekers hatched unruly to begin with and that tendency only increased over time. By the time Ocrenos had reached maturity, even past that, he seemed little interested in any thing she had to say or do. More over, training became next to impossible, so the only way around this was to go back a little and try to get as much time in within the before as possible.
And what better way to bond than to do something he was naturally born to, which she vaguely understands but hopefully has enough luck to pull off, while teaching him how. The race would have been interesting enough to begin with, but given it was a sled race, it also offered an opportunity to spend time and bond with the seeker during it.
(3) Ocrenos: 0 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:06:06 GMT -6
Wise ones know the phrase 'fire-forged bonds hold the strongest' well, though in the seeker's case it might yet need a lot of fire and even more forging, before any sort of bond could be made. To begin with, there was that first hurdle - to even learn how to pull and harness the sled.
On the day of the contest, there were still some hours before the actual event where people could test, train and generally accustom their creatures to the challenge to come. Ocrenos had already started off in a slightly sullen mood given all the snow and cold around, but it seemed to improve once they drew closer to the event grounds. Largely because he was able to see a lot of things going very fast, as they did practise runs and sprints, and within his simplified mind, it translated into opportunities to chase and hunt.
The improvement wasn't drastic enough to outdo the return of the sullen mood once the mammalian commanded him to stay, though..
(4) Ocrenos: 0 (4/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:06:31 GMT -6
"I know there's going to be a lot of things here to distract you, but it's best to keep your focus. We're not here to hunt, but we will be doing some running, so you'll still get some exercise out of it," she assured the seeker, while simultaneously steering both of them more towards the edges of the event grounds, where it was least likely that they might bump into somebody (or, reversely, for somebody to bump into them and give the seeker a reason to get territorial).
A pair of harnesses and a sled had already been set out for them (or anyone attending, really) so it gave the sphinx a chance to inspect what they had to work with. Sledding wasn't entirely something only people in snowy lands did, although they certainly had perfected the art of it. Find a high enough sand dune and you could easily sled down that as well, so long as you had a flat enough object for it.
(5) Ocrenos: 1 (0/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:06:56 GMT -6
She remembered some of the younger relmasuti initiates often using their shields to 'skate' down some dunes when the elders weren't looking (and pretend to have fallen on accident if they did). It wasn't graceful and the slide didn't last for very long, depending on the dune, but at least it was warm. Here, in the cold and snow, the sphinx had already bundled herself up with far more layers than most locals, which had the bonus benefit of providing a few more layers between her and the seeker's teeth, should anything go wrong.
All the same, she none the less also packed along the chainmail brace, for one could never be too careful when it came to avoiding losing one's arm to a seeker. Other gear included some goggles and her helmet, though those were more for the actual race itself, rather than training.
But there was still one more piece of gear that was fully intended for the seeker..
(6) Ocrenos: 1 (1/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:07:35 GMT -6
And it was one that he most certainly wouldn't like - a seemingly innocent rolled up wrap. The wrap was actually intended for sarane-use, but given the similarities in jaw strengths and general tendencies towards aggression, she figured it might as well be useful here as well.
"Ocrenos, look at me," the sphinx held the wrap in one hand, coaxing the seeker's attention away from a galabex being fitted in the distance. No doubt most of the creatures here looked more like lunch on legs than competition to him, which was why she wasn't going to take any chances. The amulet ensured she would be (mostly) safe, and able to control him in a dire situation, but that largely relied on her own reflexes. Which wasn't to say those reflexes were necessarily bad, just that, being human, errors could easily be made.
"Stay still.." she intoned, approaching the seeker, who looked to her with mild interest at first.
(7) Ocrenos: 1 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:08:24 GMT -6
That interest was quick to turn to suspicion as she gradually began to unwrap the sturdy piece of leather, and then downright annoyed alarm when her hands began to reach out towards him. The lips curled back to show a sneer of teeth, and a part of his mind readied to bite at her.
It could not, of course. The amulet meant that whatever instinctual, primal part of the mind wanted to tear into her, it was blocked off. The follow-up instinct was to turn and back up, to avoid her getting too close, but that too was stopped after the first step.
"Nargu," she said, and his body seized still. Lips still curled in a frozen gesture, unable to take a step back or forth, as she reached around and quickly wrapped the leather around his muzzle, securing it into place like she had done so many times before with the sarane, all the while giving him an apologetic look of "Sorry about this.."
(8) Ocrenos: 1 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:08:52 GMT -6
Generally speaking, the amulet wasn't something she would ever willingly use, for it felt uncomfortable to control something to such a degree. With that said, the seekers she had seen (certainly ghostly telepaths not withstanding) certainly proved the necessity of them. For one reason or another, the seekers seemed to enjoy the primal, violent aggression far more than most other species, perhaps even more so than sarane did.
When the muzzle was complete, she raised her hands in appeasement and gently back off, "There we go.. Nothing to worry about, just making sure you won't go biting anyone else. It doesn't hurt, but you might feel a little uncomfortable for a bit."
Finally, the seeker's body unseized, and his immediate instinct was to bring up a front claw and start rubbing against the binding, to push or pull it off, but another "Nargu" put a stop to that quite quickly, "No, Ocrenos. Leave it be, it has to be on while we do this." For everyone's safety, including his own.
(9) Ocrenos: 1 (4/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:09:21 GMT -6
The problem with seekers was that their trouble came in two stages - they were aggressive to begin with, eager to bite and claw, but once they tasted or scented blood, that aggression just turned ten-fold, with no hope of stopping. So everything relied on him not hurting anyone, so nothing would hurt him, and no blood to be found.
So much trouble, for the hope of passing a race with what could be one of the fastest creatures in the line-up. But before all that, there was also the sled and the harness.
The sled itself was a pretty self-explanatory affair, long enough to sit down in, and wide enough to offer some balance, with a low bottom and short rails. The harness took a bit more time to figure out, largely because they were made to find a number of different creatures, and the seeker's body had certainly 'spiny' points that needed to be worked around before everything could be put on.
(10) Ocrenos: 2 (0/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:12:12 GMT -6
For Ocrenos' part, the amulet kept him well in place long enough for her to put the harness on and generally figure out how to best attach it based on his unique style of anatomy. The seeker wasn't likely to appreciate the lengths at which she was trying to make this any more comfortable than could have been, but at the same time, the endured time in frozen 'timeout' meant the initial flare of anger had time to slowly subside into a much more placid annoyance. While still not quite the end goal of having him be tolerate of others, it was none the less a step in the right direction.
Eventually, the sphinx managed to figure out how to arrange the harness is what seemed like a mostly comfortable fit. The brunt of it would have to be carried by Ocrenos' shoulders and chest, but then, given his strength, that shouldn't be an issue at all.
Now the subject of getting going and steering, however..
(11) Ocrenos: 2 (1/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:12:57 GMT -6
There are many different ways to entice a creature to 'go' and food tends to be the most frequent. As such, the mammalian had taken along a long telescope pole for just that occasion, to enable her to tangle a (non-bloody) treat in front of the seeker, as to make him start off. From there, it was anyone's guess as to what happened next, seeing as neither had really done any sort of harness work or cart pulling training with seekers in mind (Ocrenos least of all).
Trial and error showed that getting the seeker going was easy enough - Simply dangle the treat and he'll start walking. Getting him to run would be another matter, but first she wanted to ensure they got the gist of steering at these slow, walk-able paces before getting into the breakneck ones. The concept itself was simple - when the treat on the rod was drifted towards the seeker's left, she also made sure to tug on the reign left at the same time.
(12) Ocrenos: 2 (2/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:13:28 GMT -6
When the treat was drifted right, she pulled the right reign as well. Thus, by the sheer muscle momentum of the seeker's body, the sled could be turned left and right gradually, though the sphinx also hoped they wouldn't have to face any steep turns.. The course on which the race would take place didn't exactly come with a detailed map, so much as a general gist of 'from here to there, follow the flags'.
Stopping was also easy enough, with her removing the treat, and worse case using 'nargu' as a sort of handbrake to stop him entirely. Not that she hoped to use the latter.. at high speeds, the seeker stopping still suddenly would just make the sled (and her) crash into him. Fortunately the sled itself also had some handbrakes, though mostly in a far more rudimentary form - full on a lever, and it pushes a stick into the snow to slow momentum.
(13) Ocrenos: 2 (3/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:14:01 GMT -6
Still, it was rather better than nothing. So with the going, the stopping and the turning (vaguely) figured out, the sphinx tried to find ways to make the seeker go faster. Going into a full-on run would need something even bigger than a treat, though with enough things running with them, her hope was that he'd merely catch on to the general pack idea.
Although, in the meantime, lightly poking the seeker's behind did seem to get him trotting a little faster, at least. More a light trot than a run or a dash, but it gave the sphinx some time to get used to the balance of the sled as well, opting to sit in it with one foot propped up at the front edge, while the other was bent beneath. She wasn't entirely sure as to the exact physics-related reasons, but somehow it just felt more confident to do so, in case of sudden bumps or jumps in the path down.
(14) Ocrenos: 2 (4/5)
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Darky
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Post by Darky on Jan 30, 2022 4:14:23 GMT -6
That was roughly as much time as they had to prepare and proverbially train (though real training was still a far cry off) before the event attendees were all called up to the top of the hill and prepare for the race. Darky lead the seeker up by the 'bridle' so to speak, still a bit too scared that he might lash out at any of the other creatures if she wasn't directly between them and him. And quite an assortment there was as well - galabex, vultici, estharne, equillion, even a balgor or two, and some with smaller creatures as well (though mostly for smaller riders, such as children and fae).
It reminded her that at the end of the day, they were all there in good fun. The intent of bringing a seeker had never been entirely out of desire to win, though some deeper part of her had certainly been tempted by the prospect of a speedy rush against other fast racers, like a competitive, yet cooperative contest.
(15) Ocrenos: 3 (0/5)
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