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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 20:26:53 GMT -6
Aside from the slight crackle of the speaker of the radio in the corner, the only real noise came from the distinct sound of cutlery on a metal plate. A calm sort of foreign music created the auditory atmosphere. The pungent smell of cooked greenery and meat the sensory. Just a quiet evening in the local inn, having a hot meal and time to herself. Winter in New Pethia seemed to be slower then normal. The humans coddling themselves and their animals in well heated kennels or holed up in their mansions. There were very few folks out and about these early months. Occasionally there were mentions of goings on; and that was why she was outside. Bored of the warmth and the consistent bored chatter of her ribboned companions, she'd loosened her ribbons and gone out to have some quiet time. Being constantly talked to by others could make one stir crazy, thats for sure. 1
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 20:36:32 GMT -6
Sadly enough, the tavern was closed up for the winter. Perhaps forever, as 'winter' had stretched on through the year. A few small cafes and inns popped up otherwise. She found herself having a quiet evening in the Catseye Cache, a local artificer's hole in the wall with charm. A lot of charm. Built up for orbaru crosses of all shapes and sizes, the artificer made the place comforting for both humanoid and pet. Even offering out their wares for citizens who went to the trouble of completing tasks with their animals. The local populace wasn't terribly fond of orbaru, even with their renewed prolififeration. Cute housepets and nothing more. She figured that if allowed, some others would call an orbaru quite delicious. Pass. Had a few of her own orbaru even, but didn't really want to do with them. Or what to do. Was there a use in even owning them? Perhaps she should rehome them... 2
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 20:52:42 GMT -6
She gave a soft sigh, swirling around her drink of choice; a spiced tea with a few drops of something slightly stronger. What's stronger then tea? Concentrated tea. Yes. Concentrated. Before her was a now empty plate that once had a seryn fillet, complimented with cooked greens and a cooked grain. The meal was healthy, filling, and sure to cost her several tens of credits. The menu originally said 'fish' fillet and when asked, it was imported in. The one who served her the dish looked a bit uncomfortable mentioning it was a seryn fillet. Why, did they have one or something? She had one. A little kelp. But just because she owned a fish didn't mean she wasn't going to eat a fish. Murp farmers probably bought another farm's stock or ate their own stock at culling time to make sure their meats were satisfactory to the palate. Not such a big deal, really. Came from a family of beast keepers herself. 3
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 21:10:30 GMT -6
From where she sat in the seating area for humannoids, there was a big poster recently pinned up on the wall. Practically only a few days, by any guess. From the note, it was all about those puppy dogs, the houlou. Huh. Those puppy dogs were young so long that most people deemed them immortally young. "What's with the poster" she asked the barkeep as they came around to clean the glasses left behind by leaving guests. The barkeep followed her pointing hand to the poster, a large smile spreading across their face. "Its all the rage; theres a new section of the contest hall going up, and its all about houlou. Gives someone a reason to even bother training the little fluff yappers up now." Looking about left and right at the seemingly empty area, they lean a bit closer and whisper a bit. 'Rumor has it that you can get a hormone thing to let your houlou become an adult at long last.' 4
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 21:40:08 GMT -6
Well that would make a stir in the community. 'Why not just see if the labs are doing routine growths?' She knew the answer already; they were long closed... right?The barkeep shakes their head no. 'These yappers are the first live birth creatures out of that place and damned if anyone's letting their pups get more exposed to the heeby geeby stuff going on behind those walls.' 'You mean you, versus anyone.' 'You know what I mean.' the barkeep responds a bit testily. Must not be a big fan of how the labs operate. 'Anyhow, you can't get the thing unless your houlou is formally trained, and I mean more then what the gym requires for something to walk inside and use their facility. I mean like... TRAINED.' Now that sounded unusual. She'd never had the best luck with training anything that was shorter then her waist, formally. 'These yapper dogs will be show dogs.' 5
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 21:55:05 GMT -6
Huh, she muses. "What if you don't have a houlou?" "If you've participated in the contest halls before, you can earn a token to get yourself a puppy. A new stock of puppies turned up, and from what I've heard, they are too cute to pass up." the barkeep has a stupid happy smile now. She doesn't tell them that she'd long since given her own houlou to a better home where the pup could be looked after with the attention needed. A houlou in a world of giant carnivores just didn't seem to jive in her mind. "But yeah, look at the pamphlet, there's more information and stuff. Its too complicated to explain by words alone." the pamphlet bampfs onto the table, tossed expertly by the barkeep as they go back to work at last. Slightly curious, she opens up the pamphlet and begins to read. Get a houlou. Train a houlou. Register as a kennel... 6
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 22:19:44 GMT -6
Register as an official kennel? She had to reread tht particular part. Didn't need a houlou to register, but in order to show in the future if you ever got one, you needed to be official. Huh. She absently taps her fingers on the table a bit, continuing to read. So the houlou people, at least the official ones, kept a strict leash on how often one could recieve a pup. Get one with the token with your winnings from the contest hall (which if she recalled, was still active almost bimonthly) or wait for someone to drop off the third (her brain immediately read that as runt) of the litter off at the adoption agency for another to adopt. Or bring that token and get a stock pup. Deciding not to read too closely between the lines, she read about having to train the pups up in order to 1. keep them if they were adopted from the breedery... 7
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 22:23:53 GMT -6
And 2. enter them in the first show. The entry, a debut show. With strange names and all. There were a few people in the past that she'd met that had a calling name for their creatures and a name thrown on a piece of paper when clapped together with another for whatever sort of breeding. Show names. Hm. Would it even be worth it? If she really gave the thought some thought, the answer she came u p with was no. With her own kennel comprising mostly of anything thats at or taller then her height alone, having a dog around would be just a lot of trouble. She had too many mouths to feed already. But... what if. It didn't mention, as she reread the pamphlet again, that you yourself had to use the token. The hermit ssashirk whom she'd given some annonymous assistance to, like a set of breaking gear for his wild raptor drake... would he have one? 8
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 22:29:00 GMT -6
"Thanks for the information." she tells the barkeep, leaving a handful of silver credits to the amount of her bill and thensome on the table. The pamphlet is left behind, but burned into her mind. If tokens could be bought and sold without a usage, she could do what she wanted to do. Off to the contest hall she went, surprisingly open late. Why? The final votes of what sounded to be a lackingly lustered contest for the winter. Well, there were some folk who were more contest oriented then fight oriented. She herself now wasn't sure. The pit was no longer a draw; and her companions made a point of telling her they were not happy about that. "Here to cast your vote for the most winterly creature on the stage?" the contest helper asked with a pasted on smile? Not entirely sure. It was very late though. Must work like any other poll, to be open until dark and then close for the night. No midnight vote casters to steal the spotlight. "Sure." Randomly casting a vote for a winterly thing on the list, she looks up at the contest helper while putting her vote into the ballot box. 9
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Post by Skylos on Jan 24, 2020 22:35:20 GMT -6
"Here's to the winner." the contest helper said, picking up their flask of something and taking a swig. With an audible 'ah' and wiping the back of their hand on their mouth, the contest helper looked up at her. "How can I help y'." "I want to purchase a fidelity token." she tells them, getting a bobbing nod. "Right right, there's been a small rush for these dinky things." In a rolling movement, the helper gets up, and retrieves a fidelity token from a pile in the back. "Turn it in to the houlou hall if you wanna use it. Or sell it, give it away, melt it down.. whaterver." they sit back down with a sigh. "You're a face I recall before; old goer of the hall. I'll mark off the points so you don't need to worry." "Appreciated. I gave my pup away a while back, so this isn't for me." the attendent shrugs. Who cared where it goes. Especially at this time of night. 10
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Post by Renathan on Jan 24, 2020 23:31:04 GMT -6
You have rolled a success! Your QP has been added to the bank. You may continue roleplaying if you wish!
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