Was that always there?|Beastlands

[Kender Bard]

After the forest fires that had ravaged much of the Beastlands had subsided, the Beasts were trying to put their lives back together. For some, it wasn't hard. For others, excruciatingly so.

But interestingly enough, the forest fired cleared out patches of the lands in the jungle-area that were so dense, they were nearly impossible to traverse. And one such cleared out spot revealed a cave, hidden until now...

[Devon]

Nin hangs upside by his tail from a nearby tree branch. With his arms crossed he surveys the cave. "Hmm, now this is quit odd..Never seen this cave before." Swinging himself up till his feet are planted on the branch, Nin leaps from tree to tree until he is in front of the cave. Looking around again to see if anyone was there, Nin enters the cave.

[Kender Bard]

The cave is narrow, damp, and cool. The air is a touch musty, as if the place has been sealed for quite some time and only recently opened to the fresh air. The passageway twists and curls as it goes deeper into the earth. Just before the tunnel goes pitch black, it opens up into a chamber.

Here, a motif is set into the wall, circular in shape depicting a large wolf-man of some sort. Embedded (loosely) along the rim of the circle are orbs of precious stones, worth a lot of money for their pure quality: quartz, jasper, opal, lapis lazuli, agate, nacre, jade, sugilite, and amber. All give off a faint, gentle glow.

[Devon]

Nin nearly bounces around the room with the site of all those precious jewels. Who knew the jungle hid something like this. It wasn't that Nin was greedy or overly money loving, but who didn't like bright jewels. Calming down a bit Nin stares at the large wolf-man. "I wonder who that is..I've never seen him before." Nin moves closer to the wall and pokes at the motif for a while before finally plucking the stones from their socket.

[Kender Bard]

Once all the stones had been removed there was a faint rumble, and the wolf-man motif trembled. Nin has just enough time to move back before the wall suddenly falls forward with a loud 'THUD', sending dust and dirt everywhere.

And, when the dust clears, there is what appears to be a starved young wolf pup, squirming on the ground pathetically and whining.

[Devon]

Nin stares in surprise at the pup hidden behind the stone motif. Cautiously walking closer Nin kneels down to get a closer look at the whining young pup. "Uh..uh...calm down. I'll get you something to eat and drink, I'm Nin by the way."

[Kender Bard]

Curiously, the pup didn't try to speak back, like a normal puppy might have. It just made a whimpery-yip noise and staggered closer to Nin, barely able to walk.

[Devon]

Nin cradles the pup in his arms. "Nin will try and be careful when moving. I know where to get you some water and I'm sure I can find you some food. I don't eat a lot of meat myself, but Nin can find a growing pup meat. First things first, we get out of this stuffy cave." Nin bounds out of the cave and immediately leaps into the trees. Jumping quickly from tree to tree Nin heads to his home, which is in a large tree itself. Upon entering his home Nin places the pup on a pillow next to a really low table.

Grabbing a bowl out of a cabinet, Nin pours a bit of water in it and sets it on the table in front of the pup. "Drink up, Nin will be back with something to eat." Nin takes off through the front door to hunt down a small boar to cook for the pup. After a short time Nin returns and starts to cut up the boar.

[Kender Bard]

The pup had licked the bowl dry, and while Nin was absent, managed to chew on everything he could get his jaws around. He yipped happily at Nin's approach, however, still not speaking as a Beast could.

[Devon]

Nin glances around the room at everything that got chewed on. "Oh ho ho pup! You are really hyper now aren't you." Nin smiles and sets down a few pieces of the cut up boar in a bowl. "Here you are, eat up pup."

[Kender Bard]

The pup did just that - though it wasn't precisely an easy thing on the stomach to watch. With surprising ferocity, the pup lunged on the meat and devoured it with savagry, even going so far as to crack up the bones in its teeth. It did, however, look much better for the meal. Sated and satisfied, it stood up on its hind legs and bat at Nin, playfully. And since Nin wasn't a wolf-affinity, when the pup started yipping this time, all he could get was a sense that it was happy and thankful.

[Devon]

Nin smiles and pats the wolf pup on the head. "Hm, I should find someone who knows how to speak with your kind shouldn't I?" Nin paces the room trying to think of a wolf-affinity he knew that could help. "Ah...no." Nin sighs and sits down, looking at the pup. "So what do you want to do now? Want to play?"

[Kender Bard]

The pup gives a little hop at the suggestion, padding off. Out the pup seemed to be saying, roughly. Out there. Exploration?

[Devon]

Nin stands up and heads for the door. "Okay okay, we'll go out. Stretch the legs and see who we can find. Okay pup?"

[Kender Bard]

"Yip!" the pup responds.

Once outside with Nin, the pup dashed around, eagerly exploring his new home. Curiously, he didn't run too far out of sight before stopping and looking at Nin expectantly to follow.