Defending the Food Altar

[thecanopycrew]

This morning, the Adventurers may notice the food altar is already empty. Hm. Food seems to disappear quickly as of late. Hope you don't mind waiting a bit longer for breakfast.

At midday, the food altar magically fills up with the usual abundance. Berries and nuts appear in the stone bowl, neither quantity nor quality affected by the weather.

Bright eyes watch from nearby. Furry faces move closer. Wingbeats sound overhead.

It seems that with the winter food shortage, the forest’s other inhabitants have forgotten the events of the summer and are turning bold in their thieving.

Question is: what are the Adventurers going to do about it?

Comments

[lady_bug]

Sharing is caring! Agitha isn't going to chase off any of the hungry animals. In fact, if she's there, she's going to be offering up their precious rations to anything that stops by.

"Hello, lil' robin! Are you hungry? How about some berries? Let me see if I can find you some!"

Somebody stop her?

Open for food storage and hunting discussions

[princeandscholar]

Orcelito arrives at the scene of the crime early, and judging by his tense stance, he’s not prepared for this. There’s little he can do to fend off animals three times his size (maybe that’s why he’s so frustrated.) And who chooses to put a banquet out in the open? This is utter and deliberate folly! In times like these, he wonders if the Guardian has their best interests in mind, to put the Adventurers in such circumstances as fending off food thieves.

But enough of that. He sighs. There’s no sense fussing about it; something must be done! Without the hunting skills to force the forest’s inhabitants back in their proper place, he pulls one of the last leaves of autumn off the Tree – a golden leaf still supple and not yet crumbling. He loads it with as many provisions as he can carry and drags the leaf by the stem across the branch and through the door into the inner hall.

One down. About twenty more to go.

This could take a while.

[donotmail]

Arj is sitting and watching when he sees Orcelito coming in with the food. He's lucky. He doesn't need as much as everyone else. In the desert, it helps to be able to go without. But he knows that's not the case for everyone else.

"They came again?" he says.

[princeandscholar]

Another tug on the stem gets the leaf over the threshold of the door and into the branch hall. He starts to unload the provisions into a neat pile, but pauses when he catches sight of the familiar blue form of Arj.

“This isn’t the first time?” His brow furrows in concern. Kit often brings food to the house, so he rarely visits the banquet altar. He was under the impression the animals had given up stealing after the summer squirrel hunts.

[donotmail]

"Oh, no," he says, settling into a seated position. "And with all that... weather..." (he spits the word out, as if it were an unpleasant taste) "I don't think it's going to be the last. Does anyone know who puts the food there?"

[princeandscholar]

“I wish I knew.” He really does; he wants to have a long talk with them.

The provisions form an orderly stack, about a day’s worth of food for two people. Orcelito neatly partitions it, because organizing eases his tension. In times like these he wishes he had more to do to take his mind off things.

He almost asks ‘could you help’, but that doesn’t seem right. Seeing Arj walks on all four limbs and thus loading and carrying the leaves might be an issue. Thankfully, Orcelito immediately comes up with a better solution.

“Could you frighten them off for a bit? Just long enough for me to finish bringing the food inside.” He looks over Arj’s feline form with confidence. Arj may not be normal housecat size, but the claws and teeth surely will make an impression to the prey outside.

[donotmail]

Arj pauses, and stands up. He tilts his head, unsure if he's heard Orcelito's request properly. Scare them off? Yes, of course he will, because animals at least twice his size are going to be scared of a kiarr with...

Wait.

"Yeesss," he says. "Yes, I think I can." And with that he bounds off into the branch, where the last bits of food are still sitting on the altar. He creeps forward, sniffing at the air, and his coat colour ipples from blue to dull brown...

[princeandscholar]

He nods in thanks. (A verbal acknowledge will have to come later, as Arj is already outside.) Orcelito steps into the shelter of the doorway to watch. The magic startles him but – ah, of course! He’s heard of using mirrors and light to frighten animals. Perhaps that will work here too.

Once he’s caught onto the plan, Orcelito adds his own touches; he makes a point of not looking in the direction of the camouflaged cat (he desperately wants to – magic is fascinating to watch when it’s not directed at him). He remains nonchalant and busies himself with retrieving the leaf in the hall. A few animals are put at ease to sneak closer to the altar.

[donotmail]

He watches and waits as Orcelito gathers the next batch of food, and wonders if the human knows what's coming. He's already seen some of what Arj can do.

The animals around here are still hungry. Arj doesn't know the names for them all, but he can see that there's a few of them creeping closer, small, scurrying things with line patterned coats. They look like the sort of creatures who would be quick prey back home, but here, they're at least twice his size.

He concentrates...

With a hiss and a feline scream, he bounds out of his hiding place, but he's not Arj any more. What springs out is at least the size of the creatures, feline in shape, but a terrible horned, fanged thing, growling and snarling at the intruders. It's all light and magic of course, but he's betting on the thieves not knowing that!

[princeandscholar]

He’s in the process of hauling the leaf over the doorframe when Arj’s scream makes him stumble and throw his back against the wall to face the outside. His heart is racing and his breath comes in gasps, and he only just arrests his hand from pulling out the dagger hidden down his right boot.

But oh… oh, this is familiar! He’s heard cries like that at night from the safety of his castle – it sent shivers all through him and still does. The feline monsters of his world are as big as horses with voices that echo over the mountains. Watching Arj brings both fear and a pang of nostalgia.

And now there’s not a bird or rodent in sight. Orcelito doesn’t blame them in the least for running.

He laughs, because it’s the easiest way to release tension right now – but don’t worry Arj, the laughter is clearly in excitement. “That was amazing!” He gives the cat a smile. “You’re very good at this!”