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Description

Early Autumn, Year 759 of the New Age
Central Glenmore, Glenmore
Featuring Aytan and Baida (NPC).
Since he had witnessed the re-growth of the Great Oak, Aytan had been determined to try and learn some magic of his own to aid his defence of the border. He'd heard tales of the great magic-wielders of the past who had created great earth-golems to help them fight, and wondered if he might be able to one day achieve the same thing. He'd sought out a trainer who would be loathe to spread gossip of his training to the main herd, but also someone who wasn't too advanced -- his pride meant he didn't want to appear like an utter novice to whoever was going to be teaching him. The trainer he found was a distant uncle of his, an older stag called Baida who'd spent most of his life acting as a storyteller and magician -- essentially a glorified babysitter -- for the younger fawns in the herd. Never having any fawns of his own, and being too protective of Elysia to let her go, he'd never met the stag before, but Baida seemed perfectly happy to oblige, agreeing to meet him every couple of days to try and teach Aytan something of earth magic.

On the day of their first meeting Aytan left Elysia with Eldhara and got to the meeting spot early, only to find Baida snoozing under a tree already, with vines and small flowers curled around his legs; the stag had clearly been practising in preparation for Aytan's arrival.

"Oh, Aytan, there you are," the stag said cheerfully as Aytan approached, lifting his hooves and snapping the stems of the plants he had created. The two nodded respectfully, their antlers clacking against one another thanks to the close proximity. "Now, what is it you want to learn from me?" Baida asked, tilting his head.

"Just some basic tricks to impress my daughter with, if nothing else, Sir," Aytan said quickly with a smile, lying about his true reasons for learning -- Baida might refuse him training if he told him what level he wanted to reach. "Y'know, flower-growing, rejuvenating trees, maybe the odd bit of moving earth or something to help on my Guard duties as well..."

"Well, I doubt I'll be able to teach you anything more than that, my lad," Baida said with a chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "I might be old but I can only managed what you've just described -- I'm nowhere near as good as that Huisha fellow everyone's been talking about... did you see what he managed to do at the Oak? Truly stunning...." the old stag trailed off, and Aytan just smiled reassuringly at him, waiting for him to continue. "Anyway, what experience do you have with magic, lad? I know you Guards are all muscle and no magic, but the odd talent can slip through..."

"I'm afraid I fit under the all muscle and no magic heading, Sir," Aytan said with a smirk. "I suspect most fawns have more talent than I do, sadly."

"Oh well, I've given help to many who have no skill of their own, so there's no worries there." Baida said, smiling at the red stag. "I suppose one of the basic things to learn is how to find your magic within you, and how to draw on it to influence the outside world.... come stand where I am." The two swapped places. "Now, if I use some magic on the ground at your feet..." -- he did so, and immediately small flowers began to bloom in the grass at Aytan's feet -- "you should be able to feel a sort of warm-tingling in your hooves and legs...."

Aytan could feel it, and he stared at the sprouting flowers around him in amazement as he felt the tingling travel up his legs and into his chest, where it touched on something that lay dormant within him. The thing stirred, and suddenly Aytan's whole body was buzzing and tingling with the feeling of magic. The Guard looked up at Baida with a grin on his face, to find the older stag chuckling knowingly at him.

"Imagine growing something and channel the energy towards that thought," the magician advised, watching him with a soft smile.

The only thing Aytan could think of was flowers, and he tried his hardest to push the tingling towards that aim, though instead the tingling simply transferred to his head, seeming to hover around his ears. Aytan shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the mildly uncomfortable feeling, but instead the tingling faded entirely, dissipating into nothing. Frowning, Aytan looked to his teacher.

Baida was laughing, bent over and struggling to catch his breath. "What?" Aytan asked, frown deepening. "What is it?"

The tutor paused in his laughing and sucked in a lungful of air. "I think... I think I missed out a key bit of advice...." Baida said quietly, looking at something just above Aytan's head. "You need to picture what you want to happen and then channel your magic towards that... else you end up with something similar to what just happened to you...."

Aytan suddenly realised Baida was staring at his antlers. "What's happened?" He asked slowly, trying in vain to see to his tines.

"Come with me," Baida said, leading him to a still pond a short walk away before pointing at the water with his nose. "There."

Aytan looked down then had to suppress a laugh of his own. He was impressed with what he'd managed to create with his limited magic, but nevertheless the result was a little embarrassing. Turning his head from side to side, he could see the thin tendrils had grown all the way up and round his antlers, weaving around themselves to stay in place, and from them had sprouted small pink and white flowers -- hardly the garb of a Glenmore Guard. He sighed. "How do I get rid of them?" He asked Baida.

"Well you can either rub them off on a tree, though that might be a bit of a waste of your talent, and I'm sure your daughter would love to see what you've achieved." Baida said, still obviously trying to suppress a chuckle. "Or just wait for them to fall off of their own accord - it should only be a few hours."

"I see," Aytan said, turning once again to look down into the water, sighing at the flower crown he'd made for himself.

Sooo, Aytan's learning himself a bit o' magic! Obviously you can't learn fancy flower magic and retain a manly-Guard image, so I thought why not take it further and give him a good ol' flower crown.

And Baida's just a random NPC I came up with on the spot -- in my mind he looks a bit like a fawnling hippy, though he's a storyteller/magician/glorified babysitter within the herd I guess. Feel free to use him as an NPC!

Had to reference GoT in there somewhere as well

Art, characters (C)
Huisha (c) bovidaeloony [sorry Bo if there's an issue with me just mentioning Huisha tell me right away!]

Description

Early Autumn, Year 759 of the New Age
Central Glenmore, Glenmore
Featuring Aytan and Baida (NPC).
Since he had witnessed the re-growth of the Great Oak, Aytan had been determined to try and learn some magic of his own to aid his defence of the border. He'd heard tales of the great magic-wielders of the past who had created great earth-golems to help them fight, and wondered if he might be able to one day achieve the same thing. He'd sought out a trainer who would be loathe to spread gossip of his training to the main herd, but also someone who wasn't too advanced -- his pride meant he didn't want to appear like an utter novice to whoever was going to be teaching him. The trainer he found was a distant uncle of his, an older stag called Baida who'd spent most of his life acting as a storyteller and magician -- essentially a glorified babysitter -- for the younger fawns in the herd. Never having any fawns of his own, and being too protective of Elysia to let her go, he'd never met the stag before, but Baida seemed perfectly happy to oblige, agreeing to meet him every couple of days to try and teach Aytan something of earth magic.

On the day of their first meeting Aytan left Elysia with Eldhara and got to the meeting spot early, only to find Baida snoozing under a tree already, with vines and small flowers curled around his legs; the stag had clearly been practising in preparation for Aytan's arrival.

"Oh, Aytan, there you are," the stag said cheerfully as Aytan approached, lifting his hooves and snapping the stems of the plants he had created. The two nodded respectfully, their antlers clacking against one another thanks to the close proximity. "Now, what is it you want to learn from me?" Baida asked, tilting his head.

"Just some basic tricks to impress my daughter with, if nothing else, Sir," Aytan said quickly with a smile, lying about his true reasons for learning -- Baida might refuse him training if he told him what level he wanted to reach. "Y'know, flower-growing, rejuvenating trees, maybe the odd bit of moving earth or something to help on my Guard duties as well..."

"Well, I doubt I'll be able to teach you anything more than that, my lad," Baida said with a chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "I might be old but I can only managed what you've just described -- I'm nowhere near as good as that Huisha fellow everyone's been talking about... did you see what he managed to do at the Oak? Truly stunning...." the old stag trailed off, and Aytan just smiled reassuringly at him, waiting for him to continue. "Anyway, what experience do you have with magic, lad? I know you Guards are all muscle and no magic, but the odd talent can slip through..."

"I'm afraid I fit under the all muscle and no magic heading, Sir," Aytan said with a smirk. "I suspect most fawns have more talent than I do, sadly."

"Oh well, I've given help to many who have no skill of their own, so there's no worries there." Baida said, smiling at the red stag. "I suppose one of the basic things to learn is how to find your magic within you, and how to draw on it to influence the outside world.... come stand where I am." The two swapped places. "Now, if I use some magic on the ground at your feet..." -- he did so, and immediately small flowers began to bloom in the grass at Aytan's feet -- "you should be able to feel a sort of warm-tingling in your hooves and legs...."

Aytan could feel it, and he stared at the sprouting flowers around him in amazement as he felt the tingling travel up his legs and into his chest, where it touched on something that lay dormant within him. The thing stirred, and suddenly Aytan's whole body was buzzing and tingling with the feeling of magic. The Guard looked up at Baida with a grin on his face, to find the older stag chuckling knowingly at him.

"Imagine growing something and channel the energy towards that thought," the magician advised, watching him with a soft smile.

The only thing Aytan could think of was flowers, and he tried his hardest to push the tingling towards that aim, though instead the tingling simply transferred to his head, seeming to hover around his ears. Aytan shook his head in an attempt to dislodge the mildly uncomfortable feeling, but instead the tingling faded entirely, dissipating into nothing. Frowning, Aytan looked to his teacher.

Baida was laughing, bent over and struggling to catch his breath. "What?" Aytan asked, frown deepening. "What is it?"

The tutor paused in his laughing and sucked in a lungful of air. "I think... I think I missed out a key bit of advice...." Baida said quietly, looking at something just above Aytan's head. "You need to picture what you want to happen and then channel your magic towards that... else you end up with something similar to what just happened to you...."

Aytan suddenly realised Baida was staring at his antlers. "What's happened?" He asked slowly, trying in vain to see to his tines.

"Come with me," Baida said, leading him to a still pond a short walk away before pointing at the water with his nose. "There."

Aytan looked down then had to suppress a laugh of his own. He was impressed with what he'd managed to create with his limited magic, but nevertheless the result was a little embarrassing. Turning his head from side to side, he could see the thin tendrils had grown all the way up and round his antlers, weaving around themselves to stay in place, and from them had sprouted small pink and white flowers -- hardly the garb of a Glenmore Guard. He sighed. "How do I get rid of them?" He asked Baida.

"Well you can either rub them off on a tree, though that might be a bit of a waste of your talent, and I'm sure your daughter would love to see what you've achieved." Baida said, still obviously trying to suppress a chuckle. "Or just wait for them to fall off of their own accord - it should only be a few hours."

"I see," Aytan said, turning once again to look down into the water, sighing at the flower crown he'd made for himself.

Sooo, Aytan's learning himself a bit o' magic! Obviously you can't learn fancy flower magic and retain a manly-Guard image, so I thought why not take it further and give him a good ol' flower crown.

And Baida's just a random NPC I came up with on the spot -- in my mind he looks a bit like a fawnling hippy, though he's a storyteller/magician/glorified babysitter within the herd I guess. Feel free to use him as an NPC!

Had to reference GoT in there somewhere as well

Art, characters (C)
Huisha (c) bovidaeloony [sorry Bo if there's an issue with me just mentioning Huisha tell me right away!]