Muttonhawk — Roleplayer Guild

Anshumat

A king should always be attentive to his flowers.

Toraph sat in front of the still-disturbed dirt. He watched it with his chin resting on his palm and blinked slowly.

Gralph mentioned yesterday when he planted the seeds that it would require patience. Toraph had envisioned something along the lines of shortly after the sky went behind the mountains to sleep. Now it had woken up again and wandered halfway through its course and still there was no sign of any plants popping up.

Running feet diverted Toraph's attention. "Woah, hey! Stop!" He quickly stood up and spread his arms.

A speeding Wass fluidly dodged under one arm like a startled fish. The much larger Anboor behind him tried to thud his feet to take him aside and he ended up barging into Toraph's arm, sending Toraph into spin from the sheer momentum.

"Stay out our way, little brother!" Anbooru complained as he regained his balance mid-run.

Toraph fell to one knee and spread his arms just enough not to fall. He growled and ran after them. "You butts! You almost trampled the seeds!"

They did not pay attention. Instead, Wass bowed forward in his sprint and reached out. His hand met the trunk of an ash tree, which he triumphantly spun around to grin back at Anboor. Anboor slowed to a stop and leant on his knees, breathing heavily.

"You know it, brother!" Wass stuck a thumb at his chest. "I'm the fastest on land and in the water!"

"Only 'cos Toraph blocked me, squidface!"

Wass blew a raspberry. "If you were like me, you could'a juked past. That's why I'm gonna be a k'night. You don't think quick enough, bro."

"I think plenty quick! Remember that time you couldn't figure the difference between the bony fish and the-"

"HEY!" Toraph's small shout silenced them both. He balled one fist and pointed back behind him. "Watch where you're running! I've been waiting ages for those plants to come up and you almost ruined 'em!"

"Ah, don't whinge so much, little bro," Wass said. "We've gotta train for Gralph's trial. Your obsession with those seeds can wait, can't it?"

Toraph growled. "That's not the point! Can't you train somewhere else?"

Anboor sighed. "Yeah, sure. Sorry, little bro. Not like any more running'll make us faster just today."

Wass smirked. "Are you just saying that 'cos you're puffed out?"

"No…" Anboor straightened and visibly filled his lungs in an effort to seem fitter than he was. "I just got thinking, what do you think Gralph is going to do to test our courage? Not just our strength or whatever."

Every so often, Anboor's questions were particularly relevant without them realising. Wass and Toraph exchanged a look. Wass shrugged.

Toraph spread out his left whiskers unsurely. "Is there anything you two are really scared of?"

Save for a few conversations, Gralph had spent all day standing and watching downbeach. He almost seemed like a rock at the edge of the village, a stand for the huge club he held up from where it rested on the ground. It was just a moment before mid afternoon that he turned his head to his right and disturbed the entire village.

"They have arrived!" He bellowed.

Just about everyone dropped what they were doing and scurried up to the edge of the village, mouths open and eyes squinted.

The wavy heat coming off the bright yellow sand made the figures hard to see. Some small shapes striding confidently up the beach in the distance. A few murmurs and whispers permeated the crowd. About half a minute passed before anyone could make them all out.

Twelve characters made their way up towards the village. All but one of them were powerfully build selka warriors, each hefting their own bone club and carrying various belongings and garments from all sorts of different tribes along the coast.

The last one stood out, as it was not a selka at all. It plucked its way through the sand on thin legs sticking out of a bright blue robe. From a distance, it appeared to be wearing a large pale mask with two beetle-like horns and large cloudy gray eyeholes. As they drew closer, the unique figure's mask apparently made up its entire head.

Toraph, who had only made his way to the front of the crowd by crawling under everyone's legs, turned around to Gralph. Gralph's smile had leveled to a flat line around his snout.

"Hey Gralph, what's that weird one with the horns?" Toraph asked.

"Dunno," he replied without taking his eyes off the figures. "Someone new. Let me figure it out."

With that, Gralph gently pushed his way past the selka in front of him and held up a hand. "Stay here!" he barked. "I'll go meet 'em first."

Toraph's nostrils flared as Gralph walked out before them. He couldn't shake a bad feeling in his gut.

Anshumat walked closely behind the group of k’nights, having wandered in from the far northwest. They had realized the warrior gait of the group quickly, and after an inquiry into recruitment, had joined them in their journey northwards. Anshumat had otherwise remained quiet, the demigod deciding it was better not to discuss things in spite of the k'nights' uneasy curiosity.

They picked up the sounds of civilization long before the k’nights themselves, the demigod’s ears far more sensitive both from their divine origin and their deprivation of mortal sight. Anshumat did not want to alarm whoever they were meeting with, and quietly, without alerting the k’nights, trailed off from the group proper.

As such, when Anshumat entered sight of the village, they did so alone and apart from the k’nights. Their caution proved well worth, the blurry essence sight that had replaced their vision quickly picking up the unusual nature of the largest selka's essence amongst the village. The exact nature of the essence eluded Anshumat -- a fearful prospect. Thus, Anshumat sat on the outskirts of the village approach, their milky-gray eyes watching the large one carefully, obviously sightless yet definitely focused.

The demigod’s lanky body tensed as the essence walked out of the crowd, in an act of either utterly inept hostility or preparations to flee -- their position suited more for flight from danger than to face it head on. Otherwise, Anshumat remained still, allowing him to approach.

"Oi, Gralph!"

"Oi, k'nights!" 

"How was your swim up here? Find Yimbo alright?"

"Yeah, Reph, the sook's got some business to figure in the ocean but'll be around by the time we get recruits in."

Anshumat felt eyes on them.

"Who's your friend?" Gralph asked.

Reph sounded unsure how to answer at first. "Odd creature what came out of the trees. Says...they want to learn how to fight. Didn't seem like trouble from the outset, so we let 'em follow along. Don't know what it is, though."

A pause. The sand slid in rough squeaks under Gralph's feet, approaching Anshumat with just as much focus as they were directing towards him.

He stopped barely out of arm's reach. The essence was strong enough to bare unavoidably against Anshumat's senses. It was a primal essence. Anshumat felt their heart beating for no apparent reason, except perhaps anxiety.

Gralph craned his head forward and sniffed at the air. "Hrmph," he thought out loud. "You smell familiar, but I've never met you. Who are you?"

Anshumat’s head suddenly parted at the bottom, their mouth opening up, as they huffed in a breath, testing the air. They remained tense, saying in return, “My name is Anshumat. You almost smell like a Selka -- something’s off. Why?”

The moment hung uneasily between them. Facing down the large selka felt like staring down a predator. Any sudden moves and he could strike.

"You want to know?" Gralph asked. "...It's 'cos I stink. Too many berries make me gassy."

The sand blew by on a breeze.

The absurdity slowly flowed out like water weighing down a leaf as a the k'nights, one by one, broke out in snickers and chuckles behind Gralph.

Gralph held out a meaty hand. "You can call me Gralph."

Anshumat stood up, their lanky form dwarfing the height of all present Selka. Reaching out with one hardened, yet thin hand, the demigod accepted the handshake.

"We're looking for new k'nights if you want to join in, but you'll be taking a test and competing against some folks from the village up there. You game?"

“Of course,” Anshumat said, the entire time their eyes boring holes into Gralph, as though they were analyzing something, focused in on something separate from the Selka’s body. “When do we start?”

Gralph flashed a grin. "Tonight, after dark. Me and the k'nights have a few preparations to make. How about you come up and say hello to everyone, eh?" He turned to walk back the way he came with the k'nights in tow. "Meanwhile, you can tell me more 'bout yourself. I ain't seen any creature like you before, Anshu. And I've seen a lot of creatures."

Anshumat nodded their assent as they followed Gralph. As the group walked towards the village, the demigod explained, “I come a month’s intense travel from the northwest. There, we have Selka as well -- as well as my own kind. It is nothing more than an utterly foreign land compared to here.”

Anshumat followed up with, “I am an explorer, learning new things and finding new places. I will make no lies as to the fact I do not plan to remain forever -- but until then, I am willing to undertake the tasks required of your order.”

Gralph grunted happily. "An explorer, eh? You're in luck. K'nights travel around, and where we're travelling soon is going to be something new for sure. Come, I'll introduce you to the chief. Welcome to the River Mouth tribe."

The entire village was sprung to erupt with joy at the arrival of the k'nights. Most of the joy was realised, but even Gralph's apparent comfort with allowing the strange Anshumat to be a guest, the creature brought unease to many. Anshumat received many glances and few words.

But not everyone was so afraid. The young brother, Toraph, had grown bored with watching his older brothers alternating between spooking each other with spiders and sparring with sticks. He watched Anshumat from afar, making quite steps closer behind him and taking up different hiding spots in the village. Anshumat did not need his divine senses to hear the little sounds Toraph made, even while they received the bowl of berries and skate meat gifted to him for lunch.

Anshumat simply followed Graph, sparing only slight glances to their surroundings; they did not care to be cheered or make smalltalk, so their reception was of little concern. Once Graph neared the central fire to join the welcoming feast, Anshumat broke off, and after bringing their blind eyes to settle on Toraph’s latest hiding place, they reached into their clothing. Rummaging for a second, they pulled out some kind of clumped up fabric and began to walk over -- as non-threateningly as their form could manage.

Toraph sucked in a gasp and ducked behind the mud and straw hut. Anshumat sensed him sitting down and trying to control his breath, perhaps in an attempt to make it look like he had been sitting there all along. Not being curious at all. Toraph was not the best actor.

"Huh? Oh." Toraph nearly stuttered out. "...H-...Hi there. You came with the k'nights, right?"

Everyone saw Anshumat arrive with the k'nights.

Anshumat let out an amused chuff, before sitting down next to Toraph and holding out the fabric to him, saying, “I didn’t come over to admonish you for being curious. I admired it, in fact. That’s why I got out this hood. You can have it, if you wish -- it’s silk.”

Toraph's eyes were drawn to the shiny fabric. He lifted a hand, hesitating, and keeping his eyes off Anshumat's carefully leant to take it. It felt like sand without the grit, cool, but still holding together like a hide or a weave. He rolled it between his fingers with such a wide-eyed look of amazement that the whites of his big eyes were visible in the corners of his eyelids. "It's so soft," he breathed.

“As long as you were to take care of it, it’ll be most likely the softest and smoothest fabric for a long way. Of course, it was made for me, so on you it would be more like a robe, but nonetheless,” Anshumat finished.

Toraph shot Anshumat a mouthy grin. "Thank you so much! I'll take good care of it, Anshumat, I promise." He immediately cast it over his head. It covered his entire head and shoulders -- only his still grinning snout poked out, but the grin faded quickly. "I should give a gift to you as well. It's not nice to give nothing back. Um…" He tugged the hood back just far enough to reveal his eyes and tapped his nose in thought. "Say, you look like you'd have trouble swimming with those little limbs. I've collected all sorts'a stuff from the sea. Actually…I was going to finish this for myself but maybe you would like it..."

The young selka rummaged through a pouch slung over his shoulder and pulled out a cord tied around a clinking array of the most metallic and iridescent sea shells Anshumat had ever laid their essence-senses on.

"These ones don't wash up on the beach," Toraph explained. "You have to hold your breath real good to get ones that aren't crackled up down there. Here." He held it up and forward.

Anshumat’s milky-gray eyes shimmered over the seashells for a moment, before slowly, the demigod closed Toraph’s fist around them again, following it with, “There’s actually a far simpler gift you could give; a promise, really; if you could hone your curiosity, promise me to never lose it, and to always seek that which interests you,”

Anshumat paused, looking down at Toraph again, “that, I think, would be the sweetest gift you could give to me.”

Toraph felt the weight of Anshumat's words in a way that pushed aside his initial confusion. He glanced down at his seashells and back up at the demigod's milky eyes. "Yeah, I think I could do that. Wass and Anboor already say I'm too curious for my own good. It would be nice to promise to be more curious." He smiled. "Okay, I promise, and to prove it, I want to know about where you came from." He brought his chin to his fist. "Are you a monster from upbeach? Or one of those strange inland people who don't live near water? You look like the ghost of a giant goat."

Anshumat briefly glanced around, ensuring the two were alone, before saying, “Well, I suppose you’ve heard my explanation to Gralph; but I feel if I’m going to hold you to such a promise, it is mayhaps best I encourage it. What I told Gralph wasn’t entirely true; I will admit.”

Their voice got quieter as they continued, “There are truths in it, of course; It is true I came from the far northwest, from a valley between two mountain ranges. There were Selka there too; one of the tribes there is the only reason I am alive to be here in the first place.”

Anshumat looked up to the sky, “but there are untruths as well, those I feel Gralph was not entirely convinced by,” a pause, as the demigod looked back down at Toraph, “May I share with you a secret? Would you be willing to hold it for me?”

Toraph looked up and pouted for a second. He resumed eye contact. "Yep. Jaws shut."

Another amused chuff as Anshumat continued, “Very well, I’ll hold you to it. I do not have a people; or if I do, I know not of them. I’m unique, in a way. I am less than fifty sundowns old, did you know that?”

"But that would make you a pup," Toraph said, lowering his brow. "How'd you grow so fast? And talk? And…" He stopped before he began sounding like his older brother.

“I was born this way. I was born knowing how to talk, and born with knowledge and insights far beyond what a Selka could ever hope to discover. I have a father, but you would not recognize me as progeny if we stood together. Truthfully, I am not even fully comparable to a Selka,” Anshumat said, before pausing again, thinking for a moment.

Pointing up at the sky, Anshumat questioned, “What gods do you make worship to?”

Toraph squinted up at the sky. He brought a hand up to catch the hood before it slid off the back of his head. "They're not up there, I don't think," he said. "We talk to them. Over...there…" He leant forward to point around the hut at a large stone caked brown with dry blood. "...There's Kirwon. He made us. He told us to earn fun, which dad always said is not the same as just having fun. Kirwon is what makes our hearts drum and our blood fresh."

Toraph's finger drew over to the sea. "Over there is Delfeene. She owns the sea. She can be mean sometimes but she reminds us to look at the pretty things and she helps us find seafood." He smiled at Anshumat. "There are stories of other gods, but those are the ones we talk to. Some other places like to talk to Kelmre, but only one or two selka here do that."

Anshumat looked out over the sea, “I suppose it is accurate to say I am closer to the gods you worship than I am to the people who make worship to them. Of course, I am not one myself, though the connection is there,”

Another pause for thought, before Anshumat continued, “That is the reason I caught you in your curiosity. The blood that runs through my veins, it means these blind eyes see more than you would think.”

"Woah," Toraph whispered. "Can anyone do that?"

Anshumat shook their head, “The condition of my eyes is perhaps unique to me; though those who lose sight will always remain just as perceptive, in their own ways. I was offered my own kingdom, you know? Untold riches and luxury for myself. I turned it down. Want to know why?”

Toraph stopped to think for a moment. "Um...wait, I want to guess first. Was it...too heavy to carry around?"

The guess drew an actual chuckle from Anshumat, more than the simple chuffs of before. They responded, “No, though I imagine carrying an entire kingdom on my back would be difficult. It was because I saw through the promises. I perceived the expectations behind it. It wasn’t offered to me out of the goodness of heart.”

They looked down at the ground, “It was colored with honeyed words, but it was nothing more than a temptation to have me sow misery in my wake. To harm those my lesser and to prosecute wars beyond the imagination of any but the highest beings.”

A sigh, “I could not stand to allow myself to be used so, and it was my ability to perceive that warned me of their intentions. Like I said, these eyes may be blind, but my sight is not the only part of my perception.”

Toraph's face rested to a frown. "I can see why you said no. A lot of people getting hurt doesn't sound like much fun. Especially for you. It sounds like you're pretty lonely already, even without hurting people."

Anshumat continued to look at the ground, “Were it so easy. Not even beings of my make are fully resistant to corrupting influences. I fear if I had accepted, I would have grown into it, made little justifications here and there,”

They paused for another moment, “until I molded myself into a bloody example of a zealot and tyrant of my own free will. That’s why self-introspection can never hurt. To catch yourself before the little harmful deeds here and there morph into justifications, and justifications morph into ideologies.”

"That sounds a lot like the Grottu," Toraph commented.

Anshumat sighed once again, “It’s hard, you’re right. It’s lonely. I choose to wander for not just my safety, but the safety of all around me. I know my refusal of their offer comes with consequences, and I would not see them delivered unto those who are innocent of the affair.”

"Well, don't forget to earn some fun every now and then." Toraph tilted his head. "You seem too nice to deserve making yourself sad to protect everyone all the time. Who are 'they' anyway? Monsters? Gods?"

The demigod reached out a lanky hand, ruffling the Selka’s head, “Wise words and advice, admittedly. If only I were so smart as to heed it.”

Toraph chuckled through his teeth. "You're a pup, you're allowed to be dumb."

They withdrew their hand, “As for who they are, perhaps I should keep some secrets for myself. What’s the point of curiosity if everything is revealed, hm?”

"Aw, alright." Toraph bowed his head politely. "Thanks anyway. I still got lots of questions but I learnt some things, yeah?" He sniffed, paused, and smiled again. "Hey, good luck at the trial tonight. My big brothers are trying out as well, and even if they're butts sometimes, they're pretty skilled. Don't underestimate 'em."

Anshumat nodded, looking over the side of the hut towards the central fire, “Yeah,” they said, “learned a fair few things. Both of us. Keep it up with the questions as I progress through the trials, after all, you can’t hope to learn everything possible in one exploration.”

The demigod got up, giving some parting words, “If I read Gralph correctly, it would be best if I talked to him before the trial. Thanks for the advice, I’ll watch out for your brothers. See you again later?”

"Toraph," Toraph said with a bright smile. "My name's Toraph. And don't mention it. And I'll see you later."

Anshumat nodded, “I’ll keep an eye out for you, Toraph. Best of luck to you.”

Then, the demigod walked away, towards the central fire as they glanced for Gralph’s essence.

It came as a small shock to sense Gralph standing a distance away from the crowd around the fire, facing Anshumat directly and staring his way with his beady selka eyes. The huge man lifted a hand and wordlessly beckoned Anshumat to follow, before turning on his heel towards a nearby grassy bluff outside of the village.

The breeze was just a little stronger climbing up the bluff. Even the short altitude gave clearance that the trees wouldn't allow, blowing just enough air to obscure regular voice. Appropriate for a private talk.

Gralph stood with both hands on the top of his club, looking out onto the ocean. His reed skirt waved with the grass beneath him as the only trace of movement he expressed. He did not turn around to Anshumat until he was close.

It was hard to read his expression, though Anshumat doubted having eyes would have helped in that regard anyway.

Anshumat huffed as they looked back at the hut in the distance that Toraph and they had sat behind, asking, “How much did you hear?”

"Enough to save me a good chunk'a time, I'll tell you what," Gralph answered.

“The conversation was not solely intended to benefit Toraph,” Anshumat remarked back.

A soundless laugh made Gralph's shoulders bounce once. "What? Did you expect me to hear you or did you know that some of the things you said'd be smart if carried on by him?"

Anshumat answered the first question plainly, “Yes. I know you’re not a Selka, at least your essence-form.”

They followed it up with the second, “I feel what I said is of value, yes, though it wasn’t said with any particular goal of mine. I shared my thoughts honestly, and if good comes of it, all the better.”

Gralph nodded upwards. "I like that." His nostrils flared. "No wonder. Is that how you pissed off Shengshi?"

“In a way, I suppose. What I told Toraph of the deal offered is, more or less, the truth of that wretched matter. I am scarred so as the result of what transpired there,” Anshumat said, their milky-gray eyes unmoving on Gralph.

Gralph's mouth curled downwards. "Didn't think he'd go that far. Sorry to hear that." His chest puffed out. "I suppose if you're gonna be honest and decent with me, least I can do is the same. You can call be Gralph if you like, but up here, you can call me Blood God, Uncle, Kirron, or Stinkberry -- whatever. Funny we should cross paths, eh? Heheh."

The demigod chuffed again, “Funny, indeed. Your disguise was subtle, I’ll give you that. If I had my mortal sight still, I would have never picked up on the differences. The only clue I was given was the slightest essence irregularities.”

A strange look graced Gralph's face. He peered down at his chest and belly. "That's good. I thought it was kinda rushed, you know? The first selka who ever saw me this way guessed that I was Kirron within seconds." He shrugged. "Granted, he was having a difficult time, but it had me second-guessing for a while."

Anshumat shrugged in turn, “Bad luck of the draw, I guess. Who knows, maybe that Selka called everyone they came across Kirron.”

They proceeded with a question next, “I assume you know all about me, if you already knew my origins?”

Gralph snorted in a familiar way. "No. Not really. You just stink of Shengshi's blood."

Opening their jaw and dramatically sniffing themselves, Anshumat joked, “Hey, not all of us can shapeshift.”

"Have you tried?" Gralph said with a hand on his hip.

“Does an instinctive intuition that I really, really shouldn’t risk it count?” Anshumat shot back.

"Pfft, wussy," Gralph said with a grin. "You're capable of plenty of stuff, Anshu." He gestured before Anshumat could respond. "But I ain't gonna give you lessons out of nowhere when everyone else is going through a trial for that privilege. Wouldn't be fair, now, would it?" He pulled his head forward curiously. "But that begs the question, what brought you to go looking for teaching from a bunch'a k'nights in the first place?"

“Call it opportunity,” Anshumat began, “I may be divine, but aside from throwing around lances of divine energy like some smiteful deity, I do not have the knowledge or muscle memory to produce a good fight. The K’nights were the first Selka I came across who seemed to know what they were doing,”

Anshumat finished aptly, “decided it was worth a shot.”

"Hm." Gralph narrowed his eyes and bored into Anshumat's mask again. At least this time it was less scary. "Fair enough. You'll have your shot, but your trial will be a little different from the others. I think it'll suit you better with the lessons it'll teach. And what it'll test. Are you still up for it, knowing that?"

Anshumat nodded immediately, saying, “Cannot be any worse than what was visited upon me by my father.”

Gralph slowly grinned. "I'll take your word for it, nibling."

The selka tribe at the river mouth are setting up to receive the k'nights following Gralph. Brothers Wass and Anboor are competing against each other in anticipation of the trial to join the K'nights of Red Horizon, while little brother Toraph watches his planted seeds.

The k'nights arrive in the company of an unexpected tag-along. It's Anshumat!

Gralph (Kirron) sizes Anshumat up, but ultimately lets the demigod into the village. Anshumat walked with the k'nights after expressing an interest in learning how to fight. The k'nights said they'd do it if Gralph's cool with it. Gralph said he can join in the trial for new k'nights like the other selka.

While the k'nights make merry with the village, Anshumat notices lil' bro Toraph stalking them. Anshumat sits down with Toraph and they have a chat. Anshumat opens up a bit more about themself and gifts Toraph a silken hood. Toraph is grateful for this wonder-material and tries to reciprocate with a very pretty seashell necklace. Anshu politely declines, saying they would prefer he just promised to stay curious. Toraph and Anshu wrap up much more friendly.

Anshu stands up to see Gralph looking at him with shiny spooky anime glowy stalker eyes. They go to chat up on a nearby windy hill.

Gralph gets the gist of Anshu, having listened in on their conversation with Toraph, and he also reveals he knows Anshu is related to Shengshi. Anshu shares what Shengshi did to them. Gralph is sympathetic. Gralph then reveals he's actually Kirron and says that Anshu can still join the k'nights trial, but he'll have a special trial suited to his nature as a demigod. Anshu says he's still keen.

No Might used by Kirron
No Might used by Anshumat

Before: K'nights of Red Horizon - 0 Prestige - 11 Members

+1 for minor role
+1 for collaboration

After: K'nights of Red Horizon - 2 Prestige - 11 Members
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