Post by The Smith on Nov 7, 2008 0:13:56 GMT -5
Ser Samuel Tarly rode through a light forest, a few leagues south of Horn Hill, on a grey palfrey from his father’s stables. He had been too young to remember Horn Hill the last time any military force had gathered there, during the Basilisk Invasion, and so he was not accustomed to seeing it as such a bustling place. As a child he’d explored the maze of fortifications and palisades and ditches and walls that had been erected, stretching all the way from Horn Hill to the banks of the Mander. They had been built and maintained by his father, though Samuel had only ever seen them manned by skeleton crews guarding the engineers. Twenty-five thousand men were quartered in Horn Hill currently; from the view in Samuel’s room in the castle, the tents and campfires at night stretched almost all the way to the horizon, textured by the hills that dotted the area.
Samuel raised his right arm into the air, and whistled sharply. Within a few seconds, a beautiful peregrine falcon swooped gracefully through the trees and landed on the outstretched arm, which was wrapped in heavy leather to ward off the raptor’s razor sharp talons. He lowered his arm slowly and stroked the bird’s head with his left hand, while it glared at him with penetrating golden eyes. “I bet you weren’t even looking for a kill,” he said, chiding it. “You were up there for nearly half an hour too,” Samuel continued absently, while the falcon nibbled on his gloved finger affectionately, but then the bird snapped its head suddenly to the right.
Something had moved at the base of one of the trees, where the forest was so thin that no underbrush surrounded the tree roots, and springy grass covered the ground. A rabbit darted away from the tree, and the falcon leapt into the air with a scream, it’s talons digging sharply into the leather around Samuel’s forearm as it took flight. The raptor moved gracefully through the air, becoming a brown and white blur as it intercepted the frantically fleeing rabbit.
Razor sharp talons sliced into the rabbit’s back, and it squealed in pain, the sound echoing throughout the relatively silent forest, before the falcon’s talons squeezed tighter, ending the poor creature’s life. Samuel whistled sharply again, and the falcon dropped the carcass to the ground and wheeled into the air again, landing gracefully on the knight’s outstretched arm. “That’s more like it, Stryker,” he said, referring to the bird by the name he had given it when it hatched, several years prior. He dismounted from his horse, after securing a hood over Stryker’s head, and retrieved the dead rabbit, tying it to a leather contraption that hung from his horse’s saddle, specifically designed for bundling small game that had been caught.
He bend town to touch the forest floor, and ran his fingers across the soil, into which he noticed several hoof prints were imprinted. Deer had come through here recently, judging by the droppings he noticed a few yards away, and his practiced eye saw that patches of the grass in the area had been nibbled. A smiled crossed the knight’s face, and he walked back to the horse and retrieved his longbow and arrows, which hung from the saddle. He took the horse’s reigns, tethered it to a tree, and began to creep along the trail on which his prey had obviously taken.
Ser Samuel Tarly improves to Apprentice Falconry
Ser Samuel Tarly improves to Novice Tracking
Samuel raised his right arm into the air, and whistled sharply. Within a few seconds, a beautiful peregrine falcon swooped gracefully through the trees and landed on the outstretched arm, which was wrapped in heavy leather to ward off the raptor’s razor sharp talons. He lowered his arm slowly and stroked the bird’s head with his left hand, while it glared at him with penetrating golden eyes. “I bet you weren’t even looking for a kill,” he said, chiding it. “You were up there for nearly half an hour too,” Samuel continued absently, while the falcon nibbled on his gloved finger affectionately, but then the bird snapped its head suddenly to the right.
Something had moved at the base of one of the trees, where the forest was so thin that no underbrush surrounded the tree roots, and springy grass covered the ground. A rabbit darted away from the tree, and the falcon leapt into the air with a scream, it’s talons digging sharply into the leather around Samuel’s forearm as it took flight. The raptor moved gracefully through the air, becoming a brown and white blur as it intercepted the frantically fleeing rabbit.
Razor sharp talons sliced into the rabbit’s back, and it squealed in pain, the sound echoing throughout the relatively silent forest, before the falcon’s talons squeezed tighter, ending the poor creature’s life. Samuel whistled sharply again, and the falcon dropped the carcass to the ground and wheeled into the air again, landing gracefully on the knight’s outstretched arm. “That’s more like it, Stryker,” he said, referring to the bird by the name he had given it when it hatched, several years prior. He dismounted from his horse, after securing a hood over Stryker’s head, and retrieved the dead rabbit, tying it to a leather contraption that hung from his horse’s saddle, specifically designed for bundling small game that had been caught.
He bend town to touch the forest floor, and ran his fingers across the soil, into which he noticed several hoof prints were imprinted. Deer had come through here recently, judging by the droppings he noticed a few yards away, and his practiced eye saw that patches of the grass in the area had been nibbled. A smiled crossed the knight’s face, and he walked back to the horse and retrieved his longbow and arrows, which hung from the saddle. He took the horse’s reigns, tethered it to a tree, and began to creep along the trail on which his prey had obviously taken.
Ser Samuel Tarly improves to Apprentice Falconry
Ser Samuel Tarly improves to Novice Tracking