Samanayrs

This is an open RP for anyone to play with, as often as you like. I do have some requests though.

-Fights are natural between equines and allowed, but unnecessary aggressiveness is unnecessary.
-If you plan on not being able to post for a while, make an exit post. Otherwise one or two RPers end up stalled waiting for someone who isn't coming back.
-OOC stuff in brackets or (( )) please.

Setting:

A rocky, hilly country at the foot of a low mountain range, the home of the Song of the Earthen Shield is a wild land. Several springs gush forth from the earth, one of them belonging to the stallion Glitter of the Granite Heart and his first mare, Tumble of the Dusty Twilight. In the morning, the new day glitters upon the upthrust bones of the earth like so many Sharian gems. Shining upon the flecks of mica, quartz and feldspar, the hill country blazes with light. Trees and streams cool the heat of midday, grass grows plentiful and the hills are painted in the evening. At night the stars come out and like diamonds, they dust the sky with their milky light.

The day was new. Tumble of the Dusty Twilight stretched her wings wide, flapping them once or twice to work the night's stiffness from them. Her hooves crunched on the loose gravel at the edge of their hotspring as she lowered her head to drink, her dark eyes looking not at the water, but at her surroundings. smooth pebbly rocks formed a gradual slope into the spring, growing ever deeper until hooves would even leave the bottom, kicking for a few heartbeats over nothing, before touching once more upon the other side. Water moss and plants grew just outside the ring of pebbles, varying in plant type until eventually overtaken by the long grasses that grew hardy and thick all throughout the hills.

Water dribbled from her chin when she lifted her head, dark pinfeathers rustling a soft hush as she shifted her wings and turned from the water. Since being claimed as Lead Mare by the young stallion Glitter of the Granite Heart, she had had little time to explore on her own. With Graniteheart nowhere to be seen, she kicked up her heels and went for a run. Her wings were hardly powerful enough for flight, like a true Lamanyr, but she could glide short distances and took full advantage of the rocky hills; racing to the apex before launching herself upon outstretched wings, momentarily weightless.

((Yay, another RP to join in! I hope you don't mind that I am currently in the other two on the board, they seem to have come to a pause))


Blue of the Open Sky was lightly asleep in a leafy tree when he heard the unmistakable sound of feathers in flight. He opened one eye and peered out of the leafy canopy that hid him from any predators. There was a beautiful copper and red winged samanayr gliding down from the nearest hill.
Blue stood up on the branch he had chosen to nap on and stretched, causing the branch to sway slightly and a few leaves to fall. With his stretch completed and his sleepiness gone, he slowly pushed his head through the leaves.

The sudden movement from the trees caught Tumble's attention and she halted her glide; back-winging to a neat, if heavy, landing. Ears perked forward, she regarded the stallion with a wary curriosity, flicking her tail to brush the dust from her flank. "Good moyrning," she nickered at the blue Samanyr.

((nope, don't mind at all!))

When the mare halted mid-glide to land and greet him, Blue jumped down, using his wings to slow and steer his fall, to the ground in front of her and high-spiritedly returned the greeting, "good moyrning to you too, my name is Blue of the Open Sky, but you may call me Blue."
As he scented the air, Blue noticed a faint scent of another stallion clinging to her fur. He then pawed softly at the ground before asking, "ayre these youyr lands? I can sense the pyresence of anotheyr stallion ayround you, and I apologize if I have tyrespassed."

"I am DustyTwilight~Tumble, mare of GraniteHeart~Glitter," she said and tilted her head slightly, thinking for a moment. "You may call me Tumble. I am Lead Mare of the Song of the Earthen Shield." She folded her wings close against her flanks, the feathers rustling as she looked around her. With her ears flicked back a moment, she seemed unsure. "I have run far this morning. Perhaps I have run outside our territory?"

The question made it blatantly obvious that her stallion's song was only recently formed. Any well-seasoned Lead Mare would know exactly where her Song's territory began and ended.

Sensing Tumble’s uneasiness over her newfound territory, Blue flicked his tail and said, “at least you have found a song. I am still seayrching for the peyrfect teyryritoyry to claim as my own.”
Blue paused for a moment before continuing, “I hadn’t noticed any mayrkeyrs befoyre I went to sleep, so peyrhaps we ayre outside. May I ask why you ayre wandeyring ayround out here alone?”

Tumble's ears swiveled forward again to focus on Blue, her forelegs held stiffly and her head high. "Wandeyring? I was running. But," and she looked back over her shoulder as the mare's facade of confidence slipped a moment, "I must have run too far. You ayre seeking a hotspyring for yourself? There ayre many in the hills heyre."

As she spoke with Blue, the sun climbed higher in the sky, warming the backs of both Samanyrs and rising to midmorning. A bird trilled from the tree Blue had been resting in, and small critters began the day's foraging.

Blue sighed softly "I have seen many hotsprings on my travels, but none have caught my eye. I don't even know what I am looking for," he replied and then gazed out over the hilly landscape, "Do you want company on your run?"

Tumble seemed to consider it, before bobbing her head in an affirmative, "I would! Thank you. Peyrhaps we will meet Graniteheayrte~Glitteyr and assist in finding a suitable hotspyring foyr yourself." The mare took a few prancing step, her wings mantling over her back as she turned to run back the way she'd come. With a snap of feathers to propel her forward, she was off, her hooves pounding the rocky turf. Tearing up the first hill, she snapped open her wings as strong hind muscles bunched to propel her airborne. She trilled her joy at the gift of flight, however brief.

Glad for some company and the thought of possibly finding the perfect hotsprings, Blue launched himself after Tumble.

((Hmm, I've always thought that samanayr and lamanayr flight was equal, and have had Blue flying in other RPs))

Gliding along with Tumble, Blue enjoyed the feeling of wind ruffling through his feathers. "How fayr is it?" He called out hoping his voice wouldn't get carried away in the wind.

((I was curious about that too. I looked up the different breeds of Sams when I was building Tumble's personality and abilities, and the regular Samanyrs don't have Flight listed under their abilities but Lamanyrs do. Even though the example picture of the Sam is with wings. I didn't want to get beat bloody with some GM RP godstick, so I limited Tumble's flight capabilities. After playing for a while on PI, I'm pretty terrified of being banned or booted from places for just looking at something funny. ))

Tumble lived for those moments. The grasses flicking against her belly, her hooves churning the turf beneath her. Her mane and tail steamed behind her like a banner. Turning her head to look at Blue from one red-brown eye, she nickered her amusement, "Not fayr." Her words were true, within minutes, she began to slow to a trot and picked her way carefully up and around a rocky outcropping. Behind the stony shield, lay a minuscule basin, dominated by the hotspring at it's center. Trees and reeds grew around the perimeter of the pebbled sand, and the grass here was lush and thick. Her stallion had chosen well.

The mare raised her head and trilled for her mate. She didn't know what her stallion would think of her bringing a strange male back to the hotspring, and hoped she could speak with him before he saw Blue.

((I've PM'd Sushi to ask her so we can know for sure, but I think that Flight is not listed as an ability for Samanayrs because not all samanayrs have wings to fly with whereas all full lamanayrs have wings so therefore all can fly. As for the example samanayr, I believe she has vestigial wings which are "Tiny wings, for decoration rather than flight.".))

A little uneasy at finally meeting Tumble's stallion, Blue kind-of hovered behind her as they got closer and closer to the hotsprings. It was a beautiful spot, but still not quite what Blue wanted. He inwardly sighed with relief as he didn't want to be disappointed after finding a perfect spot only to have it be already occupied. Blue peeked out from behind Tumble to see if he could spot Glitter of the Granite Heart from amongst all the foliage.

Tumble whinnied her greeting to her stallion, yet seemed confused when the male did not answer. She trotted back to Blue, turning her head this way and that. "I do not see him anywheyre. Maybe he is patyrolling, oyr seeking a second mayre?" She snorted. Hmph, stallions. "You ayre welcome heyre, eitheyr way."

The spring itself was well sheltered, with steep cliff walls surrounding it. A very easily defensible location and one that was well chosen. "Youyr thoughts?" Tumble asked, turning to look back at Blue.

((so I did pm Sushi and she says yes, all samanayrs with wings can fly except ones with vestigial wings))

With Glitter of the Granite Heart nowhere to be seen, Blue moved to stand next to Tumble looking out over the hotspring, "it's beautiful," he said, gazing over the basin.
"Theyre's lots of gyrass to eat, and the cliffs pyrovide shelter and pyrotection," he continued tilting his head as he looked up at the cliff top, trying to image what he'd want in a song "Howeveyr I think I would want to be higheyr up, somewheyre closeyr to the clouds."

((Oh, good to know! Maybe Tumble is just a little young, still, and her wings aren't *quite* as powerful as Blue's. I think that could explain my mistake about her gliding. Adds character, methinks. ^_^))

Following Blue's gaze upward, Tumble could definitely empathize with the stallion's desire for the open skies. Her own glossy black pinions rustled in sympathy. "As a Song's leadeyr, do you wish to couyrt only winged mayres? Land-bound Samanyrs, like my own stallion Gyranite Heayrt~Glitteyr, will be foyreveyr cut off fyrom youyr Song. Heights can be fatal foyr foals, as well." She spread her dark wings and half-glided, half-hopped to the edge of the spring to drink. When she lifted her head, bright droplets of water fell from her muzzle as she looked over her flank at Blue. "Things to consideyr."

Where did all that come from? Wisdom from the young lead mare that she hardly expected from herself. Well, now. Maybe she was growing into this role, after all.

Blue turned to look at Tumble, she had made some good points he hadn't thought of yet.
"I would not want to have to leave any mayre behind duyring a flight," he said as he lept over to join Tumble at the spring's edge, "but you ayre yright about the foals, I would have to find somewheyre both high and safe foyr foals. As for otheyr samanayrs, I'm sure theyre would be some soyrt of path upwards foyr them to take."

Blue then knelt down at the waters edge and took a nice long drink of water, after all, he had been traveling for awhile.