12-22-2018, 10:47 PM
The trouble with land creatures is that they never look for danger in the right places.
Well, trouble for them, anyway. It's rather a nice boon for the kelpie.
From where he rests on the ocean floor, the sand bars on which most make the crossing to Ischia are well in sight. More importantly, the current flows toward him, and the taste of stranger rouses the dozing creature long before the reach the shoreline of his home. The kelpie rises to the surface with a few flicks of his tail - the waters around the island are shallow - but rather than call out he chooses to watch for a while, only his pale face visible above the water.
The first is a horned stallion who wears a rather colorful mane, and the second a pretty flaxen mare. She is the one Ivar is most interested in, and he take advantage of his hiding place in the waves to get a good look at both of them. The male's horns might be a challenge, but Ivar has faced worse. The mare seems mundane, which intrigues Ivar in this world of magics, but he knows all too well the dangers of the unseen. So rather than drag the stallion under and keep the mare as he might have done, he instead swims to the beach a few hundred yards from where they have arrived, and climbs onto it with four hooved legs instead of the fins he'd had a moment before.
Ischia is more than just the dry land, after all. The sea around them is teaming with life despite the solitude of the beach.
"You've made it to Ischia," He tells them, polite and pointedly falling just short of welcoming them to his home. His tone is neutral and while there is a smile toying at the edges of his pale mouth, it does not quite reach his golden eyes. It doesn't need to, of course, because the kelpie is already impossibly handsome, and were he to do much more it could easily be interpreted as trying too hard.
In the dry air, he can better recognize the scent of their origin. Hyaline. Ivar's last trip to the mountain stronghold had been rather eventful, and he finds himself curious if the spotted Kagerus still resides near the lake. Perhaps it is time to renew his rather gracious offer to the queen and her wife.
"What brings you to my island?"
Well, trouble for them, anyway. It's rather a nice boon for the kelpie.
From where he rests on the ocean floor, the sand bars on which most make the crossing to Ischia are well in sight. More importantly, the current flows toward him, and the taste of stranger rouses the dozing creature long before the reach the shoreline of his home. The kelpie rises to the surface with a few flicks of his tail - the waters around the island are shallow - but rather than call out he chooses to watch for a while, only his pale face visible above the water.
The first is a horned stallion who wears a rather colorful mane, and the second a pretty flaxen mare. She is the one Ivar is most interested in, and he take advantage of his hiding place in the waves to get a good look at both of them. The male's horns might be a challenge, but Ivar has faced worse. The mare seems mundane, which intrigues Ivar in this world of magics, but he knows all too well the dangers of the unseen. So rather than drag the stallion under and keep the mare as he might have done, he instead swims to the beach a few hundred yards from where they have arrived, and climbs onto it with four hooved legs instead of the fins he'd had a moment before.
Ischia is more than just the dry land, after all. The sea around them is teaming with life despite the solitude of the beach.
"You've made it to Ischia," He tells them, polite and pointedly falling just short of welcoming them to his home. His tone is neutral and while there is a smile toying at the edges of his pale mouth, it does not quite reach his golden eyes. It doesn't need to, of course, because the kelpie is already impossibly handsome, and were he to do much more it could easily be interpreted as trying too hard.
In the dry air, he can better recognize the scent of their origin. Hyaline. Ivar's last trip to the mountain stronghold had been rather eventful, and he finds himself curious if the spotted Kagerus still resides near the lake. Perhaps it is time to renew his rather gracious offer to the queen and her wife.
"What brings you to my island?"