Amaranth II

She'd now made it a bit further away from the scent of the canine, not sure exactly how far around it extended. She assumed it was merely that area when she walked a wide radius around it, sniffing at the periphery and making sure to put her own marks some distance away.

It wasn't peeing all over things as dogs do, but she made sure to combine the signs with visibly scraping off some of the bark of the trees, leaving them permanently scarred with her symbol, though they may only be temporarily stained by the strong soapy smell that even a human could pick up on.

She never really found much value in how dogs did these things. They were restricted to marking out an area that featured tall trees around or something high off the ground to advertise their height with. She usually picked grass for that sort of thing, figuring that being a massive hyena ought to impart SOMETHING to her scent that would make him get the point. She didn't have ay qualms about ripping out a throat...

[ EXP: 200 ]

...for the relatively minor infraction of walking onto an area that she was attempting to preserve for her own purposes. Namely, it was important that her eventual kingdom and Lethe's claim be safely joined by a road. A safe one, free of the predation of large dogs or whatever else might decide that it wants to attack people going to and from the place and impede what she would later fully understand as commerce.

The spot she found herself in shortly after marking the previous area was peculiar in that the trees had thinned out, replaced by strange bushes.

The hyena tilted her head to the side, then walked up and sniffed one of them. What was peculiar about them was the odd, red blossoms that sprouted from the foliage like a bleeding wound. She walked over and sniffed one, inhaling a small gnat who was intent on pollinating the thing.

She sneezed and the insect escaped again, flying back to join the seeming hundreds of honeybees that now thoroughly enjoyed this spot.

[ EXP: 200 ]

The air was filled with a light and happy hum, all the wings of the insects working as they ducked their heads into the strange, bloody-looking blossoms and moved on to the next ones. A hummingbird even made an appearance in the sunny field.

In a bit of awe, the large beast walked among the aisles of the plants. They had an odd, unearthly scent that made her feel strangely at ease, and she thought to perhaps rest in this field awhile.

No sooner did she begin resting, however, than she heard someone approaching. Iskra growled and retreated back behind one of the bushes with a snarl of menace. Of course, snarls only came from things that were confident they could win any confrontation on these grounds, and confidence was what she had. The bush was a matter of tactics: it would block any immediate, malign magical effects that would otherwise take her off guard. She couldn't see her opponent yet.

A dry cough came to her ears as an old man appeared from among the flower bushes.

[ EXP: 200 ]

"Hello?" he said in a dry croak, his voice not unlike a toad. It was apparent that he'd been a very strong young man at one point, the type that any village would love in their militia. His youth had wasted, however, and with it, his muscle. His pale skin hung off of him like an old robe. His face showed the marks of many years of happiness, however. The wrinkles formed from past smiles. His eyes were open and fogged with cataracts, and it was obvious that he couldn't see well at all.

Well, an old man was certainly nothing to be afraid of. Iskra approached the old man and sniffed him, friendly and curious. She knew from her days with Lethe that older people were usually the kindest, though they often didn't understand much about the world around them.

His twiggy fingers came about her ears, and they felt really nice to Iskra, who submitted to the petting without much trouble as the old man spoke with a grin. "Are you lost, little fella, or did you come to look at my flowers?"

[ EXP: 200 ]

Iskra made no sounds except for a gruff chuckle. Old people were easily frightened, so she guessed that she probably shouldn't talk. She had respect for old things, and she didn't want anything bad to happen to this old one who had thus far shown her kindness and respect.

"It's been a long while since I've had some company. People used to come to my garden all the time. Pretty young women and men... in the dead of the night for a date or in the spring time to be wed. Oh, it gets so lonely sometimes."

For a moment, the wrinkled smile dropped, but it picked up again almost as fast as the man turned his unseeing eyes back to the spotted "dog" before him. "But now you're here, fella. I guess I'm not too old to give another tour. Come on this way, I want to show you some other stuff. It's cool, as the kids say these days."

He laughed, an old sound rather like the cackling of ravens. She laughed with him to be polite and because... well, she was a hyena, before she followed.

[ EXP: 200 ]

Land Grabbed! Sort of... there's an extra part since I'm claiming a large tract...