It is a brisk fall day leaves and dust abond the uneven ground where the staghunt shall commence. "Welcome, welcome, feel free to look at the beautiful stags before they are released and help yourself to the ribbons if you have not yet! I hope you brought your good shoes!" she teases softly

Kastelon takes Blue Ribbon from A Sparkling bag.

Kastelon seems, for the moment after the declaration, to look a little bit concerned. "I'd think that my good shoes wouldn't be very much useful for what we're all about to do." And yet, as serious as he sounds, he -is- glancing at others' footwear warily.

Pasquale gets Blue Ribbon from A Sparkling bag.

Cirroch is stretching by the pen for the stags, and talking lightly to them, "Which of you will put up a good chase?" He looks over to Emberly for a moment, then looks at his feet. "How will shoes make a difference?"

Rysen stands on the craggy ground, his grey-eyed gaze resting on Shadowtop in the distance. The Crovane lord is dressed in a black fur-trimmed mantle, which whips about his body in the wind. He frowns, but when Emberly speaks of stags and ribbons, he turns to those assembled and his mood lightens immediately. Making his way to Bandit, his trusty Crovane warhorse, he pulls from his saddlebag a blackwood spear, and, after placing a few pats on Bandits neck, comes to stand beside Emberly.

One of the arrivals is none other than a fox of Velenosa. Princess Cerys arrives, wearing practical hunting leathers in dark purple and black and toting her diamond plate spear. Her shoes are flat soled leather boots, sturdy and very practical indeed. She curtises respectfully to Emberly and smiles gently. "Hello, Lady Emberly yes? Thank you for hosting this. I look forward to the hunt." She steps slowly towards the stags, extending a dainty hand slowly lowering her voice and speaking gently to the animals. "Hello darlings. Will you give us a merry chase? Don't worry, I won't hurt you, I will track you for the ribbons you wear but no harm will come to you. I have something for you if you let me catch you too." She smiles and revealing a teasing hint of apple in one of her pouches. Bribing the stags? Yes. Will it work though?

Rysen gets Blue Ribbon from A Sparkling bag.

Cerys takes Blue Ribbon from A Sparkling bag.

Rysen gets a carved blackwood spear with a steel head from a reinforced canvas shoulder bag with drawstring cords.

Rosalind comes running, dressed in her all black leathers. It's a dark contrast to her bright red hair. She's smiling broadly, waving to everyone. Rosa doesn't say anything about comfortable shoes. She's always in leather boots. When she hears about the stags, Rosa is already off to look at them,"Awww hi!"

This is one of the stranger places where Pasquale Malespero has chosen to make an appearance. He's dressed much as he would be on the streets of Arx with a handsome brocade greatcoat as concession against the cold. He moves towards the hostesses position and finds a good place to settle in and watch.

Emberly looks over to Cirroch "depends on how you plan on catching them remember the object of the game is to retrieve the ribbons, and bring them back for your points, you may carry the stags back, you may wranle them for the ribbons, you may be crafty in how you get the ribbons, you may not harm the Stags in anyway that would leave them prone in the wild." she says seriously. "you may try to bribe them if they will listen to you.. Are you all ready?" she smiles to Cerys before she nods her head. Waiting to hear if they all want to start. "The winner gets choice of personal perfume or 1000 military writs!

Kastelon weighs this as he's listening, but there's a nod. And a sigh, before he's stroking Resolute's head. "Looks like we're getting a bit of a challenge, mmm?" he says to the dog.

"I've never watched anything quite like this." Pasquale murmurs to Cerys and Kastelon. "Is it a typical festival sort of thing or something special?"

Cirroch finishes his stretches and stands up arcing his shoulders back a little. "Capture the stag. got it." He then nods, "ready."

Rysen nods to Emberly, and then winks at Rosalind. "Better luck with the stags than in the drinking race, My Lady." To Merek, Rysen offers an arm to clasp in the style of the Northlands. "Always good to see you in Stormwall, my friend." To Kastelon, Cerys, Cirroch and Cerys, the Crovane lord smiles, before sweeping his spear to rest on his shoulder, blunt side pointed toward the ground and prepares to chase.

Cerys nods to Emberly in understanding and readies herself for the chase. She takes up position and prepares to give chase once the stags are released. "Ready Lady Emberly. On your signal..." She eyes the stags intently.

A lift of one of those bushy brows, but there's the contemplation of the thing, before he's responding to Pasquale, "I'd call this something a little more unusual. Not quite a typical festival thing, though I do appreciate the matter of skill involved." And, as such, he's turning his eyes too towards Emberly to await the signal to start.

Emberly smiles to Rysen and then she looks over the others, her attention moves to Pasquale "its just something myself and Lord Krittr decided would be a fun event." she smiles and then, she releases the padlocks containing the stags...

And they all spring forth and rush away just as a high wind comes to blow strongly rustling up leaves and dust and small rocks even as it whips around people ruthlessly

Rosalind gasps at Rysen. She grins, telling him,"I'm a great drinker! You just uh--duck out early." That's a lie. Rosa gets bored and runs. That said, the RAvenseye is already looking about, looking to see the best place to see where the stags may go and such. The cold? She's not at all bothered.

Rysen checks perception and survival at normal. Botch! Rysen fails badly.

Kastelon checks perception and survival at normal. Kastelon is successful.

Rosalind checks wits and animal ken at normal. Rosalind is successful.

Pasquale checks perception and survival at normal. Pasquale marginally fails.

Cerys checks perception and survival at hard. Cerys is successful.

Merek checks dexterity and medium wpn at daunting. Merek fails.

Rysen laughs at Rosalind. "That's not how I -" Then the stags and the Ravenseye are off. Rysen sprints ahead, but amid the dust of his quarry his totally blind, and breaks into the trees and brush of the hillside. Running blind, he nearly steps off a boulder leading to a forty foot drop. Wheeling his arms, and gritting his teeth, he mutters a quick prayer to the gods and spirits.

Cirroch checks perception and athletics at hard. Critical Success! Cirroch is spectacularly successful.

Merek of course would wait for things to begin, while he nods a bit and adjusts his potion belt along the waist, then he takes what looks like a bola, which he begins to swing about a bit, launching that at the deer, one of the nicer ones. Then the bola almost strikes Rysen.

There're the faintest of pauses when the stags are running off, and Kastelon's waiting behind, perhaps as if he's observing which have which ribbons, and how best to proceed about catching the bolting animals when they're off into the wood. It's only after that, that he's moving after them, with the grace of one who's accustomed to being much in the forest...

Pasquale does not have the slightest idea how to tell one deers tracks from another but that doesn't stop him from going to the gate after the animals have been released and trying to tease the various tracks apart. For a while he seems to have a clear track, following it into the trees away, then around the tree, and right back to the gate.

As Merek's bola skims right past Rysen's ear, the Crovane swordsman turns to Merek. "I haven't forgot the dagger, gods damn it!" He grins at the knight, and sprints back for the path to continue down the mountain.

Cerys wanders off slowly, stalking after the stags with her eyes on her surroundings intently. For a princess she tracks them down with the skill of a hound. She manges to find two stags, slip into thier clearings and aquire thier ribbons Green and Red without causing them any harm. Smiling she looks around to see what else can be done here.

Rysen checks dexterity and medium wpn at normal. Rysen is successful.

Pasquale checks luck and investigation at hard. Pasquale is successful.

Cerys checks dexterity and ride at hard. Cerys is successful.

Rosalind checks dexterity and archery at hard. Critical Success! Rosalind is spectacularly successful.

Cirroch watches the deer trample off and takes a moment for one final stretch, then trudges off behind them. The cold doesn't bother him and he appears to be smiling in his march after the deer, disappearing for a moment into the woods, then returning to the pen with two deer being dragged behind him, both sporting green ribbons. As he puts the deer back into the pen, then grabbing their ribbons. "Lady Emberly, do we hold onto the ribbons or give them to you?"

Kastelon checks stamina and animal ken at hard. Kastelon is successful.

The wind howls viciously through the trees.

The Deer are everywhere, bouncing from here to there, the wind is cold and lashes out angerly against ones skin. Almost as if to remind the hunters that Nature can be one to reckon with. Those that have difficulties can easily point to the enviorment with the jagged landscape and the sudden ledges that seem to appear from nowhere.

Emberly calls out to Cirroch as he wrangles some dear back into the pen. "you can hand them to me."

Bounding down the hillside, Rysen spots a stag by sheer luck. He hurls his spear, blunt end first at the ground before one of the fleeing animals, and manages to unsettle the loose gravel causing it to splay out and lose momentum. Rysen manages to grab the ribbon and the deer, just as Rosalind shoots. "I don't believe it," he mutters under his breath.

Pasquale might not have had any luck working out which deer went where but it seems he did fathom out where most of them were heading. He strips a handful of branches from a berry bush that seems to have been popular and takes it to the other side of the area where he sets it up as bait. Eventually the effort pays off as one of the deers comes on in to pick juicy berries from the stacked branches. And whilst it browses Pasquale edges closer one foot at a time, having the patience of a stalker if not the experience, until he can snag a ribbon right from the animals antlers. He barely even flinches when the sizeable animal lifts its head and he starts to slowly back away from the big pointy-horned beast.

Cirroch checks perception and survival at hard. Cirroch is successful.

Rosalind grins as she starts talking to one of the deer. A buck. "Awww--Hey,"she starts murmuring to him quietly. Bet know one knew the red head was good at talking to animals. Rosa reaches out to touch him, patting him.

Then THEN, there's more. Patting the buck once more and taking his red ribbon, she lifts her bow. Aimming carefully. Releasing the arrow, she grins as the deer falls. Not hurt, but just a bit stunned. Rosalind runs over, her long legs fast as she waves over to Rysen. "Hey!"

Kastelon comes back with a buck with red ribbon after a little while, the air about him of satisfaction at having had some success at the matter of tracking one down without his bow, and without harming the poor creature. That it's turned over to the pen is only encouragement for him to go back bounding out into the forest again, as if he's aware that time of the essence.

Cerys hands her two ribbons one green and one red to Emberly with a smile, once her two catches are returned to the pen safe and sound. Then she rides out on her destrier at top speed to herd the boucing creatures back, as many as she can. She gets two more herded into the pens. Then she dismounts and considers before grinning impishly and slipping quietly through the brush towards the biggest deer of them all.

It's a long while that Kastelon's gone. That he returns at all, in any present time, might well be a miracle of the gods, but he does at long last emerge from the forest, wrangling two of the beasts with him, with his dog bringing up the rear and helping to herd with sharp now-and-again barks while the pair all but man-handle them back to the pen. The stags are delivered safely, and he's making the slightest of bows to those organizing the matter, before he's heading out once more.

Cerys made sure to hand the two more ribbons to Emberly before she dissappeared back into the wilds. The stags she had herded are mnching on apples happily, already having forgiven her it seems.

Cerys checks strength and athletics at daunting. Cerys fails badly.

Kastelon checks composure and stealth at hard. Kastelon fails.

Rosalind checks perception and survival at hard. Rosalind is successful.

Rysen checks strength and athletics at daunting. Rysen fails.

Rosalind smiles as manages two more bucks. "You both are amazing,"she murmurs. There are two green ribbons and a red in her hand. Rosa manages to get them safely, before darting off again.

Cirroch walked back into the woods, down a small slope then hears a small rustling in the bushes nearby. He crouches down and spots deer tracks, then looking through the bushes finds a deer eating something on the bush. He reaches out and grabs at the ribbon on the deer before it spots him.

Pasquale goes back to grab more berry loaded branches before returning to his lure. Surprisingly (for this city boy) theres another deer there. Setting the branches down he slowly repeats the process of easing closer, step by step, to the new animal (and its scary friend from before). Theres one hiccup where the deer both turn to stare at him causing him to freeze on the spot but eventually he gets close enough to take a ribbon from the second deer as well. He tucks his new green ribbon into a loop on his belt besides the red one.

Cirroch checks stamina and survival at hard. Cirroch fails.

The deer seem to be thinning out, taking longer to find and being a greater distance away.

Hiding out in the trees, blending in, Rosa now ducks. Waiting for the the stags to now come to her. She figures they may be sick of her talking. Rosa gets it, she's annoying sometimes.

Suddenly surrounded by deer, Rysen manages to grab hold of two. "Heh, I might just wi - oof!" A third stag rushes by bucking wildly, catching Rysen in the gut. He sinks to a knee, gritting his teeth. He rises, and makes his way back to Emberly filthy, selling a bit like animal, but clearly having enjoyed himself.

The Cold is also an element as the winds carry icy shards within them.

Emberly smiles to Rysen and she laughs a bit "thank you for trying, and you need a bath!" calls the redhaired woman before she watches the final strand of people return.

Cerys fails to catch the large stag. When she approches it it bucks at her, knocking away her attempts to wrestle and lift it. She pouts but lets the creature go with a sigh. She returns to camp empty handed this time. Four is decent though....right?

After finding the last ribbon grab, Cirroch stops by a tree to shelter from some of the cold winds. The tracks of the deer have thinned out and he's spotting more of his fellow competitors footprints than the deers.

Pasquale checks charm and seduction at normal. Pasquale is successful.

When the stags venture closer to her, Rosalind pokes her head up and smiles. She reaches up and catches up him, taking the ribbon with her. Rosa wrangles him safely before hurrying to her fox hole? Go with fox hole. When the next comes, after her sitting quietly, Rosa hurries and graples him too. Well, not grapple. She hugs him. Sort of. Leading him back with her green and red ribbons.

"Sure you don't want a hug first?" Rysen replies to Emberly with a wry grin. He comes to stand beside the stag pen. "How'd you do, Your Highness?" he asks Cerys.

The thinning of the deer herd doesn't do much for Kastelon's chances at catching another one, as he's making his way through the forest. That he's more in a mode that he'd want perhaps to be using his bow and not quite bringing them back intact is more of his cup of tea.

Cerys smiles to Rysen. "I caught four total. And you? How did you do? Oh...have we been introduced before, sorry I cannot recall for certain." She smiles apologetic and gentle.

Realizing that the herd might have made it further into the mountain by now, Cirroch takes his ribbons back to where the pen is. In his hand is one purple, red, and two green ribbons. He heads over to Emberly, "Here you go." He then looks around for a moment, "Where's the whiskey then?"

When a third deer joins the other two at the branch pile, lulled into security by the other two perhaps, Pasquale tries to approach it in the same way that worked with the others. This one however is Not Having It. Everytime Pasquale gets close to it, it moves to the other side of its pals and forces Pasquale to loop around and approach it again. Two attempts of this and the Lycene Lord pauses to consider his options before retreating back to the bush of tasty berries once more. He picks a few handful and once more approaches the deer. This time though, when it shies off, he doesn't follow it and instead lets it see the berries. If Pasquale cant go to the deer maybe the deer will go to Pasquale. Surprisingly it works and whilst the deer is covering one hand with mashed berry remains Pasquale snags the green ribbon from amongst its horns. A quick check to make sure there isnt another deer waiting hopefully (there isnt) and he makes his way back to the start to hand in his ribbons. "Two green and one red"

Rosalind hangs out by the gate now. She looks at all the deer and smiles at the herd. Seeing Cerys and Rysen, the tall woman waves to them. "Hi! Wasn't this fun?!"

Emberly turns to count the ribbons as she looks over the others as they catch their breaths, "our scores are in!"

Lady Rosalind, wins with 13 points, Lord Cirroch with 10 and Princess Cerys with 8!

"Lady Rosalind, would you like a perfume or writs as your prize?" she asks the other woman. She looks over to Pasquale, "good show!" she grins his way "did you have fun?"

"Yes actually." Pasquale tells Emberly. "I wasn't expecting to take part so I'm rather surprised. And pleased." He carefully wipes his hands clean. "They are bigger than you think aren't they?"

"I am Lord Rysen, and we met one before, Your Highness, but it was long ago," replies the Crovane Lord to Cerys. "All I caught was thanks to a blackwood spear. Fitting for me, I guess," he says, crossing his harms beneath his mantle. "I hope will join us in the great hall at Stormwall before we return to Arx. But I must warn you: my mother will speak to you for hours, and my father not at all. Both mean well."

When Rosalind address him, he nods to her smiling. "It was much more fun than the last time I was here, and Sir Merek spared me from injury this time."

Kastelon is not, perhaps, looking overly thrilled with his result in the competition when he's emerged again from the forest. But that's not saying much - he doesn't often look in any particular manner, perhaps, and there's a severity about him when he's approaching to hear how the results are tallied. The announcement about Rosalind taking the first place dos get the faintest turn of a smile on his lips, and pleasant applause directed towards her. "Congratulations, my lady."

Emberly is overheard praising Rosalind.

Emberly is overheard praising Cerys.

Emberly is overheard praising Cirroch.

Rosalind pauses. And rounds her large hazel green eyes. "Wait. I won?" She grins, answering Emberly,"perfume please. Thank you!" Rosa's northern accent is thick and appreciative. "Thank you,"she calls over to Kastelon. "Was so much fun!"

Emberly is overheard praising Rysen.

Emberly is overheard praising Pasquale.

Emberly is overheard praising Kastelon.

Emberly is overheard praising Merek.

Rysen is overheard praising Emberly.

Rysen is overheard praising Rosalind.

Rysen is overheard praising Cirroch.

Rysen is overheard praising Cerys.

"Congratulations Lady Rosalind!" Cirroch is calling out, still looking mildy upset that there is not whiskey available.

Emberly smiles a bit to everyone "alright alright northlanders and friends, Let me buy you all a round at the nearest pub!"