NarniaMUCK

Gathering Circle
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What a sweet place you have wandered to. The forest trees here are scattered
across a soft meadow of heather and wildflowers, and the sun dapples the
ground through the leaves above. This is a wide section of earth, and it
seems to be a gathering place - indeed, there is a ring of stones in one side
of the open clearing where it seems fires have been built over many nights.
To the south, a worn path leads to the Cauldron Pool and the waterfall that
feeds it. You can also see a path leading west toward the cliff-face. To the
east the path leads into the deeper forests of Lantern Waste.
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Virika pads into the Gathering Circle with her tenderfoot on patrol.

Glyn sticks close to Virika, but alert with his ears cocked.

Peridot is grazing idly by herself, appearing thoughtful. Once in awhile she snorts shaking her head as though having a disagreeable thought.

Virika gives a soft cough, followed by, "Peridot."

Glyn observes Peridot curiously, but listens for now.

Peridot starts from her musing, ears turning toward the sound first before her head follows. She nods. "Good afternoon, Virika, Glyn. Patrol?"

Virika smiles and nods. "Hope we didn't bother you."

Glyn adds, "Patrols seem ever more important these days. How are you?"

Peridot closes her eyes, shaking her head, but even that head shake appears to be too much motion because she stops it right away. After a few minutes, she opens her eyes again. "No, actually, I was hoping someone would interrupt me. I am..." She shrugs. "No worse than before, but no better either."

Virika frowns at this.

Petraverd comes trotting toward you from the south.
====> Petraverd is a young adult male Unicorn, with white fur and green eyes.

Glyn appears both confused and concerned, but unsure what to say. "Something troubles you?"

Virika looks to Peridot for the answer.

Peridot nods, at first unsure of what to say. "For the past few weeks, I've been ravenously hungry and yet I get sick too. I...I know I haven't eaten anything bad and local herbs aren't working." She sighs, "I think I may be carrying a foal or else I have a wasting sort of sickness that I don't have a cure for."

Virika's ears flatten a little. She frowns.
Virika asks, "Have you spoken to Petraverd?"

Peridot closes her eyes, and nods once.

Petraverd walks into the circle from the east, shaking a few stray leaves and such out of his mane. He looks somewhat weary, but in a decent mood, and flicks an ear as he catches the sound of his name. "What about me...?"

Glyn looks flustered by the turn of this conversation, but nods his head politely to Petraverd.

Peridot opens her eyes again as the moment passes and whickers lightly in greeting to her mate. "They were asking if I'd told you about my...current sickness."

Virika eyes Petraverd closely. She nods to him in greeting.

Petraverd nudges Peridot before giving a nod to the wolves. He ahs quietly as his mate explains. "Which you have."

Glyn enquires, "Is there none among the herd that can tell you for certain whether it is a sickness?"

Peridot nudges her mate back gently before shaking her head to Glyn's question. "I don't think so. I'm usually the one mares come to when they need certain herbs. The only healer I can think of who is more experienced than me is Calya, but she's the whole way at Cair Paravel, serving their Majesties."

Virika grunts, "That is quite a jaunt." She watches the two interact.

Petraverd nods a little. "Panacea could probably give you at least some idea, though... at least something of a second opinion, closer by." He keeps close to his mate, his concern for her rather clear.

Glyn asks, "Do you feel up to any travel?"

Peridot closes her eyes and concentrates on breathing. After a few minutes pass, she opens her eyes. "I suppose I could travel. I mean at least right now, it's a mere annoyance. If it's a wasting sickness, I can't say if it will worsen later. I don't know enough."

Virika frowns faintly.

Petraverd lets out a small sigh, scuffing at the grass with a forehoof.

Glyn nods. "Or perhaps someone could bring a healer here..."

Virika says, "Well...." She coughs and shifts. "If you had a wasting sickness I don't think you'd be as... um...." She stops. "You'd be as...." She stops again. "Be as .... full figured as you are."
Virika says, "You don't /look/ like you're wasting." She looks really sheepish as she speaks.

Glyn seems blissfully unaware of the awkwardness of Virika's comment as he adds, "Yes, I suppose that is a good sign."

Petraverd nudges his mate again. "Not inclined to think that's the cause, either. I may not know as much as you do, but I do at least know a thing or two."

Peridot blinks at Virika's comment as though unsure of how to take it.
Peridot glances at her flanks critically.

Virika says, "You still look dainty and pretty. You're just... a little bit.... more... so." She coughs.

Glyn eyes Virika curiously as she stumbles over her words--a rare event. "More... with foal, you mean?"

Virika looks as though she'd rather be anywhere but here. She nods. "Yeah."
Virika says, "With foal..."

Peridot sighs, "So you think I look as fat as a child's pet pony." She doesn't mince words.

Petraverd shakes his head. "That's not what she said at all. Just that you look rather healthier than one would expect if you had a wasting sickness, and so it's probably the... other possibility."

Glyn frowns in puzzlement. "Surely... that's good news, isn't it? Everyone seems so... tense."

Peridot flicks her ears irritably. "What if this is only the first part to the disease?"

Virika says almost heatedly, "Then I'd think you'd be a little more rational instead of being so sensitive." She stops and looks mortified. "I'm sorry Peri.... That came out wrong."
Virika hastily adds, "You're very level headed. And you've just seems a little more moody lately.--Not that there's anything wrong with that."

Glyn is taken aback at the hot words and holds his tongue for a moment.

You feel vaguely nauseated for a moment.
Peridot closes her eyes, although it remains to be seen if she's holding back a rising temper or trying not to be sick.

Petraverd lets out another sigh, nudging his mate again and his weariness somehow becoming rather more evident. "Please... there's enough going on without us getting at each other's throats. Not that I've been a good example of that either."

Virika remains quiet.

Glyn's gaze flicks between Peridot and Virika.

Virika shifts nervously.

Peridot opens her eyes with a snap of her tail and flicks her ears irritably. She snorts her displeasure at her mate. "I don't even know where to begin. Truth be told, I think you'd rather I didn't have a foal so that you don't have to take responsibility." Her voice is cold and lashing. "And instead of supporting me, you worry about yourself. I'm going to find a second opinion. I'm sick of not knowing."
Peridot stalks off, tail twitching irritably.


Later, at the border between the Waste and the Plains

At a Fork in the Great River (Northwest Bank)
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You stand on a jutting precipice that makes up the northeast bank of the Great
River. Below, the river itself runs wide and deep, its waters clear and bright
in the steady sunshine as it flows downward into a deep river valley to the
south.

A much smaller stream from the north joins the river here, draining down from
between two grassy hills in the distance. The riverbank path fords the stream
as it continues southward through the rolling hills of the Great Plains.
Upstream, the Great River bends to the west toward a forest in the distance.
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You can go: Up the Smaller Stream <N>, Downstream <S>, Upstream <NW>

Peridot appears indecisive as she looks downstream, tail still twitching irritably.

Starfire moves along the precipice overhead. She appears to be on patrol, and her attitude is cautious, perhaps even more so than necessary. She glances about her frequently to take in her surroundings. When she sees Peridot's shape, she lets out a faint, tentative whicker in greeting.

Peridot's ears catch the sound with a twitch and she snorts before she recognizes that the whicker is feminine, not masculine. She turns around, cocking her head questioningly. "Starfire?" She shifts her hooves.

Starfire's eyes widen when she figures out that, yes, it is in fact Peridot all the way out here. She immediately comes closer. "Peri? Is everything all right? Has something happened to Petraverd?"

Peridot snorts and shakes her head in an irritated fashion upon hearing her mate's name. "No." she says sullenly. "I'd rather not talk about Petraverd right now. I have few nice things to say about him at the moment."

Starfire's ears go back. "Peri..." She sounds more confused than anything else by her friend's mood.

Peridot shrugs, still looking irritated. "We just had a fight in the Gathering Circle."

Starfire's tail flicks back and forth in visible sign of her agitation. "He's worried about you, Peri...and that still doesn't explain why you're all the way out here, especially if you're not feeling well. You weren't going to..." She lets out a shocked whinny as the truth dawns.

Peridot nods resolutely, "I'm going to Cair Paravel to see Calya, the faun. If anyone can tell me what's wrong with me, she can. When I was sick from eating a mandrake apple, she was able to figure out what was wrong with me, she was able to get me supplies to stop most of the symptoms."

Peridot closes her eyes, as though concentrating on blocking out most distractions.

Starfire furrows her brow in concern, the action creating small ripples around the base of her horn. "Then that's another reason not to be running off into who knows what." Her expression shifts to one of sympathy at Peridot's obvious discomfort.

Peridot stomps a front hoof in irritation. "It's still better than waiting here and watching everyone eye me worriedly."

Starfire scuffs at the earth with a hoof. "And you don't think we're going to be even more worried to have you disappearing like this, when you're not well?"

Peridot snorts, "So go tell the herd where I'm going or come with me for all I care."

Starfire's voice is quiet. "Peri, please...there's got to be a better idea. I want to help, not make things harder for you..."

Peridot sighs, the agitated twitching from her tail slowing and stopping. "Then what do you suggest? Continue to eat and get sick until I'm too weak to travel?"

Starfire asks, all concern, "What does Panacea say?"

Peridot snorts, "It's too soon to tell."

Starfire's nose almost touches the earth, it dips so low. "Penelope's taught me some, but I wish I'd been able to learn more before she left. I know from how frightened Petraverd was for you that something's going on. That it must be serious..."

Peridot sighs again, "I just wish I knew for certain if this was just a sickness or if..." She sighs, "Or if I'm really going to have a foal. I'm not sure Petraverd's really prepared for either one."

Starfire whinnies sympathetically. "So that's it...I thought maybe, but I didn't press him. He's worried, and you know he isn't fond of change. That doesn't mean..."

Peridot flicks her ears irritably. "I know. He cares about me."

Starfire glances at her. "If anything happened to you, we'd all be devastated." She shudders. "Peri, I've /seen/ giants. Glisten had to save me or..." Another shiver passes through her. "Whatever this is, it doesn't help you defend yourself, and if there is going to be a foal, then it isn't just about you...or Petraverd..."

Peridot closes her eyes, her agitation seemingly leaving her. "Then what do you suggest I do?" She asks meekly.

Starfire lets out a shuddery breath, her voice going quiet. "If...if you don't think that the healer here can help, and if there's nothing I can do either, then go...but not like this. Plan, and please, don't go by yourself. We might not even know if anything happened, and we wouldn't be able to get to you. Petraverd will come around, given time. He wants a foal, even if he doesn't think he can handle fatherhood. Besides which, neither of you will be alone here. That's why you /have/ a herd. You know how running off alone works out...we both do..."

Peridot sighs, hanging her head at Starfire's reasoning. "You're right. Let's go back."

Starfire trots upstream along the riverbank path
Peridot leaves, following Starfire.