Owner: Cavy's Girl
Name: Giltine
The goddess of death whose sacral bird is the owl. Giltine proclaims disaster. She goes with the goddesses of the black death.
Gender: Filly
Task: First Encounter-
We frequently traveled these lands north of Withervale as the light of day became shorter, and some of the deeper caverns became to dark and cold to traverse safely. Though where there was warmth there were usually humans. I believed them dangerous but as they huddled in the areas that were more easily moved though I had not choice but to choose a safer route though the towns versus the dark areas where the predatory creatures of Lucent lurked, especially with two younger herd members in tow. As we neared the edge of the largest town before we were free to graze in the undisturbed areas at our territory's northern edge, I whistled loudly to the herd. We would be stopping for the night and carry on during the day, I hated the idea of moving through the human town in either light or dark, but with Ukko's eyesight fading I needed to choose the, hopefully, lesser of the two evils. We would rest here tonight, and feed off of the evil that darkened every area inhabited by humans, at our strongest we would travel though the town tomorrow, quickly.
I stood watch over my herd all night, a few times relieved by Ahti, and Mazda, though I never slept. I took comfort in the low glow of my herd, their many colors like stars in the sky we would rarely catch glimpses of. The fires burned all night on the walls of the town and dark figures moved over the highest walls, I knew they were watching us. Soon the tense night was over and I stepped through my herd quietly, short chirps to each member so they would begin to move. I clicked my teeth at Kama as I knew he was ignoring me and not long after the entire herd was stirring, and on their feet. They could feel the caution in my body language, but only Ukko knew the nervousness building in my heart, he stood nearest me and the warmth of his body calmed me slightly.
A loud whistle echoed powerfully from me and we were moving toward the large open area straight through the middle. The ground became harder under our hooves, a form of human mortar and bricks that we were used to on the walls of the ruins where we called home. Gold and silver chains hung in the doorways of some of the houses, others had small candies, or trays of fine meats and bowls of cream, still more had wines, and feathers from large birds. These humans were a superstitious bunch, they believed my herd and even I to be some form of gods, to be worshiped and that maybe we would bestow gifts or good fortune if left tithes. I had warned each member of my herd of the distractions and hoped all had heeded my warnings, though I fully expected Jay to sample any of the sweet wares nearest to her.
The scent of tightly packed humans rose from the central part of the square, something was wrong with this. I flipped my ears back and chirped back to Ukko, who was at the back of the pack, preparing him for danger. The whole herd tensed as we continued into an open square. Humans were packed up against the buildings jostling for a view of my herd, Every alarm bell in my mind was ringing, 'it's a trap'. But something caught me off guard, a slow whining whistle that came from the pedestal in the very center of the town. All that stood there was a frail old man in bright wrappings and he glittered with tons of precious stones and jewels, and just behind him a small boy was laying over an equally small body also wrapped in the best silks and beads. The little whistle sounded again, and I could just hear it over the wailing of a woman being restrained behind the crowd. I clicked to my herd members closest to me, a halt and warning, that if something happened they should run as fast the other direction as they could. They all bristled around me but stood still as I walked forward toward the old man. I stood just feet from him, he smelled of strong perfumes that made my nostrils itch. I could feel the tension building all around us as the man took a step toward me and prayed to me.
"Lady Rhiannon, Divine Queen, please have mercy on my people. We have done no wrong to you or the gods. A stranger came to our town with many horses and small eggs he found near the beach. This young child you see before you stole the egg in hopes that he could sell it. Soon this foal was born." He stepped back and pulled the silk covers from a small Chrysora foal, the boy still clung tightly to its neck and would not look up at me.
"We realized our misfortune at it being a young goddess and belonging to you, as all life does. We beg you, have mercy on your humble people, take back what is yours in good health, and have the boy as sacrifice."The woman's wails became louder and there was a scuffle as men attempted to restrain her. The boy looked up at her with defiant tears in his eyes. I looked down at the foal once more, and noticed the tender way in which the boy held her. She was none of my herd, but I couldn't leave her here among these humans. I moved past the old man as he bent his head to me, more than likely terrified to meet my gaze. I looked back and whistled to Ukko to join me. He moved through the herd slowly, gasps and murmurs from the crowd followed his progression to my side. I laid my horns in his, gaining his resolve, then stepped up the the foal and young boy, he finally looked me in the eye, and no trace of fear was present. I leaned my head down and blew in the foal's nostrils, and as I did I heard his soft voice.
"Please Great Lady, I did not steal this goddess, the man was going to eat the egg. I rescued her, my father was a fisherman and told me of the gods and goddesses and he told me of their eggs. I knew in my heart who she was, and I took the best care of her I could, please I am all my mother has."I touched his cheek with my rough muzzle, smelling the salt of his tears, I clicked to the foal and Ukko took her back to our group wobbling on newborn legs. I then hooked my horn in the boy's tunic just under his ear and felt him flinch. I roughly tossed my head, picking him up from the ground and depositing him in front of the crowd closest to his mother. All of the humans grew silent and backed away, except the ones holding the woman, still crying softly, defeated. I screamed loudly ringing everyone's ears, the call of a large bird of prey, and rose on my hind legs above the boy pawing wildly at the sky. all the people nearest us dropped to their knees even the ones holding the woman and shielded their eyes. I slammed back to the ground beside the boy, and he couldn't help but tremble as he faced his mother. I slowly stepped forward and carefully laid my head to his back avoiding my horns and pushed him into her arms. Then with that I turned as fast as I could and galloped straight at the old man, ears pinned and teeth bared. He cowered and fell to the ground at my feet. I pawed the ground near his head, proving my point that the boy and his family had my blessing. Then I called to my herd and we picked up a fast pace out of the town. Hopefully they would be smarter when we would need to return through this way and hopefully still, the boy and his mother would be living as kings. And still we were another herd member stronger. What stories lay in wait with this dark filly?
Quick Sketch of the First Encounter((I hope this is okay, it's alittle different from the story, but it fits with my idea of Lucent and my wild herd.))