Gwyn moved steadily along the worn, earthen paths that acted as the only decent roads between the smallest villages. They were clear enough, the tall grasses kept at bay sometimes by fences and other times simply by the passage of carts forcing them back. She watched the many different grooves, hoofprints, and footprints as she walked. Only occasionally did she lift her eyes to scan the distance around her in the event of the gnolls that plagued Pormont. All seemed calm. The weather was nice enough, the roads hadn't been heavily populated, and she had yet to be chased down and burned at the stake by any Falderen's for the whole Astorea thing so all in all? Not a bad day. The sound of grass shifting shadowed her as Nathair slid along off the side of the humble road. It didn't care for frying in the sun like her, preferring to sun itself when there was enough water nearby to bring its temperature back down. The shade was helpful, but apparently not up to its lofty standards. Ridiculously picky, it was. They approached the edge of the small farming community and Gwyn paused to sigh. With the recent movement of the Yladian's into Astorea, and Astorea's formation itself, things were rough. The fall of the mushroom creature had offered food, yes, but that wouldn't last forever. Many mounts and livestock were also lost in the chaos of their desperate migration to what they all hoped was safety. She wanted to help. She needed to help. She was already good enough with beasts through her beast taming and she had a good enough hand at riding to deal with mounts. That was a foundation to work off of. Her goal reaffirmed, Gwyn skirted along the edge of town until she found a quiet, but decently sized farm. She had asked a few NPCs, staying toward safer and quieter towns, and word of mouth had eventually let her here. She had begun to head toward the house, but it was the middle of the day and any farmer or rancher would likely be outside doing... well, those very things. She scanned the property until she caught sight of the man and smiled. Bullseye. "Behave," she said to the large pile of scales and with a quick word to Nathair to remain curled up in the shadow of the underbrush, out of the sun and out of trouble, she headed over. It wouldn't do to startle the man so she called out warmly, “Morning! Can we speak a moment?” Gwyn wasn't about to hop the fence and go trespassing on @George Bauer's property without prior invitation and instead leaned forward to cross her arms over the top of the wooden barrier. “I've come to need to know a bit about farming and ranching, if you have the time to teach. I'm happy to help however I can in return.”
Flaxen grains fell from hand to hand as he gently crumpled a stalk of wheat and caught the grain that fell from it in a cupped palm. Inspecting them for a moment, he nodded in satisfaction of his crop and tossed the grain to the wind, admiring the golden hue as it glittered away on a breeze. He hefted up his scythe and continued down the rows of wheat in his field, noticing the form of a stranger near the border of his property line. Out by the north-west road, which meant they had come from northern Brisshal, or Adec- ...Astorea, beyond it. He frowned while he had distance between them, taking a moment to steel himself before calming his expression and approaching. Stopping three yards from the fence, the farmer looked the huntress over as though gauging her and comparing her to some sort of expectation of his. He gave an audible "eeeeh..." in response to her statement, then gestured towards the house on the other side of his field. "You should come in out of this heat, for now. Please, come inside and have something to drink.. Have you eaten lunch? I can prepare us something." Not taking no for an answer, he turned around and gestured for her to hop the fence and follow him to his home. It was a small affair that appeared to have a handful of rooms and simple log-cabin design, with a mud-brick chimney. The windows had no glass panes, but instead held heavy wooden flaps to act as shutters against storms and pests; they could either be propped open completely, or shut closed and barred from the inside. Presently they were all opened to allow a cool breeze to pass through the house, as was the door. He entered through it turned on an oil lamp to provide some extra light, then went to a cupboard and fished out some clay plates and cups before providing Gwyn with a warm beer and slice of cornbread at the seat he indicated for her to take. Then he walked to another room and began to rummage about, returning with parchment, an ink well and a quill. Scribbling down a quick map, he carried the parchment over to her and set it down, indicating where his farm was in relation to a nearby city. "There are some shops in the city that sell helpful 'how to' books for quickly learning a craft or trade, if that's the sort of thing you're interested in. Good for a terrace garden, or keeping a few chickens." He seated himself across from the girl, taking a sip of his own warm beer, ignoring the slice of cornbread he had fixed for himself so that he did not have to chew and appear rude to his guest, in case she had more to say. "If what you're after is a real taste of farming, or ranching, then you won't find it in an easy guide. And you won't find it in a few quick lessons here... You would have to stay with my family through the autumn and winter seasons, all the way through the middle of next summer, if you wanted to get a real sense of what it takes to be a farmer. And even then you'd only have had enough time to scratch the surface and handle the basics yourself. My girls have been helping me since they were yea high," he lifted a hand to indicate a child's height, his face smiling at some sort of memory conjured up. "...and I still wouldn't trust them to run the farm for more than a day or two while I'm at market. So, I recommend you go to the city and find that quick and easy guide I mentioned, then focus on a nice little tomato garden. You adventuring sorts don't stick around long enough to actually learn the trade, after all. Too many monsters to hunt and treasures to claim, isn't it?" He looked @Gwyn ap Herne over as he downed the last of his beer, investigating her critically, watching to see her reaction.
Gwyn waited passively enough, watching curiously as she was measured by the man. At his gesture she straightened slightly and cast a wary glance to the side where her rather obnoxiously large tame laid curled up in the shadows. "Of course? Wherever you prefer and it'd be remiss to turn down the kind offer," she replied as she eyed Nathair's beady black eyes in turn. She glanced back at him before turning for a moment to gesture at the snake with a flattened hand and a low whistle. The corners of her mouth tightened as she gave it a hard look. "Behave. Nothing here is food but vermin. Do not leave this spot, Nathair." She lifted her two fingers toward her eyes and back toward the snake's. It didn't seem overly moved, but shuffled its coils more comfortably. It was content to nap, thank whatever wicked god considered snakes apart of their domain. With a nod she turned to place a hand on the beam and leapt up, swinging over the top with ease. Upper body strength was a godsend. She followed quickly after him and joined him inside. The ranger smiled at the humble home and was hit with a pang of nostalgia for a moment. Last time Sabine had been in a log cabin it had been visiting a kind, old taxidermist who made headdresses for a living. The man had been the one to mark an interesting freeclimb she'd heard of but couldn't find. It turned out a fallen tree had hidden the trail head and she had walked by it at least three times. Gwyn sat where motioned to and accepted offers. She sipped at the beer, but put it down early into the farmer's little monologue. She didn't ignore the map though and did glance it over. Book learning wasn't something to be insulted over, but she didn't learn anything by sitting in a chair and poured over text. Text wasn't alive, it didn't breath and fight and move. It didn't fall into step with her or force her to adapt on the fly. "Well it's no tomato garden I'm after, for farming I'd just be a helping hand. I'm afraid I've managed to kill every succulent I've tried to keep, but I'd like to not be an entire blind fool trying to help with crops. No, what I need is handling livestock. I'm well enough off with beasts in the wilds and I'm not bad around horses, but those can't be depended on to keep people fed or produce wool and the like for supplies. I won't say I'm not the adventuring sort, we'd both know that's a bold-faced lie," she laughed with only the slightest humor and with it more directed at herself, "I've a hunger that needs to be fed after all. And a snake with an even bigger one. ...But I'm not the only one I have to consider. Others, sure, they're fine looking after themselves, but I don't want to just be dead weight. I've never been the type to sit on my hands and let others do the hard work when I can be of help. Even if I'm no expert, I want to be able to carry my weight in something other than a fight. After beasts are slain or wars are won, there are innocent people that still need food and water and shelter at the end of the day." She leaned back in the chair, eyes still on the map as she spoke. "Your job is hard and I apologize if I made it sound like it's a walk in a park. People think rock climbing is a fun little thing you do camping at the lake and that's a load of bull. It'll kill you if you treat it like a game. Hell, one of the hardest things I've ever done was learn how to sew and I still catch my fingers everytime." Gwyn looked up at @George Bauer finally and in the pause had to force herself to stop chewing at the inside of her cheek. "I apologize. That's a whole lot of talk and not a lot of action and I hate that kind of person. I'll pick up your book on gardening and learn some basics that way, fine. Nothing wrong with bettering yourself by whatever means. But you don't learn the pace of a horse or how to break it to the saddle on paper. You don't learn what feed could sicken a herd or what times to bring things to pasture. Books don't breathe. They don't look you back in the eye. They aren't alive and teach through a bite or a kick. At least not to me. You want me to work for seasons? I'll give it a try, but you're right to say the hunt will call me back. I still have responsibilities and desires of my own. But any bit of knowledge I can take back and put to use to make things better for even one person? I'd appreciate the chance to learn. If not, I apologize for wasting your time. I'll fetch Nathair and go if that's what you'd prefer."
