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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 1, 2015 12:50:22 GMT -5
(OOC: Redwall's introductory thread! Open to anybody who wants to hop in of course, and it's set early in the morning in the Abbey lawns. There's quite a bit of scene-setting you'll have to pile through, but I felt it was fitting)
The sun was just going up over Mossflower country. The clear blue sky was patched only with a small number of clouds that were tinted gold with the rays of the sun just beginning to show itself over the eastern mountain ranges. The light washed over the large sandstone building nestled neatly between the woods and the plains, turning its signature red brickwork into a shade of pink to match the roses that lined the green lawns. A violent-red dragonfly landed on a reed above a crystal clear pond, but then took off immediately when the solid oaken door set in to the main Abbey building creaked open. Cornelius the badger stepped out silently into the Abbey grounds, smiling as a well-appreciated blast of warm air hit his face. He closed the door as silently as he possibly could and began strolling around the grounds; an activity he often liked to do in the early hours of the morning, when few creatures were awake. He hummed as his big paws padded through the dew-soaked grass, and upon reaching the pond, he turned around and craned his neck to take in the full view of his beautiful home. The dibbuns would not need waking (or be woken) for another hour yet, but Cornelius knew well that a lot of Abbeybeasts liked to be early risers, the day's full potential could be utilized that way. So maybe somebody else would come outside to marvel at this beautiful morning with him, Cornelius thought to himself, beginning to head for the north-eastern wall steps. Perhaps he could be lucky and catch the moment the sun rose over the distant mountains.
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Post by Captain Bigwig on Oct 1, 2015 15:14:39 GMT -5
Whiskers rustling slightly in the slight breeze, Mildred was working her way through the garden, checking the plants and ensuring there were no invasive insects working against the Abbey to spoil their future food supply. Slow and steady, she hobbled carefully around the plants, picking at the few leaves she caught that were dying. The warmth of the sun soaked through her fur, and she even though she had woken not very long ago, the comforting weather threatened to make her drowsy. Lifting her head once her inspection was done, she mentally noted that everything looked very well, and was going to start heading to the pond when Cornelius caught her eye, evidently desiring to climb up to the top of the walls, and if he was in any hurry she didn't notice. When she was younger, badgers had given her a bit of a fright, but Cornelius was now certainly one of the more pleasant sights at the Abbey. He had always been a kind soul, and she remembered the day he came to the Abbey, with a horde of children behind him, like it were yesterday. Approaching him slowly - slowly was her only setting, these days - she lifted her paw in a slight wave, before reaching up to remove her glasses and rub at the glass with the sleeve of her robe while she walked. "Lovely morning," she remarked, voice a bit brittle, and a bit louder than she intended - her hearing wasn't what it used to be, and she often didn't realize she was speaking loudly. "The vegetables are really coming along. However, as much as I love the sun, I feel a bit of rain might be useful, soon."
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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 1, 2015 15:55:17 GMT -5
As he neared the north-eastern wall steps, movement caught the brown badger's eye and he turned his big, pudgy head to see the elderly Abbey recorder hobbling towards him. His face lit up in to a wide smile, and immediately forgetting his wall-top plans, he dropped down to all fours and padded towards her to talk to her. "Good morning Mildred!" he greeted her, coming to a halt. "Yes it is indeed, looks to be a promising spring hmm?" He raised his muzzle and sniffed at the breeze. "Ah, smells like Friar's got breakfast on the go! Smells as delicious as usual of course,' he mused, almost to himself. Then he brought his eyes back down to Mildred's level, listening to her information about the vegetables. "They're starting to wither a bit?" he asked with curiosity.
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49
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Post by mads on Oct 1, 2015 18:11:25 GMT -5
Cypress woke before dawn broke- as was his habit- and set about his usual routine, which found him out in the garden. He had planted and was tending the bed of medicinal herbs that he used most often, as he simply could not be tramping all over Mossflower wood in search of them. The sharp, sappy smell of them brought a comforted smile to his lips as he broke off the flowering heads of a few of the plants. He gathered a few long stalks of peppermint and sage, and as many of the pale chamomile flowers as he could find and put them in his basket, talking to himself all the while.
"I am nearly out of warming poultice..." he murmured. "That will be first on my list for today, then. And then I need to check on that dibbun that twisted his paw, don't forget that."
He stood with a groan and rubbed his hip, sounding and looking like a hare much older than he was for a moment. "Don't you be acting up on me, silly old thing..."
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Post by Captain Bigwig on Oct 1, 2015 19:53:13 GMT -5
Pleased when Cornelius turned to approach her, she rested her hand on her hip, nose twitching as she gave him a brief look-over. Goodness, even he made her feel old. And indeed, the scents of breakfast were steadily wafting through the windows, warm and sweet and mouth-watering. Although Mildred didn't have quite the appetite she used to, mealtimes were still something she treasured. Even after all these years, she hadn't grown bored of the typical Redwall menu.
"A few are withering," she muttered, placing her glasses back on her face, "but overall, things look fine. I was going to fetch a bucket myself and get some water from the pond. I know I ought to just ask someone else to do it, but I really get antsy if I don't see to it that things get done properly. Tch, I'd like to blame it on my age, but I think I'm just a bit stubborn. What were you going up on the wall for?"
She noticed, from the corner of her eye across the lawn, Cypress milling about. Seems today was a day to get good work done for everyone. Lazing about could wait until wintertime.
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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 1, 2015 20:06:10 GMT -5
"Ah well, if the best of them survive we'll be all right. We're not exactly starved here after all!" he chuckled, and raising himself on to his hind legs, gave his stoumach a few pats which made a noise like a trampoline. He listened and nodded politely, cracking the odd smile at her tirade. "Oh, I was just going up to watch the sunrise. On days like this it is most beautiful you know. Care to join me?" he suggested, rather forgetting her fragile state as opposed to his own, sturdy one. He looked up when he caught another scent on the breeze, that of the hare infirmary keeper. "Good morning Brother Cypress!" he called over, raising one massive paw in a wave.
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49
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Post by mads on Oct 1, 2015 20:24:06 GMT -5
He looked up and smiled, raising a paw in greeting. "Good morning! Keeping well, you two?" He called, moving at a slow, but resolute, limp across the yard towards them. He leaned heavily on his walking stick and kept his basket steady from years of practice, and enjoyed the feel of the dew-damp grass cooling his feet. The accursed limp was always worse in the morning, before he warmed up, and he was grateful every day that winter was over. The cold had stiffened the ruined joints and made his work nearly impossible, which had inflamed his temper for some time. "It will be a warm day, I reckon!" he said cheerfully.
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Post by Captain Bigwig on Oct 1, 2015 22:04:50 GMT -5
Frowning deeply at Cornelius, she was about to berate him for suggesting she could climb up all those stairs when Cypress began to come over, and she merely sighed, shifting her weight between her feet. No need to cause a fuss, after all. Eyeing the wobbly hare, Mildred noted that that walking stick of his was starting to look very appealing, but she'd never admit it.
"Keeping as well as ever," she answered, although her tone suggested something was amiss, but she had simply been put into a little bit of an attitude, and was just being grumpy, as was her way. "It certainly is getting warmer and warmer. How are your plants doing? You'll have to tell me which ones grow better than the others, you know, so I can write it all out." All business and little pleasure, as always.
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Post by argothia on Oct 2, 2015 0:02:46 GMT -5
Foremole Gruffer had awoken quite early that morning, even early for her. Unable to return to sleep and quickly growing bored of sitting around with nothing to do, the mole had trundled out to check the hinges and locks on the wicker gates. No sense in letting them go without repair if they needed some after all. She had just finished a thorough check of the north gate and was making her way to the east on when she saw the small group. Curious as to why there was such a gathering and wanting to be polite as always, the Foremole tugged her snout to the three as she walked by. "Burr, a'mornin' to ee gennelbeasts, you'm all oop plenny h'early, aye? Tis a bootiful mornin' furr a'walkin, oi suppose." She stopped as she thought of something else to say. "Hurr, be thurr ought oi can 'elp any of ee with?"
(ooc: Sorry I'm so late to the party, I had to take a nap and it ended up longer than I expected, heh. Also feel free to correct my mole speech, I'm a bit rusty.)
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Post by Sherwood on Oct 2, 2015 1:08:28 GMT -5
The sky was awake, so Briar was awake. The bright eyed young mouse had already donned her garb and gone skittering off through the hallways. She'd never been much for early rising in her days as a dibbun, but when given a bit of responsibility, she'd learned that early to rise was in fact as good an adage as any. Not to mentio, that the earlier you were up, the more choice your selection of breakfast pastries tended to be. At least once the elders had their pick and whoever else was deemed important enough. She twitched her whiskers at the thought and swallowed a sigh. She couldn't let something like that get her down after all!
It was a beautiful morning, it was a bit breezy, and it was warm. The humidity made breathing a tad bit hard on the younger mouse, though she only noticed it after she'd gone dashing out onto the ramparts and come to a full stop . One set of spiral stairs and an upward climb tended to do that to young, damaged lungs after all. She gave a couple of dry coughs, fisting a paw towards her mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound, which was a bit louder than she would have liked in the early morning.
Briar's ears pricked however when she noticed that she wasn't the only one out and about so early in the morning. She could see their badger guardian, Father Cornelius, a soft soul who Briar liked immensely. There with him was Mildred, a more dry sort that really rather reminded Briar of one of her coughs. Crackly, whispy, and with a penchant of not being fun in the least to the younger mouse. She could also see Cypress hobbling across the yard and the Foremole coming to join them. Such a large gathering of important beasts so early in the morning! Briar's curiosity was certainly piqued now.
Clearing her throat to ascertain her airways were indeed clear, she scampered down a set of stairs and down into the yard below, trotting through the dewy grass and delighting at the fact that her steps left a clear trail behind her. It made the yard look so funny! She tossed her attention back to the others, "Good morning everyone! What brings you all out here so early? Something going on?" her ears stood comically alert, and her whiskers trembled eagerly.
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mads
Dibbun
Posts: 49
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Post by mads on Oct 2, 2015 8:58:33 GMT -5
"Just doing a quick spot of gardening, and I decided to make sure that our sweet Mildred was not, as I suspected, being persuaded to attempt those dreadful stairs so early of a morning." He replied, winking at the old recorder cheekily. "Of course, I will be happy to get you the information. Just about everything is growing fine, though, as expected, my experiment with the plants commonly found in water seems to be failing." He sighed and scratched behind his ear.
"If you are not terribly busy later, Briar, I really do need some of those. Would you care to accompany me?" He really could not go out alone, not safely anyway. He had stormed out in a fit of angry self reliance more than once when he had been younger, and those he could rank only slightly above a disaster. But he enjoyed Briar's company, and she knew the area well enough, paired with the fact that she was leaps above him in the area of physical movement, she made a good companion for such things.
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Post by Gingivere-Greeneyes on Oct 2, 2015 12:54:44 GMT -5
"Oh come now, nothing wrong with accepting a bit of assistance for the sake of a pretty view." Cornelius said politely, though standing back with clasped paws to allow them to talk. He looked around with a pleasant air as more Abbeybeasts seemed to fill up the grounds; it appeared that the morning was well and truly over and that the day had begun in earnest. "Good morning Foremole! And hello Briar!" he called politely to them all, waving them over earnestly. "No, nothing interesting going on I'm afraid, just a few creatures out enjoying the morning." he addressed Briar, lifting his head and shaking it with a welcome sigh in a dog-like fashion.
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Post by Captain Bigwig on Oct 2, 2015 22:56:01 GMT -5
When the Foremole arrived, Mildred's ears twitched repeatedly, trying to make out what the mole was saying. She understood mole speech perfectly well, but as she aged it was becoming a bit more jumbled than before. She was relieved when Cypress casually defended her old bones, and also when he captured Briar's attention. Cypress hadn't been at the Abbey long, from Mildred's perspective, but despite being a hare (those creatures were terribly troublesome!) he seemed to be awfully polite and kindhearted. Briar, on the other paw... That girl had always been quite the handful, and even as she grew older, she was seemingly becoming less of a lady and more of a ruffian. The two, quite plainly, rarely saw eye-to-eye, and even though she was the eldest of the two, Mildred wasn't fond of taking the higher road in most of their arguments, either.
Looking up at Cornelius, she hummed, "If you had a great eagle to fly me up there, I'd consider it. Seeing as you do not, I think I'll take a rain check on your sightseeing in favor of keeping my feet on the nice, soft ground."
Faintly, she wondered where Abbott Whittle was this morning. Surely he'd be out enjoying the weather, wouldn't he?
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Post by argothia on Oct 3, 2015 9:29:15 GMT -5
The Foremole tugged her snout politely to Briar, smiling pleasantly. She had always liked the young mouse, though their energy levels seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. "Gud mornin' to ee, purty miss. You'm still be full o' energy even this h'early Oi see, hurr hurr. Oi was just checkin' bout to see if thurr wurr anythin' that needed doin' today." As Mildred spoke Gruffer eyed the wall steps, warily, then nodded in agreement with the Recorder. "Oi be with ee thurr, Marm. Them gurt walltops be a bit too high oop furr moi likin', too, hurr aye. I bain't climbed 'em since oi was a lil un." She chuckled, nervously. "Makes moi digging claws shake just thinkin' bout it."
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Post by Constable 216D on Oct 4, 2015 14:16:40 GMT -5
Eager to seek the solitude he had become so accustomed to entertaining, Abbot Whittle had slipped out of one of the Abbey's side doors before the sun had risen. He had carefully made his way to the orchards, eager to take in the sounds and smells of the new morning. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to get around the grounds on his own, but the Abbot was far too thoughtful to request the aid of one of the Abbeybeasts. What creature would want to lead around an old blind harvest mouse on this, the glorious opening act of another beautiful spring? Though he could not see it, he could feel the energy of new blossoms in the air, carried within the arms of the eager eddies of wind that caressed each stout tree branch. The proud trunks of apple, pear, plum, and cherry, like pillars of living stone, acted as buffers to the wind, protecting the Abbot's frail form from the more mischievous spring breezes. Trills of birdsong heralded the rising of the sun as Abbot Whittle settled himself carefully in a familiar sunning spot. Based on the feel of the air, the sunshine, and the pliability of the grass, the Abbot was sure he had at least a half hour to spare before many of the Abbeybeasts would rise to complete morning tasks and chores. His heart swelled with warmth as thoughts of Redwall and the creatures he loved flittered gently through his mind. It was these feelings of pleasure and gratitude that carried the Abbot gently off into a relaxing snooze.
Little did Abbot Whittle know his nap would last through the greater part of the morning!
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