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#Post#: 111--------------------------------------------------
Sleen Hunt
DIR By: High Captain Song
Date: July 22, 2023, 9:41 pm
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"You're sure this is the finest tracking sleen in the area,
Longbow?"
I don't doubt the forester's word so much as I doubt the beast
his associate leads on a less-than-stout chain. When I think of
sleen, I think of vicious creatures. Savage beasts barely tamed
by the will of Man.The deadliest predators on Gor.
This sleen, if sleen it can be called, is long past its prime.
Indeed, it is the oldest specimen I've seen, with fur gone grey
and patchy at parts. I idly wonder if the only reason it hasn't
been devoured by his packmates is because they sense the disease
and sickness in its form and know better than to feast on
tainted meat.
Longbow looks to the sleen breeder, a broad-shouldered yet
stuffy man with a beard you could lose a jit in. He grins
broadly and laughs, "Oh, Zeke is a bit long int he years, I'll
grant you, Skald, but his nose is still as strong as when he was
a pup. Stronger even!"
I nod. "I'm just concerned about the time. It has been a while
at this point, and yet I've heard of sleen being able to track a
scent for weeks after the person tracked passed through an area,
provided the sample is strong enough."
The sleen-breeder nods. "Aye, tis true. A close thing, but it
comes down more to the scent of the sample than the smell
lingering in the area. I'd be more concerned about the scent of
your sample being strong enough."
I nod and now it is my turn to smile as I hold up my trophy. A
skirt of leopard fur - more of a breechcloth, really, that until
recently girded the rather attractive loins of a certain Panther
girl. I'd recognized the arrowheads left behind at one of the
arson sites as being of my make. When I confronted her on this
fact, she claimed she'd lost the arrows in a conflict with the
rivals she blamed for the fires. I challenged her to a contest
of archery and won, but it was a close thing and I can only
conclude the gods were with me. She thought me a pervert who
wished to claim an erotic trophy and shame her for returning to
the woods half naked. In truth, it was all part of my plan....
to give myself greater proof, one way or the other, that Tove
was at the scene of at least one of the fires threatening the
Northern Forest.
I had the skirt to the sleen-breeder, unwilling to put my hands
anywhere near the muzzle of Zeke. Though I suspect the old sleen
might break his few remaining teeth trying to take off my hand,
one only know what lingering plague I might catch from a
half-hearted wound from that beast's snaggle toothed maw.
The burly sleen-breeder, who answers to the unlikely name of
Vultan, takes the scrap of fabric in his free hand and dangles
it before the sleen's face. "Sniff! Track!" The spoken words are
strict commands, spoken in a firm, clear and loud voice. If
there were any asleep in the nearby village, the sudden shout of
Vultan's voice would surely wake them. As it is, the sudden
shift in tone nearly makes me jump several feet straight up.
Fortunately I am trained in masking my emotions and maintaining
a distinguished composure worthy of a skald at all times. Also,
Longbow had his back to me when I was startled.
Zeke takes a lengthy sniff of the offered cloth and immediately
begins to pull on the chain, leading us away from the village's
edge and toward the forest.
I had started at the village edge rather than the site where
Longbow found the first collection of arrows as a test. While
the tracking powers of sleens are well known to every Gorean
hunter - either those who keep the beasts to aid them or those
who hunt wild sleens and oft find themselves becoming hunted as
well - I did not want to jinx it by starting at the site and
having the beast fixate on some other scent in the wild rather
than the intended target. Vultan keeps Zeke on a tight leash
however, as the sleen leads us to a small ridge over looking the
village. The same pace where Longbow found the first three
arrows. The ones with my arrowheads.
Zeke snuffles around the area, as Vultan looks to us
questioningly. We did not tell the sleen-breeder our
destination, again for fear of tainting the results. Longbow
merely nods and I smile grimly.
"It would seem Zeke's nose is as advertised, sleen-breeder. This
is one of the places we found the panther arrows."
Longbow nods. "The other place I found arrows is perhaps two
ahns away. We can go there more directly and try and pick up the
trail there."
The sleen-breeders seems mollified and any resentment he might
have felt in having his prize stud questioned is gone as he
laughs, rubs the great best on the back of the had and feeds him
a piece of dried jerky. It takes Zeke some time to gum it down,
but it takes the treat well enough before the hunt resumes and
we move deeper into the woods.
It is closer to three ehn walking, for the sleen's pace is less
than swift and Vultan is a large man, ill-built for stepping
lightly through the Northern forests. Still, being able to
manhandle a sleen is a rare skill where his size is a boon. Even
so, it is impossible for us to move in stealth. Were it closer
to dark I might fear to travel in such company or wish for a
larger crew that myself, a single forester and a giant of a
sleen-breeder we could both hide behind and remain unseen.
Still, Zeek's nose remains true and, after some sniffing and a
refreshing sniff of the Panther Girl's skirt, we are soon led to
a roadside clearing, where a poor merchant awoke to find his
wagon riddled with three arrows.
Longbow simply nods to me. "It is as you thought, Frode. Unless
your wayward Panther had some spectacularly ill fortune or the
gods are playing games with us, it is clear she was at the first
doc fire and here. So what is our next move?"
I am about to answer when Zeke begins growling and sniffling a
bit more. I look to Vultan who smiles. "Zeke has found something
else. Another scent, strong in this place.... and whatever he is
scenting was here recently...."
Vultan and Longbow both look to me. I'm the leader, after all,
for this whole mad expedition was my idea. We've found the proof
I hoped for. At least, enough to satisfy me and more than likely
enough to gather a posse if needed. But I question the wisdom of
that. Back in the day, my cleverness and way with words had won
battles of intrigue in the cylindered cities.
But this is the North, where action is Ubar. Oh, the words of
skalds and cleverness are respected, true, but for all Odin is
said to depend on foresight, he is also said to favor the bold.
Is it worth following the nose of a crazed and elderly sleen
into the woods in the hopes of finding another rogue panther who
might be connected to our mystery band?
I consider this and look up to the sun. It is midday and there
will be some hours before darkness falls, However, we did not
come prepared for a lengthy journey into the forest. Longbow, I
know, can survive out here and I have confidence in my
woodcraft. I alm less certain, however, that the burly
sleen-breeder and his beast will be anything but a liability in
a fight.
Still... there is time enough. And the beast seems certain the
quarry is close.
"Let us see what Zeke might find." I say and the hunt is on.
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