Aderyn's Amagnae Farm (The Keep)
crisp, yet warmly musty breeze greets you when you enter the Keep's gardens. All the trees are ablaze with vivid browns, reds, and oranges, and the pumpkin patches burst with all sizes and colours of pumpkins, gourds, squashes, and other fruits and vegetables you can't even name.Feeling cheery and energetic you set off to your own little patch of vegetables with plans of sinking your fingers to the dirt, weeding, watering and possibly even getting a little taste of your harvest.
When you get to your patch you instantly notice that someone else has already gotten a taste of your harvest! One of your pumpkins has multiple little chunks missing and several of your cucumbers have been totally trampled.
Suddenly you hear a high-pitched scream and a brown blur dashes at you from under the rhubarb. You fumble backwards, covering your face with your hand, and feel how something latches onto the fabric. And stays there. You risk a look and find a small Brown Amagnae hatchling hanging from your sleeve by its beak. You reach to pry it off but it starts scratching and flapping wildly so you quickly let it be. Instead you glance around searching for something you could use to help get the creature off. You can swear you catch a glimpse of a mischievous grin on its face.
A couple patches further you see a woman turning over pumpkin leaves. You approach her hoping she can help you.
"Oh, there you are!" the woman exclaims, visibly relieved as you get to her. After a moment of confusion you realize she is addressing the amagnae.
"Thank you for finding her! She's been gone the whole morning. I try to keep her inside but she always manages to wriggle out." She gives a little chuckle and scratches the amagnae's head. "You little rascal, you!"
The woman turns her attention to you. "Oh, I'm sorry! I don't think we've met. I'm Aderyn," she says smiling. "Come over to my office and we'll get the little one off you."
You follow Aderyn to a shabby tool shed on the edge of the plantation. She opens the lopsided door and urges you to step in. 'Some office,' you think, stepping through -and stop short. The inside of the shed is much larger than it should be. Everything is clean and organized, and shining trophies and ribbons decorate the walls.
Aderyn rummages through one of the drawers and comes back to you with a little bag. She pulls out something that to you looks very much like a black fat larva. The amagnae hanging from your sleeve lets go and gives excited shrieks as it jumps up and down to get the treat. When it settles down for just a moment Aderyn praises it and tosses the larva to it. The little amagnae scurries off with its treasure and runs through a little hatch on one of the walls.
Above the hatch a large window opens up to a lush pasture and you have to take another look to check you really saw what you think you saw. Aderyn follows your gaze and laughs. "Magnificent, aren't they? Come, take a closer look."
She leads you through the back door to the pasture and you realize it spreads even further than could be seen from the window. Flocks of amagnae are grazing on the pasture. These are not, however, like the amagnae you have seen before. They are almost completely white and also much larger than what you've seen.
"These are my prized amagnae," Aderyn says and you can hear the pride in her voice. "I breed and raise them and give them a home. In the past I've taken part in different competitions and shows with them and pretty much won every ribbon and trophy and medal there is to win: weight, colour, clucking sound, egg size, egg colour, you name it." She eyes the creatures fondly. "Nowadays I mostly concentrate on breeding them and studying their behaviour and judging the aforementioned competitions. I've just run into a little problem; I soon need more breeding stock and my usual suppliers over at Synara City have had some misfortunes and cannot deliver the creatures I need. Because of this I'll have to resort to acquiring wild Amagnae. The wild ones are at first well, wild, though, so most of my time goes to training them, and in some cases searching for the ones who like to play hide-and-seek as you already witnessed. Add to this that I need to tend to the rest of the flock and I really don't have time to go searching for new ones."
She pauses for a moment to save an Olive Amagnae hatchling from falling into a bucket.
"If you'd feel like helping me out you could gather an Olive Amagnae hatchling, a Brown Amagnae hatchling and a Silver Amagnae hatchling and bring them to me." She pauses again as she spots another Amagnae hatchling getting in trouble a little further on the pasture.
"I need to go now," she chuckles. "It was nice meeting you!"
You take your leave and return to your vegetable patch just to make sure no more creatures are hiding there and fleetingly wonder how much trouble it would be to have not one, but three, wild amagnae hatchlings with you at once.
Aderyn glances up as you approach. "Hi again! I'm a little bit busy at the moment so I can't talk to you for long. If you come across an Olive Amagnae hatchling, a Brown Amagnae hatchling and a Silver Amagnae hatchling I would be thrilled to offer them a home as part of my flock."
After some trouble, with beak marks on your hand and amagnae droppings on your recently cleaned boots you manage to get all three hatchlings to Aderyn.
She takes a quick look at each of the hatchlings. "They are just what I need. Thank you so much!". She picks the hatchlings up, and the three little beasts instantly calm in her arms. "Aren't they lovely," she chuckles and takes the creatures inside before you have time to argue.
After a moment she returns with a pale egg. "Here's a little something for your troubles," Aderyn says as she hands the egg over. "Good luck with it. It's from one of my most prized hens. Thank you again for your help!" A sound of something breaking comes from inside the shed. Aderyn peeks inside and apologises. "Sorry, I really have to go now, it seems like the hatchlings found a way to the food storage! If you still happen to have time I would love to get more amagnae for my flock. Same conditions as last time, one Olive Amagnae hatchling, one Brown Amagnae hatchling and one Silver Amagnae hatchling." She gives you a quick smile and rushes inside.
Aderyn's Amagnae Farm (The Keep)
As the weather turns crisp, and warmly musty breezes greet you each morning, you begin to spend more time in the Keep Garden. All the trees are ablaze with vivid yellows, reds, and oranges, and the pumpkin patches burst with all sizes and colours of pumpkins, gourds, squashes, and other fruits and vegetables you can't even name.Feeling cheery and energetic you set off one morning to your own little patch of vegetables with plans of sinking your fingers into the dirt, weeding, watering and possibly even getting a little taste of your harvest.
When you get to your patch you instantly notice that someone else has already gotten a taste of your harvest! One of your pumpkins has multiple little chunks missing and several of your cucumbers have been totally trampled. This despite the careful spells you had warded your patch with, against the depredations of voracious elephant snails and bored xand bears.
Searching around for clues as to what culprit you might need to account for next, you spy a tiny down feather almost hidden in the drifts of leaves, and when you go to collect some collard greens a distinctive bird track reveals itself to your gaze.
Following the signs leads you to Aderyn, looking rather tired, but quite determined, as she lectures the oddest looking amagnae you've ever seen. She nods to you as she finally picks up the hatchling. Although passing acquaintances with her, you've not had much to do with the famous magi whose amagnae breeding program won her so much acclaim. Now, she gestures an invitation to you as she heads off with the feathered thief.
Staring at the strange, greenish amagnae in her arms, you follow Aderyn and her captive to a shabby tool shed on the edge of the plantation. She opens the lopsided door and urges you to step in. The inside of the shed is much larger than it should be. Everything is clean and organized, and shining trophies and ribbons decorate the walls. A large window above a hatch in the back opens up to a lush pasture filled with amagnae. The odd brown, olive, or silver amagnae dart among the piles of downed leaves, while enormous white ones puff off their feathers at each other in what almost seems to be a private conversation, or contest, perhaps. Your gaze skims over them quickly, for you keep returning to look at the little hatchling who so peremptorily raided your garden. Aderyn's eyes follow yours, and she shakes her head in bemusement.
"Unusual, aren't they?" She asks, and leads you through the back door to the pasture where she lets it go.
It darts off, and you realize the enclosed area spreads even further than could be seen from the window. Flocks of amagnae are grazing on the pasture, and the majority are the fat white domestic variety, but you notice that there are several of the strange green ones. A few wild ones of the more familiar colors chase each other in the far back.
"These are my prized amagnae," Aderyn says and you can hear the pride in her voice. "I breed and raise them and give them a home. In the past I've taken part in different competitions and shows with them and pretty much won every ribbon and trophy and medal there is to win: weight, colour, clucking sound, egg size, egg colour, you name it." She eyes the creatures fondly. "Nowadays I mostly concentrate on breeding them and studying their behaviour and judging the aforementioned competitions."
Another hatchling runs up to her, and she pauses to cleanly snip off a broken feather. Looking around as she does this, you notice that in one of the large nearby nests a fat toad is sharing the space with one of the domestic amagnae. Blinking in confusion, you turn your attention back to her as she continues.
"Last year I ran into a little problem; I needed more breeding stock and my usual suppliers over at Synara City could not deliver the necessary creatures. Because of this, I had a large influx of wild amagnae, and they were... well, wild. At first. So this year, I now have a reputation as someone who can handle "problem" amagnae. This year someone delivered a batch of simply beautiful birds. But they have some behavioral challenges -I don't know if it was the result of magic or poor breeding, but they no longer follow the usual mating pattern of healthy amagnae. Instead, they seem determined to pair off with the toads that get into the pasture! It should be easy enough to fix if I can get some wild amagnae back into their stock -the instincts involved are very basic ones, after all. And I would hate to lose the line entirely; they have such a lovely sheen to their feathers. But meanwhile, they are throwing out these."
Here she gestures at another of the skinnier, green chicks running about, and you agree they are very unusual, and look quite wayward.
She shakes her head. "You haven't heard all of it yet! In this weather, you and I might see our breath on the air as a matter of course -but with these, that misty breath is poisonous, and quite lethal to the bugs and grubs and such-like that they eat. It develops as they reach adolescence, as though they weren't enough of a handful already at that point. I haven't wanted to test it further, and it is taking up so much time to manage these that I haven't been able to catch enough wild amagnae for my breeding program. If you wanted to help, you could bring me three hatchlings. Olive, silver, or brown will do, for they all have equally strong and healthy habits."
You return to Aderyn. She glances you quickly and gives you a swift smile.
"Hey again. If you happen to run across three wild amagnae hatchlings and care to part with them I would greatly appreciate the help."
She flashes another smile before returning to her chores.
You struggle to hold on to the three squirming bundles of claws and beaks long enough to reach Aderyn's shed.
Once you get inside the amagnae hatchlings leap from your lap and all run in different directions. "Great, just great," you mutter to yourself just as Aderyn gets in through the side door.
"Ah, I thought I heard a noise," Aderyn says with a mischievous smile. "And judging from the three hyperactive hatchlings I ran into you managed to bring some here, yes?"
"That's great," Aderyn continues without pausing to hear your answer. "In addition to the weird mating habits the new batch of amagnae also seem really keen on hiding their eggs everywhere. Here, take this. I just found it in such an inconvenient place you wouldn't believe."
She hands a small green egg to you.
"Oh, and if you have the time feel free to bring me more wild amagnae hatchlings."
Aderyn's Amagnae Farm (The Keep)
As the Keep is getting ready to celebrate the yearly Harvest Festival and the wild amagnae start swarming the nearby fields you decide to take a stroll to the harvest grounds to go visit the resident Amagnae keeper, Aderyn.You find her near her enchanted shed and amagnae pens examining a giant Wugu Amagnae.
"Hello!" Aderyn greets you as you get closer. You exclaim your surprise at the size of the Wugu, as the ones you've seen before were tiny compared to the one Aderyn has.
"Oh, yes," Aderyn says and you detect a hint of steel in her voice. "Last year I had to leave to Synara City in a hurry. I had gotten a few Wugu Amagnae from the north and was experimenting with a breeding program. I had managed to get quite a few promising individuals but also a lot of very small eggs. The smaller eggs showed signs of more magical properties though, so before I had to go I left them here. A Keep's spellmaster was supposed to pick them up for their studies but alas, she never got them as someone had gotten to the eggs before her. I hear this person traded the eggs for other amagnae, right in public!" Aderyn scoffs, finding the idea clearly preposterous. A moment later a mischievous smile creeps on her lips, though. "I do hear the perpetrator got what he deserved, in the end. I hope he learned his lesson that wild amagnae are not that easy to handle, especially in big groups."
Aderyn ruffles the soft feathers of her Wugu and then picks it up.
"I do have a new breed to study," Aderyn says and glances at you. At the same time a magnificent gleaming bird rushes up to you and starts strutting and prancing in front of you. Baffled you stare at it only to realise after a moment that it seems to be... courting you?
Aderyn laughs and shoos the bird away.
"They sometimes do that, yes," she says, still chuckling. "I'll give you one if you bring me three wild amagnae hatchlings. Unnamed if you please."
With a final smile she waves and takes the massive Wugu inside.
You return to Aderyn's farm. She's humming to herself as she's weighing her latest batch of eggs.
"Hey again. If you happen to run across three wild amagnae hatchlings and care to part with them I would greatly appreciate the help," she says as she flashes a smile to you between eggs.
Years of trying to outsmart wild amagnae have made you something like a master in the field.
The three birds under your arm are giving you the most telling stink eye but remain otherwise calm.
Once you get inside Aderyn's domain the amagnae hatchlings leap from your lap and scatter in different directions just to return shortly when Aderyn comes in through the side door.
"I see you found me some new little friends like I asked," Aderyn remarks and rummages through her pockets.
"Here, take this. A small token of my gratitude."
She hands an iridescent egg to you.
"If you're feeling up to it you can always bring me more wild amagnae hatchlings. I'm always happy to give a home to a few more."
Aderyn's Amagnae Farm (The Keep)
With autumn long on its way and the Keep preparing for the Harvest festivities you head onto the Keep grounds. After a quick check on your own pumpkin patch (no damage. You've learned to protect your vegetables both from wild creatures and overly enthusiastic throwers.), you move across the field to its far corner, curious to see what Aderyn, the Keep's resident amagnae breeder, is up to this year.You creak Aderyn's shed's door open and glance into the well-lit office with shelves full of trophies and prizes for all kinds of categories imaginable. There's no sign of Aderyn and your gaze lingers on a strange arrangement all around the office.
Many wooden crates lined with feathers, fluff, and soft cloth fill the room. Small feathered eggs and fluffy chicks are hidden inside the stuffings and a quiet, steady chirping sound can be heard all over.
Suddenly a flock of surprisingly small amagnae with funny looking plumes on their head scatter around you. They hop on the crates and tables to peck seeds and pipe at their eggs and chicks. Aderyn follows the birds into the room and nods at you in greeting. She follows your gaze and glances at the birds fondly before turning back at you.
"I see you've taken a liking to my latest prized species. I have a few excess eggs. If you'd like one, bring me three wild, unnamed, unfrozen amagnae hatchlings."
You make your way back to Aderyn's farm. You catch her feeding one of her majestic birds. When she hears you on the door she glances up and smiles.
"Hey again. If you happen to run across three wild, unfrozen, unnamed, amagnae hatchlings and care to part with them I would greatly appreciate the help," she says and returns to her chores.
You return to Aderyn, quite proud of yourself for having caught three wild amagnae hatchlings without much effort or fuss.
Aderyn inspects the hatchlings quickly and nods approvingly. "Very fine specimens," she says and flashes one of her smiles at you.
Aderyn goes through one of the boxes on the floor of her office and comes back cradling a small feathered egg. She offers it to you gently.
"Here, take this. And if you manage to gather three more wild, unnamed and unfrozen amagnae hatchlings I'd be happy to add them to my breeding stock."