Wardrobe

Villager: Jade

Sitting on the docks with your feet dipped into the water, you watch as Kahjah and Brenna work to get the ship ready to leave for the mainland shores of Oceandome. The sound of footsteps and creaking wood gets your attention, and you turn around to see a pastel villager sporting both a bone earring and a clearly handmade outfit, riding a lunar tiger.

"Oh, hello. Are you visiting too?"

"Yep, too. I'm not a permanent resident, I just come here for supplies and such. Well, not just here, I tend to rotate through the capitals as well, but there are some things even in Oceandome that you can only get on Ouroboros. Plus, the people here are great. Mostly. There are a few exceptions, but aren't there everywhere?"

Jade chuckles.

"Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself. My name is Jade, and this is my partner, Rajah. I'm a member of the Boneheart clan; we live in the canyons of a place more commonly known to the villages as the Deadly Monsters battlefield."

What?! The skadiddle, seeing your surprise, quirks her lips in a wry smile.

"It's not an easy place to live, that's for sure, but it's home. I know those twisting paths and hidden spaces better than the back of my paw."

"Are we the only ones? No, there are actually several family groups living in the canyons. That's what a clan is - family, extended family, new friends who've joined us, that kind of thing."

"Hmm? Do we shun technology? Ehhhh...yeah, pretty much. I mean, we're not stupid enough to reject modern medicine or anything like that, but we do have a lifestyle of gathering and crafting things ourselves. Even our clothes and accessories. I have a particular knack for bone carving, if I do say so myself. My cousin though, you should see her paint. Several of the murals on the walls of the foyer cavern are actually done by her, you know."

"What species am I? A Skadiddle, actually. Our closest relatives are opossums and the like, which...can have its drawbacks, though I'm told we're also closely related to bats."

Jade shrugs.

"I'm not surprised you don't know, we're not commonly seen around these parts. The biggest population I know of is actually in the canyons. There's several clans of us living there, my own included."

"What am I doing out here if we choose to live a life outside the villages? Well...supply run, basically. Sure, we don't necessarily need it, but that doesn't mean we turn our noses up at things we can only get from the markets out here. Sides, lots of us have village friends - we have messenger birds for a reason. Not to mention the various holidays; you'll see a lot more of us who otherwise are happy to stay in the canyons out and about in the wider world during those times. I mean, what can I say, they're fun!"

"Medicines? Oh, no, actually, those we grow the reagents for and craft ourselves. I'm mostly here for the little things, you know? Things like shells we can decorate with, plants and monster parts not native to the Deadly Monsters canyons, a new mortar and pestle for me, all kinds of things. Sure, we don't need them, but they make life easier."

"Hobbies? Well..."

The skadiddle scratches the back of her head sheepishly.

"I mean, there's bone carving, like I mentioned before. That and finger-painting murals is how we record our histories. Think of it like a Clawtoothian story-stone; same concept, different style. Then there's the bone flute I hand carved myself, that's always fun to play. Rajah and I also prowl the smokey forests of the canyons for phoenix feathers, I just can't get enough of them. Plus, phoenix ash is a key part of a few of our remedies, so it works out just fine."

Rajah makes a rumbling sound in response to his name, which makes Jade chuckle and pat his shoulder fondly.

"Yep, Rajah here can outrun even the fastest monster. We Bonehearts gather and hunt as one with our tigers. When we're born, we're born incomplete. At nine years old, we participate in a ritual where we and our tiger meet and choose each other. And it has to be a mutual choice; it's not a partnership otherwise. It's only then that we become whole."

Jade looks up at the sky, frowning.

"But I've spent enough time talking. Sorry to make the conversation all about me, stranger, but we need to get going. Maybe next time we meet, you can tell me all about yourself, eh?"

And with that, Rajah starts moving on his own down the docks. You know lunar tigers are capable of understanding furry speech, but knowing it and seeing it are two entirely different things.

Battle tigers...what a novel concept. But in a place like the canyons of the Deadly Monsters battlefield, you and see how that came to be. And seeing how seamlessly the pair move together, even just casually riding towards the Singing Tide, you can understand how terrifying it must be for enemies and prey alike to have an entire group of skadiddles charging forward on their tigers.

You honestly have to wonder how they handle 'possuming' in such a place though, if what Jade implied about drawbacks of being closely related to opossums are what you think they are...