Jed's "Little Hobbies": Song of the High Places

"Excuse me, ma'am."

Notivas jumps, scrambling back in surprise. She doesn't see anyone, looking around wildly-- not until she looks down. "Goddess take it, how many samanayr are there on this mountain?" she exclaims at the unanswering sky.

"Is theyre a pyroblem?" the odd little samanayr in the snow below her asks politely. "This is not someone else's teyrritoyry, is it?"

"No, no... sorry, you just startled me," Novitas sighs. "All the other Songs are a lot farther down the mountain, below the snow line."

"Ah, good," the samanayr nods, his strange little antlers bobbing. Actually, he looks more like a deer of some sort than all the other samanayr she has met. "I had seen no signs of anotheyr Song this high up, but I could always have been mistaken. As it is, this is the home of my Song, the Song of the High Places."

"Huh. Suits." Novitas eyes the little samanayr curiously. "And who are you?"

"Toss of the Antleyred Byrow," he replies, dropping into as courtly a bow as a tiny equine can manage. "I am pleased to make youyr acquaintance, madam...."

"Novitas," she supplies, amused. This is the first of the samanayrs who has actually asked her name! Most of them have simply called her "stranger" until she tired of it and gave her name of her own accord. "How long have you been here?"

"Not long, just since the last snow," Toss answers, rising again.

"There aren't any springs up here, are there? I thought you little guys liked hot springs."

"My Song is used to the cold," Toss chuckles gently. "We ayre well equipped for it, I would say. Theyre is a styream we use, and it is enough."

"Well equipped for the cold?" Novitas repeats, reaching down carefully with one clawed finger to ruffle the thick, white mane on Toss's neck. "Well, you look like it, I'll agree. How about your mares?"

"See for youyrself," Toss suggests.

Song of the Rainbow Hotsprings: Origin of the Samanayr

City of Shar

Name	Image	Personality	Species and Family
Toss of the Antlered Brow Lead Stallion, 11" tall		Noble in many ways, Toss of the Antlered Brow is both elegant and gentlemanly. He is always glad to be of service, whether it be pulling something or protecting someone. He is kind and truly good-hearted, but he has a tendency to be distant and formal, so people tend not to approach him easily.	Samanayr, wild Notes, multiple mutations: antlers, short and tufted tail, and absence of leg tufts!

"This," Toss says as he steps a short ways through the snow, to the banks of the stream that is, presumably, his Song's stream, "is Gyround of the Winteyr Fading."

An extremely fluffy samanayr, white with pale brown stripe-like markings and darker brown eyes, lifts her head from where she'd been trying to gnaw out a tangle. She casts a suspicious gaze up at Novitas, then says something in chirps, trills, and a very musical sort of chatter. Gifted with psionics, Novitas merely listens in on the mare's surface thoughts for a rough translation: "Who is this, AntleredBrow~Toss? It is huge!"

Toss's soothing reply of musical sounds can only be translated in the same manner, though she does recognize a bastardization of her own name amid the notes: "The kind one at the Nidus told us about her; she is Novitas, and she is safe here."

Ground of the Winter Fading casts another suspicious look at Novitas, who replies with a toothy grin. Looking offended, Ground gets to her fur-shrouded hooves and leaps to a rock in the middle of the stream, proceeding to rock-hop all the way to the other shore. "She is not the most fyriendly of mayres," Toss admits lightly, without any judgment or regret in his tone.

Just as Ground lands on the other frozen bank, something equally furry but even more white leaps out of the snow drifts and gives her a solid head-butt, sending her careening back into the water with a tremendous splash. A tinkling laugh, and squinting against the broad expanse of white, proves the creature to be another samanayr, this one pure white with the tell-tale pink eyes of an albino and similar antlers to Toss-- though hers are as white as the rest of her.

"Gleam of the Winteyr Byright," Toss introduces her with a faint and fatherly kind of amusement in his voice.

Novitas doesn't even bother "translating" Ground's growled comment as she picks herself up out of the water and shakes herself vigorously, making her fur stick out in spikes poking at odd directions. It is obviously something rather nasty. Gleam's chirp, back, is taunting, and she takes off across the snow, laughing like a child. Ground pursues, and Novitas chuckles after them both.

"Gleam likes to pyrick at Gyround's tempeyr," Toss explains. "But they manage to get along well enough, most of the time."

"She seems sweet," Novitas says, though she's entirely certain that "sweet" would turn into "annoying" if she had to live with her!

"She is sweet," Toss agrees, then turns to face her more fully. "Now you have seen my mayres-- I have only two, for the moment-- and you believe that we ayre very well adapted to the cold?"

"Oh, yes," Novitas agrees solemnly. "Certainly more adapted than I am-- I'm heading back down the mountain, I think."

"It was pleasant meeting you, madam Novitas," Toss says with another little bow. "Feel fyree to visit again, if you do not mind the chill."

"Thanks. Good luck with your Song!"

With that, Novitas turns and trudges back down the mountainside, quite ready for something a little warmer!

Name	Image	Personality	Species and Family
Gleam of the Winter Bright Second Mare, 8" tall		The foil to Ground's stiff-necked propriety, Gleam (left) is a definite free spirit. A fun-loving samanayr, she also delights in irritating Ground, and positively adores Toss, though she constantly wishes for more affection from him. She is in many ways very like a child, both playful and innocent.	Northern Samanayr, wild Notes, mutations: antlers, albinoism