Welcome to Gaia! ::

In the sycamore's topmost hollow, a bundle of feathers was just visible through the threshold. Lute was having a lazy night, too relaxed to even go to his special place on the pine tree. He was just sitting and thinking, nibbling a berry or two. Senri, his Parus, was dozing beside him. Lute was so out of it, that the hoot from Honeysuckle caused him to jump violently, his head whipping around to look out of the hollow, eyes wide. He had crushed the berry in his talons and had a few feathers sticking out of his wing. He righted himself, calling to her. "With you in a moment." He hurridly preened his primaries and nudged Senri awake.

Moments later, the Sentinel and Parus were flying out from their shared home. Lute banked and landed on the branch just outside the lower hollow, filled with bits of silver and small jewels. He stood straight and tall, trying to recover from being frightened silly. "Hello, hello!" he said, about a meter down the branch from her. "I am Lute." His Parus finally landed, not being as gifted a flyer as the bigger bird. "This is Senri, my Parus. Who might you be and how may I help you this fine night?"

Lute pulled back just a smidgen when she landed so very close. He did not object, but he was a little intimidated. "Its...its quite alright." he said. "It can be a hard place to find, so you're pretty lucky!" he said, grinning. He took a deep breath of crisp air. This new Sentinel didn't seem so dangerous...and such wonderful plumage! It made his green wings seem inferior. He didn't mind though, being a simple creature.
"Yes, I specialize in sterling silver." It may have been decieving, as his own earrings had tarnished from age and turned to a golden hue. "Trinkets, rings, necklaces, earrings, clasps...whatever you need!" He pointed to the large hollow nearby. "In here is where I keep and build all my wares." he said, slipping inside. "Do come in."

Inside the tree were all kinds of brilliant, shining objects. The way the moon shone in made it look like ancient mirrors were reflecting on every wall, tiny spots of light freckling the wood. He used his talons to shuffle some bent ores out of the way before he turned and put himself into a relaxed position. "Take a look around. I have all kinds of shiny objects to choose from. If you don't see anything you want, then I can do custom orders...for a price."

He turned to her and clacked his beak. "It is easier then other works I have seen, indeed. But it takes some skill." He seemed somewhat insulted by her commented, but he brushed it off at the mention of meat.
"Freshly caught meat would be wonderful. I don't particularily enjoy the 'thrill of the hunt', so I don't do it as often as I could. Too many bad experiences." he said idly as he walked to the back of the hollow, where the largest mass of shiny objects was stored.


'Too many bad experiences' included; killing his teacher's Mus, flying for endless hours after prey and getting hopelessly lost, diving very close to the dangerous forest floor and having his kill stolen by much more intimidating sentinels. No, he didn't hunt very often anymore. Senri collected berries and nuts for him, as well as the odd caterpillar. The only time Lute got a raw, bloody meal was if injured or young prey ambled into his territory.

Using his talons and his will, Lute began to sort through the somewhat messy pile of gems. He paused a few times to move certain stones into another pile. After about a minute, a small jumble of blue and rippled stones had accumulated. He laid these out into a line in front of his customer, eyeing the scissors around her neck for a moment. He finished lining them up. "I have Lapis Lazuli, Sapphire, Star stone, Quattum Quatro, Agate, Boulder Opal, Titanium Drusy- a personal favourite, Zircon, Spinel and Sodalite." he pointed at each gem as he spoke. "All VERY fashionable."

He noticed the tension in the hollow and his own comfort began to waver. He had no meant to react so strongly and maybe just a shake of the head or a small tuft flattening would have worked...too late now, he supposed.

He began to rifle through the stone again, throwing out all the pure blues. "Alright, I've narrowed it down to Lapis Lazuli, which is pure blue with grey speckles, star stone which is this darkish blue which has a white star in it if you hold it to the light." He picked it up, demonstrating its value. "Boulder Opal, which is this medly of blues and greys. Then there's my favourite, the Titanium Drusy." He picked it up with his will, showing her how it looked like dark blueish grey with silvery sparkles all over it. He moved onto a rippled blue grey stone. "And lastly we have Sodalite." he said with a feathery little half smirk. "I apologize, but there's not really a lot more I can offer.." he said, ear tufts lowering a bit. "I COULD get you some Soladite, which is VERY different from Sodalite." he said. "other then that...please make your choice."

(Lapis Lazuli, star stone Titanium Drusy and Sodalite Aurrie will be joining us soon, by the by.)
(A note from the Herald: Made the OOC note a bit smaller and less obtrusive, hope you don't mind.)

He paused once more as he moved the other two stones out of the way, so only the sodalite and the star stone remained. He looked to his customer once more. "Allow me to show you some of my frames I can set them in while you decide." He chuckled.

He ruffled through another pile of sterling silver, pulling up a sample of each item with his will as he spoke. "I can make simple molds. Ear tuft rings, toe rings, covert covers and anklets. BUT-" he said, grinning. "I can also do shaped and embedded pendants." he said, holding up a simple tendon string pendant in the shape of a tear drop with his will. He put it down and then showed her another- a sort of bent up square, curled inwards at the verticle ends. A sapphire was hung tightly between the bands of sterling silver.

He sighed deeply. His memory wasn't sharp in some cases, but he did know his silver and gems.

Honeysuckle followed the Crafters movements with interest as he showed her what he could make. Most metal crafters kept a stock of the most basic items, for the simple reason that it was what the customers wanted, and she liked what she was seeing so far. The last ones made Honeysuckle's eartufts perk up a little.

"Interesting shape," she remarked as he showed the last piece, "I don't think I've seen that particular one before. But perhaps not for my little girl."

She studied the drop and nodded her approval.

"I think I'd like the drop pendant as an eartuft ring," she mused, "but my little Anjou is not big enough for that kind of jewellery just yet. I wonder if I should just get her a necklace pendant until then..."

Her browsing was interrupted by the hoot from outside.

Fjord's landing on the limb was announced with a hearty jangle from his bells, which flounced with the abrupt stop. The dipped his head in greeting to he who must of been Lute, leaving Crow exposed between his wings for only a brief moment. She showed little fear and imitated her master's fluid movements almost precisely. On stage, she was exposed to many, many feathered predators, but felt safe in the company of Fjord.

"Good eve, sir. Hopefully I have not come at a poor time. I've heard chatter of you while out and about, mostly at the theater. I've come in hopes of finding a new gem to add to my collection. Perhaps a new ring or a pendent, methinks."