As much as Jid had loved to tend to his garden, he always had a deep need to wander, to see the world beyond his hut in the Virvens forest. Deciding to head north, Jid walked until the trees started thinning in the transition to the plains of Bohar. All of a sudden, he saw someone else walking to him out of the corner of his eye."Hello there!"First person i've seen in a long time. Friend or foe, I wonder? I hope friend.

A hut? In this forest? How fun… She thought to herself as she watched the stranger from her position in the trees. The fae woman had taken on the form of a beautiful snowy white owl with piercing blue eyes, strange for any bird. She flew in the air and followed as this stranger walked until the trees grew smaller and farther apart. The massive grassy plains stood before the forest, intimidating for those who grew up in the sheltering woods. The snow white owl landed on the ground, morphing into a human-like woman with blue hair and grey eyes, wearing a dress of red.

"Perhaps I am neither. Perhaps I am both. But I'll do my best to play the part of the friend." She said with a smirk before approaching him, "In all seriousness, I'm not here to hurt you. What fun would that be?"

She walked towards one of the trees and plucked a dead leaf off of its branches. The wind was soft and light, carrying the chill of the weather on its back. Ciara turned her grey eyes towards the stranger and placed the dead leaf on its head.

"So my fine friend, what are you up to today?" She asked curiously, "Where are you going?"

"North. Thats where im headed."

Jid couldn't help but be fascinated by the being in front of him. It wasn't the first time hes seen a humanoid, no, but he hadn't seen such fancy dress with such striking colours. "Interesting." he thought to himself.

"And im glad you chose friend. Every so often I get rough adventurers looking to slay a beast to claim a prize, and I have to shoo them away. They can be quite troublesome to deal with. Again, glad you aren't troublesome."

Jid sat down and leaned against a nearby tree to look through his things, intending to have a snack.

"Im Jid, the Tortle. You?" He asked.

"You may call me Ciara." She said with a smirk, "By the way, I don't suppose you would mind if I took a closer look at you?" 

She drew in close to the stranger and gave him a small smile. The fae woman began inspecting his shell and all the beautiful colors it held. Vibrant shades of greens and yellows decorated and swirled. Ciara traced the circles with her finger as she made up her mind on something. Standing up, giving the tortle some room, she snapped her fingers and a medium sized canvas with a paint set appeared in a flash. 

"It's decided then. You shall be my next painting subject darling." She found a stump and took a seat, dipping the paintbrush in the green hand-made paint, "Now you were going to tell me all about where you live and everything in your life. It was rude of me to interrupt you, so please go on." 

Her grey eyes focused on the canvas as she began to create a beautiful image from the green and yellow paint. She switched between brushes quickly as the painting developed more details. While she worked, she kept her ears out for Jid's story, should he be so kind as to tell it. Every word would be pure gold to an inspiration hungry artist like herself. The fae woman focused on the shading and the source of light peaking through the trees as she continued her work. 

"Lived in the virven forest my whole life, as far as I remember."
Jid said, amused by the summoning of canvas.
"I have faint memory of being a young Tortle on my back, waking up to see the trees and the sky above me. It was quite the troubling situation, but I seemed to get along with the wildlife quite well, made some friends."

As Jid says that, he lets 5 snakes out of his bag. 

"These snakes are all siblings. Their mother helped me through a lot, bless her soul. Taught me how to garden, if you can believe it."

The snakes slither around, some seeming to inspect Ciara, some climbing up Jid.

"As much as I love it in this forest, and as cozy as my hut is, ive always had a desire to see whats out there. So I picked a direction, and decided thats where id go. Im a simple Tortle with simple desires. Abandoned in a forest, raised by a snake, wants to see the world."

As she listened to his tale, she began editing certain parts of the painting to reflect who this tortle was as a person. Instead of having a forest background, she created a beautiful but simplistic garden surrounding him. The only time she paused was when he brought out the five snakes from his bag. When a few of the snakes approached her, she gave them a respectful nod and listened to their conversations with each other. As a fae, she had a natural ability to understand multiple languages, including languages of many animals. She didn't feel like starting a conversation with the snakes, as she was trying to keep her focus on her work rather than focusing on snake linguistics. 

"I see. What exactly do you search for?" Ciara asked, "If you would like to see the beauty of the elements, I can give you a place to go. Or perhaps you are looking for grand cities with a mixture of people? Maybe you seek the dangerous deep caverns or the high up floating islands that seem to rest upon the wind? There are humble sweet villages where you can feel the friendly community. Or if you prefer, there are massive cities with impossible architecture and brilliant minds." 

She made a few more strokes and mixed some colors together. Her movements were quick and accurate but held an air of delicacy. Ciara's eyes narrowed as she finished the last stroke. With a smile, she placed down her paintbrush and set aside the canvas, keeping it turned away from the tortle so he couldn't see it until it was dried. Now that she was done with her work, she found a boulder and sat down on it, careful not to step or interrupt any of the snakes. 

"I suppose I'm curious on where you want to start. If you keep heading this direction, you'll enter the Bohar Plains." She explained, "They have beautiful grasslands and you'll find the fastest horses there. The green rolling hills look gorgeous at sunset where the blood orange sky reflect across the evergreen plains. Be wary of the Boharans who roam these lands. They are masters of archery and are considered Canelux' ultimate horse masters. Its said that even the worst of Boharans can easily tame the wildest of horses. They normally keep to themselves and don't bother anybody unless they are paid to. You should be fine as long as you remain respectful towards them and avoid traveling with large merchant caravans." 

After listening to the tortle's words, she stood up and walked towards her painting, which had been dried. Normally such an art piece would have taken longer, but she had been careful to place it where the wind would be able to dry it faster. Ciara picked the painting up from the canvas and carefully showed it to the tortle. She made sure her fingers were far away from the paint and she was holding it in a way that wouldn't damage the work.

The painting showed Jid, standing in a lush but simple garden in the woods. The garden itself held many practical plants such as potatoes or other easy vegetables. Ciara didn't know what kind of plants Jid grew and this was the part where she took some more artistic liberties. She wanted to reflect the practicality and beauty of gardens made to sustain life, rather than just show off wealth like many of the nobles. Jid himself had exceptional colorization that almost seemed real. Sunlight shown through the trees and almost seemed heavenly. The snakes were included in the painting too. Three of the snakes were surrounding his feet and usually held their heads up to see Jid, reflecting their way of looking up to Jid. Meanwhile two snakes were wrapped around his arms and in relaxed positions, as though they were sleeping. Meanwhile the tortle himself held a long wooden staff in one hand while pointing off towards the left, demonstrating his desire to travel. 

"If you like, you may have the painting. But I have a feeling it'll be a bit difficult for you to carry on your journey." Ciara said with a smile, "If you want it but don't want to carry it, I can put it in a building. I'm planning to open an artisan guild soon and a museum section for people to see artworks from all over Revaliir." 

"Its a lovely painting, im sure I could find some way to hold it."

Said Jid after finishing a pouch of nuts and berries. He wiped off a berry stain from his cheek.

"It might be nice to meet up with a Boharan, as a start. Plenty of tales to tell im sure."

Jid slowly stood up from leaning against a tree, using his staff as support.

"Maybe they could teach me archery!"

Jid said with a hearty laugh that went on a second too long.

"In all seriousness, what im looking for is stories, and people who make them. For that, I think Bohar may do."

Jid gestured for the snakes to return to his bag, and they all rushed in.

"So, good plan yes? I quite think so."

Jid turns away from Ciara and to a tree and presses his ear against it, casting commune with nature hoping to gain guidance from the local flora. He heard the tree say "I really dont know why you'd think id have an opinion on this matter, sorry." Jid responded by saying

"Ok be like that then."

before turning back to Ciara.