Morighan was, for the lack of a better term, bored. Cy was being particularly dull today so he had decided to wander away from the kingdom and into the forest near Aelfmenn. On occasion, he could encounter some interesting travelers there, some with interesting goods. But on this day from his perch high up in a tree it was not a wagon that approached by a dark skinned woman astride a horse. Two strange beasts following her like sentries. Curious. Was she a mage perhaps. He could feel the magic rolling off her. Pulsing like a physical push in the air around him even with the distance between them. He was intrigued enough to drop from the tree and move toward her. Not really liking the idea of the strange beasts but trusting that he could subdue them before they could damage him.

The stranger was picking mushrooms. How quaint. "It rained yesterday. They will have retained a lot of water you know." While he didn't particularly care one way or the other about mushrooms he did pick up a lot of things just by being a member of a race that was so closely intertwined with nature. "Best dry them first." He stopped to pluck a small hunk of bark that hung loosely off a nearby tree away with his fingertips. Dark eyes dropping dangerously to the strange mottled beast at her side. She was striking. Her dark skin in contrast with the brilliant silver of her tattoo. Wait...That was a mages mark. How wonderful.

His casual smile twisted into a smirk and Morighan leaned leisurely against the tree. Making no movement to further close the distance between them. "Do you always travel with such interesting company?" He inquired about the nearest beast with a gesture of his chin. "What are they?"

He listened to her explanation for the strange beasts and watched the one nearest her curiously. Strange. But intriguing. "Did you conjure them?" He had little filter when his curiosity was perked. But he met so few with magic that was capable of anything. So many had little weak types. Controlling fire and water for example. It was the darkness that intrigued him. Not the things so readily seen in the light. "Hmm?" The sound came out almost like a purr as he looked back up at her, a smile growing into a smirk on his lips.

"Only the ones that intrigue me." He said honestly. And it was the truth. Had someone no use to him they rarely occupied more than fleeting moments of his time. He did have a goal after all, he hardly had time to squander with anyone worthless. He pushed a couple loose locks of dark hair back away from his pale eyes and studied the woman before him. He could still feel her magic. Like a physical pulse in the air. A second heartbeat. "You are powerful." His eyes narrowed slightly as he studied her, as if concentrating. "I can feel it." He moved to the side then. Slow casual steps that would take him in a half circle around the mage before he would take up a relaxed stance against another tree.

"But just what are you capable of, I wonder." A wry smile came to his face then. A soft scoff following his words. "Other than picking mushrooms when they are likely to fall into a million tiny chunks. So wasteful." Not that he cared. If she took every mushroom in the forest he could hardly care. "Do you have a name? Or should I just call you the Wyrm hound creator? It hardly rolls off the tongue."

He purposefully paid little mind to the strange hounds. Ignoring their watchful eyes and the hiss that was thrown at him on occasion. Not that they weren't strange but he felt that if they were truly going to attack it would have been on his approach. He also felt confident in his ability to repel them. At least long enough to get his hands on their pretty master. He watched her bundle the mushrooms without commenting. His dark eyes rolling from her lips up to her dark eyes when she twisted his question around. He grinned but waited until after her introduction to speak.

"The Shadow?" He replied with a smirk of his own. "Sounds like quite the name." His gaze didn't move from her eyes although he did note the movement at her feet. The darkness that rippled like a beast in its own right. She leaned against her mount and sighed, her words sounding almost disappointed. "Actually if you want to be left alone I wouldn't wish to stop you." He made no movement to stop her. Only a slight tilt of his head as he spoke.

"But I'm being rude. Where are my manners? I am Morighan Ashwin, royal bastard at your service." What a title, he had once resented it. But now he wore it like a band of pride. He was living proof of his father's weakness. Unable to even stay loyal to his queen. Mori crossed his arms and plucked at a bit of lint on his sleeve. "But call me Morighan. The rest is hardly important." His dark eyes moved to the beasts that followed her and the back to The Shadow. A small smile tilting his lips. "Nothing better than mushrooms freshly grilled over a campfire. Is there?" A tease, a taunt. He was trying to keep her here without making it look readily obvious that he was.

One of his shoulders rose in a shrug of sorts as if to say the cooking of mushrooms was a matter of opinion. Everything about his pose was relaxed. The way he leaned against the tree with one foot crossed comfortably over the over. His arms loosely crossed as well. His eyes lifted to the sky momentarily when something appeared the catch his interest. His crow drew near. The small feathered beast landed with an angry cry in the tree above him. Bristling its obsidian feathers and watching the dog like beasts with ruby red eyes. It tilted its head to better see them. Blinking one eye that took in the scene before it. Morighan looked away and back to his companion at her question.

"I'm elven. We are supposed to love nature, are we not? But truthfully I just needed a break from the castle." Not a complete lie nor a total truth. He reached down to pluck a burr from his coat. Blue eyes turning back up to the dark skinned mage. "I never expected to come across someone who could control the shadows." His voice was nearly a purr, obviously intrigued by her capabilities. The crow above him cawed and suddenly dropped down onto his shoulder. It's black beak gaping open to cry loudly at the mage and her pets. Morighan sighed and reached up to flick its wing in a distracted way.

"Hush now. They could swallow you whole, fool." It fluffed its feathers and looked entirely miffed but held its tongue. "I expect you didn't come all this way just to pick some mushrooms either."

Ah, a woman after his own heart. Well..not really. What was left of his heart had shriveled up years ago. it was probably closer to a date than a pulsing organ now. "I see, well then the grand library will suit you well." Indeed he had visited the library himself just a few days prior. It had been quite the interesting day. Ives had given him some rather helpful information that he still kept folded in his pocket. A chant that would supposedly make his abilities stronger when used in conjunction. He was waiting for the right moment to try it out. The lore keepers mind was much too easy to concur to consider needing it.

He was watching the mage in an unabashed way. Not ashamed of his curiosity in the least. She was intriguing to him. The way the darkness chased her, the power that seemed to radiate from her skin. What he wouldn't give to have a shot at that mind of hers. To see if her barriers were as powerful as the rest of her. Or if her mind was just as pliable as the lore keeper's. He smirked at her question. He was well aware that royal bastard was no title of merit. Even if he treated it as such. He was a proverbial thorn in his father's side. But something that was so often used as an insult against him had become his weapon of choice. Few would bother the king's son, even illegitimate.

"Hmm, that is a good question. Whatever strikes my fancy. My attention is often fleeting, I grow bored easily, you see." He waved one of his hands then as if the statement was an obvious one. He tilted his head a little as if recalling things. "Recently I've spent time at the library, doing research of my own. Been practicing a bit of swordplay. But-" His posture straightened. Bright eyes flicking to Shadow suddenly. "-you are by far the most intriguing." He gestured to her feet with his chin.

"It can take shape then? Or does it always just lick your boots like a chastened pup?" His words might have sounded sharp but his tone was still cordial, friendly. He was indeed intrigued by the mage but those damn mutts of her complicated matters.

"Oh?" He replied with a curious look in his eyes. And then the shadows were moving toward him. He tensed, still unsure of where this mages loyalties might lie. But then she morphed her shadows into an odd little puppy like mimicry. He crouched down and extended his tan fingers to sweep then through the strange beast before it dissipated at her will. It was a nice little party trick but he could see no true purpose to it. "Can it take physical form?" He inquired as he straightened back to his full looming height. Brushing at a bit of dirt that clung to his clothing he turned his blue eyes back on the mage.

He hadn't missed the slight change in her voice. Not a submission precisely but more of a sign of respect than he had been given before. His unnatural avian beast made unhappy grumbling sounds from his shoulder that Morighan chose to ignore. He didn't miss the hungry look in the one canine like creation's eyes. It would be very unhappy when its meal turned to ash within its mouth only to reappear a few moments later in another location. He was almost tempted to flick the bird at the dog just to get it to stop staring. But he restrained himself...barely.

He had never seen beasts like the ones she kept as companions. He rubbed the stubble on his chin and spoke again. "Did you create the beasts you travel with?" As if to explain what he was talking about his blue eyes flicked down to the strange beast still eyeing his pet.

(sorry this is so short)

Mori pinned her with his gaze. One side of his lips quirking up as he noted the rather obvious side step of a direct answer. "Do you see yourself a god?" He asked her in a low tone although the turn of his lips revealed he wouldn't be bothered by the idea. It would be almost refreshing really. The lore keeper had quite a high impression of himself, and he had just been lovely. It made probing through their minds all the more fun. At the offer to touch one of her pets one of his brows rose curiously but he stepped forward none the less.

His fingers outstretched to allow the canine sniff him. Kneeling on one knee he clicked his tongue softly as if to invite the beast closer. His crow cawed frantically and took off into the air. Disappearing in a puff of ash before it made it too far into the air. As his fingers roamed over the skull of the Eitri he found himself wondering what else this woman could create. Perhaps something useful to him. He had no doubt in his mind that these beasts were of her own creation.

"Tell me-" He practically purred, his blue eyes moving up to the mage. "What would someone need to do to encourage another gift from the gods?" He didn't stand but remained kneeling. His hand still slipping over the strange beast in a calm petting like action. "Or perhaps this would be more of an I scratch your back you scratch mine situation?"