Professor Donovan Cohen
March 19, 2011 12:43 PM
A conversation of sorts (Year 6) by Professor Donovan Cohen
Having spent nearly all of his twenties drifting between continents and seas, Don had seen a lot of things he would never have been able to had he stayed home and taken a desk job. The things he heard also proved to be just as interesting as the things he saw, because some local legends he was told didn’t seem likely to leave the tribe that harbored them. He had gotten a chance to visit some more rural groups of people and hear some high tales he found impossible to buy into but where fascinating nonetheless. He was open-minded enough to respect other’s beliefs and not to question them aloud, but he took the gossip with a grain of salt.Just because something sounds farfetched doesn’t mean that it’s not real, which is a lesson Don had learned the hard way a few times more than he’d have liked to. More often than not, his disbelief came into play when expecting humanoid creatures to not have much to offer beyond being destructive. It was a lesson he wanted to pass down to the Advanced years so they wouldn’t be as disbelieving with warnings of some more threatening legendary creatures the way he had been. It was why he had contacted his Care of the Magical Creatures professor from his university to give him a little more help than he had asked for in previous lessons. She had been more than willing to help him out with getting the creatures he had asked for and even sent along four of her top students to transport it and help keep an eye on them during class.
Once all of his students had gathered around him in the grounds outside of the castle, Don placed himself between the students and the creatures he had brought in. “Welcome everyone. Today we are going to taking a look at Troglodytes.” Having spent most of the lessons these days with human-like creatures as the focus, it should be no surprise to anyone that the Troglodytes themselves had a slightly human look to them. Perhaps a feral and murderous human look, but a human look all the same.
“Troglodytes stay together in tribes and are found most commonly in many parts of Africa, though there have been sightings of tribes in places as far as Singapore. These four in particular,” he explained, stepping to the side and motioning to the creatures behind him, “are from central Ethiopia.” Pointing to the achingly dry, leathery skin pulled taunt over their frames and tails and three-fingered hands, Don hoped everyone had noticed by this point how they had taken on the color of ground their taloned feet were on. “No matter where they are at, all of them have basic camouflage abilities and can match themselves up fairly well to their surroundings.”
“Their society isn’t exceptionally advanced, they don’t have a written language, and they generally communicate between a mash-up of the languages around them, they are still very much sentient beings. They make all their own weapons, mostly axes and the like, and have developed their own forms of government within their tribes.”
“Today you are to go up and try to communicate with one of the two Troglodytes. Words won’t do you much good even if you knew languages native to Ethiopia, so try to figure out how to work with them. Then for homework, I’d like a report on what you did to bridge the gap between you and the Troglodyte you communicated with as well as what you were communicating about.” Exaggerated hand movements might be a good place to start, Don added to himself but didn’t say aloud. If he wanted to get the students to use their heads and think for themselves, it would do no good for him to just tell them what to do. Besides, it seemed fairly obvious to try miming things out. “And I’d like it ready to be turned in by the start of next class.”
“Try not to let yourself get frustrated over the cultural barriers as well. Troglodytes are violent in nature and might come off as overly aggressive or ready to attack you should you make any hasty movements without them feeling as if you aren’t a threat yet. Since they are slightly more volatile around anyone of the same gender, if you aren’t patient enough to put up with them hissing and making moves to punch at you, then try to go to the females.”
“They don’t look all that different and are all wearing the same sort of skirt so it might be hard to tell, but the females are bulkier. Also, there are four helpers, and each helper is the opposite gender of the Troglodyte they are watching over, so that should be a helpful indicator.” Pointing to each student as he went and giving them time to wave and give a hello, Don gave out their names, “Kyle and Greg are with female Troglodytes on the right, and Matilda and Heather are on the left with male Troglodytes. They all have their own to watch over so that, should the Troglodyte somehow get a hole of a weapon or feel offended enough to decide to attack, there is someone there to keep an eye on them and Stun them before they can cause any damage. They’re pretty feisty and can usually fight off a Stun after a few minutes, so the more people who get them the more likely they’ll be successfully sedated. In other words, if you see their guard Stun them, it would be helpful to Stun them too and leave the immediate area until they calm down.”
Taking a step to the side, Don nodded at them. “You may all begin now. Keep in mind that they probably don’t trust you very much yet, so try not to come off in a threatening manner. If you have any questions or problems, feel free to speak to any of the university helpers here today or, of course, you can ask me. I’ll be making rounds to see how everything is going.”
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OOC: All standard posting rules apply, so keep those in mind whilst writing. Writing for the Trologytes is alright, but try to keep them in the character described as much as possible. Feel free to tag Don or any one of the helpers if anything goes awry, otherwise happy posting!
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Professor Donovan Cohen
A conversation of sorts (Year 6)
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Professor Donovan Cohen
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