Kaukainen

Nestling
Kaukainen came into the world without the ability to see or hear anything around him. But could he smell! And he could feel too. The roo felt the sharp nips of his siblings’ egg teeth as they mulled around helplessly with beaks snapping for whatever food their parents could give. Usually it was Noki, their mother, who took care of them. Their father, Valko, was hardly ever around. Kauko was the runt, and this made him an easier target to push around for whatever scraps were given. Being born during war usually meant hard times would be ahead. And it was this early on that the roo began learning instinctively that he had to work that much harder to get what he needed in order to survive. Consciously, all he thought about was the warmth of his mother and of the meals he ate. Kaukainen wasn’t the noisiest of the bunch, nor was he the quietest. But he did come to be the most gung-ho in making it to the metaphorical dinner table before the others.

Fledgling
Thanks to his and his mother’s efforts in making sure he was well fed, the young roo grew rather quickly. By this point he was nearly as big as his sibling Hento. He was also growing in his flight feathers, being perhaps the first in his clutch to really grasp the skill. Kaukainen often littered his mother with questions about his father, for he and his siblings rarely saw him. He never learned why, though he did enjoy Valko’s occasional visits, playing with him whenever he got the chance. He did try to ask him too for the reasons behind his absence, but the fledgling was usually given little more than silence and an indiscernible gaze in return. Rather than being deterred, he became awed. Kaukainen saw this strong and unreachable being in his father, viewing him almost as one might view even a dragon. The more that time went on, the more this idea of his grew.

As for his mother he was often entranced by the songs she sang to her children and her spouse. And once he learned the words, he frequently joined along. He and his sister, Susi, often ran and played together, their games sometimes turning too rough to where one would yelp. Sometimes it was Susi who started it, and other times it was Kaukainen instead. He never liked losing, so whenever he felt such was about to happen, he turned on their most timid sibling: Hento. It was by this point that things usually had to be broken up. There were other occasions that were sources of concern for his parents, mainly his mother who was around most. When the neighbor’s rooster woke him far too early for his liking, he silenced it for good. When they attended a funeral for a family friend, he complained about how dreary the event was, saying that they should instead celebrate the fact that the annoying crone was gone. He learned quickly that it wasn’t wise to always voice these kinds of thoughts aloud.

Sub-Adult
The roo had gained considerably in size, now being noticeably larger than Hento; something Kauko was all too eager to remind them of. He wasn’t too keen about going to school at first, and honestly hated being there for a good portion of his first year. He had to compete with others; what a chore! It was far more difficult to stay on top where there were avus bigger than you that could easily knock you down. But he wasn’t one to give up that quickly on being crowned top student. He couldn’t stand someone being better than him at anything. Not to mention that he had had ambitions to become a council member one day. If he became a higher ranking gryphus, his family wouldn’t have to worry about going hungry ever again. Kaukainen began by studying his classmates, learning different things that he could use to his advantage in the next stage of his plan. He gained the aid of Hento for this part as his sibling had always been the quiet, watchful type.

He secured allies, forming a group around him of like-minded ideals or of those who were easily swayed to his way of thinking. The roo made certain they stayed loyal to him, rewarding them or punishing them as he saw fit. He was, in short, a bully. Most who weren’t allied with him were determined to avoid the swolf completely. One such exception was a rather sly roo who went by the name Setaria. He seemed like an ally at first, though later on proved his true intentions when he embarrassed the larger roo in front of their other classmates. Setaria was popular while Kauko was not. The two became like oil and water. At first it was Kaukainen who had the upper hand whenever the two rivals matched off, but the fox gryphus frequently found ways to bypass him. While this infuriated the swolf, it also encouraged him to learn to plan and think ahead. It became a game of wits.

Meanwhile, back home Kaukainen’s mother would take him and his siblings out for hunting lessons. It was Susi who performed best at this. Though he tried his hardest to be a good hunter, he couldn’t bypass his sister in terms of skill. It made him incredibly frustrated. Frustration led to impatience, and such nearly cost him everything when a hunt took them eastward of Littlelake. With a misjudgement and a misstep, Kaukainen fell into raging rapids. He nearly drowned too, were it not for his family right nearby to pull him out before the waters could claim his lungs. Ever since then he’s been terrified of rivers (potamophobia), be they fast-moving or not. Unfortunately, such was not the only misfortune to cross his path during his adolescence. The first thing he recalls of that day was a scream. Kauko hurried to his mother’s side, for it was her that the scream had come. He found her shaking and sobbing, the scene disturbing him in a way he hadn’t ever felt before. It wasn’t like her to act in such a profound way.

The others came running too, and together they had learned what had happened; their father was killed in action. He had enlisted in the war as a means to afford food for his family. And he paid the ultimate price for such a decision. Everyone had their own ways of coping with the death. Their mother became stricter, Viti joined the war just as their father had, and Susi abandoned them all. Kauko couldn’t tell how Hento was affected, but he was sure that they had their own way of fighting their demons. What the roo couldn’t tell, however, was why his own reaction was so different. He hadn’t shed a single tear over his father’s death. Not when they had received the news. Not when they held Valko’s funeral. And not in the days which followed afterwards. No matter what Kaukainen did, he just couldn’t feel sorrow, or at least what he presumed to be said emotion. All he felt was emptiness. He confused such feelings as nothingness, as a complete and utter lack of emotion. And it was this strange experience of his that drove him away from home for some time.

Adult
Having left school without really graduating, Kauko ended up taking up the musical trade. He became a bard, using the voice his mother had gifted him with. He never stayed in one village or town for long, being on the move often and sometimes for long periods of time if only to avoid conscription. The irony was that his songs and poems often told of war heroes, painting the gryphus and their dromaeus allies in an indomitable light. It paid well after all. As much as he might’ve supported the war, he wasn’t about to throw himself into it. He knew full well that death was all too likely if he did, and that high probability terrified him. Eventually, he had grown weary of being constantly on the run, and so he decided to return home. Kauko was surprised to learn that Susi had yet to come home. He figured that she would have been back long before he did.

He told his mother and Hento what he’d been up to and the things he’d seen. And when Kaukainen brought up his worries for conscription, it felt like a knife twisted in his gut after he saw his mother’s reaction. After that he helped care for the pigeons his family raised, leaving from time to time to make extra coppers on the side doing what he did best as a bard. Some time after, the roo arrived home one day to find Noki standing at the entrance, waiting for him. It wasn’t until dinner, however, with both children present that she revealed what it was that was on her mind. Greybox, her father and their grandfather, offered his farm to them with the only request being that they allowed him to continue living upon the property. Said property was located in the hilly country east of Baraahn. It turned out that Noki had actually already spoken to Hento earlier about it, though he had declined the offer back then.

Kaukainen was somewhat annoyed that his sibling had an earlier chance than he to claim the property, but he did understand that the avus had always been rather quiet and yielding in nature. If his mother had given both swolves the news at once, Hento would have more than likely sucked their words back in as soon as the larger gryphus had so much as opened his beak. Kaukainen showed immediate interest in taking over the ranch. He wasn’t too sure about Greybox at first, especially since his mother had barely talked about him before. After moving in with his grandfather, Kauko quickly came to learn that the roo was not only a suck-up, but that he was also a complete pushover. Greybox acted more like a house servant than an actual grandfather. He cooked and he cleaned for his grandson, and rarely did he ever request or ask the younger roo for his help.

In the few times that Greybox did ask, he had kept his head bowed with his tail tucked between his legs in submission. Kauko found it both bewildering and amusing all at the same time. Why did his own grandfather act like he was walking on sharp stones whenever he was around the younger gryphus? He has yet to find out the actual reason why, though does have some theories. Gradually over time he learned more and more from Greybox on how to manage the farm. On it they grew hardier crops like radishes, corn, and the occasional potato. As for livestock, they only raised goats. Goat raising was the main part of what they did there as the area was rather rocky, making it difficult to grow much. Kaukainen found himself enjoying working with the animals for the most part. However, he never really found himself growing attached to them as some avus might find themselves doing. So, when it came time to butcher one, he did so without hesitation.

It was on this ranch that he stayed until news arrived that the war had ended. Though it seemed that such peace hadn’t lasted for long. He figured such would happen, of course, as avus had been fighting for far too long to give it up just like that. Still did he wish to avoid being enlisted as a soldier, knowing full well he could end up dead like his father Valko, or maimed like his brother Viti. But what he did come to find was that it was getting ever trickier to manage the ranch. Not only was his grandfather growing ever older, but sicker too. He couldn’t help his grandson as much or as long as he used to. Greybox still was pretty adamant about cooking though. But those weren’t the only problems that showed face. Spotted murrain claimed much of what was left of their herd after about half of it was sold off to the Mountain Kingdom. It seemed that ranching was no longer a viable option in making sure he and his family were fed. So now it was that Kauko began to look at other options. Ones that he had put aside many years ago.

Adult - IRP Events
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