Posts by Osric!

Osric spotted the small group forming on the border and jogged over to join them, putting on his serious deputy face as he went. Like many of the rogues, he didn't like breaking out the businesslike stature for anything other than clan politics, so he softened upon noticing that it was Royalguard at the border, accompanied by gifts and a friendly grin. It felt good to have real allies again. 'Thank you,' the tomcat smiled in return. 'A feast sounds like great fun.'

Ice. Cool name. And a name that belonged to a Hippogriff, no less. Cool.

Unlike Crown, Osric was the one of the clan's lead extroverts, and had no qualms about eagerly introducing himself to the newcomer. 'I'm Osric! Nice to meet you,' he grinned. 'I'm the deputy, but I also look after our garden and greenhouse. We just decorated the courtyard garden for Christmas, so if you want a festive flower tour, I'm your guy.'

'I'm in,' Osric nodded as the group was coming together. 'Where are we off to?' It had been a little while since they'd gone out on a raid rally (although they'd been on receiving end more than once), so the deputy was glad the rogues were getting the opportunity to put their combat skills to good use.

Osric's tail thrashed as the rogues stormed into the Exiles' territory. He hung back initially, letting Fourth, Kayn and Astral use their powers upon the unsuspecting clan; the deputy was not lucky enough to have been given powers of his own, and so could only watch as the prison was fired at. But Osric's claws were unsheathed, adrenaline flooding his veins. The battle was imminent, and he was ready to fight back.

Fortunately, the BHR had a thriving greenhouse, so if all else failed, they could all live on homegrown vegetables until spring returned. But as much as Osric loved his plants, the prospect of a vegan diet over the winter did not fill him with enthusiasm. There was no question; the rogues needed to hunt.

Upon hearing Final's whistle, Osric slunk through the undergrowth to join the hunting party. The air was already beginning to freeze with the onset of winter, and the deputy's coat was puffed up to keep out the cold. His pale blue eyes looked to Final, awaiting instruction.

//whoops I saw this late

Osric's whereabouts were not hard to predict. His spare time was split between the garden and greenhouse, looking after his beloved plants. Today, the deputy was dealing with the willow tree in the greenhouse. The willow was still young, and only in the greenhouse because it looked cool, but to both Osric's delight and chagrin, the willow was very enthusiastic. Its long, slender branches were beginning to take over the greenhouse. The poor tomato plants were struggling to catch sunlight under the out-of-control canopy, and quite frankly, Osric felt he needed to remind Mr Willow who was in charge here. So this morning, he had taken on the job of trimming the tree back to a manageable size.

It was a job a half; Mr Willow was not making this easy for Osric. The thing about willow trees is that they are not very easy to climb, but the feline had to climb the tree in order to trim it back properly. He'd fallen out more times than he could count, and whoever said cats always land on their feet was very, very wrong; Osric's entire body was speckled with so many bruises that he was sure he looked like a dalmatian under his fur.

The tom was back up the tree for the millionth time when Fourthwall's voice floated up to where he was clinging on for dear life with his hind legs while his front paws worked a pair of shears through the branch in front of him. The leader sounded uncharacteristically cheerful. So uncharacteristically cheerful, in fact, that Osric was taken by surprise briefly lost his footing on Mr Willow. The deputy's paw only slipped for a second, but Mr Willow was not forgiving, and Osric was promptly expelled from the tree, landing on the floor of the greenhouse in a heap. Clambering to his feet, he scowled at the tree above him. 'Mr Willow,' he said. 'You are making this terribly difficult. I am the one who waters and feeds you, and I would like to not be rudely thrown to the ground by you every thirty seconds, thank you very much.' At that, the deputy turned around and noticed he had a bit of an audience going on. 'Oh, uh. Hey guys. I was just having a disagreement with my tree.'

ooc// Christmas is in ten days (!!!) so I'm going to attempt to make a festive thread every day from now until Christmas. I have no idea whether I'll be able to keep up with it or not, so no promises, but it should be fun! Please do join in if you'd like to make some Christmassy threads too

Christmas would arrive in just over a week, and the lack of festivity among the rogues was simply unacceptable. The courtyard, which twinkled with lights and tinsel, was the only trace of Yuletide spirit to be found anywhere in the territory. It was a disgrace! A tragedy! But last night, heavy snowfall had turned the BHR's homeinto a winter wonderland, and Osric was taking that as his cue to kickstart the festive season for real.

The deputy, wrapped in silver tinsel and wearing a Santa Claus hat for good measure, was fuelled by the magic of candy canes and snowmen. All morning, he had been decorating the castle from the tallest tower to the lowest basement; there were Christmas lights along the length of every hallway, wreaths of holly on all the doors, and, of course, a spectacular Christmas tree in the great hall. There was no escaping the festivity.

Now, to get everyone else involved. Osric had set up in the kitchen, the tinsel around his body sparkling in the light as he moved, ready for the BHR's First Annual Christmas Cookie Celebration. He'd considered nicknaming it the BHRFACCC for short, but along with the other prototype names (such as 'Osric's Annual Christmas Cookie Extravaganza' and 'If It Wasn't for Osric, Christmas Would Suck in the BHR') it hadn't quite made the cut. The kitchen table was stacked high with cookies of all shapes and flavors, along with a whole rainbow of frosting colors and an endless selection of sprinkles. Christmas music played from the speakers usually used for parties, while the scent of the pine tree floated through from the great hall and the snow continued to fall outside. 'Ladies, gentlemen, and those whose gender does not fall within the socially constructed binary, I present to you the First Annual BHR Christmas Cookie Celebration! Come along, decorate some cookies, and have some festive fun!' Osric announced, grinning from ear to ear.

The snow had been falling heavily all night, but a break in the clouds had allowed the weather to lighten for just a moment; perfect timing for a snowball fight! In a clearing in the forest, Osric (who wore his Santa hat and the telekinetically knitted sweater Fourth had made him) had hastily built a group of strategically placed snow forts to hide behind, and he was ready. ’SNOWBALL FIGHT!’ the deputy called, diving behind a fort to avoid any ambush attacks.

Osric’s dive for cover was absolutely useless, as all three of Roman’s snowballs hit him in quick succession. The battle had only just begun, and he’d already been attacked! But the deputy was not prepared to give in, and so scraped together a snowball of his own before launching it at Roman. Take that!

Just as planned, his fellow rogues began to wander in, attracted by the music and the absolute tidal wave of Christmas decorations that had overtaken the castle. Astral and Roman were the first to arrive, and Osric ran over to the table to join them, being careful not to trip over the tinsel around his body. ’Use as much as you want!’ the tom encouraged them both. ’There’s more than enough to go around everyone.’

Osric, proudly wearing a Santa hat and the knitted sweater Fourth had made him (the ensemble was top quality Christmas fashion, you see), sat down in the snow on the courtyard ground. He was very committed to spreading the festive spirit right now, hence why the castle had been hit by a storm of Christmas decorations two days ago; the courtyard had already been decorated, but the tomcat made sure to add a few extra strings of lights, just incase. The garden itself looked wonderful, too, with all the December flowers in full bloom.

This evening’s festive activity was one that Osric had been looking forward to all day. He’d picked a room in the castle with a fireplace, and filled it with blankets and pillows and enough firewood to last all night. But the most important thing was, of course, the many mugs of freshly made hot chocolate sat in front of the roaring fire. Osric couldn’t read, but if he could, he was sure he could open a dictionary, find the word ‘cozy’, and read a definition that matched this scene exactly. Stories by the fireplace with plenty of hot chocolate; what could be better?

’Hey, guys! Anyone want hot chocolate?’ the deputy called out the door into the hallway. Surely, on a winters night as cold as this, it wouldn’t take long for a group to gather.

’If I’d known you were going to promote me, I’d have worn something more professional,’ Osric joked, referencing his ugly sweater/Santa look. ’But on a serious note, I’d be honoured to lead beside you, Fourth.’

It had been a point of worry for Osric, truthfully. He’d wondered what would happen if he ever needed to fill the hellhound’s shoes. Osric was no Fourthwall; how could he possibly hope, even with months of past leadership experience already under his belt, to live up to his friend’s legacy? The tomcat just didn’t have the same kind of fire that came easy to Fourth.

But a co-leadership? That really could work out in the Rogues’ favor. ’We’ll make a good team. Other than that, all I have to add is that I’m hosting festive activities everyday in the lead up to Christmas, so keep an eye out for what’s going on and join in! Oh, and shout out to Fourth for making me this sweater. Did you guys know he knitted it telepathically?’

Today’s event was simple: a stack of greetings cards sat on a table with a selection of coloured pens. The room was, just like every other room (every. single. room.), flooded with Christmas decorations, and Osric himself blended in nicely with the masses of tinsel around his body. ’Alright, everyone, grab a Christmas card and a pen or two, then put a cheesy, heartfelt, loving message inside the card and give it to a Rogue of your choosing. Presents and food and hot chocolate are all great, but Christmas is about compassion,’ the feline explained. The more disgustingly cute the message, the better!