The telefs love knocking over the anthills. I guess they derive some odd pleasure from the thousands, if not millions, of insects swarming over their bodies, biting their thick hide. Perhaps it’s a method of cleaning for the large beasts, but I can’t imagine it’s too healthy. It certainly wouldn’t be healthy for those of us with thinner skin. Fortunately, the telefs don’t do it while we’re riding. They rub against trees when they’re done and want to remove the ants, but how do they get the troublesome insects out of the cracks?
I saw Krista’Mil start picking up some odd things, probably with a desire to eat them, but she tossed them away before putting anything in her mouth. Perhaps her experience with the poisonous frog cured her of that bad habit. Rar picked a number of yellowish flowers, and handed them to her. He says they’re good eating in the jungle. After taking a few bites, she decided they were the best flowers she’s ever eaten. I haven’t seen her eat flowers on this trip before, but from that statement, I guess she’s done it many times in other lands. The rest of us managed to summon up the courage to eat some flowers, and were pleasantly surprised by the good taste. We might end up eating more of them. I hope this doesn’t undo any bad habits Krista’Mil might have finally broken.
Pelmarco and Rar started a bit of a competition today. They keep throwing their spears at targets to see who can get the best hit at the farthest distance. I think Rar has been practicing with the spear his entire life. It’s his only weapon, and he can hit almost anything with it. Pelmarco isn’t too bad, but I think he’s out of practice. Perhaps I’ll ask him about that. Maybe the Red Exemplars naturally use swords more frequently then spears, and are therefore better with swords than spears. I might also consider challenging him to an archery contest. As a Red Exemplar, I would expect him to have some training with the bow. However, he doesn’t carry one, so it’s possible he only uses the sword and spear. It’s too bad Pelmarco doesn’t have a real spear. I bet the iron spearhead would evoke a bit of envy from Rar.