Fire, Naturally (Clyde)

[Vivus]

Winter, Day 19, AV 511

The expedition had set off on its way. A bitter wind had blown for two days in, causing many of the other laborers to wear an aura of uncertainty. Vivus knew better. Rhysol was testing them all to see if their mettle was true in this expedition. As each night had approached, camp had been set. It was then that his choices of pack and tack were setting him apart from the others. In this case, others meant the other laborers, as the Priest and the soldiers generally kept themselves separate from the laborers. It was no affront to Vivus, as this was the Ravokian way.

Their travels on this day had come to an end and the routine of setting up camp was beginning to be less chaotic. Everyone was finding their niche, slowly but surely, among the expeditions duties. His wagon, and more importantly his tools, set Vivus apart from the stock laborers. He had skipped waiting for orders or volunteering as the other laborers had. He simply began to follow the routines that had kept him alive along the rocky beaches of Lake Ravok. The extra hands had helped, however. It was much better to tend to camp than to be out scrabbling for materials. The untrained were better for that.

After unharnessing his horse from the wagon and seeing to it, he dug a fire pit with the shovel he had brought, connecting it with a ventilation hole. He wasn't sure if the thought of the creatures of the wild or bandits was more intimidating, but a low profile fire would help either way. His own tent was set up first as others tended to their own shelters. The fur cloak and hood he had purchased at the outpost had already paid for itself as it softened the bite of the wind whistling through the conifers of this edge of forest. He had found it also made a very comfortable blanket. His attention was drawn to several people standing around looking like they needed things to do. " We could use kindling for this fire if anyone wants to gather it."

[Clyde Sullins]

Another day done. Clyde if nothing else was glad to be off of his feet. He had spent most of the day walking, with occasional breaks when he got to take a turn in a wagon or a cart. But for the most part he had walked. He found a nice looking log sitting near were they were setting up camp, and plopped down, feeling the ache in his feet and knees all the more. Looking over, his new guard dog Rye stood at the alert, looking around with its odd red eyes. He still found them a bit creepy, but its creepiness was well offset by its usefulness of being able to see in the dark as well as a normal person could see on well lit road on a sunny day. The sun was quickly setting, and it would not be long before the light of day dissapeared, and Clyde would have to take a watch on the rotation of the night watch. But it was not yet his turn, and so he could rest. But a gust of biting cold wind reminded him of how cold it was outside of Ravok, as he pulled his robes a bit closer. Resigning himself, he got up once more, a took a look around camp. It had been a nice little rest, even if only for a minute. He had most of his stuff with him in his backpack, though some of it was stowed in various places, on different wagons, but he had been careful to keep the important stuff with him. For instance his tent and bedroll. Taking his pack off of his back, and enjoying the light feeling of no longer carrying the weight of it, he took out his tent, and proceeded to set it up. It was pretty simple, so it did not take to long. Once he got it finished, he put inside of it his bedroll, and his winter blanket. Done with that, he looked around, wondering who had ended up setting there tent near him. The person today whose tent was directly next to him, he did not particularly know. He was pretty sure he was the one off a bit digging a fire pit. Once that got set up, food would not be far behind, followed by a short rest, before his first watch. Then he would be able to sleep for the night, before being woken up for the last watch in the morning, which was right before everyone else had to wake up. Better though than those with shifts in the middle, at least right now he got to sleep in a solid block of time, unbroken. He heard the man mention needing someone to find kindling. He gripped his staff a bit tighter in his hand, not forgetting the other day when he had set it down, and he only just saved it from being thrown into the flame. But since it was not his watch shift, he supposed he out to help... It was best to be a bit more personal, get to know those he would be traveling with... "I suppose I could help, me and Rye can find some wood. If nothing else I can set the fire ablaze, get it going. I have a special affinity for flame." Clyde said this last bit somewhat absentmindedly, speaking of his skill with using fire reimancy. He was not really sure how many people here knew he was a mage, or more than that he was a guard for the expedition. But they would surely see soon enough, and they would have to learn to deal with it. He did not care if they distrusted mages. Truth be told Clyde distrusted other magic users himself. But Clyde knew that he himself was very careful with using magic, and certainly was not like many of the other crazy mages that existed. But few people could tell the difference between controlled magic, and mayhem, and so were afraid of anyone who knew how to control the djed. Clyde finally walked off a bit, looking for wood as the man had asked, with Rye following close behind. After getting an armload he would return to the fire, and watch to see what the laborer was doing. He assumed he knew what he was doing in making a fire...

[Vivus]

Of course, not too many jumped at his call for kindling. The other laborers clearly envied him, as their lot in life would be one of shuffling and low pay. Someone had to be the leader of the crew, but until then, he would make sure he knew how to do anything asked of him, to rise to the top. When he was answered by a man in robes, his eyebrow cocked up. The same man carried what appeared to be a magic staff with him at all times. Sure, it didn't say it was magic, but generally, anyone who was no longer a child knew that robed men with staves had a high probability of being magic users.

Vivus never had the opportunity to study magic, as survival on the bitterly cold beaches of Lake Ravok did not give one ample time or comfort to study such diversions. He hoped that his narrow minded approach might pay off for once on this expedition. "Affinity for fire, eh? Well, that's good of you to offer, but why not know how to build a fire without the use of anything but simple tools and your knowledge? Might not kill you."

Once the man had set off for kindling, Vivus began to scour the bases of the conifers for needles, choosing the more recently fallen ones over those directly on the ground. while they might have been older, they certainly weren't drier. Drier was what was going to get the fire started. So it was alot of stooping and scraping. Maybe he wasn't so different from the others, after all.