PM to join Summer's Fading Grace

[Dust]

Fall 1, 514 AV
afternoon

Dust's arrival in Lhavit, three seasons ago, had brought with it something of an education -- the lesson that winter in mountains was not like the winter of lowlands and hills. With the city's Watchstone gleaming redly, the first day of Fall now arrived, it would be only a matter of time before Summer's more pleasant rule disappeared into memory. Today though, today Syna shone bright and warm, the mountain stones radiating heat against the Kelvic's sandaled feet. Today, she would wring a last few Summer entertainments from the changing season before weather put paid to those pursuits.

The trail from the Amaranthine Gate twisted down the mountainside, then ran alongside the river for... well... farther than Dust had ever walked down it. Or flew. Today, she had walked, a coil of rope slung over one shoulder when it had proved a bit too much to stuff into her backpack. And when she'd gotten bored of walking, a bell or so out from the gate, she had plopped the rope and the pack down at the base of an old-looking evergreen, its roots dug tenaciously under a boulder. She'd fished her notebook and ink stick out of the pack and clambered up the rock -- admittedly, it gave only a slightly better view than the trail, but even slightly better counted for something. There, she practiced her maps.

The river was the largest and clearest feature around, so Dust drew it first. Slowly, looking between vista and page frequently; she wanted to make sure it squiggled just right. On a whim, she colored it in as well -- dark for the narrow, deep flow above, middling-dark here where it spread out a little more, ran a little more slowly, but still looked plenty deep. The Amaranthine River wasn't exactly small...

ledgerrope, hemp, 30 feet -- 0.6 gm
knife -- 0.5 gm

total -- 1.1 gm

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Brandon Blackwing]

Somehow, it was strange how the seasons flew past so quickly, to Brandon it was as if Summer had started yesterday. It had passed too quickly, he found, no matter the heat wave and annoying Kriegsfelt. Soon Fall would start acting up, it would try to blow them off the mountain, drown them with rain, bury them under piles of fallen leaves and when that failed Winter would come with harsher methods. Snow, hail, ice and the numbing cold, all of them were Morwen’s weapons. However, Brandon did not resent the goddess, seasons changed and winter was one of them, it was not something anyone could change. Besides, Fall was a lot worse.

It was cooler than Summer, indeed, which was great, but there was one thing the bat absolutely hated about the season of falling leaves: mating season. Unlike other Kelvic who experienced the compelling urge to mate in Spring, the bat felt it in Fall. Last year it hadn’t been that bad, he had felt it, but only lightly, in the background of his mind. However, somehow the bat just knew that it would be different this season, it would be worse. No doubt about it. And that was why Spring was Brandon’s favorite season now.

With the arrival of Fall also came changes in temperature and weather, both were for the worse. It would be a season of wearing cloaks and battling wind and rain, just like last year. That also meant that Brandon should enjoy the nice climate before it was too late, it had already showered today, not for long, but still. The herald of Fall had announced that the brief descent of droplets was just a taste of what was to come. Naturally, Brandon had seized the opportunity to go into the Misty Peaks - before they became too misty and treacherous because of rain, mud and wind- and have fun. Of course, he had no idea what he would find in the closest part of the Unforgiving, but it had never failed to deliver up until now, so he didn’t worry. There was always something he could do to entertain himself there.

So that was where the Kelvic found himself, walking through the rather thick forest that had occupied the peaks, his feet making close to no sound on the damp earth. As always, the ground was soft, but it now it had already gathered a couple of puddles here and there. When Fall would hit them in full swing, the ground between the trees would become muddy, sucking at the boots of passerby’s, and the rocks would be wet, making it difficult for people to stay upright or climb them. The stairs leading up to the gates of Lhavit would be treacherous too, the final ordeal to the visitors from foreign cities and regions.

Since today would probably his last chance to actually traverse the wilds of the Peaks on foot, Brandon decided that the path was not worth following. He’d rather go his own way, clambering down rocks and hiking up- and downhill. Through bush he walked, wincing as the plants he’d been walking through changed from ferns to nettles which assaulted his clothed legs. Of course it did not matter, but they were wicked and cunning those nettles. They grabbed his pants and refused to let go, so in the end the bat was forced to bend down and pull them out one by one, the plants stinging in the bare skin of his hands.

Still, it wasn’t so bad, not immediately. After a good while though, numerous white swellings appeared and the skin around it was red. That was not a problem, it would go away with the day, but the itching, the itching!!!! It was hard to bear, it stung, it itched and the bat couldn’t help but scratch, fully aware he was making the sensation worse. It was then that he actually realized, standing in the middle of the brambles, that he had no idea where he was. He couldn’t see Lhavit, he didn’t recognize the environment, nothing. ‘Lost’ was the word that described his current situation pretty well.

However, the bat did not lose hope. Being lost was part of the fun, he had been lost before and then he had found a cave with an interesting Kelvic in it. To him, getting lost meant an opportunity to experience thrill, and it also surprised him every time. There was always something to discover when getting lost, it was an adventure! If one stuck to the path all the time one would never come across something strange, the wouldn’t find themselves in tricky situations nor unexplored locations. That was boring, paths were boring. Besides, all he needed to do was finding the Amaranthine River and that would lead him back to the city. No big deal.

If he recalled correctly, he should go to the West, since that’s where the river meandered and flowed through Lhavit. Well, underneath Lhavit actually. Noon had passed already, and evening was approaching, that should mean that Syna stood near the West. South-West perhaps? In any case, he should just follow Syna, she’d lead him to where he wanted to be.

More than a bell he had been walking, through places he hadn’t been before, but he hadn’t really explored them, he’d rather find the river, he was getting rather tired. He’d been awake since Midnight, having visited Sal in the Cosmos Center before dawn. It couldn’t be too far away anymore, that was for sure, he’d been in motion non-stop, there was no way he’d still have to walk that much longer.

Indeed, he was correct, while he couldn’t see a thing because of tall bushes obscuring his sight, he did hear the splashing of water on rocks. Invigorated, he increased his pace, speeding through the bush and stumbling out of it as they made room for the riverside. Rocks were scattered everywhere, and next to the river meandered a path. Panting, the bat stopped for a brief moment, spotting a figure sitting on a boulder near the water. Wind blew in his face and carried a scent with it, a quick sniff revealed the person to be female. Not that it mattered, he was thirsty and the cool streaming liquid of the river would do him good, he decided as he approached.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Asha]

Syna’s warm gaze pierced through the treetops and dappled the ground around Asha. The spots of sunlight were warm on her coal black fur but the breeze that struck up now and then carried hints of the coming crispness of Fall. The Misty Peaks were full of sounds that days: some birds were calling to one another as they prepared to migrate to warmer climes while squirrels and other types of birds searched through the forest floor for nuts to build up their stockpiles for the coming cold season. Fall was a busy season for the animals of the Misty Peaks and Asha enjoyed watching them at their work. Asha leaned against a solid oak tree, holding perfectly still as a squirrel slowly approached and dug through the loam searching for acorns, its bushy tail twitching as its eyes focused on Asha. It found an acorn and, with its eyes still focused on the jamoura woman who gazed back at it, nibbled through the exterior of the shell to eat the heart of the seed. Asha watched the squirrel with interest, noting what it did and conjecturing why. Finished, the squirrel clutched the acorns between its teeth and hurried away to bury it far from the large creature observing it. Asha smiled with contentment and carefully stood up. She stretched her sore back, she had been sitting still longer then she had realized. She had come down in the Misty Peaks earlier that day with the intent of finding some quiet time with which to welcome the new season and observe the forest’s inhabitants as they prepared for Fall and Winter. If she remembered correctly, the Amaranthine River was not far from her present location and should lead her back towards the path up to the city if she followed it. She began to walk towards where she believed the river was and in a few chimes was rewarded by the soft sounds of moving water. Before she could emerge from the tree line and actually see the river she became distracted by a fallen log. Stopping, she leaned down by the log and dug in with her short, blunt claws to rip away the bark and expose the naked wood beneath. Once the bark was removed dozens of small, light brown insects raced away from the light. Asha looked at the bark and wood in her hand which had similar insects covering it. She held the wood closer to her face and carefully stuck her tongue out to pick up one of the small insects. A few moments grinding it between her teeth and she happily identified it as a termite. She used her fingers to scoop up more of the tiny insects and pop them into her mouth. They had looked like the termites she used to eat at home but of course significantly smaller so she had wanted to test them out to be sure. A few moments of happily chomping insects later Asha heard the sound of rocks scattering and instantly dropped the insect infested wood. She walked a few paces closer to the sound, carefully watching below her feet to ensure she didn’t step on any twigs or loose rocks that would give her away, then kneeled and stood still, her natural camouflage triggered and soon her fur matched the patchwork shadows of the brush around her and her body scent dulled. Only her eyes shifted, quickly looking for the cause of the disturbance, hoping it was not another cougar like she dealt with last season. A few moments and a young man crossed her field of vision and she exhaled a sigh of relief. As he approached the nearby river Asha saw him stop and gaze in a specific spot, she followed his gaze and saw a young woman sitting near the river bank, bent over some kind of project. They didn’t seem the malicious sort but she decided to wait a moment and see how they reacted to each other’s presence before she exposed herself to them.

[Dust]

oocHey, guys! I'm terribly sorry this took so long, but my cross-country migration is over and I'm about settled into the new place. I'll be more prompt going forward.

Along the river ran a trail... a narrow ribbon on Dust's page, the drawing of which summoned images of its course into her mind. Here was the rock she sat on, and there was the bend where she'd seen a rose-bellied snake sunning itself, and down a little further were the nut bushes full of oddly gray jays. They'd looked like someone had taken one of their blue lowland cousins and just sucked all the color out. Idly, she doodled a little bird-shape -- an oblong body, a round head, a little triangular beak -- the way that her map book sometimes had little pictures to represent things. She wasn't sure yet how the mapmakers decided what to give pictures...

...but that was less important than the crashing noise of something approaching at speed through the brush. Dust perked up, curious and only a little cautious; anything which made that much noise on the ground, she could just fly away from if she had to. Crash, snap, crackle crackle crackle -- and the brush at last spat out a dark-haired man not too much larger than Dust herself. He huffed and panted where he was for a bit, and nothing else came out after him, so it must be all okay. As he approached, the Kelvic closed her notebook decisively and tucked it away in the pack; she was done with it for today, anyway.

"Hello!" she greeted cheerily, bouncy energy a sharp contrast to the other's apparent weariness. "I didn't expect to see anyone else out here. Who're you? And why were you running. I'm Dust," she added, making sure to incorporate at least that much politesse in her introductory interrogation.

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCNo problem Dusty!

The female clapped the book she had been holding to a close as the bat closed in, probably preferring not to let just about anyone gaze upon its contents. Brandon wondered what was in there; secrets, personal notes, a ledger of some sort? While it was tempting to try and snatch the notebook away unnoticed in passing, he decided against it, not deeming it that interesting. Besides, what did it matter if he read the secrets of a random stranger? Nothing, nothing at all. So instead he headed for the riverbank, nodding in greeting at her cheery words, dropping to his knees and scooping up some of the cold water with his cupped hands.

Ah! Refreshment! The cold liquid of the Amaranthine River quenched his thirst only after a couple more handfuls being scooped up, but it didn’t fail to instantly soothe his throat, which had been feeling as if he’d been eating sand. The female on the rock still chatted happily, going on about not having thought to see someone else come here, wondering who he might be and why he had been running. And then, as if it was just an afterthought she added an introduction of herself too. Dust.

It wasn’t the most common of names, he found, though the bat kind of liked the sound of it. To him it was more of a nickname than anything else, but that was but a trivial matter. “I go by Brandon,” said Brandon, “pleased to make your acquaintance.” Well, whether that was true or not was to be determined, but there usually lied no harm in talking to people or being polite. Humans with their silly rules. Those rules made it so easy to fool them; humans seemed to think that being polite equaled being respectful, though there was a huge difference in Bran’s eyes.

Respecting someone didn’t mean you had to bow and address them with mister or madam, respect was something else entirely. Politeness was something that made people think they were being respected, while that did not have to be the case. Of course, being polite was part of ‘good manners’ though the Kelvic couldn’t care less about manners and etiquette. He’d rather not wear the stiff mask of the rich and wealthy, the individuals with power and authority. Brandon was who he was and who he wanted to be, and therefor he believed he was free to act like himself as well. Besides, good and bad were just vague terms, there meanings changed depending on the person. There was no good, there was no evil. Except Rhysol maybe… but wasn’t chaos a form of order that just wasn’t understood? Or meant to be understandable? Did it even matter?

“As for why I was running,” the bat continued, in-between gulps of cold river water, “I just felt like it. I heard the river and hurried here, no particular reason actually. I just did.” Whether Dust found this reply to be satisfying was entirely up to her, but the thief didn’t care either way. It wasn’t her business anyway, though he wasn’t one to say such things. Wasn’t he the one always following his sense for excitement, led by his curiosity? … Well, curiosity never had caused him any harm, so … it was quite alright, he figured.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Dust]

oocNo reply from Asha to my PM. I figure we can continue on, and she can just make her presence known to them IC whenever her player returns.

The stranger charged right past her, heading for the river with little more than a nod cast her way. Dust didn't fault him for that; running did make one thirsty. After gulping down some water, he offered what seemed a friendly enough greeting in turn. Dust liked friendly strangers -- they had a tendency to become friends. "Pleased to meet you, Brandon!" she replied in kind, for her part honestly meaning the pleasantry.

He swallowed more water, then explained how he'd had no real reason for running -- just to run. Or just to get to the river in a hurry. Dust bobbed her head, accepting the explanation without qualm. Or, apparently, any further question. In her opinion, 'just because' was a perfectly fine reason for that kind of thing. "Are you from Lhavit? " she went on to ask, although she knew the answer was probably yes. It didn't seem like Lhavit had many visitors -- but then, with those mountains out there, she could understand why! Not everyone could fly...

She looked at the river rushing past them, ripples gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, and remembered what else she'd intended to do at the river. Since it was a nice day, still warm, like summer hadn't finished with Lhavit yet -- a fine day for playing in the water. Unstrapping her sandals, she tucked them against the base of the boulder, then hauled the coil of rope out from under her pack. And... a quick scan of the trees revealed a bough Dust had noticed earlier, a nice thick limb which jutted out over the water. Just perfect for her purpose.

She just needed an appropriate length of rope to go on it. So... her fingers pulled the coil apart into a loose heap, evaluating the cordage. What exactly was the right length for a rope swing, anyway?

Common | Pavi | someone else

[Brandon Blackwing]

OOCSorry for the awfully long wait I kind of lost both inspiration and interest -the latter only later on- to write for this one. Not sure about now though, I thought I could at least give it try again

Dust seemed to be the cheerful type, honest too. Fully refreshed, throat having recovered from it's sandpaper-like state and tongue returning from a leather sole to the flexible muscle it was, Brandon was able to make his usual accurate observations, not hindered by a thirst so enormous it swallowed his focus whole. To him, it appeared as if Dust really meant what she was saying; she sounded even more than pleased to meet him, though there was no real reason why. He had yet to do anything of merit, anything that could brand him as a person you'd want to meet, and you'd be glad to see again. The fact that her face lit up as she spoke was somewhat a rarity, he hadn't seen a lot of people who wore their emotions so bare these days. And those who did had either been drunk or extremely naive. He feared that Dust was the latter, something that was bound to change, since naive people were always the ones who never saw anything bad coming their way.

“Yeah, I'm from Lhavit. Well, not originally, but I do live there now. You are new I assume? You sound different than the people who have lived here for their whole lives.” Onyx orbs drifted over her figure as he glanced over his shoulder, still crouching by the water, every now and then scooping up a handful of the cold liquid to splash on his face or to drink. It was surprising just how much water he could dirk when having dashed for a relative long while at a high speed. To be completely honest, the bat felt as if he could pour the whole river into his throat, or better still, he was suddenly extremely tempted to go lie down in the middle of the stream. And why not? he thought rhetorically, it's rather shallow compared to the rest of the river... Waist hight to be exact, but there were boulders scattered every here hand there, large rocks the water could just about cover. Lying there would be very much refreshing.

Within a couple of chimes he had stripped, thrown his belongings on a pile and waded to the middle of the river, to the boulder he'd spotted. If he positioned himself there he wouldn't drown, and so it was done. On his back he laid on top of the giant rock -it was not very soft, true, but the cold water passing by made it oddly comfortable. The leftover heat of Summer still clinging in the air made it just perfect. Brandon figured he could fall asleep here before he'd ever notice, which was attractive, but not quite what he desired. Relaxing and refreshing, recovering from exhaustion, yes, but falling into slumber? No. That said, he closed his eyes anyway.

Someone could be heard rummaging through a bag of sorts, taking something out of it and walking around for a couple steps before coming to a halt. One eye was lazily opened to get a better outlook on the situation. Much to his surprise, Brandon saw Dust standing near a tree with rope in her hands. He frowned, pondering on what in Yshul's name she was planning to do with that. Well, actually he wasn't in the mood to use his brain right now, figuring things out was an activity he did not feel like participating in. Instead, he chose to ask. “So... What are you doing?” spoke the thief while lifting his shoulder from the boulder's surface, turning his head and raising an eyebrow.

Credit goes to Engghaen

[Maro]

Dust Skills +Cartography +1 +Drawing +2 +Endurance +1 +Investigation +1 +Observation +3 +Socialization +2 Lores -Mountain Winters Are Harsher -Amaranthine Gates: The Entrance to Lhavit -Brandon: A Friendly, Thirsty Stranger -Strangers Have a Tendency to Become Friends -Brandon: Not from Lhavit Originally Brandon Skills +Endurance +1 +Investigation +1 +Land Navigation +1 +Running +1 +Socialization +2 +Wilderness Survival +1 Lores -Fall Weather in Lhavit: Wind and Rain -Nettle: It Itches -Navigation: Find a Known Landmark -Dust: A Cheerful Stranger -Dust: Seems Honest Notes : Hey, friends. Sorry I didn't award a lot, but there wasn't much here since it got cut short. I tried to get a little lore in there for you, but if you feel I've missed something or even just want something rephrased PM me to let me know. Also, please make sure to edit your request to 'graded' in the queue. Asha, if you return, PM me to let me know, and I'll get you your grade.