Completed All Ashore Whose Going Ashore! (Banu)

[Salara Kel'Halavath]

10th, Summer 517 AV Unnamed Island in Suvan Sea Winds whip the sails with strong gusts from the south lending a different tang to the air, a sweet pungent zing within her nostrils prelude of a lightening storm. Dark roiling clouds on the horizon did more than hint. Waves rise and tumble more roughly as Salara, having recently figured her sea legs out, found herself back to square one as the deck heaves her into Lesson Two – ‘The Skip and Dip.’ At least that’s what she called it, as that’s what each step felt like. For bells the captain and his officers had watched the horizons through magnifying scopes with their heads together more often than not. Apparently rather than gamble with their safety by pushing through the storm, they were to take advantage of shelter at a nearby island. With orders shouted, the ship leans well larboard in course change, leaving Salara staggering along the rail as she watches great jagged bolts searing the southern sky in their distant wake. As all sails catch the storm’s winds, Destiny’s Lass skips ahead at a nearly frantic pace gaining ground and more time before being engulfed by the encroaching weather. ‘Land Ho!’ comes the call from the crow’s nest. Gulls and sea birds dip and dive in air streams around the approaching land mass. There appeared to be a lot of active marine life in this area, including an especially large pod of dolphins swimming playfully through the crests. One time her instincts zinged danger when she glimpsed a huge shadow in the roll of a deep wave that she hoped was a whale instead of a shark. The island grew large as they approached, revealing several higher elevations stacked one upon the other as rocky plateaus. The ship quickly skirts around to island’s leeward side where the winds slacken somewhat within the sails, gliding the ship more smoothly in calmer waters toward a large cove trimmed by thick greenery and the crescent of a white sandy beach. Captain had announced an overnight stay here (or longer if the storms held on) and most of the crew and passengers were welcome to wait it out on the ship or camp upon the shore. 'All ashore who’s going ashore!' Several of Destiny’s Lass’s crew held a longboat ready to transport people and supplies across the natural harbor. They would be pitching a communal tent for those who went ashore. As soon as Salara heard the news she was first in line. It had been ten long, lonely days of crew profiling with Fallon, whip work, and nights wracked by torturous dreams of Karyk. Still trying to wrap her head and heart around his profession of love in their 11th hour, she was just beginning to learn it was easier looking forward than back. A bit of exploring was something she could certainly look forward to. The sun still showed brightly with little hint of impending bad weather from this sheltered side of the island. The rowers made quick work sending the boat skiffing into the shallows. Teetering upon the bench seat the woman balances precariously for an agile leap to land as one of the crew offers her a hand. Instead she crouches and leaps for shore without aid. Buoyancy and displacement get the best of her as she tumbles more than leaps, landing calves deep then falling upon all fours with a splash. Thoroughly humbled by several snickers, snorts and a short-lived guffaw, she scrambles in-elegantly to dry land without looking back. Stalking the last few strides through the water she reaches the beach only to stumble discombobulated across unmoving ground. The guffaws were greater and a horse-laugh joined in. Flapping long wet draggled sleeves to hide the growl reverberating within her chest she struggles through the sand ignoring the fact that it feels as hot on her feet as the scorch across her cheeks and back of her neck. By the time she reaches the sparse reedy vegetation rooted in firmer ground she’d begun burbling in sporadic giggles at mind’s image of herself. She was not looking forward to going back to the ribbings she was already anticipating. Freedom. Solitude. Wilderness. A spring in barefoot step takes the soggy Kelvic, strapped with low-slung whip on her hips, into the cool shade of deeper vegetation. Pushing through the heavy foliage she luxuriates in feeling a variety of textures pressing between her toes – who would have ever considered how boring wood planking could be? Wildlife’s hidden rustlings behind leafy screens were generically familiar; but the birdcalls’ foreign melodies reminded that she was far from anyplace recognized as home. Pausing to drink from a clear running stream rather than dipping water from a wooden barrel, Salara listens familiarizing herself with this region’s environment; becoming aware of a deep nearly natural rhythmic undercurrent. If she didn’t know better she’d guess she heard music. Moving more cautiously through the undergrowth she pushes through into another, smaller cove with sandy beach. Anchored or pulled ashore were motley styles and sizes of boats, not one even half the size of the ‘Lass.’ Curiosity overcomes caution, Salara steps out onto the beach to the rumbling of thunder in the distance.

[Grim Ravenwood]

Your Grades

Salara

Skills:
Observation: 1
Acrobatics: 1

Lores:
Creature: Blue Whale
Creature: Pod Dolphin


Grader's Comments:
Picked as much as I could from the post. Also, there was a lot of narration, so, yeah. But, do tell me if there is anything I might have missed, so that I may add it.

As always, Death guide thee~
Grim