Solo A Cartographers Day

[Taren Coballon]

5th day of Fall, 518

Taren ate lunch at the commons with several other Sykians, which consisted of mainly leftovers from someone’s earlier kill and cooked to near perfection in the communal kitchen of Syka, which always seemed to have an abundance of fresh fruit laying around in the common area. Taren decided that he really needed to learn from some of the cooks here in town to prepare meals like they do so he can feed himself better. After lunch he helped clean up the commons a little and then split and refilled some of the wood pile for the kitchen to at least attempt to help contribute to the meal he just ate. It was sunny and hot as usual in Syka and Taren worked at a slow but steady pace for a couple of bells until the afternoon heat made it too harsh for the physical labor. Being new to town he found everyone kind and generous however he didn’t want to take handouts endlessly but wanted to start pulling his weight in any way he could until he was able to fully contribute.

After he finished the manual labor, he took a long draught of water and refilled his water skin to take with him as he took up position in one of the swings beneath the commons to start his real plan for the day. With pack and weapons set down beneath him, he pulled his newly acquired book and ink out and sat down in the swing with it in his lap. His plan was to start drawing and making a map to help him learn the area and maybe navigate in the jungle. Regardless of how much it helped or not it would help him remember portions of Syka as he mapped it but he hoped it would be of more use over time.

First he opened his book to the first page and took a good long look at the bay of Syka before he looked down started to dip his quill and draw on the page. Slowly the bay took shape and Solitary Island was put on his new map, neither were very well drawn but it made the general idea work anyway. After he labelled the island, he started to add thinks like the kitchens, forge, and Tide Pool bar with small shapes of the building and then the names. As he proceeded down the list he knew the map continued to get crowded with all the names he put on it. Eventually he realized he had made his map way too small for all the items he needed and he should of used both pages of the book. Disgusted with himself over the lack of thought, he put a big “X” across the page and flips it over to the next page so he could start over again on blank pages.

Taren set his supplies down underneath him while he relaxed back out into the swing and took a break from his drawing and instead took short break while he drank some water from his waterskin and then relaxed in the swing as he listened to several people going about their normal day to day activities.

Thanks to Gossamer for the boxcode

[Taren Coballon]

He leaned back into the swing and relaxed before he took a short nap for maybe a bell in the afternoon heat. When he finally woke up and started to draw again he was slightly more relaxed and comfortable. He grabbed his book again and opened to the first available double page and rotated the entire thing sideways. In the upper right corner he quickly drew a rudimentary compass rose to label his maps’ north. He then quickly ink lined it in so it was impossible to miss when you looked at the page. As he wanted to restart the map he remembered the chalk he purchased from Juli at the mercantile a short time ago. He quickly set his book on the ground while he rummaged around in the pockets of his pack until he found the chalk and pulled one of the two pieces out to use. After he removed his Lakan from his belt sheath to put a wedge point on the chalk, a quick wipe of the blade on his pants before it was finally returned to his belt.

No longer comfortable where he sat, he wanted to move back up to the tables so it might be easier to sit and work so he picked up the book, ink, and chalk in his left hand and his gear in his right hand to drag onto the upper deck. After he walked up on the deck he went to several different tables to decide which one had the best view of the bay where he shoved his gear underneath and set his map supplies on top. To test his thought on the chalk he flipped back to his page of mistakes where he made several marks on. With a light wipe the majority of the marks came off easily and he believed the rest would come off in time with little or no harm done to the page. Once happy with these results, he flipped the page back to his new map so he could start in the top middle of the page as he started to add the northern end of Syka on the map that mostly consisted of the peninsula of the Maw.

The north side of the Maw was simply sketched into the map for size and as close to the ability of his memory while the southern side he attempted to draw what he could actually see from his vantage point in the commons as accurately as possible while he occasionally would brush an area off to simply draw it again until he was completely satisfied with it. Next he chalked in Solitude Isle before he switched to the bottom of the page where he slowly chalked in the south including Treasure point and what he could remember of the terrain to the south of it. Once again he was consistently rubbing off some portion of the chalk just to replace it with finer lines or whatever he felt it needed until he thought it was an acceptably accurate drawing. Once he felt happy with the chalk version he set the chalk down next to his quill while he sat back to inspect his work closely one last time as he reached down to get a drink from the waterskin that sat inside his pack.

Thanks to Gossamer for the boxcode

[Taren Coballon]

He knew he wouldn’t win a prize in perfection for the map but he also was content that it at least represented the area well enough so he would be able to roughly navigate by it. After a second drink from the skin, he set it down beside him on the table but made sure it was far enough away his work before he picked up his quill and started to ink in the bay around the commons and Solitude Island. He worked carefully to not apply too much ink so he could keep his lines nice, small, and as neat as he could. After he finished tracing the lines of what he could see he very neatly started to add the locations he knew in the area starting with the City Core as he broke it down into the smaller parts as well but in a very fine print to be sure. Simple labels of course went in for the Suvan, The Maw, and of course Treasure Point even though everyone knew what these were. As a last thought, on the far left edge of the map and copied to both pages he simply put Wilds so no one would mistake that area for anything more than what it was.

Happy with what he had on the page, he set the quill down so he could do a final inspection on his work. After he touched the map up in a couple of places he decided it would work decently enough for what he needed so he pushed the book to the center of the table so he could make sure the ink dried completely and not smear when he closed it. The amount of time and the amount of work it took so far to make the map was far exceeding any expectation he had over it but he was pleased with the results so he couldn’t really complain at all about that. The piece of chalk had already proven to be worth its cost on this one project alone so he carefully stored it back into his pack but kept the ink and quill out so he could carry them with himl.

Taren stood up and stretched vigorously which caused his spine to crack, started from his lower back and proceeded straight up and into his neck as he arched his back and rotated his head and shoulders from side to side. Although very fit, he was not used to the hunched over position that he must of been in for such a long a time while he had drawn the map. He stepped over to the edge of the commons and leaned against the rail as he forced himself to relax slightly while he took in the surroundings for a few chimes before he went back and strapped his weapon belt back on, removed his quill and ink from his pack again before he slung it on his shoulder, so he could pick up his book again. He walked down to the beach and then turned south to head towards Treasure point to complete that portion of the map.

WC523

Thanks to Gossamer for the boxcode

[Taren Coballon]

Taren walked south for a ways before he stopped and kneeled down to set the book on his knee. He would add a note here for the Panacea, then Nya’s land, and finally he finished tracing the shore out to the tip of Treasure Point before he stood back up and continued his walk around Treasure Point. As he walked away from the city core he finally had a moment to enjoy the day or the soon to be evening as it were so he picked his pace up into a slow jog after he secured his bottle of ink but ended up continuing to mull over his map in the back of his head.

As he jogged, he continued to think about his map, which still had several issues he hadn’t figured out for the map. The shoreline was easy enough, places were just words and maybe a quick square for a building. Naming of course was easy as he expected and proceeds to talk to himself.

“What do I do about the trails? What about the rivers?” he muttered to himself. “Straight lines are already show the shoreline” he finished as he continued his jog along the beach.

Now past the outskirts of Syka and the last of the south end of Syka and almost rounding the outermost tip of the Point. “If we use lines for the trails then that may make it too complex and hard to read.” He growled to himself as he pushed himself to continue the run the beach and distance he needed to cover. “Could I find colored inks or charcoal maybe?” He asked of himself.

Once he was well past the southern end of Treasure Point, he pulled his pack off his back and dropped it on the sand as he settled down beside it cross legged. Once again he pulled his book, quill, and ink out so he could add to his map, he traced out the southern side of Treasure Point as close to what he could actually see as he continued the map on down as far as the page would let him go. He added in Stair Step falls and its first pool that he could see. Before he sat back and checked his latest work before he returned the ink and quill to his pack and let the book dry a bit as he leaned back and took note of the breeze that had picked up and brought a slightly cooler air across the beach as evening approached. While he gave the book some dry time, he rested up a little for the run he anticipated to get to the North end of Syka.

WC448 words

Thanks to Gossamer for the boxcode

[Taren Coballon]

After several chimes, he closed his map book, returned it to his back before he stood back up and stretched that caused him to feel the tightness of his muscles likely due to the intricate work of the day. As he pushed his arms straight over his head and leaned from his left side to his right side before the tall Akalak bent at the waist to lean over and down his left leg to set his nose on his knee several times before repeated the same exercise on the other side.After he finished several more stretches and felt loose again did he pick up to shoulder his pack again.

Geared up again he turned back toward Syka adn set off at a slow jog again. Just as he felt he had a comfortable pace set for the run did he notice it. An actual laugh escaped him as he realized how to finish his map nicely but also having it completely functional.

“Made that much harder!” he chided himself but also was anxious to finish the map. As he ran, he could see his own steps formed a broken line down the beach and he decided that would be a perfect match for trains on his map so when he had a change he would update the paths on his map.

For now he plodded on down the beach, as he headed for Syka but intended to run all the way past the town to the other side so he could add the last bits onto the map. Chimes passed as he ran and the distance slowly ticked away, as he tired it became an effort to push himself to continue the run. Soon the City Core came and gone as did the the bungalows however he started to stop and added notes to the map. More locations were noted and updated quickly as was the outline of the shore. Some chmes later he found himself at the Sawmill which he added and outlined everything further north as he included the Swine Swells, Sharktooth point, and dotted the trails on the map. As Syna fell below the horizon, he finished his map as fast as he was able before he let it dry completely and broke out some dinner from his pack.

With as late in the day as it was and the distance from Syka he was so he decided to camp out here for the night or at least to sleep for a few hours anyway. In the morning he could hunt a swine for breakfast, maybe drop some off at the sawmill as well while the rest would go over well in the commons if he didn’t eat it all anyway.

Shortly after he pulled his hammock out of his pack and set it up between a couple of trees and cleared enough foliage for a slight clearing to be safe anyway. Placed as high on the tree as he could to stay away from some and the pack he set at his feet to keep it safe and handy while his weapons would be with him.

WC522 words

Thanks to Gossamer for the boxcode