Open [Bronze Wood] Learning how to Navigate

[Minerva Ravitz]

72nd of Summer, 514 AV

It had been a while since Minerva's conversation with Arch the clay squirrel, and she finally got another break from her apprenticeship at the Ironworks. She took this opportunity to head out the gates of Syliras and return to the Bronze Wood, slightly more confident in her navigation abilities this time. Mainly because she brought an inkwell, a quill, and some paper, and would use these tools to draw where she's been and where she's going. Unfortunately, she had to stop every few steps to sit down, fumble around with the inkwell, and quickly scratch a few lines on the paper. It was rather tedious. Still, it beat getting lost again and trying to locate that squirrel - and at least she was careful enough not to spill her ink.

Minerva could have just procured one of the many maps of the area, but that wouldn't have helped beyond the map's confines. She needed to learn how to navigate unfamiliar terrain, and this was the best way to do so. She'd also need to learn how to get food in the wild, but as long as she didn't stay out for more than the day, she figured she should be fine. She practiced setting a sheet of blank paper under a rock, traveling out a fair distance, then using her map to get back, going out just a little bit further each time. She didn't quite think to practice returning to Syliras itself with her map, but it couldn't be that hard, right?

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn had come out to the Bronze Wood again, though this time she had decided to stay in her human form, partly because she wanted to practice surviving as a human rather than a snake, partly because it was cold in the area for her and she could wear her coat in human form. Tying her horse to a tree, Suresslynn walked into the woods, sticking her nose into everything she could without disturbing the wildlife. After a bit of time, she decided that she just needed to explore the woods better so that she would know her away around, and started exploring.

After a half-chime of exploring, she stumbled out a thicket right into the path of another woman. Looking the other woman over, she turned to face her, sticking her hands in her pockets. "Well...uh, hello. Um...are you here exploring too, or are you here on some other business?" she asked, hissing slightly on the "s"' sounds in her speech, though she doubted that many people here knew about Dhani. The squirrel at least hadn't known about her kind, so she doubted this girl did either.

[Minerva Ravitz]

Minerva turned toward the other woman. "I'm exploring. What's it to you?" Her tone was rather dismissive toward the apparent human. She resumed her task of navigating around using her makeshift map as a guide. She didn't have any business with this woman, so she simply decided to resume her self-led training. She didn't get very far, however, as the next time she stopped, she spilt her inkwell all over the ground. NO! Argh... Well, that was it for roaming for today. At least she bought more than one inkwell just in case -- but she'd only brought the one out with her. Time to cut losses and head back. Or, she would have, if she hadn't just realized that the other woman had asked if she was 'exploring too'. This would be a great opportunity to pick up mapless navigation! Minerva hastily corrected her approach and struck up a much friendlier conversation.

"Hang on. Are you an explorer, by chance? Do you think you could help me out?" She showed off her crude 'map', if you could even call it that. It did serve to get her from point A to point B and back, but it was barely more than a couple scratches and blobs with arrows to and from the various scratches and blobs. On the bottom was written 'SAFE ZONE' in all capitals, which she'd intended to represent Syliras. Aside from that, the map was incomprehensible to anyone but Minerva herself. "I've been using this to get me around the forest, but you seem to be doing okay without any drawings. How are you doing it? Have you memorized everything, by chance? Can you teach me how to do that? Please?" She didn't have much to offer in return besides money, but she really wasn't sure how else to approach. It'd be for the best to learn from someone else, though; there was only so much she could teach herself, and if she ended up over her head and thus lost again, she didn't have an out. What's the worst that could happen anyway? She'd be told no?

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn merely raised an eyebrow at the girls attitude, then turned to leave. However, when the girl spilled her inkwell, the Dhani-in-human form sighed and shook her head. "It's better to sit down when learning how to make maps and such out in the wild." she said. True, she had only a basic idea of how to survive in the woods, but she was fairly sure that if you were trying to learn how to make maps, it would probably be best to sit down to do it. That aside though, she felt no reason to help this rude human with her attempt at mapping and started walking away, wondering if she should bother exploring anymore or just head back into town.

However, before she could get too far away, she was stopped by the human suddenly adopting a much more friendly, congenial tone. When the girl handed her the map she had made, Suresslynn did a brief double take at just how useless it was, then shook her head. "I'm not exactly an explorer. Or at least, not a professional one. But I learned a bit of how to survive on my own growing up." she said, her accent causing an odd hissing on the "s" sound. Looking back down at the map, the Dhani handed it back to the human. "Look...my name's Suresslynn. I'll help you out a little, if you'll teach me some things about the city. I just got here recently, I don't really know all that much about it yet." the Dhani said calmly, brushing by the question of how she was doing without a map. She was relying on a decent sense of smell and a general knowledge of her horse's location and the town's location to keep her bearings, but she wasn't about to admit to that.

[Minerva Ravitz]

Minerva swallowed the urge to snip at Suresslyn at being told the obvious. Minerva had, after all, not realized that sitting down was the thing to do until after she'd dropped her inkwell. How she'd managed to hold three things in her hands at once up until now was a bit of a wonder. She ended up ignoring the comment, since anything she did say would've come out ruder than intended. Especially since she had another question to ask - one that happened to be rather important. This wasn't like the city, where she could afford to dismiss anyone she didn't like; if she wanted to learn of the outside world, she needed to befriend whoever she could.

Minerva was taken aback, though, at the mention that this expert navigator wasn't really an expert. That couldn't be right! She seemed like she didn't even want a map! "Well, um, you do know your way around, so you're better than me at least. I'm Minerva. Apprentice blacksmith for Syliras. I'd be more than happy to help you around the city in exchange for your help. You caught me on a good day." Minerva normally left this sort of thing up to the tour guides, tending not to help other humans for nothing, but she was getting something out of it. Although, Suresslynn had a weird hiss when she spoke that Minerva couldn't help but notice. Huh. Must be a regional accent from a far-off land. It'd probably be rude to bring it up. So, where to begin with the city? "First, if you're staying here overnight, you'll need a place to sleep. I suggest the Herald's Arms. It's basic, but it's affordable. Second, if you're staying longer than that, you'll need a job. That'll be easy enough - the employment office is just inside the main gates. They take anyone, really - if you're staying here, you're working. And you'll be compensated. And then there's the markets. The most important one for outsiders, I find, is the Great Bazaar in the basement of the citadel. I don't recommend going there without knowing exactly what you want, though, or someone will try to put you in one of their 'finely made dresses from exotic lands' or something." Minerva waved her hands around and took a mocking tone as she mocked the shopkeepers. "Impractical clothing... how does anyone even stand wearing--oh, right, the city! I work in the Ironworks. All of the gear I make goes to the Syliran Knights, so I can't really help you there, but feel free to stop by with questions. I'm sure I missed some things." As Minerva wrapped up her brief introduction to the city, she crossed her arms and looked expectantly at Suresslynn. Time to collect payment.

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn stood by and listened as the girl introduced herself and explained what she did, then started on an explanation about the city. Suresslynn mentally took down notes of everything the girl was saying, and when she ground to a halt, the Dhani nodded and smiled slightly. "Thank you. I'll be sure to stop by your shop if I have any questions." she said, before taking a quick look around to get her bearings. "Okay, my turn. You wanted to learn how to explore and survive out here, yeah? Well, let's start with an easy way to get your bearings." she said, looking up. "Easiest way to do that is with the sun, which is a bit harder here with the trees, but it's still doable. The sun sets to the rises from the east and sets in the west, so by following it's progress you can get the four compass directions from the sun with a little practice." she said, looking up for a moment.

After that, she took out her eating dagger and walked over to a nearby tree. "Now then, if you're exploring a new area, you can make it easier to find your way back without a map by marking your path like so." she said, making an X mark in the tree. "With this, you can find where you've been if your map gets torn, lost, wet or whatever." she said, looking back at the girl over her shoulder. "You with me so far?"

[Minerva Ravitz]

Minerva listens intently to Suresslynn's lesson. "So, the sun goes from east to west, meaning... hm." She started drawing loop-de-loops in the air to figure out what she'd learned. "Okay, it's past midday, soooo... that's north and that's south?" She seemed to know what she was doing. "So Syliras would be... ummm..." She then double-checked her map, turning it around a few times before aligning it in what she thought was the right direction. "It's that way. So... southeast...ish? I think?" Turns out she'd been using a combination of the map, short-term memory of the terrain, and the spare sheets of paper she'd placed as landmarks, and her memory had faded during her conversation with the other explorer. Still, she managed to get a rough direction. It'd get her into trouble the further she got from home, but for now it was sufficient.

Marking trees hadn't occured to Minerva, but it made sense. The trees in the Bronze Wood were quite similar, and if she hadn't been walking almost the same path a bunch of times she'd be unable to tell any of them apart. Problem is, she couldn't just make herself her own personal blade for this - she'd have to buy one. "Could I see that dagger of yours for a bit? I'd like to see how it's made." Actually, she could make one for herself; she'd just have to buy the materials on the market. It'd be easier that way to make the dagger to the specifications she needed, even it those specifications happened to be "make marks in wood". Besides, it'd be good job practice.

[Suresslynn]

Suresslynn watched Minerva apply her lessons about navigating from the sun, then nodded at her when she guessed the direction. "Yeah, Southeast. Well, more or less." she said, smiling slightly. When the girl asked to see her knife, Suresslynn handed her the dagger and smiled slightly. "It's my eating knife. I need a better one, but I haven't been shopping yet." she said as she leaned against the tree she had marked.

After a moments thought, the Dhani decided what to teach her next. "Okay...this next bit isn't really anything necessary if you're just going to stay in the woods for a few hours at a time, but if you plan on staying out for a while, or get stuck out here, knowing how to set up a shelter of some kind will help you out a lot." she said, pushing away from the tree. "To start with, do you have a cloak of some kind? If not, it's fine, but we'll have to go back to my horse so I can show you. Or would you prefer to skip this bit?" she asked, tilting her head at the girl.