Sticks and Stones (Solo)

[Talya]

Timestamp: Summer 9, 515 AV Even upon one of the final days she would spend amongst the people of the caravan, the terrain always managed to change. Talya supposed this would be the case in any situation one found themselves in whenever they traveled a great distance, but she couldn't be entirely sure. For, maybe the desert always looked the same, and maybe the ocean always looked the same, unless it was stormy or something. In any case, Talya now found herself within a stretch of the wildlands that consisted of lightly rolling hills, often devoid of grass. Rocks encrusted into the soil, as much as lain over it; lending the earth a more rugged appearance than it might have had the land been more full and lush with foliage. The day was also cooler than several that had come before, as a strong breeze blew in from the north, and the sun had been hidden behind a bed of thick grey clouds for hours. Their hues ranging from a pale grey to a deep slate, to near black, which suggested it would rain before the day's end. Whenever that was. The color dyed the rocks a darker shade, and worried the Ethaefal, whom didn't want to be caught out in the rain, as she new her less otherworldly form was still subject to the ailments of man, and she had no intention of getting sick any time soon, especially not after what had already occurred, when there was still more ground to cover. But those that led their little group decided against it, claiming they would lose to much ground if they stopped in the morning, and set up camp for the day; waiting out the storm within. So on the entire group marched, largely begrudgingly of those in charge. Talya's soles clicked softly against the stone as she climbed up the shallow incline of a roughly smooth surface. The backs of her knees and her heels aching dully as they were forced into an angle. She hiked her bag up the length of her shoulders as she trailed behind the man ahead of her. Her eyes trained on his broad back, bare shoulders, pale skin. She thought over how nice it would be to rest, as she found that although she hadn't walked as much as she had the day before, the harshness of the ground, in comparison to the light padding of grass-covered soil did more to ware on her spirits, her attire, and muscles than the sort of life found within the forests ever could. But to this, she would make no complaint, as she didn't want to be perceived as weak by the others, in addition to somewhat naive at times, or foolish. Besides, even if she had, she didn't think they would care, or make any changes for a lone person standing within the vastness of a larger group. So again, she carried on, until the air began to cool, not just because of the wind, but because a sense of mistiness arose within it. As though hinting that the rain would be soon enough to come. When someone else mentioned it, calling through the lines, the leaders simply shook their heads, and claimed that it would be a bit yet before it came, and they should make the most of it. Until the sky became to dark for them to see by and travel, until the stones became to slick for the horses to cross safely, forcing them to stop for the night. When questioned about when they would be able to make fires for food, or build a camp to shelter themselves from the storm, the leaders said only that they could bear to get wet for a few minutes, or stake a cloth up simply over their heads to keep the rain off. That they didn't need to go through all of the strain, and the effort, and time that went into building a tent "properly." To this, there was some grumbling, and slight arguing, but in the end, the group continued onward for several more minutes, as the clouds steadily darkened until the world was nearly plunged into darkness, and the winds threatened to blow more than one's hair off their shoulders. It was at this time that it was announced that the group would stop for the night, in a stretch of rocky terrain. Filled with defiles and stone, and minimal solid ground comprised of dirt. It was said that everyone should do their best to set up camp as the first of the rain began to fall- a light drizzle, and that they should dress a little more warmly than they had been doing over the past few days, and make their best of the night that was to come. Talya nodded to all of this, as it seemed natural enough to do. Because it seemed like sound, good advice. So, with a quick glance up at the sky, she determined that the rain would come to quickly for her to build her tent on her own, and she feared that it would blow away in the storm if she simply set it on wooden stilts by converting the poles that came with it to its secondary use. So instead, she decided to use the terrain around her to build a temporary shelter for the night, instead of setting up her tent, and set to work immediately, first, by looking for a place where she could set up her momentary home.

[Talya]

There were several crags and defiles in the rock formations that formed cave-like entrances, in which people should be able to find shelter, Talya realized. Although some of the other members of the caravan had gotten the same idea, and beaten her to many of the choice locations. But such didn't worry Talya, as she guessed that there would be several other suitable locations for her to choose from, and as she walked around the area and took a look, she realized that her instincts had been right, and that there were. Several of the crags however, had to be weeded out, as they opened to the northeast and north for example, leaving them open to the sky. Such meant that they would become filled with rain, and make sleep either difficult if not impossible, or even dangerous, as the dweller who did not rouse could drown if the water level became to high. Talya naturally didn't wish to take such a risk, and looked only to the cut outs of the earth that opened to one side- either the right or the left, while the rest sank into the shelter of the rock. Several of the crags fit the description, but these seemed to small. Some only big enough to suit a squirrel, and others perhaps a small fox, but nothing greater. The rest, which would have been big enough, were already taken, and could not fit herself and whoever else occupied them currently. So Talya was forced to keep on looking for several minutes as the drizzle hardened, and the sky continued to darken, until she found an unoccupied cavernous outcropping that could both contain and shelter her for the night. The location was a slight cleft built into the side of a hill, over which a large, mostly flat stone jutted, and other smaller ones had either been pressed or settled into the ground. Its right and left side wasn't fully covered, or at least, that was to say that the stone overhang covered a lot more ground than the stone and dirt mixture to either side, but Talya supposed it would do all the same, and as she was running out of time before the storm truly hit, she decided not to be to picky about it, and do her best to settle in for the night. The first thing Talya did after she had crawled inside the space, of perhaps six feet high, and another seven wide at its greatest points was slip her bag off her shoulders, and place it on the ground to use as a pillow for later. When she was done, she simply sat, and waited, and realized after a few minutes that the cool air was still able to get in, and such could prove a problem, as the cold would make it difficult for her to maintain her health and rest if she so chose. She still had a bit of time she knew, before the storm raged, and felt like she could do something about it, but what? Surely a fire was out of the question as there wasn't enough debris lying around for kindling, or sticks fallen from nearby trees to be of use, and she hadn't thought to carry any with her- besides it got heavy. And even if she had, keeping it alight could be troublesome, not only on account of the wind, but because there was still a chance the rain could get into her little hideout, and make whatever soil shown damp, as with the rocks, if it couldn't stretch directly onto the fire itself, to put it out. The only other option then, seemed to be to make some sort of barricade, but what could she use to make one, when all she had was her pack with its meager supplies and whatever was directly surrounding her? Which was what exactly? Talya took a quick look around, and noticed a few things- varying shapes and sizes of loose stone and pebbles, a few twigs and things that had blown into the crevice, some hardened looking soil behind her and to one side, and of course her own belongings. Tal leaned forward then, and pressed her finger into the dirt a moment, before she scratched at it idly. It barely flaked away under the efforts of her nail, and thus, she confirmed her suspicions, and decided it to hard to be of any use as a packing material. She thought the pebbles would be to small to help as well, and besides, they were likely to rattle and move about in the wind, which left only her pack, whatever had blown in, and the stones. Since she had decided earlier to use the pack as a pillow, she counted it out, which left only a few twigs, leaves, an acorn, and the rocks. To make a barricade, she supposed the rocks would be the most useful, although, she wasn't sure how to keep them in place- she didn't recall any stone walls in Ravok, at least the portions she often visited, and wasn't sure what people used to keep them together. So, she would simply have to run a few tests. First, Talya picked up one of the small sticks, and then leaned over to the opening of her cave. She looked around for some dirt, but found none there, although there was a small split between two stones. She thought this could help her, and instantly, shoved the stick between the two stones, so that it ran up and down. She pushed as hard as she could, but was careful also not to break the stick in the process. When she felt as though it was fairly secure she pulled away and waited. Watched as it rattled in the wind, and then blew over a moment later, blending in with the sound of the rain breaking against the rocks. From her little test, Talya determined that the winds were already at least at their moderate strength, and as such, she would have to construct something fairly sturdy if she wanted it to remain upright, and not blow over in the wind. Which meant, as far as she was concerned, that the larger stones were her only hope in this matter. So, Talya began by picking up a stone that she found in the back of her cavern, which was about half the size of her head, and transferring it to the front of the cave so that it rested directly below the farthest point the shadow of the stone overhang cast on the ground. When she was done, she ducked outside into the rain, and pulled a few more stones of a similar size back. She did this a few times, and began to form a pile by the first stone. Once safely inside her cavern again, she wrung out her hair and clothes, so that the cold wouldn't cling to her so much as formed a ring all the way around the space directly below the rocky overhang. With this done, she took a few of the leftover stones, and began to pile them on top of the stones on the right side. Once she had gotten about three stones up in some areas, the stones began to fall, rolling down either behind the wall or ahead of it. So she tried again, and found this always was the case- she supposed it was because she didn't have any mud to pack them into place, but what was she to to in a place such as this? Talya tried one more time, but the same thing happened, so she left the stones be, piled two, (or sometimes even three high), on the right side. She found that although they rattled in the wind, it helped block some of it, and by keeping the other sides open, she had a method of escape if for some reason her shelter began to fill up to much with water. This as all well and good, however, she was still a bit damp and chilled from her excursion to retrieve more building supplies. She found herself to be shivering, her teeth chattering now and again, and knew it was best she warm up unless she caught a cold while in this form, for she knew such wouldn't bother her in the other. But until then, she had to do something. So naturally, she began by pulling off her damp dress, and sodden boots, before setting them aside on a rock, in the hopes that they would dry a bit before the morrow when she needed them again. This left her still cold, so she wrapped her arms around her chest, and brought her knees in to lock in some of her body heat, but it barely helped, and her rump was now covered in stony dust and cold from them. She knew this would never do, and decided to use her tent cover, (the canvas), as a temporary blanket. So she pulled it out, set the other parts aside, and wrapped herself up in it. It helped a little, but she was still cold. So Talya began to rub her hands together, over and over again, to build up heat, before spreading them on different parts of her body, which also helped a bit. By now, the storm as raging, she could hear the rain beat against the stone, could hear thunder, and sometimes the white flash of lightning, and knew there was no leaving now. She was stuck until it passed. So she waited, and wiggled, and rubbed her hands all over her body to help her get warm again, but it seemed only to take the edge off, so she decided to try something else. She remembered, vaguely, that with in this form, eating warmed her up, so she reached through her "blanket" into her bag and grabbed some dried fruit, the last of her travel rations really, and began chewing on them thoughtfully. Each apricot melting in her mouth, as slowly she warmed and became more comfortable. When she had finished her food, Talya felt a bit better, although she knew she would shift soon and it wouldn't matter. That as soon as she had, she wouldn't feel sleepy, so if she wanted to get any real rest, she should begin now as she was wary from her walk, and the work she had done on her shelter. So, she tipped herself over, let her head fall onto her pack, and although the ground wasn't the most comfortable thing in all of Mizahar, let herself finally fall to sleep, despite how the wind blew and the storm continued to rage right outside her doorstep.

[Elias Caldera]

Behold, Your Just Reward!

Talya

Experience and Lore :

Skills

• Observation +2
• Endurance +1
• Wilderness Survival +2

Lores

• Terrains of Sylira
• Weathering a Storm

Miscellaneous :

Injuries

• None

Loot and Expenses

• None

Comments :

I can only imagine how overjoyed Talya was when she finally reached her destination and realized she didn't have to do the whole Bear Grylls thing anymore.

Don't Forget

Now that your thread is graded, be sure to edit your grade request. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to send me a private message and we'll work it out together.