Flashback Respite from the city Part 1

[Karsynwa]

20th of Spring, 490 AV

Class today was being held just inside the land gate. Their instructor was currently emptying his pack onto the ground for the small crowd of students to see. His pack was quite unusual, and quite different from the small one Karsynwa had looped over his right shoulder. For one it had a wooden casing around it that allowed him to carry other stuff over the backpack it was strapped over. These other items included small bundles of grass, a rolled up deer skin, a quiver of arrows, a bow strapped to the bottom of the contraption, and balanced across the top was a large blanket. Inside the pack was a number of smaller items, a iron pot, a couple of metal tins, a extra waterskin, as well as a multitude of other small devices that Karsynwa had a hard time making out from his angle. When it all had been laid out the Akalak stood up to address them.

“Today we are going out onto the Sea of Grass to prepare for you upcoming trials. While some of you have been out to the grass already, there is still a lot you do not know about what it takes to survive out there for extended periods. You have always had your parents to guide you and do everything for you. However now it is time for you to learn what to do for yourselves because that is all you will have when it comes time for your trial.

We’re going to start with the equipment because that is going to be half of the battle. For starters, you want to make sure you at least take these essential tools whenever you go out, and then you can think about bringing any extras that might make it a little smoother for you out there.

We’ll start with a compass which is the most important tool you can have out there. Paired with a good map you’ll find it instrumental whether you are out there to hunt or trap. It is easy to get lost in the grass when you stray away from the Kabrin so you’ll need that compass to get your bearings.

Next we will look at the hatchet and the long knife. You’ll want to keep these in good condition because both of these have numerous uses from as simple as gathering the components for a fire to preparing the body of a kill. Speaking of the kill, you’ll want to bring a weapon, some fishing line, and maybe a few traps if you intend on traveling in the wilds for a significant amount of time. You’ll want to save any dried rations you bring with you for an emergency and try to hunt or forage for any of your food while you are out there. Additionally you’ll want to prepare supplies for a fire beforehand as you might find it difficult to get one started on short notice. That is because dry fuel is hard to find out in the grass so it requires you to pick your grasses well before hand or dry out some animal dung if you decide to go that route. You’ll also want to bring some tender along soaked in oil, and kept in a waterproof tin like this one.

Next you will want to consider your shelter from the elements while you are out there. The nights can get bitterly cold out on the sea of grass so a good tend and blanket can go a long ways to keep you healthy. I also bring along a needle with thread just in case I have to make emergency repairs while I’m out in the wilds. Aside from that, bringing along a small emergency aid kit will also come in handy just in case you sustain an injury out there.” As he spoke he showed them each of the items in turn, passing them around so they could each get a chance to study them for a moment before handing it off. Karsynwa found the compass the most interesting as it was a complex little device that seemed to be trying to tell him a lot though he could not make sense of any of it. It had four large letters printed at different angles on its face. In a clockwise direction it read N E S W. The map that came along with it had a similar set of symbols in the bottom right corner and was covered in a mass of a confusing lines. Only the rivers made since to him as they were clearly labeled.

Karsynwa thought about what it was going to be like to go out onto the sea of grass. He’d only ever seen it from the wall up until now, and heard the stories his father told of it. About there being fearsome creatures to brave there, beasts he would have to hunt one day like his father had for his trials. He shivered though he was not afraid. Instead he felt a brimming excitement as his mind tried to work out what it would be like out there. Once all of the students had gotten a good look at the tools, their instructor packed them away carefully before shouldering his pack.

“Before we go out, I have to remind you to remain alert even though we won’t be going far. Even in sight of the walls the grass is a dangerous place so don’t be foolish and get yourself eaten. Stay with the group, and pay attention. I will not be repeating myself.” The man said before leading the way out of the gates. A dozen other adults joined them, all armed and armored. Karsynwa smiled.

WC - 951

[Karsynwa]

Tavareth was their guides name. Tavareth Ulvante. Karsynwa had heard that name on the lips of some of the older students before. Mostly fantastical tales about how this man was like a ghost in the grass, easily disappearing and appearing at will. Watching the man move now, Karsynwa couldn’t see it. The man was bold as he walked away from the walls. There wasn’t a hitch in his step to be seen the whole way through as he ventured into the thick of the sea at a steady walk. Tavareth was keen on his direction Karsynwa noticed, spying the compass strap dangling from his palm. He had the map folded up in his other hand disused for now. The men that had left the city with them where no where to be seen. They had fanned out into the grass, traveling far and wide. Karsynwa wondered what their angle was when Tavareth stopped suddenly.

They were at the top of a small hill that sloped gently down into a crease at the bottom. A small stream gurgled over a pebbly line that traced the curves of the surrounding hills. Tavareth started to pick his way carefully down the hill, and Karsynwa followed close behind. The rest of the students clustered behind, dogging his footsteps uncomfortably as he made his way down so when he came to the bottom he stepped across the stream to the other side to create some space. Little white feathers flew up with his stride as he walked through a pile of them. Karsynwa cocked his head curiously.

“We aren’t the only hunters out here.” Tavareth said, his voice carrying easily across the small group. Shuffling his feet, Karsynwa bent to pluck one of the feathers out of the air. It was soft, and rather large. The shape of it reminded him of a popular pet in Riverfall.

“Looks like those belong to a Copperin” Tavareth said as he took the feather from Karsynwa and examined it in the light. Nodding, Karsynwa looked around on the ground to see if there was anything else. There wasn’t, at least not much that he could see. The ground had seemed virtually untouched until they had come here which made him think that maybe it was another bird that got the creature. He looked to the skies but only saw a empty blue with the bright globe of Syna shining in the middle of it. Karsynwa squinted against those rays for a bit before looking to the rest of his peers. They were milling about, talking in quiet voices now, perhaps waiting like him for Tavareth to speak though their instructor was currently busy rifling through his pack. He produced a broad bladed knife, and sat next to the tiny brook. There he started digging the edge of his blade into the earth until he created a small hole that the water started to pour into. Then he quickly took out a shallow wooden bowl which he filled up before pouring it into the emergency water skin he had produced earlier. He repeated this process until the skin was relatively fat with water, then he stoppered the skin and replaced it back into his backpack.

“When you are out in the grass or anywhere between cities, you will want to keep an eye out for good sources of water. This is not one of those but I’m going to use it to show you what you can do if you don’t have a good source nearby. Running water from a river is ideal, but a pond or creek will do in a pinch. If you are truly desperate there are other ways to procure water that I will show you later but for now we will learn what to do with standing water. First the last thing you want to do with it is drink it straight as it could carry diseases that will have you crouching in the grass for bells upon bells. You need to boil the shite out of it first, and for that we will want to get a good fire started but not here. This isn’t a good place to set up a shelter as if it rains you’d fine your fire and supplies flooded. So, lets start looking for a good spot.” Tavareth said before starting up a gentle slope with the rest of the group following close behind. After a chime, Karsynwa followed as well, paying careful attention to the way the instructor and the rest of them moved up the hill. Tavareth climbed with wide strides, keeping his knees at a comfortable angle as he worked his way up. The rest of the students moved more or less like him, with awkward strides, most of them having not had the chance to grow into their legs yet. Eventually when he had seen enough, Karsynwa quickened his pace to rejoin the group and push his way to the front.

WC - 827

[Karsynwa]

They traveled for half a bell before they found a likely spot. Karsynwa was amazed at the variety of the terrain that could be found within the grass between the slopping hills. He’d expected with a name like the sea of grass it would be rather featureless but on the ground he found it to be quite the opposite. The land had texture to it, and was full of more than just grass. It teemed with life of all kinds. Various birds flew away well ahead of their approach while smaller land animals skittered out of sight. Tavareth managed to strike down a rabbit with a sling he produced as he traveled and strapped it to hang alongside his bow on the back of his square pack.

They ended up finding their spot in a small hollow between hills that had a good view of the Bluevein to the north. Karynswa found the spot curious as it didn’t offer the most appreciable lines of sight but he kept his mouth shut. From the look on Tavareth’s face, he figured that it would be time to listen soon. His instructor had a thoughtful expression as he carefully unpacked. Karsynwa watched as he laid out carefully the bundles of dried grass and then proceeded to dig out a shallow hole with that flat knife of his. The ground was harder, and drier up here so it crumbled as he scooped it out. As he watched he noticed that the wind tugged at him a little less strongly up here, and he only noticed that because his long hair wasn’t constantly getting in his mouth. He really should have bound it before coming out here today. Sighing, he knelt right as Tavareth opened his mouth to speak.

“When you are picking a spot to make camp, you want it high, out of the wind, and preferably near a water source. There are other factors like are there game trails nearby or signs of predation to watch for but first and foremost you want to make sure you’ve got some good solid ground to work with. Here is pretty nice as we are out of the wind, well in sight of water, and have multiple routes for escape should we need them. Thats another thing you will want to consider when choosing your ground. You never know what is going to come out of the grass so you’ll want to become very familiar with your surroundings before bedding down for the night.

Now that we’ve picked out our ground, it is time to dig out a fire and get the water started boiling. You will want to start out by digging a little pit and shore it up with stones if you can find any. Then you want to dig a channel from that pit to another spot about a foot away so the fire can get air to it to keep it going.” Tavareth said this part slowly as he followed his words with his hands, creating a little divet in the earth before putting down the knife. He picked up a small metal tin then and pulled out handful of white fluff that he packed down into the small hole. Beside the hole he stacked bundles of dried grass, forming a little pyramid before he reached over to grab another small tin. From this one he pulled out a piece of charred cloth that hung limply between his fingers and glimmered with an oily sheen. After setting this down amongst the fluff, he leaned over clutching two small metal objects that Karsynwa recognized as flint and steel. He struck these together several times producing a shower of sparks with each swing. One of these sparks eventually caught on the oily cloth and quickly the rest of the fluff caught fire. Moving as fast and smoothly as possible, Tavareth packed in the bundles of dried grass over top of the fire, forming a thick layer of grass over it. Then he pulled a pot out of his backpack and filled it with the water they had taken earlier from the small brook.

The water clattered in the pan filling the bottom quickly. Small bubbles started to form in the water as it heated up, but Karsynwa wasn’t able to watch for long as Tavareth was drawing their attention elsewhere. To a large bundle of shiny grey canvas he was unrolling out onto the grass. A bundle of metal stakes on the ground beside him.

“While that boils, lets see about setting up this tent.” Tavareth said, taking a moment to look around before he started the demonstration.

WC - 774

[Karsynwa]

The tent itself was a relatively simple device. It had four metal poles and straps sewn into the oil skin lining to secure them into place. Tavareth moved swiftly as he set it up. He started by tying the back half of the oil skin tarp to two of the metal poles, then he secured the rest to the other two poles. Then carefully he extended to poles upwards before splaying their bases outward like the four points on that device he showed them earlier. It gave the tent a vaguely conical shape that refined as he secured the bottom linings straps to base of the poles. Karsynwa noticed how he drove in the metal poles as he did this, sinking them about an inch deep into the soil and shaking them a bit before moving on to the next pole. He then moved to the outside of the tent where he drove in the metal stakes through loops that had been fashioned on the outer edge of the canvas. Tavareth drove these in with the bottom of his hatchet, knocking on the head of the stake until it was flush with the ground. He was trying to commit this all to memory but Karsynwa knew it would be hard without doing any of it himself. Leaning in close, he watched as the man disappeared into the tent with a separate piece of oilskin canvas. Peering inside, he watched as the man spread it over the ground inside the tent, and smoothed out its layers so it didn’t have any kinks in it.

Tavareth looked up at him. “Grab the blanket.” He said, and Karsynwa did as he asked. Then the man exited the tent to kneel by the fire.

“Once you have gotten your shelter properly set up you will want to check on your fire. Grass burns quicker than dung as you can imagine, so you’ll want to make sure you have plenty in stock if that’s going to be your fuel source. I’d recommend carrying an extra sack along so you can pick up any dung you come across. Once its been properly dried it can make an excellent fuel source and you can save its embers in a hollowed out horn to use on your next fire. So long as its got a small hole at both ends, the embers can survive all day.

For now, we are going to put this fire out as our pot has been at a rolling boil for a while now. You can kill a fire quick by dumping dirt on it to smother it.” Tavareth said as he lifted the pot gingerly off the fire and set it aside. The water was bubbling violently now but the moment it was off the flame it started to slow down a pinch. Then he watched as Tavareth scraped at the ground with the side of his boot, pushing dirt onto the fire until it guttered out in a plume of black smoke. Karsynwa coughed and waved away the smoke from the air in front of him. He blinked several times. When his eyes stopped stinging he saw that Tavareth unrolled the map onto the ground and had that strange device set atop it.

WC - 542

[Karsynwa]

“While that cools, we should go over how to read a map because knowing where you are is critical for anything you are trying to do out her. Say you found a good hunting trail, or fishing spot, or want to know where you set your traps, you’ll want to mark it on a map like this. Come on, gather round.” Tavareth said, gesturing for them to crowd in a semi circle around the map. He followed Tavareth’s finger as he traced a line from Riverfall to a seemingly random spot on the map.

“The first thing you need to know about maps are these marks here” He said, pointing to the small compass in the bottom right corner. “This tells you which way is North, East, South, and West which are your cardinal directions. When you travel at an angle between these directions it goes as follows: North East, South East, South West, and South East. Pared with a compass, it will help you navigate even across the most difficult terrain and keep your bearings even when your visuals are bad.” Tavareth held up the device he called a compass and it clicked what that curious device was for, though he was more than a little curious about how exactly it operated.

“How does the compass know which direction is which?” Karsynwa asked, noting the way the red arrow on the device wobbled as it pointed North no matter which way Tavareth pointed his hand. He had picked up on this earlier when he had handled the device but hadn’t realized its significance until now. “Is it magic?”

Tavareth shook his head. “Its made of a special metal that tracks whichever way is North. There is more of that strange metal up there I reckon and it pulls on this little bit ever so slightly. This is why you never want to go out into the grass without one of these. Its easy to get lost in these hills so you want to make sure you have a firm idea of the direction you are going.” Tavareth said and let that sink in for a chime before he moved on to the next topic. His finger traced a series of elongated circles with each being encircled by a larger one.

“This is a topographical map which gives you a way to read the terrain ahead of you. It is good for plotting your course and planning out particular spots you might want to shelter. When the lines are far apart like this one, it means that it is a hill with a gentle slope. When they are close together, it means the slope is steep like you see when you look at these lines along the cliff. You can also use these lines to tell the direction of a river by looking which way the lines are ridged towards.” Tavareth said, following the blue lines along their curve till he reached to little triangles that had been drawn. The distance between these two point is a mile. It is going to take you a while to get a grasp on distance but for now we’ve set you up an example for you to build off of.” He said, and then got up to walk up to the crest of the hill. Karsynwa followed with the rest of his peers till he found himself staring out towards the river. There along its banks he saw a distant pair of figures. They were spaced apart a fair ways and they were holding long poles with blue pennants streaming from the top.

“So this is a mile” Karsynwa said, and Tavareth nodded. It seemed a simple thing laid out so plainly but he knew that it would likely be difficult when the terrain became harder to traverse. One of his peers spoke quietly with Tavareth, their voices lost to the wind. Then Tavareth turned to them with a crooked grin.

“I suppose it is time we packed up now and headed back to Riverfall. I hope you were paying attention today because this might just save your life when it comes time for your trial.” The boys nodded, and with that, they moved to break down the camp before traveling the short distance back to Riverfall.

WC - 714