Into the New World, Chapter 1: Amongst the Verdant Towers
- Thread starter Zurai
- Start date
Zurai
First Post
Nac Mac Feegle said:
"Agreed. Let's move, then."
Artemisia and Enko gather their gear from the Council chamber, and the party sets off. The landscape is shrouded in deep layers of ashfall, although for the moment the skies are clear. Within the village proper, trails and paths have been blazed through the ashes covering the main streets, but once the group starts down the hill they have to break their own trail. The view from the top of the hill looking towards the forest is at once beautiful and terrible to behold. It's as if the color has been leached from the world, leaving the normally vibrant countryside a lifeless charnel gray - and yet, the ash throws the world into stark contrast. Every shrub, sapling, and tree appears as a statue of intricately worked granite.
Off in the distance, the Noonshadow forest is the only visible color. While the canopy of the forest is mostly the same ash-gray as the rest of the landscape, the wind has sifted enough of the ash out of the treetops that some green shows through, almost like a beacon of hope.
It takes a couple hours for the seven of you to make your way to the edge of the forest, but there are still several hours of daylight left when, at last, you begin making your way between the towering tree trunks. As expected, there are still clumps of ash on the forest floor, but it isn't nearly so thick as outside the forest, and the party makes steady progress.
As you walk further and further into the shadowy woods, Artemisia raises a few issues to the party. "Right. Now that we're in the forest, there's some things we need to think about. Firstly, what order are we going to be marching in, and are we going to go single file, two abreast, something else? It's probably a good idea to have one of us hunters ranging ahead, one leading the group, and one at the rear.
Secondly, how long do we intend to travel each day? I'm sure we'll be making stops every few hours to rest and eat, so eight hours of actual travel is probably going to take most of what daylight we'll get.
Thirdly, do we want to start supplementing our food with hunting already, or do we want to wait a few days? Hunting will slow us down.
Lastly, once we do make camp, we will need to set watches. Not all animals hunt by daylight - and who knows what else is out there now? I'd prefer two at a time for three hours each, but as long as we have the whole night covered, I won't complain."
[sblock=OOC]OK, at this point I need some administrative stuff: Marching order, formation, how long you intend to march each day on average, who the primary survivalist(s) is/are, watches, etc. Basically, any "standard procedures" you can think of, speak up![/sblock]
Lorthanoth
Explorer
Alistia speaks up, "Well, I suppose it makes sense to go two abreast. Maybe? And I think I'm probably best off in the middle somewhere; I know I won't be much good at any of the things you've mentioned. And I don't know about 'watches', but maybe those of us who aren't as experienced should be paired off with someone who is, so we can learn about stuff as well as have an eye open?"
Dire Lemming
First Post
Enko seems surprised when Artimisia begins to speak about discussing thing and starts to say something, only to immediatelly silence himself when it becomes clear what she is speaking of. "Artimisia, are you- oh... Right, well I have never traveled with others before, and never far enough into the forest that I would need to camp here, I'll travel for as long as needed. I completely agree about the watches though..." he looks towards his feet for a moment, then looks up again. "I guess I should be somewhere in the middle. I'm no hunter, but I can help with gathering food, if we can find any plants with all this ash. So if we are to have pairs of watchers, who will they be?"
Masquerade
First Post
Cleyra seizes the opportunity to apply some analysis to the situation. "I'm no hunter, either, but I'm a pretty good shot," she says, pressing her hand against her quiver, "especially if I'm near my target. Further, my eyes may not be yet attuned to this wooded backdrop, but I am at least as observant as any hunter. If I take the rear, we can assign one hunter to the lead, leaving two to range ahead."
"And since we have already bought ourselves some time by taking the faster route," Cleyra says with a hint of passive aggression, "I would like to suggest that we begin hunting tomorrow. We should make our rations last as long as possible because have no way of knowing whether the conditions nearer the mountain will lend themselves as well to hunting as this area does."
"And since we have already bought ourselves some time by taking the faster route," Cleyra says with a hint of passive aggression, "I would like to suggest that we begin hunting tomorrow. We should make our rations last as long as possible because have no way of knowing whether the conditions nearer the mountain will lend themselves as well to hunting as this area does."
Nac Mac Feegle
First Post
"I'll go ahead," says Thane quickly, "I have the best chance of remaining unseen." The fact that it would also mean that he didn't have to walk with all these other people no doubt also factored into Thane's decisions.
Dire Lemming
First Post
"Hm... Ryon has that wolf." Enko points out, glancing guardedly at the furry quadroped walking along next to them. "I'm sure that'll help with scouting. What do you think? Then Artimisia can lead the rest of us."
"I'd already decided to range about. I myself, and Growl of course, will take a position some ways behind Thane, ranging from one flank to the other, and focus on tracking. I also agree with Cleyra. We have no idea how long this trip will be, so we should start hunting as soon as possible. Perhaps lengthen the mid-day rest period to allow those of us skilled to make an attempt at hunting or forageing."
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