Solo Surviving The Weather I

Nya delves further into Wilderness Survival and how understanding the weather helps.

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Syka is a new settlement of primarily humans on the east coast of Falyndar opposite of Riverfall on The Suvan Sea. [Syka Codex]

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Surviving The Weather I

Postby Nya Winters on May 10th, 2017, 2:19 am

Timestamp: Spring of 45, 517 AV


Nya loved the book James brought her. It was all about weather and certainly a surprise to her. He’d liked the shipment of leather she’d sent from Syka and said he had sold it well, so her reward was indeed a new book along with the payment. The Kelvic paid him for it, of course, but she was touched he’d seen it and thought of her. And so, as soon as she’d had time, Nya had snuck away and found a shaded spot along Treasure Beach and had opened it to read. Nya thumbed through it, carefully studying the illustrations and starting to see the clouds in a whole new way. Initially she’d thought of breezes and zephyrs and even little storm winds as just things… but the truth was they were as alive as anything else in the world. Was the weather the same way?

The Kelvic wanted to know more about weather, not just for the sake of the knowledge, but for being able to survive Syka easier. She knew she was adapting here well, even thriving, but she still had a craving for knowledge and wanted to learn more. Nya was certain nature itself provided the knowledge she needed to know what was coming in regards to weather. It all fit together. Plants, animals, insects, clouds… even Leth in the night sky. The people of Mizahar spent their days outdoors. It came from a time when no one could go outside and everyone lived underground. And while they lived outside, they devised ways to predict the weather and stay safe. Fisherman had to know if it was safe to sail out and fish. Farmers had to know what was coming for their crops. The list went on and on. Syka wasn’t immune either. Nya knew that being able to read the warning signs that the world provided had the short and long term benefits to increase her chance of survival. If she knew a major storm was brewing and one big enough she couldn’t do her Zulrav sworn work, she could get to shelter or even build one if necessary. If there was a likelihood of something being inundated with floodwaters, she could get to high ground.

Nya opened the book and started reading… “The most accurate way to predict weather without a Konti Seer or the Divination Gnosis of Avalis is to look to the sky.” Nya paused and glanced up. “The clouds, the moon, the direction the wind blows, and even the air pressure is directly related to incoming weather.” Nya nodded thoughtfully before she continued reading. “Paying attention to changes in the sky and knowing how to read those changes gives you the advanced warning on what is to come and enables you to prepare.” Nya glanced up again. A stray breeze tussled her hair, inviting her to play, but the Kelvic ignored it.

Her mother had an old saying… “Red Sky at night, becomes a sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morn, sailors take warning.” Nya knew that what the book saying was true. She wondered why and flipped through the book looking for the answer. There was none that she could see. And frustrated she started going through the book a second and third time until a shadow was cast upon her. Nya had heard no one approaching and so she looked up startled.

Randal stood there smiling. “James gave you the weather book I see. What are you tearing through it and muttering about? Do you like it?” Nya smiled, stood up, and closed the book. She explained the saying to him and told him she couldn’t find the answer in the book. Randal nodded. He glanced at the sky and then back at Nya.

"I do like it. The sketches of clouds really help! But I can't find this answer." Nya half grumbled, still smiling at Randal.

It seemed he knew the answer. “That’s because the red sky is caused by Syna’s light passing through dust in the air which tends to build up in front of the air pressure getting high which causes good weather. In the morning, the red sky occurs when Syna’s rays pass through moisture in the air which means low pressure is coming on and a storm is on its way. That's why the evening red of the sunset is a brilliant almost ruby color and the sunrise is more orange... the tones are totally different.” Randal answered abruptly. He’d spent too much time around James, who often spouted the saying in some form or another.

Nya smiled, glad of the knowledge. “You are better than a book.” She claimed, and then asked him why he was there.


Last edited by Nya Winters on January 13th, 2018, 4:30 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
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Surviving The Weather

Postby Nya Winters on January 13th, 2018, 2:48 am



Randal laughed. “I’m just checking up on you. I knew I’d find you with your nose in this book and thought you might have questions. I’m taking a day of rest between projects and wanted to ask you about your Bungalow too. I saw that massive stone on the beach you were talking about. I think we could absolutely put your Bungalow up there, no worries.” Nya smiled, nodded, glad to hear that news.

“I hoped it wouldn’t be too difficult. It’s an easy pathway up to it, but it also has such a lovely view from the top of the stone. I can work with it more too as I hone my magic and maybe make the stone sturdier or work steps into it so people don’t have to walk around.” The Kelvic said, excited about her prospective new home. Randal was willing to do it – start it – and Nya knew she would gather enough skill to finish it out. That pleased the Kelvic greatly. “Will you start it next?”

Randal nodded. “I was hoping you’d give me the go ahead. The sooner we have a leather shop working the better we will be. Plus it will give you a better home than the tent.” Nya agreed with Randal over that.

Finding that bit of business concluded, Nya asked Randal what he’d meant about air pressure. “Randal, you said air pressure… what exactly does that mean?” The Kelvic questioned, not sure how such things worked.

“Much of our weather depends on the air pressure, Nya. And it can best be described through an example….” He unslung his water skin, opened the top and took a big drink out of the leather skin, creating some air room in the bloated cured animal bladder. Then he recorked it and rested it on the ground. “The world we live in is surrounded in a bubble of air. We know this from even before the Valterrian. Birds can only fly so high before they can’t breathe any longer, which further gives proof to this bubble. Pretend the entire world is shrunk down and slipped into this water skin. You have to imagine it perfectly round instead of the oblong shape it is. Anyhow… the bubble around the world isn’t always uniform and even. Remember making bubbles underwater or with mixed soap and water in the air? They aren’t usually perfectly round. They twist and turn and undulate… If you’ve never seen this pay attention next time you see them.” He said, kneeling down to lay his hand on the water skin.

“Pretend the water inside is actually air surrounding the world. It has pressure applied to it sometimes as it moves through life… sometimes here, sometimes there.” Randal pressed on the water skin making it bulge here and there, moving his hand around and changing the pressure of the water. “Weather exists in this air bubble… in the form of clouds and all sorts of things, even winds. When you have high pressure. it forces the weather and wind out of that area… like my hand is forcing the water away…” He said as he pressed on the skin. “They race to the lower pressure areas and often cause havoc there… “ Randal added. Then he reached over and tapped at her book.

“Once you understand about air pressure, you can learn the signs of what the pressure is based on what the skies are doing and you can survive some pretty gruesome situations because you had a little warning that a storm was coming or that beautiful weather would be the immediate future. And out here, we both know its all about survival.” Randal added, waiting for Nya to open her book and turn to the cloud section again.


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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
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Medals: 5
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Surviving The Weather

Postby Nya Winters on January 13th, 2018, 3:05 am



Nya flipped through her weather book and came to the section of all the cloud drawings. She looked up at Randal as the man settled beside her and they looked at the book together. “So… from what I understand just knowing what the clouds mean will help me understand whats coming and make it easier to survive out in the jungle or even at the coast?” She added, glancing at Randal.

He nodded. “It just gives you a bit of time to take action if you need too. Tie things down, get to higher ground, gather water or set out your water catchment system if your using say stretched canvas or tarp… if rain is coming… that sort of thing.” Randal said, tapping at the book.

Nya began to read aloud running her hands over the inked sketches that gave her a fairly good idea of what the words were speaking of. “Cirrus clouds… these are the ones high up that look like thin curls or streaks of white across the blue sky. They mean the pressure is high and good weather is resting right over the top of us. If they are dispersing, that means the pressure is getting higher. But look what it says here… in colder climates, when they multiple and gather, accompanied by winds means a blizzard is on its way.” Nya added, smiling at Randal because she knew no blizzard had ever touched Syka. Still it was good information to know.

Randal nodded, content to watch her read and be there in case she had any questions. The Kelvic had been hanging around him more and more in the past few seasons and was now very comfortable in his presence.

“The big white fluffy clouds that look like cotton or Isuas heaped up are called Cumulus and are much lower. They mean good weather too. They tend to look like floating heads of dandylions tumbling across the sky. It says here that as the day progresses, the cumulus clouds tend to get bigger and climb up into the sky. When they start doing this, they can easily become storm clouds.” Nya frowned, knowing that was so typical of the world. Something could start out innocent and then easily morph into something far more dangerous.

Randal added something at that point. “The changing nature of clouds and of the very sky itself merits a constant glance. Teach yourself, Nya, to keep your eyes on the sky always and pay attention to what it was looking like a Bell ago verses what it was looking like that morning or in the now so you can understand the ‘change’ moreso than what the current conditions are.” Randal said, stressing that the change or transition was in many ways far more important than the active state of what the clouds were doing at that very moment.

Nya made a mental note that when it came to clouds and wilderness Survival, she had to be vigilant throughout the day and not just assign times to check the sky as she thought of it.




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Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
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Medals: 5
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2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Surviving The Weather

Postby Nya Winters on January 13th, 2018, 4:08 am



Nya looked over at Randal and gestured down at the book. “How much of this really pertains to Wilderness Survival?” The Kelvic asked candidly. She had patience, but clouds? Really? Her companion laughed and gestured down at the book.

“It’s good knowledge to have, whether it is anything that helps or not. However, there’s three tried and true forms of weather I look for to determine if I should act. The first is low dark clouds. Just that. If you have low dark clouds, a storm is building above you and you should act. Mostly my action means gathering a healthy dose of firewood to store under cover so it stays dry. You always want a lot of fuel to burn regardless of your location and the weather. Ample dry fuel is ALWAYS a good idea. So too is making sure your shelter is ready to withstand rain, wind and possibly heavy hail.” He stressed and then moved on to finish answering some of her question.

Nya nodded, listening closely.,

“What I keep stressing is that you need extra time to get ready. Forewarned is forearmed. So with that in mind the two other types of clouds probably not in the book are mare’s tails and mackerel skies. The first type of clouds looks like a wild horse’s tail whipping in the wind. They are actually hazy cirrus clouds that look completely undefined. They form just in time for storms to rush in … they mean low pressure is coming. The second type are mackerel skies and look like bunches of dabbed clouds resembling fish scales. They mean moisture is accumulating in the sky and rain will fall within a few days. Either of these alone, and you have a day or two. But if you get them together in any combination, it means you will get significant rain within twenty-four bells.” Randal added, tapping the book. “The author should have included those. But do read up on the rest of the clouds, Nya. They all mean something different and will be useful to you.” He said, rising and brushing off his backside. The Founder gave Nya a final smile and gestured back towards the beach.

“Well, I’m going to go talk to the sawmill about your wood. I’ll need a payment for the bungalow and going from there I see no reason not to start tomorrow.” He said candidly.

The Kelvic grinned. A home of her own? Yes please! “I’ll come bring one tonight. I know how much you are going to charge and I have given you the design….” Nya added, thanking the Founder for finding her and all the supplemental knowledge he gave her as she’d skimmed the cloud section on the weather book. Wilderness Survival was sure a complex convoluted topic that encompassed a whole lot of knowledge that sometimes seemingly had little to do with the wilderness itself.

Randal, true to his word, disappeared back the way he’d come while Nya continued to perch on her boulder seat and turned the page to keep reading about the clouds.

User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Surviving The Weather

Postby Nya Winters on January 13th, 2018, 4:25 am



Nya flipped back to the page she was lightly keeping tabs on and started back into the types of clouds. The next picture was harder to see but the description cleared it up nicely. “Stratus clouds are very grey heavy ominous clouds that make a grey layer over the whole sky laying low across the ceiling of the world.” She followed the words across the page with her finger, tracing where the author had simply noted “Stratus Clouds mean rain.” It wasn’t very informative, but then again there wasn’t perhaps much more to say than that.

In Syliras, the knights had labeled rain with ten different verbs whereas other places rain was just rain. Perhaps the author of the book was from Syliras and liked to categorize things that could be more easily lumped together. “Nimbus clouds are often called ‘blanket’ clouds because they blanket the sky in a thin layer of grey and continuously ooze rain.” Nya was a little confused by that. Stratus were virtually the same, though the drawings looked different. Reading further Nya finally figured out that Nimbus clouds always had rain coming out of them whereas Stratus Clouds meant Nimbus clouds were forming and rain was soon to be happening.

It was all a little confusing, even for a second marked Stormwarden. Couldn’t she just ask the winds what they were bringing? Sure… she could, but sometimes even they wouldn’t tell her the truth. The winds were as fickle as the breezes though more self-important because they moved the weather around.

Nya turned a few more pages. The book then started combining cloud types into hybrids that had names like Cumulonimbus and Cirrostratus. The Cumulonimbus was a cumulus cloud that was building up into the shape of an anvil and meant a thunderstorm. She’d seen them before and knew immediately what the book was talking about. The Cirrostratus clouds were just whispy little things high up in the air that meant good weather. The same was said of the Cirrocumulus clouds. Nya laughed. She’d never remember the names. But what she did want to know and what she’d forgotten to ask Randal was how to tell if the air pressure was changing.

The Kelvic carefully thumbed through the book, noting interesting parts to return to later. A header caught her attention…. “Detecting Air Pressure” It was exactly what she was looking for. The book carefully explained that air pressure was a very dependable indicator of what weather was going to happen or was currently happening at that very moment if one couldn’t see it or it was dark. Breaking it down into the most basic science, low atmospheric pressure meant cloud formation and precipitation. High air pressure meant rising air and clear dry skies.

The best way to detect the air pressure was to observe smoke. One could make a fire, smoke a pipe, or even burn a small combustible. Then all one had to do was observe the smoke from the fire and see how it acted. If it was rising steadily in a slow lazy vertical column, there was high pressure in the area. If the smoke sank to the ground, creeped along it and swirled confusingly, the air pressure was low. Nya mentally noted both of these things because it felt important for what she needed to know being out on her own in the wilderness. Especially here in Syka, the more she could educate herself on all the factors that figured into her survival, the more likely she was to actually survive.

It was getting late though and Randal needed a payment for the bungalow. Nya closed the book, stowed it safely in her pack, and decided she’d finish her study more when she had another free day. They came frequently in Syka, so the Kelvic curbed her enthusiasm for learning and went to follow Randal’s footsteps back towards the settlement and to get her future housing arranged.



User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Surviving The Weather I

Postby Nya Winters on January 21st, 2018, 3:54 am

Grading


Nya

Experience: Wilderness Survival +5, Meteorology +5, Research +3, Socialization +3

Lores: WS: Sayings Make Sense To Predict Weather, Meteorology: Types of Clouds, WS: What Type Of Weather Certain Types Of Clouds Indicate, WS: How To Tell What The Air Pressure Is, Meteorology: What Air Pressure Is, WS: What Type Of Weather Air Pressure Indicates, Meteorology: How Air Pressure Determines Weather, WS: Sky Patterns of Mackerel and Mare’s Tale Clouds, Meteorology: Hybrid Clouds


User avatar
Nya Winters
Let the winds in my heart blow...
 
Posts: 750
Words: 784686
Joined roleplay: June 7th, 2009, 6:53 am
Location: Syka
Race: Kelvic
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)


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