Baare bones - Part 2

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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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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on April 10th, 2022, 4:25 pm

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8th of Spring, 522 AV Evening

In the time they had gone inside and come back out again, a light rain had fallen, stippling the beach like a freshly plucked chicken leg. After studying the sky for a long moment, Randal lead the way to the community pool, and Cleon followed carrying the surfboard he had picked out. Although it was yet unpainted, it was still a beautiful board, and the stained wood had a certain gleam to it under the muddled evening sky. It also felt a good deal more solid then he remembered, but that also might be because he was feeling a bit tired. No matter, he was feeling freshly infused with a keen energy to learn what this surfing was all about, especially after having put all that effort into learning how they were made.

Before they did that though, they broke for a small meal at the commons, using some fruit that had been left out, and combining it with the stores both of them had brought along. Randal contributed a few sandwhichs while Cleon brought out some stew he’d taken from the Inn that morning. It was altogether a pleasant repast that they spent quietly as both were eager to get the meal done quickly as the light was old in the sky.

They managed to reach the community pool in short order after that, and with a bell or so of daylight remaining both of them climbed into the pull. Cleon watched as Randal went fully into the water, taking to it easily while Cleon loitered about waist deep in the water, cautious about going any further. At a gesture, he placed the board in the water, and Randal swam over to pull it by the tip toward himself.

“So I’ll demonstrate first off what positions you’ll need to memorize on the board, and you can work on these until I think you are ready for the sea.” Randal said as he flipped the board around, then climbed on top of it, laying down across its length. “This is the first position you’re going to want to memorize. Its the one where you will be the most stable with your balance which is important when you’re out at sea and dealing with the movement of the water underneath you.” Randal said, paddling with his arms while using his legs to keep the board from tipping to either side. Cleon watched him carefully for a moment as Randal pushed back onto his knees, then pushed up so he was balancing across the back of the board with one foot in front of the other. The board drifted forward for a moment before it stalled and Randal hopped off of it.

Pushing it towards Cleon, he grinned. “Give it a shot. Who knows, you might be a natural.” Randal said, and he didn’t quite get the comment till he realized his mark of Oceanus was visible from where it was crawling up the left side of his hip. “I didn’t get this from being a good swimmer, I assure you. Quite the opposite actually.” Cleon said, guiding the surfboard slowly towards him before he attempted to get on top of it. It didn’t work quite so easy as Randal made it appear, as the board slid away from him the second he pushed against it, and before he could grab it, the board shot forward to the other side of the pool. Fortunately Randal managed to catch it before it bumped against the other end, and pushed it back to him as Cleon recovered from almost face planting in the water. He’d managed to keep his feet under him but only just.

“You know, you really ought to learn how to swim a little if you can’t before you try to get on this board.” Randal said with a grin. “You don’t even need to leave the shallows, just start paddling at the water and then slowly lift your feet off of the ground, try it.” Randal said. Cleon did as was demonstrated, leaning back a little in the water as he started flapping his arms around, and gradually he lifted his right foot, then the left.

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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on April 10th, 2022, 4:26 pm

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Surprisingly he didn’t sink all the way down, but there was a tense few moments as he sank down to his chin in the water and started flapping his arms faster until he was spinning around in tight little circles. When he’d been doing that for a couple of chimes he managed a nervous laugh before saying. “Alright? How do I get down?” He asked, and at that Randal had a laugh of his own.

“Just extend your feet.” He said quite amused, and Cleon could have smacked his own forehead where his arms not currently busy. Hesitantly he extended his feet till they touched the bottom of the pool, and stood up. The board drifted nearby so he caught it, pulling it towards him so he could rest his elbows on it while he panted to catch his breath. That was actually kind of fun.. A lot better than his other experience had been, although he had been saved in the end from that one. As he was taking a breather, Randal swam across the pool to speak with someone he didn’t quite recognize with an odd sort of face paint around her eyes. Their discussion was short, and quiet and when he returned, Cleon had mostly caught his breath.

We’ll it looks like we don’t have as much time as I thought, but go ahead and give it another try, then if you want, you can borrow the board to practice on as much as you want. Just don’t drown, and don’t go in the sea without me.” Randal warned, walking across the pool to the edge where he took a seat. Being watched in such a way didn’t make in any easier, but Cleon wasn’t going to let that stop him as he grasped the edges of the board this time as he pushed himself up on it. He managed to get halfway up before the frantic kicking of his legs sent the board drifting forward which only made it harder to stay on top of the petching thing. Finally he gave up, and slipped back to drifting next to the board as he breathed out a long, frustrated sigh. It was only a few moments afterward that he realized he was in the deeper part of the pool, keeping astride the board by kicking his legs, and holding onto it with his arms.

“You’ve got to use more finesse than effort when getting on the surfboard. Try testing out the way it moves under your hands when you try to get on it, and balance accordingly. Do it slowly and you’ll get it.” Randal counseled, and Cleon nodded at the sound advice. Still he found it a bit frustrating how easy Randal had made it seem, and he kind of wished it had been that easy for him. Oh well, he wasn’t going to cry about it now. He just had to try, try again until he got this right. Taking in a long deep breath, and letting it out slowly and steady through his nose, Cleon tried again.

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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on April 10th, 2022, 4:27 pm

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Pushing up on the end of the board, Cleon wobbled as his legs slowly kicked under him, and kept continuously shifting his weight in the opposite direction the board wanted to go. It didn’t jerk forward this time, more like drifted slowly in place, and maybe a little backward as he pushed himself up so his navel was out of the water. Then sliding forward much as he watched Randal do, he fell on top of the board still continuously shifting with it as he pulled his way along its length until his feet were above water as well. Then grasping the edges of the board and waiting for what felt like several chimes, he felt at last like looking up at Randal. The man beamed back a smile.

“See. If you do that every time, you’ll have no problem getting on the board. Now you just have to work on maneuvering the board and standing on it, though I would try kneeling on it for a while before you try that. Anyways I have to go see to some things, but keep practicing, and when you’re confident, we’ll try it out on some waves.” Randal said, and then he was off to walk down the stretch of cobblestone path the woman had went.

Cleon nodded to himself, feeling a little lost now that Randal had walked away but determined to keep at this until he couldn’t do it anymore. Laying on the board as he was, he didn’t find it particularly difficult to paddle around to pool as Randal had, but when it came time for him to try kneeling, that came with a whole new set of jerky movements that Cleon wasn’t quite ready for as he promptly went toppling over into the pool. Coming up, he nearly hit his head on the board as he stood sputtering in the water, and wiped at his eyes. Then seeing the board drifting away, he lunged forward into the pool, flapping his arms and legs spastically until finally he reached the board to pull himself onto it while his legs did the rest of the work under him. While he was taking the time to catch his breath again, it gave him the chance to realize how much smoother and less effort this was to keep him afloat then his haphazard effort to get to this point. He’d try that later without the board if he could remember as he could clearly see how that would be a much better alternative to what he was doing now.

For the moment though, the board offered a pleasant way to experiment with his leg strokes as he propelled himself about the pool in slow motion. It felt more than a little nice on this steaming summer evening with the cool water lapping at his back and sides, and he found it almost a shame that he hadn’t tried swimming before now. Oh well, there was plenty of opportunity for that now here.

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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on April 10th, 2022, 4:27 pm

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Taking in a deep breath, he wobbled his way back onto the board again, and laid there for a moment while he planned out his next moves. Shifting his legs so that they straddled the back half of the board he then worked his hands in front of himself before slowly pushing his way up inch by inch while his back half worked to keep the board balanced across the water. It felt a little bit like walking on a rope, or a sagging piece of board that constantly moved. Thinking about it like that almost made it easier to work his way up till finally he found he was sitting across the back of the board.

Cleon’s hands shot up into the air to shake out a success, and he promptly flipped back into the water as the board shot out from under him. When he at last managed to thrash his way to the edge of the pool a few chimes later, he decided no more sudden movements in the future, at least until he was a bit more practiced with his balanced. Posturing on the corner of the pool, he considered just skirting around the edge but decided to try and swim across to where the board was. With his feet pressed flat against the side he pushed off and immediately started flailing with his arms and legs which didn’t get him very far momentum wise.

However, at least he wasn’t sinking which gave him a little room to think as he tried slowing down his legs and was relieved when he didn’t disappear under the water. Feeling a twinge more confident, he tried kicking his legs as if he was holding the board and to his surprise he started to go forward, jerkily at first, then a little more smoothly as his legs hit their stride. To avoid countering his efforts, he stopped flailing as much with his arms and instead splashed them out to his sides so they were at least not moving at cross purposes as he ungainly crossed to the other side.

Finally after what felt like several chimes, and probably was, he reached to board where it bobbed on the water and promptly climbed half onto it so he could relax from all the effort it had taken to make the crossing. He realized at that point he didn’t have much more in him, but he’d give standing at least a shot before he would call it a day. After all, Randal had said this was important and he found surprisingly that he didn’t want to let the man down. In no small part because he was going to be paying his wages very soon.

Grasping onto the board, and closing his eyes, Cleon passed along his silent hopes to Laviku before he tried again to mount the board. With that done, he climbed back onto in short order where he lay for several long moments, enjoying the sun on his back before finally he pushed himself back into a sitting position.

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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on April 10th, 2022, 4:28 pm

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Back where he started. No sudden moves. He tried to think about how the board might move and jump under him as he was trying to stand up, but found a hard time how that would exactly feel just on his legs. He also figured this wasn’t something he would want to do near the shallow end so before he tried he paddled towards the deeper waters carefully as he wobbled to keep his balance. Finally, he worked up the nerve to give it a shot and pulled his feet onto the board, holding that position for five chimes while he got used to the balance while giving the board a suspicious glance as if it was going to try something mischievous.

Then with his feet pulled under him, he pushed himself slowly up to a standing position with his legs staggered, leaning over so his hands still touched the edge of the board. He wasn’t confident enough to do it without his hands, but he hadn’t worked out yet what he would do once his legs were fully extended. Before he could even get to that point however his right foot slipped off of the right side of the board and he banged his knee on the way down as he flipped right over, and sent the board floating across the board again.

This time when he came up, he was bone tired and absent the presence of mind to try again those smooth, sure strokes under the water. He fell back to flailing across the pool, slapping his arms and legs at the water with a fierce intensity until finally his feet touched the ground and he climbed out of the water the rest of the way. From there he crawled out of the pool and onto the ground beside it where he rolled on his back and laid there as the sun peaked out of the clouds down on him. He shielded his eyes from the glare and closed them again as he panted, catching his breath before he looked over across the water to see the board bobbing by the far edge.

With a dramatic roll of his eyes, he eventually stood up and walked around the pool over to the board which he knelt by and placed his feet carefully upon to make sure it didn’t float away while he continued his rest. He had a feeling that as hard as this all is, he was going to have more than a bit of fun with this, although he hadn’t quite managed to picture what Randal meant by riding the waves. Moreso, Cleon was attracted by the idea of being able to conquer his immature fear of the sea through this, for having met and been saved by Laviku, he felt that was something very important for him to do, and soon. So he would practice this, everyday if need be, as was required for him to make this journey of his. It was the least he could do for the god whom had saved him.

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Baare bones - Part 2

Postby Cleon on June 6th, 2022, 5:19 pm

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Grade Award!

Cleon:

Skills:

Endurance: 2
Observation: 5
Surfing: 4
Swimming: 4
Socialization: 3







Lores:

Surfing: Climbing onto a surfboard
Surfing: Laying across a surfboard
Surfing: Standing on a surfboard
Randal: Enjoys surfing
Surfing: Balancing on a surfboard
Surfing: Grappling with a surfboard
Swimming: Treading water
Surfing: Using a surfboard to float
Surfing: Retrieving a surfboard
Surfing: Straddling a surfboard
Swimming: Doggy Paddling
Swimming: Thrashing around is counter productive
Swimming: Coordinating arms and legs

Additional notes:

Light bruising on right knee (2-3 days)


Feel free to pm me with questions or concerns about your grade, and don’t forget to edit your grade request! :)
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