Solo Where the shadows lie VII

Cleon sets out on a wilderness expedition with Uta and Indigo.

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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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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 16th, 2022, 3:46 pm

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4th of Summer, 522 AV

Awkardly he realized they had been spooning moments before and although he had no control over his night time movements he still felt a little embarrassed as he walked past Uta. She motioned him with a three fingers and then thinking better of it leaned in towards him to speak softly into his ear. “Let us know if you hear anything suspicious or you need to take a leak. Thank you.” Uta said, giving his elbow a little squeeze before he in turn helped her into the hammock before going to sit over by the fire. He promptly took a drink from his water skin and reapplied his insect repellent.

It didn’t take him long to figure out he couldn’t see much sitting behind the fire so he sat with his back to it and waited a while for his eyes to adjust to the predawn twilight. Only three bells, it wasn’t a very long time to spend keeping watch all things considered. He listened carefully out into the lively jungle night which still yet teemed with life, even long after Syna had gone down. Under Leth’s grace, it had an almost unnatural beauty to it, that which he could see gilded by his silvery light. He wondered vaguely if any of their traps had triggered during the night, and what he should do about it if such came to pass on his watch. Suppose he should wake up one of them, probably Indigo since Uta had only just gone to sleep. Cleon wasn’t foolish enough to think he could go off by himself. If they recommended a buddy for going to the latrine at night, they’d want him to take one to check the perimeter of the camp. In the dark it would doubly easy for him to stumble into unseen danger or even get lost if he some how managed to lose sight of their fire.

He took that all in as he sat on the log, and eventually, despite himself he grew bored though not bored enough to break out his talking book on morphing. That wasn’t entertaining to him, and besides the book might talk loudly enough to wake the others. No he would deal with that book another time. He could bide his time in more useful ways, like remembering the details of their conversation the previous afternoon, and trying to piece together how he would guide them back without using his mark. Still with a little sleep in the corners of his eyes, he vaguely remembered the way the trees looked when they first left Uta’s and where the sun was in the sky. Because it had been afternoon and they were heading away from Syka the Syna had of course been in front of them, and going lower in the sky as they walked, practically in their faces at some points of their journey which told him that they increased elevation at certain points.

Because of the way Syna traversed the sky that meant they would want to do likewise for the return journey, keeping Syna in front of them as best they could manage while they headed their way back.

WC - 528

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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 16th, 2022, 3:47 pm

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He remembered also what Tazrae had said about climbing to get a good look at Syna but he didn’t really like his odds for climbing trees on his own. He was still very much so green around the subject, and was very lucky he hadn’t taken a fall on their treks through the jungle even with a sturdy vine for support. Cleon still recalled clearly what it felt like to have his boots slip off the slender trunk as he tried to walk his way up a tree and it wasn’t hard for him to imagine that happening again under less fortunate circumstances. No, he would avoid climbing today, but he would be sure to practice it again soon. It would be integral for traversing the jungle, but better tested in his leisure time when he had access to healing facilities nearby.

Cleon looked around into the night and sighed. It was passing him by oh so slowly and he’d neglected to bring anything entertaining aside from his books. He couldn’t even drink or smoke in this situation and indeed left those implements at the Inn to avoid the temptation such items would bring. He realized why staving off boredom was an important part of survival now, as he could easily follow why that might lead to foolish decisions that might seem innocuous at first. Instead, he decided to occupy himself with a twig that he began to whittle away with his survival knife. It was quite unlike working with his carpentry tools this, he lacked control over the shapes he was cutting off and the spiked tip of the twig was uneven. Still, it was somewhat relaxing so he continued to do so until he had no twig left. Then he started on another, and another until he had a small pile of wood shavings between his feet that he tossed into the fire, making it flare up briefly. He squinted against the glare and then turned back to the darkness, a little regretful that he’d just ruined his night vision once more, poor as though it maybe.

It felt like it took even longer to adjust this time but eventually it came back to him and he could see silhouettes in the darkness. Then a strange thing started to happen. The shadows started moving right around the same time he heard a faint whispering rising to the fore. Cleon blinked several times against the darkness, squeezing his eyes shut and then opening them again thinking he was seeing things, but no, the shadows were still very much moving in a way that was eerily life like. Cleon felt his skin crawl as goosebumps raced across his flesh, and finally after a few ticks of frozen silence he manage to overcome his fear somewhat to sit bolt upright and started to turn towards the others when he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye. Not just any figure either but a lithe, blue skinned woman with glowing purple eyes and wearing the shadows around her like a dress.

WC - 512

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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 16th, 2022, 3:48 pm

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She was staring right at him, and when their eyes met she quirked a smile that revealed her canines. Cleon shuddered, and opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. The shadows were practically writhing around them now, reaching a fever pitch as she strode closer, just on the edge of the fire light. Her voice was like silk rustling over silk, but he heard it as clear as if she had spoken it directly into his ear.

“Cleon… Its been sometime. I wondered where you had gotten off to when I could no longer find you in Sunberth, so imagine my surprise when I get a little whisper that you were here in Syka all this time right when everything was going down. I almost wish I had made you one of mine sooner, just so I could have listened to it all happen in the moment, but there will be time enough to make up for that in the future.” She said, her voice continuing to be soft and sibilant as she edged closer, the shadows clinging to her and seemingly consuming the light around her. Cleon shivered.

“Do you know me Cleon?” She asked softly. When he shook his head no, she continued. “I know you. I’ve known you since you first started creeping about in my domain. I’m sorry, but I never took much more than a casual interest in you before because you really didn’t think beyond the next pinch, and that was always your game back then. Though you are young I suppose, still learning about the world, still growing. I forget how you humans work sometimes. Its seems you have really come into yourself now with a hunger for information that I can’t help but admire in a mortal. Best of all, you proved to me that you can keep a secret, several in fact thanks to that magical device on your wrist. I like that in a potential follower.”

The woman laughed as her face changed slightly as if she suddenly remembered something. “My name is Akajia, the mistress of shadows and the night is my domain. I appreciate any man that can keep a secret, but it is just as important to me that you can figure one out on your own, without using that little device of yours. Consider it a test of sorts. I want you to discover a truly precious secret. One that could be life or death. Once you do, depending on how quickly and proficiently you do so I will let you know how you did. Don’t disappoint me Cleon. I’ll be watching.” She said softly as the shadows seemed to slowly enfold around her until as she spoke the last word he almost couldn’t make out any part of her. Then the shadows separated where she had stood and gradually they returned to some sense of normalcy as they stopped writhing back and forth around him. It was longer still however before he found the courage to look around the camp only to find that it looked completely normal and numbly he took a seat on the ground, still processing what just happened.


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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 16th, 2022, 3:48 pm

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He didn’t know how long he’d sat there, only one tick he was alone, and another Indigo was wrapping a blanket around him followed by her arm. “Its okay.” She whispered softly, and Cleon was strangely comforted by her words an presence. Not long after that the sun broke over the horizon filling the skies in the east with bright beautiful colors and banishing away the cold stillness of the twilight. Cleon started to relax more as the sun came up, and eventually Uta was awake too which prompted Cleon to get a grip and start helping around the camp. He started with adding a little more fuel to the fire so they could warm up dinner, and then he followed Indigo along to check their snares. Surprisingly everyone of them had been triggered, but hadn’t manage to snag a single critter. It made him think back to just a few bells ago when the shadows where wriggling about and he wondered if that had anything to do with it. From the expression on Indigo’s face, he thought she must be thinking along the same lines, and if he wasn’t sure of it, he definitely was when they came upon the last trap with three fat jungle pigeons laid out neatly beside it, their necks snapped. They both accepted this without comment, heading back to camp with the bounty while Cleon tried his best to put that night behind him for now. This was supposed to be a survival situation after all, and he needed to be mindful of that until he was free and clear of the jungle. There would be plenty of time to think on what the goddess had said later. For now, he had to focus on leading them out of the jungle later.

First though they saw about breakfast. Sitting down beside Indigo, he watched as she demonstrated her skills with plucking the feathers off one of the birds they had gotten and he tried his hand at one of the other ones. Uta was no where to be found. He supposed she was off taking a leak somewhere or foraging as she had mentioned the night before. Cleon didn’t concern himself with that too much, too busy trying to not think about other things while following Indigo along in her plucking strategy. It felt kind of funny at first removing the feathers off of this bird, and it was a little hard to manage with gloves on so he ended up taking them off so he could be quick as Indigo, only he was not nearly as quick and lagged behind significantly as he tried to follow her along. No matter, he continued to troupe forward as she started in on her second pigeon finishing it before he had even managed to finish his first. When she gestured for him to hand his over, he didn’t even argue, differing to her expertise as she made short work of the remainder of feathers he’d left on the bird. Then he helped her tie them to hang above the fire and followed her out into the jungle a short ways where they found Uta halfway up a tree, drawing pad in the crook of her elbow.

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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 16th, 2022, 3:49 pm

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“Oh hey you two. I was out foraging and well, I caught sight of this interesting specimen here and well, you know.” Uta shrugged as she continued drawing. For the first time he’d ever seen her to, Indigo’s lips tilted into a semblance of a smile as she shrugged and turned around back to camp where they monitored the pigeons for a while until Uta returned with a batch of mangoes that looked quite ripe for the eating. Cleon smiled and waved her down. “We got lucky and found these three jungle pigeons waiting for us. I guess we will be eating rather well this morning.” Cleon commented as he remembered to look at the bag they hung their food from the night before. From his vantage it looked relatively undisturbed which he took as a good sign meaning that they would have plenty of food to bring back with them. It felt like a successful survival trip, and more than that they would be bringing back enough meat to share with the rest of Syka which also felt good. All of which almost washed out the unsettled feeling he’d been left with after his twilight encounter. Her face was still there when he closed his eyes, so he tried to keep them open mostly and wondered if Uta had factored any of this in when she was reminding him to remain mentally tough. Perhaps she was. She was after all more experienced than he, so he wouldn’t doubt that she had anticipated such a thing happening, even out here in the jungle. Indigo certainly didn’t seem surprised, though how much she saw if anything was yet a mystery to him. Just another one to add onto the pile that was quickly getting too tall for him this season. He had to start figuring things out and fast before it toppled over and covered him up in mystery.

Cleon focused back on the pigeons as Uta sat across from them. “Looks like quite the bounty! Good job with the snares Indigo.” Uta said with a slight smile, poking one of the plucked pigeons with a twig causing it to twist about over the fire briefly. “Thank you” Indigo said quietly. Uta looked across the fire pit at Cleon. “How did your watch go, hear or see anything interesting?”

He hesitated a moment, and opened his mouth when Indigo chirped up. “Just the wind making the shadows move. You’ll get used to it the more time you spend out here.” Indigo said quickly, and Cleon smiled embarrassed as he looked down at his hands. “I’m pretty sure I saw, or at least heard a jaguar last night. It was probably just checking what we were about because it moved on rather quickly.” Uta said, and having finished slicing a mango she started handing out the slices. Cleon took one gratefully with a generous bite, juice dripping down his chin.

“So Cleon, what do you think our survival plan for this morning should be. What should we do first after eating and how should we prioritize our time?” Uta asked, leaning forward slightly.

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Where the shadows lie VII

Postby Cleon on July 18th, 2022, 9:54 pm

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Grade Award!

Cleon:

Skills:

Logic + 1, Observation + 3 , Socialization + 1, WS + 3

Lore:

WS: Using a buddy system for extra security
Logic: Sitting with ones back to the fire to minimize night blindness
WS: Staying preoccupied by mentally mapping out ones environment
Diety: Akajia, mistress of shadows
Akajia: Shadows move around her
Akajia: Favors those who can hold onto secrets
Akajia: Has given Cleon a test
Akajia: Appeared as a blue skinned woman with purple eyes and dark hair
WS: Plucking jungle pigeons
WS: Tying jungle pigeons on the spit
WS: Checking one’s equipment first thing in the morning


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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