Log of the Black Lady: 41-43 Spring 512

In which a lone Svefra gets in a little hunting and fishing

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An inland sea created by Ivak's cataclismic fury during the Valterrian, the Suvan Sea is a major trade route and the foremost hub for piracy in Mizahar. [lore]

Log of the Black Lady: 41-43 Spring 512

Postby Daske Baggywrinkle on April 15th, 2012, 4:24 am

Timestamp: 41-43 Spring 512
Northern Suvan



OOC :
This thread is a solo training thread written in the form of log entries made by Daske as he makes the voyage. It's probably best to imagine him writing up each day's log entry at the end of that day.



Day 18

Light winds. Clear sky. No clouds anywhere. I sailed for half the day making poor speed because of the light winds. Finally I anchored near a thirty food waterfall that tumbled off a cliff and into the sea. Ferns and mosses hung precariously on the cliff behind the falls, perpetually drenched by the water. Dense underbrush stood guard on both sides and extended its reach along the beach in both directions. I stripped down and dived into the water, which was deep under the falls. It was cold and refreshing. I was surprised to find myself swimming with a large number of good sized steelhead trout.

I returned to my boat and got out my fishing gear. I spent the next several hours catching fish. It seemed like almost anywhere I tossed the line there would be a fish waiting to bite. By the end of the day I had caught fourteen steelhead measuring eighteen to twenty-four inches in length.

Later that evening, as I was enjoying fried fish steaks, I thought about the steelhead trout and why they were there in such large numbers. Perhaps they were returning to their home river to spawn, but found that the Djed storm had turned the river mouth into a waterfall that they could no longer traverse. Whatever the explanation, it turned out to be a windfall for me.




Day 19

This morning I took my bow and arrows and hiked up the beach about a mile and a half to where I was able to climb the cliffs to the edge of the forest above. The view out over the water was spectacular. Far off in the distance I could just make out the shape of a sailing vessel. Probably a square-rigged trader. I plunged into the forest and found myself in a different world. The crashing of the surf gave way to the silence of giant trees. I made my way back toward the waterfall and eventually found the stream. I took off my boots and let my feet soak in the clear, cold water.

I put my boots back on and started to get up to return to my boat when I saw a sight that caused me to freeze in place. Directly across the stream from me was a bear cub. A brown bear cub. It was staring back at me. I'm not sure who was more surprised but the cub turned and ran off into the trees making a bawling sound. The bawling sound was followed by a roaring sound, and I knew I was in big trouble. I picked my bow up off the ground, slung the quiver of arrows over my shoulder and quickly strung the bow. I fitted an arrow to the bow string just as a very angry mother bear came charging out of the underbrush not twenty yards away. She barely paused before turning on me.

Time slowed down. Everything gained an almost painful clarity of sight and sound. I could see saliva flying from the creature's jaws as she lumbered toward me at a surprisingly fast clip, her black eyes focused solely on me. I could hear the pounding of her feet against the ground as she closed on me. I pulled the bow string back, sighted and held as the bear stopped about twenty feet away from me, reared up on her hind legs and delivered a blood-curdling roar. I released the arrow and watched it fly across the intervening distance and embed itself in the bear's neck. A circle of red formed around it immediately. The bear dropped to all fours and staggered to one side. I fitted a second arrow, sighted and released. This one buried itself in her side. She bellowed and toppled over. I fitted a third arrow as she struggled to get back up, sighted and released again, this time finding her soft underbelly. I fitted a fourth arrow and waited. Her breathing was heavy. Her eyes were rolling in panic. Then she was dead, eyes glassy and empty.

There was a roaring sound in my ears. My vision was blurry. The forest seemed to tilt to one side and I found myself sitting on the ground. I was breathing hard and was sweating something awful. Then the nausea hit and I lay back on the ground and closed my eyes. After an indeterminate length of time I sat up and looked around. Nothing had changed. The bear was still dead.

It was evening when I got back to the Black Lady. I had a pretty good piece of bear hide and a backpack full of bear meat. In my pocket was a set of bear claws. There was no way I was NOT going to make a necklace out of them. Otherwise nobody would ever believe my story.

Later that evening, as I sat on deck smoking my pipe, I thought about what had happened. When I had started out this journey to find my people, I had dreams of adventure and discovery. But I had no idea what exactly that meant. Now I know. Somewhere above the waterfall is a bear carcass. Somewhere above the waterfall is a bear cub wondering where its mother is. Somewhere above the waterfall the bear cub will most likely die. Here below the waterfall I am alive. It could just as easily turned out the other way round. Adventure and discovery. It's not all it's cracked up to be.




Day 20

Note :
Sometimes Daske refers to his boat and himself as "we".


We sailed into the harbor at Syliras around mid-day. It's a busy port even in these hard times. We had a twenty knot wind at our back, which meant we would be coming in hard and fast, which made the approach a bit tricky. Even a small boat like a Casinor is quite heavy and therefore as a lot of momentum. You can't just stop it on a miza. My plan was to come in at a forty-five degree angle to one of the docks, let the jib go loose, bring the boat about so that it's heading back out to see but parallel with the dock, let the main go loose and use the rudder to steer the boat to a gentle stop against the dock. I have actually done this maneuver successfully a few times. This was not one of those times.

I brought her in at the right angle, let the jib go free and started to bring her about when some idiot in a similar sized boat a little further down the dock decided this was a good time to leave the dock and head out to sea. Unfortunately his chosen course put him directly between me and the dock. Which meant that if I came about as planned, I would ram him. The only obvious alternative was to continue sailing straight into the narrow beach at the base of a wall of pilings. This didn't seem like such a great idea either. So I held off as long as I could, giving him as much time as I could to get the hell out of my way. Then I swung around behind him and almost completed the maneuver. Almost. The delay slowed the Lady down just enough that she couldn't come about as sharply as she needed to, although she tried. She hit the dock at a forty-five degree angle, which resulted in an awful scraping sound as she pushed herself up against the dock and straightened out. I jumped on to the dock with a docking line to keep her from heading back out and shortly after that had her secured.

There were a number of people on the dock watching this little show. Once I had her secured, they gave me an applause accompanied by much laughter. I suspect I turned several shades of red. It was a less than perfect end to a long trip, but both I and the Black Lady had arrived in one piece.

AKA Anselm
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Daske Baggywrinkle
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Log of the Black Lady: 41-43 Spring 512

Postby Trident on April 15th, 2012, 7:43 pm

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Daske


Skills:
  • Fishing +2
  • Sailing +2
  • Weapon (Shortbow) +1

Lores:
  • New Migratory Patterns of the Steelhead Trout
  • Layout of the Port of Syliras


Comments: It was a really short thread, I couldn't really give it much. Regardless, the meat you acquired from the bear and the fish are yours. In the future, however, please note it will not be so easy to obtain fish, especially with your level. The extenuating circumstances of the djed storm means that I'll allow you this one, but just be a bit more prudent.

If you have any questions about my ruling, feel free to PM me!
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