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[Merevaika] Moderated Thread

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Not found on any map, Endrykas is a large migrating tent city wherein the horseclans of Cyphrus gather to trade and exchange information. [Lore]

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Fool's Gold

Postby Tribal on December 13th, 2015, 7:51 pm

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"The crosses? None of your concern, none at all," Kam seemed adamant. Once the fire was going he snatched his map back and turned it this way and that before putting it the right way up, "you've torn it!" He whined, "Do you know how much this thing cost me?"

Another loud scratch at the door saw the man all but jump out of his skin. He watched from his seat near the fire, trying to warm himself as Merevaika searched the skeleton, where she would discover upon turning him over, that he had died with his hands bound and something rolled up in his mouth; a sizeable cut of leather with markings on it, the same as Kam's map. On the back of his belt he wore a custom dagger, of which the blade snaked back and forth elegantly to a sharp point, "not the kind of weapon you want plunged into your back," Kam shivered, but accepted the woman's offering, anything he could use to defend himself was better than nothing.

As Merevaika rolled up the rug and pushed it to one side, her work revealed a hidden trap door in the middle of the room with a rusted, black circular hinge and lock they could pull to lift open. Kam got to his feet and opened the trapdoor to stare down into the darkened pit, wooden slats bolted to one side of the wall forming a makeshift ladder. His eyes seemed to light up, even if the prospect of wandering down into the foreboding darkness gave him the willies. He swallowed, summoning a bout of courage before taking a step forth as if to attempt the climb down when something knocked at the door again, causing Kam to spin around quickly and throw his arms up with fright, "my nerves can't take this!"

The world outside was quiet for a spell with only the crackle of the fire to break the silence. "I don't know what cut me," he admitted quietly, "one moment I was chasing after my steed, the next," he gestured to his arm, and clearly medicine was not for forte for he hadn't even wrapped his wound tightly enough to stop the bleeding, or at least slow it. His concentration was taken once again, not by the strange scratching this time, but the low, disgruntled sigh of his mule.

"He's here!" Kam raced to the door and before Merevaika could protest, he lifted the wooden lock and swung the door open. "Was that you who has been scratching this whole time?" The man grinned and stepped aside for the mule to waltz on inside and shake the water from his coat. Just as he went to shut the door, Merevaika's missing dog darted through the gap and sidled up to his master, whining and lifting his front right paw. Kam made sure the door was securely locked before turning with a chuckle, "silly me, I thought there was something far more dangerous out there. What do you say we get our lamps lit and find out what's down there? Ladies first, of course." His hand tightened around the hilt of his dagger, white knuckled and shaking.
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Fool's Gold

Postby Merevaika on December 13th, 2015, 8:32 pm

Merevaika

Touching the skeleton was unpleasant, but it certainly revealed something. He had been a captive, for however long until he had been killed, a large piece of leather that remained her of the map in his mouth. Merevaika took it gently, wrapping it up tight. If she didn't discover anymore in the Wanah'ite, maybe someone outside it would recognise the markings. The knife was a good blade, one Merevaika wanted to keep. She would make sure to demand it back after all this was over. Kam owed her that much.

The rug hid something, and she wasn't surprised when she revealed a large trap door, which Kam quickly opened, staring down the black pit. He was scared, too scared to go down, and she didn't judge him for that part. If something lurked in the shadows, it definitely wouldn't be friendly. His fear was stopped by him opening the door and letting in his mule, and her own dog slipped in after. Denviel whined, raising his front paw. It was coated in blood, mauled by the wolves. Maybe it would heal, if given time. She clung to that thought as she took more cloth, binding his injury as tightly as she had her own. Kam's wound also needed seeing too, and before they moved anywhere, she made him stop, untying the rough bandage.

"Kam, stay still, don't move," she ordered, wrapping back around quickly before he had chance to protest. Having a companion who bled dry would not be helpful. She knew little medicine, but she could tie bandages tight. Hopefully, that would stop the bleeding and allow him to become more useful. Then, she took her lantern, lighting it carefully and casting the light down the pit. Only a rocky floor showed, no sign of anything down there. As before, she attached the lantern to her belt, taking Freya in her arms and shuffling down, one hand clinging to the wooden slabs, while the other wrapped around her puppy. At a suitable distance down, she let Freya down, the pup landing with a light thump, growling into the distance. She then asked Kam to pass down Denviel, clambering up quickly.

This dog was much bigger than the other, and much harder to carry. Her feet stumbled off the wood, and one slab even broke off the wall, just missing the puppy below. She gasped, pulling herself tight against the wall. Denviel whimpered, and she took a few moments to regain herself, although not too long. The dog was growing much to heavy in her hands. Finally, she slipped down the last few slabs, landing uncomfortable at the bottom. Just a few bruises, if any. The lantern flickered with her landing, and went out, submerged into darkness.

Once Kam had made the descent, she would steal a little of his flame, and set off down whatever underground tunnels she had stumbled across. Denviel clung to her, limping slowly, but she had no free hands to carry him, knuckles white around her bow. Her shoulder pressed against one wall, and she followed it, walking in almost silence. Still, her footsteps echoed on the walls that surrounded her, and her heavy breathing filled whatever silence remained. Overhead, things could be heard, scratches, more steps, growls, but sound seemed distorted here, and she didn't trust her own ears anymore.

Instead, she trusted her eyes, hoping her lantern would join Kam's light and illuminate the area. She kept her eyes open for anything, even if it was just a marking on the floor or wall. Freya seemed adamant on inspecting everything, and she trusted the dog's scent of smell more than she trusted any of her own senses. Even if Freya seemed to take the most treacherous path, she would follow.
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Fool's Gold

Postby Tribal on December 13th, 2015, 9:12 pm

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Kam remained still as Mervaika wrapped his wound. The cut looked deep, but not life-threatening, especially if he could get the right help to keep it clean. He didn’t seem to have lost any of his mobility in the limb and went about packing his bag as Merevaika climbed down the ladder with the first of her two dogs. Kam passed her the second, injured dog, and held his lamp overhead, lightening up the darkened tunnel for Merevaika which lead back towards Endrykas where she would probably find an overgrown exit half a mile down.

Instead of joining the woman, Kama merely smiled, “You’ve been a great help,” he offered, “I’m sorry to have to do this to you,” he smirked and closed the hatch quickly, standing over the wooden trapdoor while he made sure the latch was locked. He pushed the rolled up mat over top of the door to block out any light and set about fetching the chest, which Merevaika might hear him trying to heave up onto his mule’s back.

Kam whistled while he worked, attempting to block out any sound coming from the tunnel below him. It would take him a good half a bell to secure the heavy chest, and then he would be on his way with the treasure Merevaika had helped him find.
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Fool's Gold

Postby Merevaika on December 14th, 2015, 8:35 pm

Merevaika


He never came down after her. His voice echoed through the tunnel and she was submerged into darkness. Quickly, she began to return to the ladder, climbing quickly but carefully. She hammered at the trapdoor, yelling and screaming for Kam to open it. After all her work. After her leading him here. After her following him in to help him. After giving him that beautiful dagger and helping with his bandage. He trapped her, and left her to die.

Was that what he had meant with the comment on back-stabbing? She had passed it as so irrelevant, but perhaps he had meant it to foreshadow this, maybe even warn her if she had a sharp mind. Why? Why had he left her? the cracks of light disappeared, replaced with the heavy grinding of a chest. That was why. With her curiosity, and fear, she had forgotten all about it and whatever treasures lay inside. Let the glassbeaks eat him. She hammered some more, but the heavy trapdoor wouldn't budge. The woman was trapped below ground, in darkness.

Let the glassbeaks maul him alive.

She came back down, dangling one arm down to guide the dogs towards her. She would have to rely on Freya now, to get out here. She waited longer, in a desperate hope he would feel bad. Nothing. Eyes scowled, she ordered Freya quickly, starting to follow the puppy wherever she led them down the tunnel. She was blind.

"Freya, take us out." The dog scampered ahead, letting out small barks if the others fell behind too much. Fresh air might have drifted over her skin, but it might have not. She wanted to come out, and if the glassbeaks didn't kill him, get her revenge on the backstabbing Kam. She would show him.

As she walked, she tried to imagine her location on the map. Her head couldn't hold much, but she knew that the next cross would be an interesting place to visit. Perhaps the tunnel joined the two. Kam would go there, wouldn't he? She would wait for him, if he did. That was if she ever managed to emerge from these tunnels.
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Fool's Gold

Postby Tribal on December 14th, 2015, 10:16 pm

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The tunnel pointed east home to Endrykas and by the time Merevaika reached its end, Kam would be long gone with the treasure or lost to the grasslands. It didn’t make sense for her to trudge through wolf and glassbeak territory again to risk her life for “maybes” and so returning home seemed the most viable option.


G R A D I N G

Merevaika

Experience

  • Logic: 2
  • Rhetoric: 1
  • Organisation: 2
  • Land Navigation: 2
  • Grooming: 1
  • Wilderness Survival, Plains: 2
  • Tracking: 3
  • Investigation: 2
  • Observation: 4
  • Socialisation: 3
  • Animal Husbandry: 2
  • Intelligence: 1
  • Stealth: 1
  • Running: 1
  • Bodybuilding: 1
  • Climbing: 1
  • Weapon, Shortbow: 1
  • Endurance: 1
  • Medicine: 2

Lore

  • Living as an Elk
  • Wanah'ite: A suicide mission
  • Navigating via the sun
  • Wilderness Survival: building a fire in swamplands
  • Kam Bluetide: The Fool
  • Tracking: Using dogs to track a man's scent
  • Logic: Keep moving in dangerous places
  • Land Navigation: Map reading basics
  • Tracking: Thinking like the person you're trying to find
  • Tracking: Glassbeak prints
  • Denviel: Lost and found
  • Medicine: Tending to a dog's wounded paw
  • Medicine: How to wrap a deep cut
  • Animal Husbandry: Teaching a dog to find exits in tunnels
  • Kam Bluetide: The Traitor

Loot

1 x Leather Map of Wanah'ite (worth 5gm)

Notes

Here are your grades. Great job ^.^
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Tribal
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