Solo Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

More snake lore to survive the jungle.

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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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Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on May 10th, 2017, 2:21 am




“Now mostly you’ll get bit on the arms, legs, hands and feet. It’s rare you get bitten on your torso, Nya. And the bites feel very different. If you get bitten from a non-venomous snake, you’ll feel pain from the puncture, and there might be scratches and a bit of irritation.” He said, gesturing at the drawing Nya still had open in her arms.

While the kelvic took notes, he kept talking.

“Now, getting bitten from a poisonous snake is a whole different situation. Usually it burns like crazy and keeps up, not ebbing off at all like the pain of a bite from a non-poisonous snake. The bite mark will usually progress to swelling and bruising around the wound. The sensation will grow, shooting up your arm or leg. It can cause your back to start hurting, your breathing to be affected, and you can get nauseous or feel weak. Sometimes you’ll get a very odd taste in your mouth.” He added thoughtfully.

Nya nodded, swallowing hard. More and more she didn’t want to get bitten by a venomous snake.

“Is there anything you can do once you get a bite?” Nya asked, meaning venomous, but Randal answered for both types.

“For a non-venomous snake, just treat it like any other wound. Clean it and cover it.” He said, while Nya nodded.

“If it’s a poisonous snake, get to a healer immediately. If it’s a specific type, you’ll be dead before you even realize you got bitten and it won’t matter. But a healer is your only hope if its venomous. Some bites… like rattlers, can be survived. But most of the jungle snakes are deadly. Some of the things you shouldn’t do is use a tourniquet or cut the wound or try and suck out the venom. That’s just a bad idea. Don’t mess with the snake you’ve gotten bitten by. Odds are in your weakened state it will get you again. And note something odd… smaller venomous snakes tend to have more powerful poison than say adult snakes or larger ones. It gets more concentrated so don’t think just because a snake is small its harmless. Baby snakes can kill you faster.” He said, looking intently at her as if he wanted her to remember this.

“So what you should do is get out of the snake’s way. Try and remain calm. If your body swells up, which it will, get out of your clothing and any jewelry or leather you might be wearing. Keep the bite below the level of your heart. And clean the wound but don’t flush it with water. Cover it and bandage with a clean dry dressing.” Randal instructed, making sure Nya took good notes and really understood what she was saying.

“Is there anything to protect against snake bites?” Nya asked, looking worried suddenly. It was as if she knew more about snakes now than she really wanted too.

“Clothing. Leather. And there are some charms that will keep you from getting bitten. I’ll see what I can do about finding one for you. Of all the denizens in Syka, you probably need one the most.” He said laughing lightly, knowing it would take a while to locate such items of power.


Last edited by Nya Winters on December 20th, 2017, 3:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Nya Winters
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Posts: 750
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Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on December 20th, 2017, 3:55 am



Nya carefully repacked her ink and put her quill away along with her journal. She looked thoughtfully at Randal then asked her next question. “I know you don’t know all the snakes in this jungle, but can you give me some idea of what sorts there are?” She asked, wondering if he knew. For this she wouldn’t take notes, instead she just wanted general information.

“I’ve seen about five different common types, Nya. I’m sure there are far more, but we’ll keep this in general for now.” He said, looking thoughtful then suddenly ticking them off on his fingers. They’d begun to walk by now.

“There’s the tree snakes, pythons, boas, vipers....” He said, leaving it there. The fact frustrated Nya and she urged him to say more about each kind.

“What are Tree Snakes like?” She asked, knowing he’d showed her one in the bright leaf green snake he’d first captured.

“Tree snakes are most of them. They are poisonous to almost everything, but when they bite us its not so bad. We get sick but we survive. Mathias has cut enough of them open that he thinks it’s a problem with how they give out their venom, not about the potency of it. We just don’t get much in their bites. But animals like rats and squirrels do. That’s why they die faster.” Randal added.

Nya nodded, taking all this in. It was a lot to soak into her brain, but she knew the information was important.

“They seem to have large eyes. Does that mean they see better?” Nya asked, wondering if eye size had any indication on the ability of the animal to see. The pair continued walking through the jungle, following one of the many game trails that snaked through the jungle.

“They actually have the best eyesight. We don’t think they smell like other snakes can. The green one like I showed you a bit ago isn’t even venomous but its eyes are huge. They are really good climbers as well… probably because they stay relatively small and don’t grow nearly as large as the other snakes do. They also lay eggs, much like a bird would.” He added, looking thoughtful, and continuing on with his speech.

“The next type in the jungle are ones you are most familiar with. The Pythons. These snakes grow huge and have incredible muscles with large backwards curving teeth. They don’t have venom and have to hold onto their prey while they wrap themselves around the victim and slowly squeeze the air out of them. They have a really good sense of smell, Nya. They can probably track you for miles through the jungle. They lay eggs too, like the tree snakes. And they most eat other jungle animals all the way from small frogs, lizards, and other snakes… but they will also eat birds and bigger mammals. I’ve seen mother pythons curled around her hatchlings keeping them warm too.” Randal told her, encouraging her to listen.



Last edited by Nya Winters on December 21st, 2017, 2:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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
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Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on December 20th, 2017, 5:22 am



Nya did listen. As they continued their walk and Randal continued pointing out snakes, he spoke of the other groups of snakes. Nya was less familiar with those. Her snaking battles had mainly been with pythons. But now that she was familiar with Tree Snakes and Pythons, she wanted to know more.

“The next group of snakes we call Boas. They are constrictors like Pythons and have very little differences from the python groups. But they are true lovers of water. They are non-venomous and kill their food much like pythons do, wrapping around them and constricting their prey until they are dead. These snakes are vibrant and beautiful and often found in the water. Unlike pythons, they give birth to live young and are very protective of them.” The man said, not exactly looking that hard for a boa or anaconda, knowing mostly he’d find them in the water and currently where the pair was there was not even so much as a stream.

“Its odd, Randal, that two kinds of snakes so alike give birth so differently. I wonder why.” Nya mused, tapping her chin then running her hand through her loose hair. It was a lot for the kelvic to take in and she knew after she got done with her walk alongside Randal, she was going to sit down and catch up the journal being as thorough as she could.

“What about the vipers? Are you going to talk about them yet? They scare me a little…” Nya asked, eager to know a little bit more about these kind of snakes.

Randal nodded, meanwhile pointing out another python drapped in the sun. They’d passed several and seen even more tree snakes. They hadn’t seen any boas or vipers yet. Nya actually wanted to see a Boa but didn’t care if she ever saw vipers.

“I can talk about Vipers next, sure…. These snakes are incredibly dangerous because they have extremely toxic venom. These snakes are bold, aggressive, and great climbers. They can hide in the trees or be buried under the leaf litter at your feet. Most vipers are nocturnal and ambush their prey by sneaking up on them and dropping on them. Most are ovoviviparous, giving birth to live young, though there are a few that lay eggs. The snakes with rattles on the end of their tails? These are all vipers.” Randal said, gesturing with his hand as he brushed aside a bit of leaf litter near the base of one of the trees they were passing, revealing a big coiled snake that started to hiss aggressively.

Randal put out his arm and backed up taking Nya with him.

“You are better off avoiding them. They really are not the most even-tempered creatures and if you back off immediately, their aggression will often vanish.” Her guide assured her, using the stick to protect them from the snake striking and to back them away from it.

“I definitely don’t want bit by one of those. It sounded like it would be very painful and deadly.” Nya said, shuddering slightly.

Randal nodded, completely agreeing with her.


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
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Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
Donor (1) 2017 Mizahar NaNo Winner (1)
2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on December 20th, 2017, 5:49 am



“So you said there were five. We have tree snakes, pythons, boas, and …. what’s the fifth?” Nya asked, carefully, curious because she’d not heard of the fourth group. The Kelvic was trying to think of other snakes she’d seen, but she coupled come up with anything different than Randal had already shared with her.

“The fourth group are the Elapids. Its hard to pin down what these snakes are like because the group of them is vast, Nya. They range from very tame calm terrestrial snakes that have plain to absolutely inoffensive colors to sea snakes that are absolutely incredibly toxic. I bet you didn’t know we have snakes living in the sea? They can hold their breath a long long time. Sea snakes have a paddle-shaped tail which allows them to swim incredibly well. Their nostrils are also on top of their head which allows them to simply tip their head up to get a breath.” Randal instructed, thinking hard for something else to tell her.

“I Understand. Do they give birth to live snakes or do they lay eggs?” Nya asked, curious.

Randal grinned. “Both actually. Some lay eggs, some give birth to live snaklings. As far as I know, all the sea snakes give birth to live young, but the terrestrial elapids are a mixture.” He answered, thinking a moment before he continued with his lecture.
After a moment, Randal continued. “These creatures feed on other animals, but they also eat a lot of eggs so if you start finding your chicken eggs vanishing, go ahead and blame it on the snakes. Speaking of snakes… I’ll teach you how to build a snake trap too so you can keep your camp safe from them.” Randal said, having brought them on their walk in a big loop. They were almost back to the settlement which Nya marveled at.

Why? They’d made the trip and seen numerous snakes, giving Nya a greater idea of just how many snakes were in the jungle. There were a lot.

“Randal, you said once when we were out together that snakes were reptiles. What exactly is that?” Nya asked, not yet satisfied with holding steady on just talking about snakes. She wanted more information.

“Reptiles are creatures that have scales, have to get warmth from their surroundings, lay eggs, and have a skeletal system. So snakes are related to lizards, turtles, and crocodiles. They are all related because they are all the same type of animal. These cold blooded animals have to maintain tehir body temperatures using heat sources like the sun. They maintain their body tempature by moving between sources of heat and cooler areas. That’s why they thrive in these damp hot locations. They don’t have to warm up or cool off. They fit in perfectly.” He added, hoping he wasn’t loosing Nya by getting too complicated or too in depth with his explanation.

Nya was following him… barely… but following. They reached a fork in the trail, one side leading towards her side of the settlement and another leading towards his. “You said something about showing me how to make a snake trap. Are you still willing to do that?” Nya asked.

Randal nodded.


Last edited by Nya Winters on December 21st, 2017, 2:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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
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Medals: 5
Trailblazer (1) Never Say Die (1)
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2017 Top NaNo Word Count (1)

Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on December 20th, 2017, 6:14 am



“I need to run back to my place for a few minutes to get some supplies, but I’ll be right back. Go catch up on your journal, make notes on the four types, and I’ll be back within a half-bell. In the mean time, kill something and leave the corpse out in the sun opened up. We need it to get very ripe and very stinky.” He said with a wink, turning down the fork that lead closer to his place and leaving Nya to head in the direction of her own.

Nya did what he asked, returning to her encampment and looking around for something to kill. It didn’t take her long. She took some of her scrap leather and walked down to the beach where a small flock of seagulls were hanging out on the beach. She started tossing scraps of leather to them and then slowly stripped out of her clothing. When she was just in her skin, she tossed out more scraps of leather, and the birds, being as stupid as they were, set off after the scraps thinking they were food. Nya quickly shifted and spent a joyful half bell chasing seagulls and snagging them out of the air.


When she had three slightly mangled bodies, she set them aside under her clothing and took a quick swim in her fur to cool off. Then she waded back up the beach, traded fur for skin, dressed, and took the birds back up to her tent. She left them out on the roof, heating and ripening, and took a few more chimes updating her journal and waiting for Randal.

He came along in good time, a wad of netting in his hands.

Nya smiled a greeting and eagerly jumped up to learn how to make the snake trap. She had no idea if she was going to have to weave the netting or what. It looked like a complex mess of thin strings that could tangle her up in itself without her even trying.

Randal laughed at her expression. “Relax, this is easier than it looks. Help me untangle and lay out this netting.” He said, beckoning Nya over. The kelvic jumped up to help, taking an end of the netting and stretching them out flat along the ground. It took some doing… because the netting was so fine it hooked on her fingers, toes, even her hair got tangled in it. But eventually it got laid out. Then, Randal asked her to fetch the meat she’d gotten, Nya slipped back to the tent to get the gull corpses off the roof. She handed them to Randal, and he pulled them apart, throwing chunks of meat onto one end of the netting. The pieces tangled in the netting, especially those pieces of the corpse with wing feathers still on them.

Nya watched, not certain where Randal was going with this. Then he got down on his knees and at the edge where the meat was laid out on top, he began to roll the net. Nya noticed he kept the meat on the edge and pushed up the meat all up into one corner, the netting falling long and leaving the meat at one end tangled thoroughly.

“Help me roll up the rest.” Nya did and together they rolled and rolled and rolled. Soon they had a huge wad of netting with rotting meat inside of it. Where the rolled up meat was near the top, Randal gathered it together and tied it off with a strip of leather. Then he borrowed Nya’s rope and looped it up and around the end tightly at the top of the meat…. Leaving the meat tangled in the net and the net open strewn out beneath in billows of fabric.

“I don’t understand how it works…” Nya said, looking confused as Randal threw her rope up over a tropical hardwood and then without hoisting the net up, tied off the rope to her bumper. He laughed and came back to fan out the netting even more.

“They will smell the meat, slither over, and slip into the net to feast, and get tangled in it because of their scales. In the morning, don’t go near it in case one falls loose, but walk around the tree, grab the rope, and hoist it up in the air… count how many snakes there are, and then cut them all in half and let them bleed out. You can have some real fun identifying which kind was which, if any were poisonous, and we can take bets at The Tidepool as to how many you get on your first day with the trap.” He said proudly.

“I’ll be back in the morning to check on it.” Randal said, looking over the trap one more time and nodding to Nya. “Don’t stay up all night watching it. You’ll spook your snakes.” He said with a grin.

Then he departed as fast as he showed up and didn’t return until morning.

Image


When he arrived, this sight greeted him, when he arrived at dawn.

Randal found Nya hunched down near where she tied off the rope, staring jaw agape at the sheer number of snakes it caught. It took her and Randal at least twenty chimes to kill them all safely then sort them by species. Nya decided, then and there, that she’d employ a snake trap daily so as to make her camp at least PARTIALLY safe.

She'd rather have dead snakes than deadly snakes in her tent or encampment.
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)

Snaking Is A Jungle Contact Sport II

Postby Nya Winters on December 21st, 2017, 2:09 am

Grading


Experience : Wilderness Survival +5, Animal Husbandry +5, Hunting +1, Observation +5, Interrogation +2, Medicine +1

Lores: Medicine: How Snakebites Feel, Medicine: Venomous vs Nonvenomous Bites, Medicine: Treating A Snakebite, Snakes: The Five Main Types In Falyndar, Snakes: Traits of Boas, Snakes: Traits of Tree Snakes, Snakes: Traits of Pythons, Snakes: Traits of Vipers, Snakes: Traits of Elapids, Snakes: Lay Eggs and Live Birth, Hunting: How To Make A Snake Trap


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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