Completed The Trunk of the Tree I

[Ines]

Winter 1st, 519AV

Ines was back.

That was the first thing the bat noticed when she woke up that morning. Her head felt empty. If she thought to herself loud enough, she'd hear an echo in the hollow where Adeliz used to be. She was in her normal body, with her normal face, and her normal teeth, and she knew if she wanted to she could shift at that very moment in a flash of lights and colors.

Adeliz was gone.

She knew it was coming - she would either lose being a bat, or lose her sister, and if the Kelvic was honest with herself, she would rather go back to being a bat.

She stretched, her fingers and arms having shrunk into their usual, more comfortable position. Ines didn't like being lanky, she liked her small, compact frame that could fit through the undergrowth and slip where most other people couldn't. She had made plans with Randal early that morning for more instruction in survival techniques. She had dreamed of Bala's Bowl every day since she had left it, and she wanted to be able to keep herself safe when she went.

Randal was waiting near the Ashta and talking to Lars by the time she had crawled out of her hammock. He had wanted to meet her here for his first lesson. As soon as the founder saw her stretching, again, in front of the bungalow, he headed over.

"I can see you're back to your old self. How do you feel?" He asked, genuine as always.

"I fine. I like to be small. Miss Adde." She was waking up in the comfortable early morning air, not quite crisp but much cooler than she was used to in Taloban winters.

"I miss Adeliz, too. I'm sure you two will meet again." He placed a hand on the bat's shoulder reassuringly, and then walked past her, entering the bungalow. "The first thing you should learn is how to build your survival kit. If you have a bad kit, or the wrong supplies, you're going to have a bad time out there. You need a strong foundation to thrive." He made a gesture, his hands forming the base of a tree trunk and then growing into the leaves. Ines opened her chest, crammed full of her various supplies and spare Mizas that had fallen out of their bags.

"I have survive. Survival. Things." She corrected herself, and then knelt down to start pulling out what she actually had. She had a lot of supplies, most of which was purchased before their venture on the first of Fall. Her favorite was her medicines, held in a small rucksack, and her whistle. Its sharp, high sound reminded her of the echolocation she was able to do in her bat form, and it was comforting in a way.

Randal knelt down next to her and looked through her things, pulling out relevant items. Almost everything the kelvic owned was survival-oriented in some way. She didn't own any items that weren't useful in some way. Even her most sentimental item, her machete, was excellent for its use while traversing the wilds. Soon, the founder had amassed a pile of supplies, and then he pulled out her backpack and her rucksack, placing them next to each other and flattening them out.

"Everything you need to survive has to fit into these bags. If you can get your essentials to fit into the rucksack, even better. The lighter you can travel, the better prepared you'll be in the case of an emergency where you need to get out, fast. I know it's different for you because you're Kelvic...but even Kelvics need to know what to do and what to bring." He moved back, giving Ines full access to the pile he had amassed. "Take what you think are the most important things."


wc: 645

[Ines]

The bat didn't even know where to start. Since she was a lot smaller, she couldn't carry all the stuff she did when she was a foot taller. She picked up the oiled sachet of tinder first, placing it on the backpack. Next were her pouches of medicines - Myrian salts, rosemary ointment, and sweetblossom tincture. Uta had told her that those were good for near anything that might ail her in the wilds. The small pouch holding a sewing needle and a spool of thread was next. She had never needed to use it, but she thought it would be useful. Then came her extra pairs of socks, her leather gloves, and her broad-brimmed, waterproofed hat. She had made the mistake of traveling without proper rain protection with Indigo before, and she didn't want to do that again.

She sat back, staring at the pile. She knew she was missing some things, and then had a eureka moment - water! - and placed her waterskin on her backpack, too. The strange flask was unearthed from the pile, and Ines felt compelled to pack it, even though it was empty. Onto the supplies list it went. Then there was her food supplies. A flint and steel, eating utensils, and an iron pot were all handy, and she had seen first hand how Indigo used an iron pot to make water safe for drinking. Those went on, too. And rope... rope was always useful, as was tarp! They could keep the rain away, and tarp could be folded into a small, tight bundle. Her hammock was excellent in the jungle from her experience because she didn't have to find flat land, which was rare. She packed extra shirts, her whistle, and her machete on top.

Finally the Kelvic turned get Randal's opinion on her choices. He was nodding slowly, rubbing his chin. "Can you fit all of that into your backpack?" Oh, petch. The witch forgot about that part. "I think you can. It's not a lot. You just have to get creative." He made no inclination that he was going to move and show her - it was up to her to figure it out. She had figure out how to pack all this stuff.

Randal chuckled at the bewildered look on her face. "I'll give you a hint - what can you fit in that iron pot?" He set the wheels turning, alright. It was a small pot, enough to hold about a half gallon of water. It was also probably the heaviest thing she had, but the way the backpack's straps were oriented, it didn't make much of a difference. It also had a small lid, which she had left in the pile. It could hold some small things for sure. She started organizing her supplies by size.

The pouch with the sewing needle and the spool of thread was the smallest, followed by her eating utensils and packets of medicine, which were about the same size. Her whistle was tiny, while her sachet of tinder was much larger, holding quote a few rolls that were tightly bundled together in the waterproofed fabric.


wc: 520

[Ines]

Ines managed to fit her utensils, tinder, sewing kit, and medicines into the pot. She could use a small length of strong twine to wrap around the pot and hold everything together, but Randal stopped her before she did. Ines looked at him. "Do thing wrong?" She asked, and he shook his head.

"You didn't do anything wrong, but you should keep your first aid somewhere easily accessible and close to your body. That way it's harder to get separated from you, and you'll have it when you really need it. If you keep your supplies like this, you'll be able to keep what you need the most in an emergency, and leave the rest. Nothing is more important than keeping your own life."

Ines nodded. "Medicines and needle in rucksack?" She held it up, gauging his reaction for the answer.

"Yes." Ines took the medicine and sewing kit out of pot, setting them aside. "Put the bigger things into your bags first - it's easier to make room for smaller things than larger things." Oh, her larger things. She had some spare bits of clothing, her waterproofed cloak that was shaped more like a poncho, her hammock, her tarp, and her ropes. Everything but the ropes were made of fabric, and she could roll and fold them up to be pretty small. She took the tarp, spread it along the floor, and folded it and began trying to fold it. Just as quickly, Randal came over to tell her the right way.

"First, fold the tarp in half, with the cleanest side on the top. Make sure it's as dry as you can get it. Shake the water off, let it sit out when you know it won't rain - just as dry as you can." He was on the ground smoothing out any wrinkles or bends, and then picked up one side. "Fold each side halfway to the middle." The edge of that tarp was now folded, lining up nicely, and he did the same with the other side. It was now about half the size as it was before. "Then you fold that in half..." He folded it long-ways, nestling the edges from the first two folds into the middle. "And Fold that in half..." He folded it the short way this time, halving the length. It was getting visibly compact before her very eyes! "And then you fold it a couple more times, making it more compact until you get to the point where you can roll it. Then you can get it into a neat roll and strap it to your backpack, or fit it inside. I like to strap it because then I don't have to dig around for anything, and if it's not totally dry, it won't bring moisture into my pack. It's also a good idea to take a blanket and fold it inside of the tarp. It keeps the blanket dry, out of the way, and that way you'll have it when you need it - especially at night, now that it's a bit cooler."


wc: 511

[Ines]

"You can do the same for a hammock." He unhooked her hammock from where it hung in the bungalow. He folded it in a similar way, putting the end-ties of the hammock so that they were in the middle and folding the ends so they met, then folding it in half again to where they were all tucked inside. Then he rolled it up. "Things tend to take up a lot less space when they're folded in a roll. It can even go for your shirts, socks, and poncho. And if you pack them right, you can have them all standing up. Then everything's easy to get to. It'll come in handy someday." He unrolled the tarp and the hammock and let them onto the floor. "Your turn."

Randal was much taller than Ines was, and she had to scramble and stretch to make sure everything lined up just right. She mimicked his movements from before. It was an easy enough pattern, and it kept everything secure when she had to roll it up. It was even kinda fun. "Same with shirt?" She asked, finishing up the hammock. She reached for her shirt, shaking it out and holding it to show the founder. "Top and bottom? Or sleeve?"

"Put the sleeves in the middle." The witch had to agree that made more sense than leaving the sleeves to dangle around. It was almost like folding the hammock in that way. Anything that could get loose or caught would go in the middle to keep it from snagging on the many branches and trees. She laid her shirt on the floor, folding it in the same quarter-fold way she did with the tarp, making sure the sleeves would be folded into the shirt. Her finished product was neat and definitely saved more space than the way she folded her clothes before.

"It's best practice to put your biggest things at the bottom, things that you won't need until you've already set up camp. Your hammock can go into your backpack," he set up the backpack so that it was standing up straight and situated the hammock at the very bottom. "And the clothes can go on top of that." He placed her socks and shirts on top of the hammock. "It's good to have extra clothing. If something gets wet or too dirty, you can get fungus or worse growing on you."

wc: 401

[Ines]

Just with the hammock and the shirts, the backpack was nearly full. She hadn't realized how small her backpack was, but it was made for her tiny frame. Her poncho went on top of that. "You're going to need it more than a change of socks or a new shirt. You'll need new socks and shirts less when you have it on, anyway." At the very top he placed the flask. "This way you have a container for any fresh water sources you come across, and you don't have to go looking for it."

In the rucksack, Ines packed her small pieces of first aid herself. She felt like she was missing a lot of stuff that she might need, and the rucksack still had plenty of room. Hopefully they'd get to that later. The outside of her backpack had plenty of loops and hooks for holding extra things. She tied the iron pot so that it would stay closed and then hung it on one side, using the same twine to tie it to the pack. On the other side, she looped the rope and tied a knot to secure it.

"On top of your backpack, do you see these loops?" He showed the top, where four D-rings made their home. She nodded. With the rest of the backpack filled up, it was able to stand up on its own. He took the rolled tarp and placed it on top of the backpack and used the same twine from earlier to secure it in place, looping the twine around the tarp and through the D-rings so that it was held in place. The finishing touch was her hat, which he placed on top, not attached to anything because she was almost always going to be wearing it. She had to admit, it looked pretty. Syna was higher in the sky, and the light filtering in made the packed bag look nicer then the pile of canvas, rope, and leather that it was. The witch would hook her waterskin and a pouch of jerky to her belt whenever she ventured out.

Randal picked up her rucksack. "So you only have the medicines and the sewing needle?" Ines nodded. "Well, this is your first aid kit. We should head to the Mercantile and get some gauze, at least. Do you know how to suture?" The word suture was unfamiliar to the Kelvic, and Randal could tell from her face. "Sew up wounds." Oh. She shook her head no. "I can teach you how to sew up cuts, but for anything worse you're better off going to the healers. A lot of bad things can get into your cuts when you're out there." With that, they set off along the cobbled path, heading to the mercantile and maybe the Panacea if Juli didn't have everything they needed.

wc: 475
total wc: 2552

[Ines]

Grades

Ines

Skills: +5 WS, +5 Observation, +1 Logic

Lores:

• How it feels to be without Adeliz
• WS: You need a good survival kit
• WS: The lighter you're able to travel, the better
• WS: Getting creative when packing your gear
• WS: First aid supplies should be kept close at all times
• WS: Put larger items at the bottom of your pack
• WS: How to fold and pack a tarp
• WS: How to fold and pack a hammock
• WS: Folding your blanket inside the tarp is efficient
• WS: Things take up less space when rolled up
• WS: Bring extra socks
• WS: You need a first aid kit
• Suture means to sew up wounds