Solo A Forest Found

[Crylon Stonecraft]

31 Winter 520 N & A Challenge Day 1 For a moment Crylon was caught in the twilight state of partly asleep and partly awake. Not quite asleep, where his unconscious mind was in control, but not so awake that he was aware and thinking fully. He rested as such for a time, until he felt a pressure on his bladder. His comfort was slowly outweighed by this pressure, and he slipped into a state of awareness of being more and more awake. Finally he was awake enough to notice the odd feelings on his back. The tickle of something, grass, and dirt, Which was odd, seeing as he had gone to sleep in his own bed... Jerking upward Crylon opened his eyes, realizing something was wrong. This was confirmed by what he saw, not a building but trees and dirt and grass and such things. Standing he looked around, examining his surroundings, but did not see anything to draw his immediate interest. No buildings, no people, nothing obvious. Had he been nabbed in his sleep and dropped in the woods somewhere? But then why had he not waken? How long had he been asleep? Making a full circle where he stood Crylon checked, but did not see any signs of civilization. And then he did notice something, a change of color against a background, something not of the trees and things around it. A burlap sack or bag of sorts hanging from a branch of a tree right next to him. He had not noticed it at first since it had been above him a bit and he had focused his gaze for buildings and things at ground level. A sudden gust of wind blew through the trees, ruffling the leaves, which brought Crylon's awareness to another thing. He was naked. No shoes, pants, shirt, vest, nothing. Which meant... Crylon tried to reason... Someone had taken him from his bed, stripped him, and dropped him as such in the middle of some woods. Considering this Crylon grabbed the nearby bag and opened it, hoping to find a letter or something inside that would explain his situation. Instead Crylon found only a few things which did not explain much of anything. Some flint and steel, good for starting a fire. A well worn cotton cloak, which meant he had something to wear but which did not seem of immediate use. After all he was not too cold, and the forest seemed temperate enough. For some odd reason Crylon did not know there was a metal object within, with a broken off end at one extremity. It took Crylon a moment to realize it had been some kind of weapon, a small sword of some kind, but that was now broken and without a point. Pointless, in the literal sense. There was also a leather waterskin, empty, which would be a place to store water if he found some but like the other things not of immediate use. The waterskin however reminded Crylon of an urgent need, and setting the bag down took a few paces away and beside the tree to release the urgent pressure on his bladder. That done Crylon returned, going through bag again. Something to start a fire. Something to hold water. A broken weapon. Something to cover himself with. And then he found something of much more import, hidden before beneath the cloak until he took that item from the sack. A map! With excitement Crylon began to examine the piece of writing in hopes of making something out. WC: 584

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Examining the map, Crylon checked over both sides of the parchment in hopes of finding some words or something. Instead he found a somewhat crude depiction of some environment, though better than nothing. Though Crylon found it to be crude, it was also simple enough to read. The first thing he noticed was a pair of X's. One was small, and within a simply depicted forest. There was nothing else too close to this x, at least not right by it, though Crylon was unsure if it was meant to depict where he was or something else. Or perhaps it was a place to avoid... Or to go to... Then there was the other bigger X which was in a separate part of the forest... Crylon compared the two points, noting differences. The larger X seemed farther away from other landmarks, whereas the smaller one had several relatively close if not right up on it. He could see places that appeared to be water, small lines and forks which perhaps meant a river, stream, or brook. A small roundish thing that was perhaps a small lake or pond. Past the pond Crylon noticed some odd drawings, which after a moment he realized where likely to indicate the head of an animal. Once he saw the one he saw another, realizing they were peppered about the forest. A bear head, some kind of dog, perhaps a dog or a large cat, and even a small wavy bit that was perhaps a snake. Of course animals being animals he did not expect them to only be as marked, but perhaps it was meant to warn of them in general or in their main domains. Examining the map over again he closed his eyes and pictured it in his mind, opening them and testing himself and then closing them again until he felt he had the map fixed in his mind. Not exactly, he was not that skilled at memorizing such things, but he felt he had the generalities down without looking at he map. Once more considering things, Crylon took a moment to worry. To panic. To fret. And then he pushed that aside, focusing on what he needed to do. Thinking back home to the tunnels crisscrossing Kalea, Crylon smiled. Anyone claiming to make a pathway under the mountain from one side to the other would be laughed at. But the Isur had done it, quite a few times in fact. And they had done that by planning, effort, and perseverance. What seemed huge as a single task, getting through the mountain, getting home, was much less scary when broken into its simplest steps. Planning, that was something Crylon was decent at. And his first step seemed clear, and would affect all the rest. He needed to work out where he was, which way was which on the map, how to use it. Then he could go from there, testing the map and trying to find other landmarks. And whichever X he was at he could then try to find the other. First things first though, Crylon realized, he needed to mark his starting position. Turning back to the nearby tree Crylon gripped a thick branch in his left arm, and gripped. Then squeezing and twisting like his grip was a mighty press, he broke off the branch in a single motion. With a small smile Crylon realized he was not so alone, for his blessing from Izurdin was still with him. That was one tool he had brought along, the blessed body part from his Divine Father that was more things in one than any other simple mundane tool. All it was limited by was his own creativity, and Crylon had no plan to fail based on lacking in that regard. WC: 631

[Crylon Stonecraft]

With a broken off tree limb in his hands, Crylon focused on it for a moment in reshaping it for his uses. Holding it in his right hand he gripped it with his left. First he took one end and twisted, molding the wood into a flattish rounded shape. It was not pretty, more akin to someone playing in clay and shaping something, but it was usable. Then he turned it over and repeated the process with the other end, trying to create a point by moving his fingers and playing with the material. A bit tricky as he had to hold with one hand and could only move the material with the other, but by moving it about and pushing it upward a bit he soon found a point of sort that was usable. His new marker in hand Crylon turned over the simple spear and shoved it into the ground where he had started. It would hopefully be visible, at least when he was close, and would help him keep a idea of where he began. And it would serve as a point to return to when trying to work out the map. With that done Crylon put the sack on one arm, his right, not wanting to leave anything behind he might need. Taking out and examining the map he realized he was unsure on the scale, but felt that a particular line of water seemed closest to the smallest X. A good place to start. If he moved outward from the point and found such a thing, it was help him figure out where on the map he was... Map in hand Crylon paced out ten steps, and then using the spear marker as a known point began to walk in a circle around it. He kept this up while looking outward from the circle until he found himself back where he started. Not having found anything Crylon realized he would need to move further out, and so turned and slowly took another ten paces outward. At this distance seeing the central point was harder, often blocked by trees in the way, but Crylon felt he was still close enough to use it. But, he reasoned, a second point would help. Putting away the map and grabbing another trees nearby branch he broke it off with a twist, and then slowly shaped it like the first. This one though he made both ends pointed, to differentiate it. A playing in the wood like clay, smoothing and pushing and turning, until the one end was smooth and sort of sharp, and then a repeat on the other end till it was likewise pointed. Stabbing it into the ground Crylon sighted along it back to his starting point, and then began to walk in a circle with the second spear as the point of the edge of the circle and the starting point its middle. Once more he looked outward, hoping to find a landmark. While he had the sight of an Isur and could see far better at night than a human, he did not want to go searching about at night, and so hoped to work most of such things out before it got too dark. WC: 540

[Crylon Stonecraft]

Picking a direction Crylon began walking, focusing on keeping roughly within the line of the imaginary circle in his head. As an Isur he did not just have his blessed arm, nor his eyesight, but was of a race of people who often lived underground. Where all the tunnels and stone looked the same, and there were no stars nor a sun to guide you. A good sense of direction was a positive attribute to carry onward, and if nothing else Crylon felt his was decently respectable. So long as he had a point to compare to and know at least, which was what he was trying to do right then. But once that was settled, he was confident he could find the correct direction to work on. As he walked Crylon's mind wandered, once more wondering what he was doing there. Had he been abducted? Drugged in his sleep and dropped in the woods? That seemed less than likely... Or at least he could not fathom any gain from doing so. The thought of not fathoming things made Crylon's mind shift its focus again, to that of the divine. Had he perhaps been plucked away by a divine being and dropped her as some sort of test? Or perhaps a wager between two gods? Or maybe even some odd god who was bored and was even then watching him and enjoying his fumbling. As his thoughts went along on this route though Crylon realized the answer did not matter. Either the person or god who had put him here would present themselves, or they would not. If they would, then he had nothing to worry about. If they did not, then he needed to be doing something. Logically speaking, to Crylon's mind, finding the X's on the map seemed the most clear objective. His next step should he find both of the X's and not learn anything would be to go onward from there... Build a house, a more permanent place to reside, a source of food and water... Water, his throat was dry and beginning to scratch... But those more permanent survival things were only if that failed. Before then he knew he should try the more clear things that might result in his getting home and freed. Perhaps it was his thirst at the moment, but as Crylon walked his attention was suddenly drawn to the sound of tinkling water in the distance. Spending a moment Crylon checked where he was and where both of the marker sticks where so he could return there, and then drew an imaginary line out from the circle starting at the central dot and towards the sound of water. Then with a rush he began walking quickly in that direction, It did not take long for Crylon to hear the sound increasing, and then a few paces more saw the flowing water come into sight. It was no rushing river, but it was a decent stream that would be difficult to hop in one go. Looking more closely it seemed clean and pure, and dipping a toe in it felt cool to the touch. Not icy, but cool compared to the surrounding warmth. His thirst overcoming his hesitance Crylon bent down close to the water and sniffed at the air above it. He did not smell anything. Dipping a finger in he tasted a drop, and it tasted of nothing. Clean clear water, by all appearances. Cupping his hand he grew a bit more brave, taking a sip as the water trickled through his fingers. Still sensing nothing odd Crylon took another sip, and then another, feeling his dry throat slowly ease as the liquid passed his lips. After slowly drinking a few more handfuls he felt sated and let out a sigh, spending a moment to send his thanks to the divine above, to Lady Priskil and Lord Izurdin for their blessings. WC: 652

[Crylon Stonecraft]

His thirst sated, Crylon took out his map once more and examined it in comparison to the stream. Or at least, the streams on the map close to each of the X's. On closer inspection the larger X did not seem to have any near it, which meant either the map was wrong or he was near the smaller X. Where near it though Crylon was unsure. There were several straight bits on each side, and depending on where he was... Tracing his finger above one of the markings, Crylon considered one patch. Perhaps here? It seemed sort of right, but he needed a second known point compared to the x to confirm if he was in the right place. Working through the possibilities one by one Crylon considered where on the map he might be, and then where he could go to confirm each. If he was here then there would be another stream over here... Or if he was here he would run into a stream slanting... At such an angle... This way... Once more doing his best to gather his bearings, while focusing on his way back to the marker sticks in case he needed to start over, Cyrlon looked about and headed off at such an angle that he would run into a stream at... Such a distance... If he was holding the map right and had the orientation right. Keeping his eyes and ears open Crylon looked for motion and listened for water running as he moved. Step, measure, focus on direction, step. And so on and so fourth till he had walked a dozen paces, then two dozen, and ... And too many paces without running into anything. At least, Crylon reminded himself, if his direction was right. Turning around and backtracking, this time able to move much quicker since he was just going back the way he came, Crylon soon found himself back at the stream. Pausing Crylon focused on his belly, his gut, but did not feel any worse for having drank the water. With a sigh he bent down and took out the water skin, filling it and taking a quick drink before storing it in his bag. Once his bearings were down next would be starting a fire and getting some shelter. After that... Food... Yes, food, Crylon thought to himself, would be nice. Though what he might eat he did not know. Checking the map again Crylon mentally marked off one stream and direction from the small x, considering another. If he was not here... Then the x being here... And the stream here... Meant there should be another stream... here... This one was on the other side of the starting point he had begun in, which meant passing back through that spot. Once more getting his orientation, this time off of the known point of the beginning spear marker, Crylon set off and headed back the way he had come before waking into this odd forest place without anyone but him. WC: 502

[Alric Lysane]

Your Grades

Crylon Stonecraft

Skills

Body Building – 1
Cartography – 3
Carving – 1
Investigation – 2
Land Navigation – 4
Logic – 2
Planning – 2
Wilderness Survival – 2


Lores

Cartography: Basic Map Reading
Isur: Planning, Effort, Perseverence
Izurdin: Always Walks With Me
Land Navigation: Reference Points
Land Navigation: Starting Reference Point
Naked & Afraid: Midnight Surprise!
Wilderness Survival: Priorities – Water, Food, Fire, Shelter
Wilderness Survival: Testing For Drinkable Running Water