spellbinders | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Who: Vern, Geir, and you
Where: The western slopes of the Hub mountain
When: Day 86
Open/Closed: Open

[after Jay's mapping trip of the day before, two of the party returned to the mountain's southwestern slopes. they're looking for a cave, and after that exploratory trip, they think they know more or less where they'll find one. it takes some searching slightly north of where the mapping team left off, but Vern and Geir eventually find a location that will work for their purposes… with a few caveats.

((reply to either open prompt or make your own! Vern and Geir will both reply.))

finding the cave - locked to Geir
[they've been over this section of the mountain three times, augh. everything is too small, too small, too small -- are there any caves that are actually a decent size around here?

("small" is very relative when you're traveling with a dragon.)

For reference: "A cave that fits the size and water parameters can be located near the western mountain-front. There are plenty of small tunnels from animals (or some other source) that can allow for smoke to go into them, but it may not be the most difficult cave to access.

The cave itself a fair amount of boar bones, which may indicate that it's some sort of boar death site. This also means there's not exactly a pleasant smell in the cave, but they can potentially burn the smell out with flowers or shrubbery."]

taking out the trash - ota
[the cave that they eventually find and claim needs some work, by any stretch of the imagination. it's located on the western mountain front only a few minutes north of where the mapping party left off, and it's perfect in several respects: big enough for Geir, sufficient ventilation from small animal tunnels to make a fire without worrying, fresh running water from a deep stream only a few feet from the entrance…

the problem is the smell. right now, Geir is shoveling bones and dessicated boar bits out of the entrance, while Vern winces and tries to weave pads out of grasses to start his scrubbing.]

How many of those things died in here?!

[unfortunately, Geir isn't being particularly private in his mental grumbling, and both his commentary -- and Vern's shushing -- occasionally get transmitted over the network. feel free to track him and Vern down, or just mentally yell at them.]

pool boy and maid service - ota
[now that all of the bones are lying in inelegant piles in their front yard instead of in their living room, Vern has started his self-appointed task of scrubbing the smell of death off their walls and floor, as well as figuring out how to build a fire to start smoking the smell out. Geir, on the other hand, is digging in the middle of the stream like a lunatic. they’re both making a lot of noise, the smoke is pretty obvious, and the trail through the woods to their new front door is a lot more open and inviting than they'd prefer… they’re very noticeable if you’re exploring yourself and happen to come around this area.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'll see if I can't land in the stream and wade up farther, like we did last time. Hang on! You might get some branches in your hair.

[he completes another small circle and dives towards the stream, slow and shallow; he's not trying to win any races to his landing destination, but the tree canopy is pretty dense, and even in the thin spot above the water he's going to be bending a few branches to get through.]

[tries to make himself very small where he's wedged between two of Geir's back ridges; he does get kind of showered with splinters and foliage, oops. pops his head back out like a gopher once Geir's made his landing to have a look, though, cautiously hopeful]

Edited 2017-10-01 20:14 (UTC)

[there is enough room for Geir to walk upstream, thankfully. it's a nice enough waterway, more of a small river than a stream after all at this point in its flow. Geir starts wading upstream.]

...this isn't bad. I think I could dig out a place to swim in here, if we could find a cave nearby. I wish my teeth worked so we could've just dug that last one we saw out bigger...

[there's unease underlying his tone -- he really doesn't like it that his teeth don't work.]

If worst comes to worst we could try attaching some of the bones we brought back to each other and blowing a cave out that way. It'd make a lot more noise, though.

[strokes Geir's neck, a silent reassurance]

[Geir shakes his head hard, more in annoyance than in rebuttal, and sneezes.]

I wonder if they work because we didn't give them to Qri, and she doesn't know they're there to eat them. While she knows that ours are here...

Who even knows...

[a breeze blows, interrupting them; there's a faint trace of some foul odor coming from upstream, and Vern covers his own nose]

Wow, something is rotting up there.

[Geir sounds almost impressed... it makes sense that he'd be less bothered by that kind of thing than Vern, but regardless, it's not his side of beef either.]

Did something really big die...?

Edited 2017-10-01 23:06 (UTC)

Sure smells like it. Ugh, let's go have a look.

[if there's signs it had some kind of disease or was killed by some crazy predator on Geir's level that's information they'll want to have]

[he has to wade quite a bit further upstream to get there. luckily, the river widens out a bit...

when they finally arrive at the source of the DEATH SMELL, it appears to be an ominous hole in the rock, well concealed by trees and a jutting overhang. actually, the foliage is thick enough that they probably passed right over this spot a couple of times -- hard to see water or rock through all that green. they'll need to cut some trees down if they want to fly here often.

on the other hand, the mouth of the cave is promisingly large... it just stinks to high heaven in there.]

Oh! That's new.

I guess we didn't really bother landing in this area before...not that we could.

[pulls his tunic up some to cover his nose and mouth; the smell's REAL BAD]

Can you see inside--?

[Geir obligingly clambers out of the water to stick his head into the cave. he sneezes and pulls his head back from the scent of death.]

Bones. Rotting things. It's gross in there.

...pretty big past the entrance, though. It opens up more.

Huh.

Smell anything alive?

Nope. Just dead--

[he peers in again and wrinkles his nose.]

--boars. I think. Ugh!

That's weird...why so many?

I don't know! Maybe something else dragged them here? Or they came here to die on their own for some reason.

--are you up to going in?

[Geir is, but considering the smell, he's not sure that Vern will be equally on board for this part.]

[vern hums in the affirmative, keeping a hand up to hold his tunic in place and filter the smells a little]

[Geir sighs and heads in.

aside from the smell, the cave is unexpectedly spacious: the ceiling is nice and high once they get through the initial tunnel and it opens up, and there's enough space that Geir can move around a little. it even has a couple of smaller antechambers that he can get into. Geir looks around, immediately mentally claiming one of them as as a sleeping space, perhaps -- or they could use them both for storage--

he suddenly realizes that Vern probably can't see well because it's A CAVE and he doesn't have his light magic, though.]

Vern, do you have a torch? This place is great!

[...except for all the bones on the floor.]

Or... it will be. Once we clean up...

[he's actually busy leaning on Geir and taking very shallow breaths until he can get used enough to the smell to keep going]

...give me a second...

--Right, sorry!

[he waits quietly for Vern to figure out breathing; at least Geir's bulk is reassuring and familiar and warm, in the dark cavern.]

[he's smelled this before. it doesn't really get easier.

eventually he gives Geir's neck a little pat, though, and rummages in their packs until he finds something to light their way]

[the charnel odor aside, it's... a very nice cave, smooth and dry on the inside. it doesn't go endlessly deep into the mountain, but there's more than enough room for a dragon and a human to live comfortably; it's a bit bigger than their cave at home, even. Geir gets more and more excited as he steps along inside.]

It's great, isn't it? Except for... well.

[very slightly amused]

I suppose cleaning out boar bodies is still a little less work than digging a whole cave out of the rock...

I got lazy. I could've made it bigger, but it would've taken a lot more time... maybe I'll do it when we get back.

[he ducks into one of the antechambers; yep, he'll fit in here, though he'd have to curl up to get comfortable. maybe something for when it's colder?]

[there's fewer horrifying boar remains in the antechambers too, though not by much]

...what do you think? Do you think we could make something out of this one? I'm a little worried we'll be waking up to more boars every night is all...

[slyly:]

I could sleep with my mouth open.