mapping party mapping party

[rebells]

Who: a bunch of less-than-upstanding nerd boys
Where: along this route
When: Day 8, or thereabouts
Open/Closed: closed to mapping party; pm rebells if your character would have icly asked to come!

[So you may have gotten a telepathic message a few days ago about an expedition to map the coastline . . . or maybe you were invited along by a friend. Whatever the reason, it's bright and early this morning, and it's time to set out!

Characters would have gotten a further telepathic message from Jay with a date and time to meet outside the shacks. They'll be heading east along the "shore," tracking the coast, and then heading directly back towards base camp . . . who knows what they'll find along the way?]

Comments

[potentite]

[Jake is taking a look at them and frowning.]

Umm, consarn it, I can't remember what kind of disease this is...

[Look he was practically a baby when grandma rambled at him about plants? Still, he wishes he could remember.]

If we can clear this up, though...

[probablynoteren]

Is it a plant disease?

[Lenka pops out from between the trees like a particularly sneaky bird, raising a hand in a wave; he had heard Jake before he saw him, and he has no idea what 'consarn it' means in the slightest but at least it had helped him identify who was talking.

He'd been examining the trees, too, remembering Haru's interest in finding an area of good soil for her garden plot. It doesn't look like this is good soil... but maybe it's just the trees themselves that are the issue. He doesn't have a ton of experience taking care of things like this.]

I don't think I've seen trees like this before.

[potentite]

[Lenka surprises him but he waves back, still a little shy but more comfortable than not with him. Lenka seems like a quiet person himself, so it's easier to relax around him.]

Mm, yep. This looks like it was an orchard, for fruit trees, you know? I can't rightly tell what type of fruit they used to bear, though. Orchards are pretty susceptible to disease if you're not careful.

[Which is definitely what happened here.]

Some diseases they can bounce back from, so if we're lucky, that could be the case.

[probablynoteren]

An orchard... so they're trees we'd want to keep, if we can.

[Regardless of what kind of fruit might grow here, having more to add to their diet of bland pig and death crab is always good. They can also reheat or cook things from refrigerator roulette, but on a scale from 1 to feeding the entire camp, growing their own things is still the preferred option.

He runs a hand over the nearest tree, debating what he can take back as a sample if they're really going to try and fix things here. What's a good way to figure out this disease?]

I don't know anything about this, but maybe I know someone who does. I think she might be able to help with this.

[potentite]

Really? Do we have a botanist in our midst? I'd love to meet her. I know more than the average person but I'm no green thumb.

[probablynoteren]

Her name is Haru. She's working on growing some plants on the island...

[That's as far as he understands the plans, anyway, apart from the common sense needs for a good clearing and source of water, maybe.

After a bit more staring at the tree, he breaks off a decent bit of branch with some leaves on it, and stashes it in the bag he brought, then crouches down to poke at the soil. There's no fruit, so they can't get samples of that. But basic fetch quests he can do.]

What do we need to bring back? To know what kind of tree it is, and the disease.

[potentite]

Oh, Haru! She's such a sweet lady. [Haru is probably one of the people he feels most comfortable around, even including his actual friends. It's kind of funny but then again, given everything that's happened, probably not surprising.] Photos would be marvelous but, barring that, I think a sample branch with some of the aliment on it would do in a pinch.

[probablynoteren]

Yeah.

[He's only met Haru relatively briefly, but he's looking forward to working with her, however much he can do something for a plan he only partially understands.]

I think working on growing what we can is a good idea. I'll bring back some of the soil, too.

[He doesn't really have any place to put it, unfortunately, so the best he can do is scoop some... dirt... into the ubiquitous newbie felt sack he's using in a pinch. At least he doesn't have anything particularly delicate in there.]

[rebells]

. . . could we get them to bear fruit again, perhaps?

[He puts a hand on the tree thoughtfully; this isn't really his area of expertise, though.]

[potentite]

I'm not sure. It'd depend on what sort of disease it was. But I think it could be an option! It'd help an awful lot I bet.

[rebells]

It would. We could potentially survive on boar jerky indefinitely, but I'm not sure anyone wants to.

I wonder if a healer could do something about this . . . we have some of those here, don't we?

[potentite]

Oh yes, that's right. I wonder... some of the abilities seem to have some wordplay involved. If a healing ability isn't limited to humans, certainly it should help.

[rebells]

Right. Although I haven't talked to any of them personally, so I wouldn't know exactly what the limitations of their powers are.

Does this disease look familiar to you?

[potentite]

It does but I don't recall what it was. [He really did try to keep studying botany after grandma died but it was always harder to focus on it without her.] Still, loads of diseases can be cured, I think.

[rebells]

That's true. If only we had more information . . . well, and perhaps an antifungal spray.

[potentite]

Might be some on this very island. All sorts of knick-knacks and trinkets exist so far.

[rebells]

That's true. I found a terracotta pot in a sack tied to a tree.

[He's still not entirely sure what was up with that.]

It's possible whoever was here before us had some way of dealing with the disease, and it's merely grown unchecked in their absence.

[potentite]

I wonder who lived here before? [That's something he's been thinking about.] Seems like they up and vamoosed rather suddenly.