Atharen, A Fantasy Roleplay Forum

Valanox had told her to map out the area more extensively. Once again, the request was made without the accompanying explanation. The implication was clear enough, it pertained to his work with the Chronologers – but for once it would have been appreciated if she was trusted with additional information. Keeping to her own promise, she’d set out just before first light, facing away from the sunlight. She dressed in lighter linen, with additional coats and blankets for if night caught up to her. She pondered about summoning some company to help her wade the terrain, but decided against it. Still being too close to civilization would draw unneeded eyes to her. If the worst came, an Intercession would have to do.

As she blinked through the light over her shoulder, she could see the city shrinking in the distance. The heat rose with the morning sun, and was soon reaching unbearable extremes. Her arms were a constant struggle between wrapping herself away from the Sun, and then shedding all of her layers in a desire for the warmth to leave her. Horse seemed on edge, his footing becoming more angular and dustier. Her best was not enough for the animal to ease up, but the guiding hand kept its mind on track. Horse never had a name. There was only the work, and it was being done well.

She knew the heat didn’t have a smell, but out here she abandoned those beliefs. The whistling of the wind carried a strange tune and the smells of baking, of effort, of death. Perhaps Searing wasn’t the best season to have made this journey. Velx kept herself tight-lipped save for the water she ingested. Each opening led to being fed more dirt which danced across the sky, and she soon decided that between dirt and sweat the former was more of a nuisance. The wrapping loosely hugging her face, she quickly realized that if the mere act of moving brought on so much discomfort, she would need a shelter of some kind for any mapwork to get done.

With the city now a memory, she did her best to remember the route. Her map wouldn’t do them much good if it couldn’t be followed from a location already familiar to them. In her mind, the steps were traced from the gates, over the initial few hills, and down into the barrens. Grass gave way to earth, gave way to dirt, to stone, to cracks and fissures. Each hoof stepped uneasy, juggling between the sinking of the sands and the harsh pushback. Every rock Horse found, she too felt in reverberation. The only water was that which glistened her skin. It attempted to flow down her limbs, but quickly crossed over into moisture. The air ate the memory of water, and once again it was like nothing had been there at all.

Just when she thought no living being could subsist, she saw a vulture of some kind. The only life which was less encouraging than no life at all. The strange animal appeared to have some errors in its anatomy, but that was common with the mutating sands of the Badlands. She tried following where it went, but the Sun ate her gaze.

Shelter. And soon.

The first day’s trip was cut shorter than she’d have liked and requested that she call upon her echo to find a somewhat useable shelter. It was far from ideal, but enough for Horse and she. The vibrato of her voice brought back a desolate image, no structures or life of significant size. She felt somewhat ashamed that she couldn’t use her eyes to find proper shelter in the daylight. As she got off Horse and trekked slowly down the side of a plateau, it felt like each foot landed on a step of a different staircase. Awkward and off balance, she pondered simply blinking down. It would’ve been a worthy effort, but she wasn’t confident Horse could follow. Had it run away, recapture would prove difficult. Instead, they led each other in a downward cascade, clinging together like sucklings. Once firmly at the bottom, she blended into the shade of the overbearing rock. Her face finally unwrapped, and her eyes blinking slowly in readjustment. Horse muzzled her for food, and she made sure to lay some feed on a rock of knee height.

Using the meal as a good opportunity, she stopped paying the animal much attention. Her gaze away from the light, she was able to make out some irregularities across the beaten path. The line of packed dirt seemed to be edged by hooves and what appeared to be wheel lines. Someone of her proficiency was utterly unable to determine whether these were old or new tracks, especially in a desert environment. Everything disappeared quickly here, but the fact she found those was troubling. Conflicted about whether to give up on her shelter or inspect this anomaly further, she allowed herself one more resonance, using the surrounding elevation for natural acoustics. A high-pitched tone pierced the sands, bounced off the rocks and struggled to provide her with a better image of the entire area. If she was indeed alone, she could always feel silly later – but if she wasn’t, she would be ready. As the sounds flooded back in, she could perceive shapes too uneven and apart to be of rocks. Moving her hand to her bow, she felt inadequate relying on such primitive tools. An arrow pulled from the quiver and resting in the other hand was for keeping up appearances.

She edged back to Horse, without turning to it. Leaving the gap to the front unmonitored seemed like a poor proposition. Arrow still in hand, she clasped the reins with the remaining fingers and pulled the angsty companion along. There was some minor struggle, but as the distance from the leftovers grew, Horse dulled to its more stoic demeanor. Without mounting, she slowly slid across the sand, dragging her feet instead of raising them for fear of making too much noise. Unsure if she’d given her position away already, she was on high alert to let go of the reins and blink if need be. It would be best if she could avoid summoning additional assistance, as the proper preparations hadn’t been made yet.

It was a poor bargain if struck in haste. She would do better than the first time she realized she could speed up binding. She needed to get more for less, else the leeches would leave her drained as the land around her. Her mind finally adjusted to the contours she saw; two-legged, four-legged, four-legged, box, circles. Inching ever closer, she hoped that her perception was correct; 1 humanoid, 2 animals, perhaps a vehicle of some kind. Gliding closer, she’d keep Horse squarely behind her, hoping not to have anyone in her blind spot. With one final rise over the rocky outcrop, she slowly bent into a half crouch and saw…

Before should even get a glimpse of what was in front of her, a male voice called out. She had been noticed. Due to her resonating capabilities, she was fairly certain the man was alone. This gave her a significant air of confidence as she allowed herself to straighten up to her full height instead of the slouch she held. The bow was slowly moved to her shoulder as a sign of non-aggression, but she kept the arrow in her other fist in case things got uncomfortable. The person in front of her was seemingly ill prepared for this travel, as she had been. Perhaps he too was a stranger to these lands. Judging by his dirty appearance and the hint of stubble across the cheeks, she assumed he was roaming for a few days at this point.

She completely left her cover, arrow shifting to her free hand, it was ready to be projected if the need arose. Horse was pulled along, and as she neared his camp, she allowed the animal to be somewhat loose and get a sense of the other two beasts present. Judging by the clothes, the man looked to be a local. And yet, if this place’s reputation was correct, she expected to find him as a part of a bigger band and better prepared for the trail.

“That was as quiet as I could be” she shrugged awkwardly, jittering the shoulder to keep the bow from falling into the dirt. Additional practice was necessary. “I’ve not come to take from you. I’ve come for shelter and discovered your tracks” she motioned the empty hand to the very trail she was now stepping on. She struggled with the desire of echoing an additional time, to check the surroundings once again, but decided against it. There didn’t seem to be any additional footsteps leading away from the man’s camp.

“I’ve been a fool to venture out alone, I thought” she nodded towards him, linen trails swinging in the wind as her head moved. She didn’t want to provoke him into a violent motion he’d regret, so she motioned the empty hand towards his camp “May I?”
She did her best to keep Horse in the corner of her eye, but dared not turn her back fully to the man.

As his gun moved away, she felt uneasy at how she hadn’t noticed it sooner. They were moving in the right direction, so she pocketed the arrow back to the quiver. At this distance, there were dozens of things she could hit him with which would be less conspicuous. He claimed it was a greeting of Radenor, but something felt strange about it.

“I too have separated myself from the city” she raised her gaze, surveying the area behind him. The very bottom of her sight, resting on his fingers, waiting for the fatal move. “I’m trying to map out the area more extensively for a client” they were still alone, good. Once she was satisfied with the surveying of the surroundings, she took a blanket off horse and plopped herself on top across from him. As there were still no signs of aggression on his part, she finally let go of the tension in her shoulders, both visibly dropping an inch.

“It’s quite a side” she lazily spread both her hands in a gesture. The man appeared very young, like most humans pre graying. She wondered his age; would it have been even a fifth of her own?
“What is the adventure?”

As she studied him, she allowed herself a moment of distraction to confirm Horse was still at peace. Her hands fished out her own bowl and went for the stew. He was correct in his assumption – it neither smelled nor looked appetizing. That was the case with most things in this desert apparently, everything was dead or in states of disrepair and decay.

Instead of sharing tension, they were doing so to his food. The change helped acclimate Velx to the stranger. Genuinely confused as to his remarks towards the food, she’d cock her head visibly to the side. Was he breaking some rule of hospitality she wasn’t familiar with? The food was perfectly edible, if little else. Was it faux pas to present less than stellar food in his culture? This idea seemed very foreign to her, but she said no more of the food. It appeared the man was already too self-conscious. She ate quietly, if somewhat savagely. Hunger betraying her general lack of decorum, she remembered the fires of Sil-Elaine.

She was no longer constantly itching to check the perimeter, but her guard was yet to fully thaw. She held her bowl very loosely. If she resonated it towards someone, who would be more hurt – the individual or the bowl? Her thoughts were cut short when the man started unwrapping his own thread.

The words coming out of him made sense, even if the accents kept disagreeing with each other. Was he of Radenor, or Daravin, of another place entirely? World had a way of birthing strays, much like she was, and believed was witnessing. His search for artifacts here would need to have some kind of orienteering point which could help her mapping efforts, so she focused on that part.

“I understand your search, Isidro” and she did. Seeing value in lost and forgotten things seemed to be her family motto at this point. Unsure as to the decorum as she was to his background, she opted for what seemed the simplest solution. “Velx” she voiced, as she slowly waved the bowlless hand toward her chest. “I too expected the Badlands to be more bad and less” here her nose scrunched a bit and she gestured towards the surroundings. Less dirt. “Feels like we get more than we bargained for” she submitted to his observation. They were underequipped for this.

“Everything looks so similar this far out. How do you keep yourself from getting lost?”