[Genteven - Solo] Preparations for Travel & Moments of the Past

The realms of North Daravin, ruled more directly by the Emperor.

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Gloomcrest
Posts: 271
Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2022 7:52 am
Location: Genteven, The Northern Marches, Daravin
Character Sheet: viewtopic.php?f=43&t=2017
Character Secrets: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=2022

Mon Dec 26, 2022 1:12 pm

45rd of Frost, 4622
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It has been a while since Jared's itch for wandering has kicked in and while liked to stay in Genteven for a little bit longer, it might be best for the thief to dip out of the city for some time as his paranoid has been building up from the past few encounters from stealing from a wealthy merchant & secured building of unknown people to fighting for his life with Dahlia.

From the thief's perspective; disappearing for a little bit of time would be good and moving away from Genteven is the safest opinion. Probably for a week or two should suffice and Jared would need to make enough rations to help him stabilize during his travel ahead.

The things that the thief had to considered were a few things:

  • How heavy was his rations going to be?;
  • The stability of the ration throughout his travel;
  • Nutritional value and versatility of said rations (eg: What meals can be made out of it);
  • Bartering capacity as traveling on the road, Farthlings may prove useful depending on how far he was planning to travel & closeness to civilization.

The first thing that came to mind was making Hard Tact which was essentially a really dense biscuit that consisted mostly of wheat, water, butter and salt.

Another form of ration that could be considered was making some trail mix with dried fruits, nuts, seeds and other assortment of dried goods that can be stored in a pouch; mainly for snacking.

Dried meats could be easily wrapped in some cloth and packed away which was simple for the time being and storing a large variety of fluids would be nice to be able to at least flavor some of his meals during harsh moments during his travel.

"Guess it is time to start packing what is needed… A small pan & pot, already has a mess kit prepared and I would need to bring some spare clothing as well. Frost is going to make travel tough, so better to pack on warmer clothing as well… Didn't realize how much is needed to set up a trip but hopefully I will have everything listed by the end of the week."

Making the Hardtack was easy enough as Jared had made a large batch during Searing with Hugo, Vinsue & Salen for a call to action to the seas and it would be no easier than making bread. With some flour, water, salt & wild yeast, the bread dough could be formed rather quickly and once that was set to the side to rest, the preparations for the earthen oven of heating with some flaming logs would only take a couple of minutes at most.

While the bread dough was slowly resting and rising near the hearth, hoping that the heat would quickly accelerate the raising and eventual proofing process. In the meantime, Jared would take his time rummaging through his pantries and storage to see what was needed for his brief time of traveling around Daravin.

Taking a few hollowed out pieces of wood, Jared would start filling up the wooden vials with various dried herbs and spices that the thief had acquired throughout the past couple of seasons. Herbs such as marjoram, thyme, sage, basil, oregano & garlic powder would be stored while spices such as cinnamon powder, whole nutmeg, whole cloves and star anise to name a few would also be stored before string all these vials to a large rucksack through the use of carrier knots, string them together and allow them to hang on the side of the package.

Another thing that Jared would need to bring along was a bedroll and to that extent, extra blankets to keep warming in the cold, arid landscape.

"Seems like I got most stuff here but need to check what else I would need that I would need to acquire prior to leaving Genteven. Might need additional camping supplies and things that I may have missed, I could get when I am passing through some cities or towns."

As time passed and sun began to drip into the night; Jared was slowly getting all the necessary things required for his traveling such as rations, rope, various tools & mess kit to name a few and the other items & kits that the Alistian thief did not have on hand. Jared would make a list and before dipping out of his home and quickly make his stride over to the shops to acquire the missing gear for making his traveling as comfortable as possible.

The things that Jared managed to acquire from the marketplace were a few things; additional containers, flask & waterskins, a tent, extra hemp rope, spare rucksacks & pouches, a whetstone & tinderbox. The amber-eyed thief might be over thinking about his travels, believing in the worst case scenario but it was better to be prepared than having nothing on hand. Though it would be best if the Alistian thief could obtain additional survival skills from someone who was well-versed in living off the land.

After the brief shopping trip & running about like a headless chicken, Jared would return back home just in time to see that his hard tack dough was raised by almost double the amount. While it wasn’t a true hardtack recipe, almost close to a bread but making some light & airy tack for the first few days of his journey would be much appreciated for the heart and soul at the very least.

Kneading the dough out and removing the excess air out, the thief would cover the hardtact dough in a tea towel; allowing the dough to rest once more for about an hour before doing the final bake.

Sitting by the fire, the slightly sweaty thief took a moment to pull a stool and sit down; resting his weary bones in front of the orange blaze that warms his small home and for a moment, everything felt surreal. To have managed to live this far in an endless game of who lives & dies based on when and where you were born, it is still something that Jared could recall…

His mind hurts when he tries to delve deeper past multiple traumatic events such as his initiation into Nightfall for attempting to steal from a noble before beating close to death’s door or witnessing cruelty in many forms from the abuse of magus forcing their wills onto non-magi folk. These are some of the many memories that still lingers in the back of his thoughts to this very day and his usual methods of trying to repress these negative thoughts has been a struggle due to his most recent encounters & close calls with death.

“What is wrong with me… I could have handled this with some effort but now it is getting tougher to handle… Freezing in moments of crisis & fumbling around when things get too tough… You are better than this Jared… No… That isn’t who you really are right… Miles…”

The amber-eyed thief took a moment to look deep into the flames, thinking about when he abandoned his original name and why was named that. Majority of his memories have been blurred and faded into an obsolete state, mainly marred in a sea of gray fog.

Though Jared/Miles’ memories have been repressed for sometime, it so far hasn’t impacted his life severely enough to warrant an investigation on how to alleviate the symptoms or if he could find someone to help him navigate his issues but with the amount of trust needed, it was unlikely to happen unless someone was willing to go out their way to help the struggling scoundrel.

“Be honest to yourself Miles… You long for someone to be your own… Despite trying to stay away from people as best you can, we all need someone… You can’t shoulder the burden on your own… It is going to crush you from within.”

Even though the Alistian thief was talking to himself, it was a form of self-comfort as it was better for him to hear his own words rather than allowing it to fester in his mindscape per say. Nevertheless, as the seconds turn to minutes and further pondering about his circumstances bubbles forward, listening to his own inner monologue. The citrine-eyed thief would take a moment to stretch his arms high & wide for a moment before relaxing, as the final part of baking his bread-like hardtack was drawing near.

Moving over to the final proofed dough, the Alistian chef would flatten the dough with a rolling pin before sectioning off pieces of the bread, enough to make a large amount of tact that could serve many meals for his anticipating travel across Daravin. Placing the square pieces of uncooked tact into a large tray, the thief would place into the earthen oven and allow the dry heat to slowly cook the dough to create his rations for travel. As far as the thief was concerned, there was still more that needed to be done but this was at least one of the many steps to make Jared’s travel’s a little bit more comfortable.


word count: 1598
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