Warpland Fantasy

[jondude]

"So... what? Is this it then? We're on our own from here and you two are just going to wait here till your company comes and picks you up?", Nova asks Crake.

She examines the area a little more, and wonders if she might be able to contribute by fishing or something. She was a great fighter, but unfortunately she didn't really have much in the way of survivalist skills. She could hopefully earn her keep with simple menial tasks like making twine and gathering wood though. Still, it would be better if they could find something a little more... developed. As far as she knew the warp lands were filled with ruins of the old world. The shattered remnants of cities that if the stories could be believed went for what seemed like a 100 miles or more and could host tens of millions of people if not more. If they could find something like that then maybe they could scavenge up some better tools and weapons and what have you so they didn't all end up being mud covered savages with flint spears.

To that end Nova would do her best to scan the horizon ahead on the other side of the river were the woods was denser, looking for any signs of large hills that maybe they could climb to get some high ground and really view what they had to work with environment wise.

[Soru]

Well fuck, seems like they're going to be stuck just in the wilderness with only a chance of finding some sort of settlement or village if Crake has never seen one himself. Though she knows that some must exist considering the store Mitch told her before but that one ended up disappearing. She looks around at their surroundings a bit, their place for camp at least a nice one with little to no signs of taint but it wasn't a place Scarlet wanted to stay in. Part of her wonders if at some point she should try to sneak back into her home city, but without her gear that would be next to impossible. With a sigh she stands up and tries to look around, seeing if there was a high point nearby or a tree that was tall and easy to climb; if she could get a high enough vantage point she could try to scout around for possibly signs of other tainted people out here.

[Taria]

Crake shrugs to Nova somewhat apologetically as he says, "Well, that's pretty much what exile is, yeah. I can get you to somewhere where it's possible to survive, but I can't change society." Without sharing a word it seems that a few of the group decide that the first thing to do is go exploring a bit and to get a better lay of the land, so together they head towards what appears to be higher elevation. The trek itself is easier said than done, however as the woods are old and dense, without landmarks it could get easy to be turned around, but they can at least tell they are heading uphill.

After an hour or so the group manages to reach what seems to be the summit of this hill, at a small clearing.To on end the can see the long wide desert that they managed to surpass, including the structure sitting out there alone in the sands. The river stretches on towards a vast lake in the woods one way, and to the other, snaking rapids that go on and on towards the horizon in the direction of a mountain.

In the other direction... the trees in front of everyone block their view. They would either need to be cleared or climbed over in order to get a better look deeper into the woods.

[jondude]

"I know that jackass.", Nova answers Crake, but with a playful tone. "Just feels like us wandering off into the woods now feels like we're exiling the two of you rather then the other way around. Not that you're specifically exiling us I mean, but... well you know what I mean! There is more of us then you and all!"

Well in any case it seemed like they might be staying together a little while longer yet. They manage to find some high ground to make use of not to far away and they all decide to hike over, soon cresting the hill despite it's dense foliage. Like much of the landscape though it's dominated by various kinds of tall and thick trees, meaning that unless they found a cliff they wouldn't be seeing much, but those same trees had lots of thick sturdy looking branches!

"Well... I guess we shouldn't be surprised.", Nova says, then drops her chains to the forest floor before looking for a good tree candidate for climbing. Tall with lots of think branches obviously would be best. "I don't mind climbing to get a look at things, though a second set of eyes couldn't hurt if someone would like to join me. Just be sure to watch your footing.", Nova says before selecting a tree and starting to climb. After she gets about four feet up though she'd turn back down toward the group and have a coy smile on her face. "And try not to look up my skirt too much yeah?", she'd add on with a laugh before continuing to climb up, aiming to try and get above the leaf canopy. (Bid: 1 physical)

[Kuragari]

Following after the others and wracking her brain, Kayin wishes she had a map to be able to try and guess where they were. If she had something like that, she could at least try to make suggestions and guesses of places from the old world that might still be around. Though it wouldn't surprise her if the first settlement they ran into was just one of the other walled off city states that had no desire for their sorts to be in them. In any case once they crested the hill, she hummed and said, "If I was going to suggest directions to go, it'd be to follow the river either towards that lake or the mountains." Rivers and lakes had been the focal point for early settlements and civilizations, surely that wouldn't have changed out here in the warplands.

[Soru]

Seeing that some of the others had the same idea as her Scarlet figured it would be best to go as a group to look around. After a little while they make it the top of a hill but finds that it was a small clearing with trees blocking their view of the directions that they didn't come. Looking up at the trees Scarlet then starts to stretch, getting ready to climb one of the trees and it seems that Nova has the same idea. While the bunny girl suit wasn't idea it was skin tight, much like her old thief outfit so it shouldn't restrict her movement. "I'll be climbing too." She tells them before leaping up into the tree, acrobatics and climbing things were a specialty of hers. (Bid: 1 physical)

[Taria]

Nova rolls 4 (diff 4)

Scarlet rolls 6 (diff 4)

As Kayin turns to eye the expanse towards river and lake, Nova makes her announcement and starts shimmying up a tree. Scarlet, determined not to be outshone, takes a running leap from a slightly different direction and almost effortlessly bunnyhops her up along the branches of her tree, climbing up much faster than Nova. From the ground, Kayin spots a large slab of intact bark and wood, pretty much perfect for someone to carve into.

Meanwhile Scarlet and Nova end up above the tree line and can see munch further into the woods off in the distance they can make out a large clearing in the hillside which reveals the mouth of a sizable cave, and over into the other direction what appears to be primitive signs of civilization; a wall of cut timber barricading a small area of space that couldn’t be more than three or four modern houses. The details of what’s inside these areas are too far away to make out at this time, so it’s impossible to tell if there’s any activity in those locations.

[jondude]

Nova begins climbing up her chosen tree quickly enough, but is quickly outshone by Scarlet as the bunny suit clad girl shoves her agility. Nova pouts slightly, half temped to playfully call her a show off, but given that her whole livelihood in Thunder City was essentially being a show off Nova couldn't say it. She could only so hypocritical after all.

Nova eventually makes it through the leaf canopy about a minute after Scarlet does, soon spotting the same two curious landmarks. "Well... there is a big cave and and what appears to be a small settlement with wooden palisade wall. Both seem like good options for shelter.", Nova calls down to the others. "I can't tell if that settlement is occupied or not though. I'd presume it is for now, just to be safe."

With that said Nova tries to gauge the distance from their current location to the land marks, curious as to how long they'd have to get walk to get to either. "I vote for the signs of life!", she calls out, curious as to what everyone else thought they should do.

[Kuragari]

Spotting the large piece of barkwood, Kayin hums as she picks it up, finding herself quickly thinking they could perhaps draw a crude map upon it. That could certainly prove helpful, though is there anything about that she could readily use for such? A stone with a sharper edge to it would be best, but she hadn't been keeping much of an eye out for such on the way here...

"What'd ya girls see?" She calls up to the two who climb (or hop) up higher. When she hears about the possible sign of civilization, she calls out, "How far do ya think it is?"

[Taria]

Both landmarks aren’t all that far off, maybe a couple of hours on a tread path. But with the untamed dense forest in the way, it would definitely take a few hours or more.

[Soru]

With her acrobatic skills that she obtained from her years as a thief Scarlet was able to quickly jump from branch to branch and climb her way up the tree. She wasn't going to brag about it though, unlike Nova she's been doing this kind of thing for years. Eventually she reaches the top and is able to look around, spying both the cave and what seems like some sort of primitive and walled village. She lets Nova catch up as she looks around for anything else she could spot in the distance while gauging how far the things she spotted might be.

"Seems like it might take a few hours to reach either one depending on if we can find any easy paths. Not really idea though." Scarlet shouts down to Kayin. "I would avoid the cave; who knows what sort of things might be lurking in there... If that place has people we might be able to find a place to stay. And if it's empty then we can make it our own maybe... provided nothing dangerous moved in."

[Kuragari]

Kayin nodded as they shared such information. "It sounds like the... walled village might be the better one to go for. We should go tell the others." She wasn't sure if Mitch and Crake would come along or not, but she figured Vale and Bean would come along. Though after a moment, she glances to the sky, trying to gauge what time of day it is and whether it'd be good to wait til tomorrow morning or not to set out.

[jondude]

"Alright, seems pretty settled to me. Let's go.", Nova says, then begins to gradually climb down the the tree she was in. No need to to try and race Scarlet down and try and maybe hurt herself. Slow and steady wins the race and all.

Once they were all on the ground and ready to go, Nova would pick up her chains and try to take the point position, one chain slightly unfurled and ready for fighting just in case.

[Taria]

You all head back to the others to inform them of the landmarks spotted. Mitch and Crake seem more interested in staying behind along the riverside to continue resting and setting up there. However Bean has gotten more excited to go exploring and decides to tag along. The journey through the woods is rigorous with all the dense underbrush needing to be cleared, as this place is not commonly traveled by humans. Bean seems fairly unphased by the minor obstacles, barreling straight through branches and shrubs and casually ripping out any weeds that try to entangle her.

As dusk falls you all stand in front of the wooden palisades, still seeing very little activity as you search around the perimeter for an entrance. Finally you find some sort of entrance, a large swinging gate that seems unbarred and undefended, with a plaque hanging above it that reads, "Torben Town".

[jondude]

As the sun starts to set Nova starts to think that maybe they should've waited till morning to do this, but what was done was done now, and it while the forest was thick they'd found their way here easy enough. It should be a simple enough task to retrace their steps in the last of the light after they explore a little, and with a trail already established it should be a little faster going back then getting here.

Unfortunately it seems the place was abandoned as their didn't seem to be any sign of life. No sounds, no guards... nothing. They do find a door though, with a sign. "Torben Town eh?", Nova starts, her voice relatively low. She heads toward the swinging gate, chain in her hand still ready. It seemed awfully convenient, but seeing no point in staying outside and dallying about she gingerly pushes the gate open, curious as to what they'd see inside.

[Soru]

Scarlet nimbly makes her way down the tree and rejoins the others as Nova makes it down moments later. "Guess we're checking out that village... Hopefully it won't take too long to get there on foot..." Unfortunately it was dusk by the time they made it, Scarlet wishing that they waited till morning so they arrived in daylight.

When they find the gate inside Scarlet takes place behind Nova, the shark tooth in hand with a chain in the other. She wasn't looking for a fight and hopes that they won't find any inside but she was prepared.

[Lazy Kitsune]

It might have been better to arrive in the height of day to make it easier to tell if this place was ready to welcome newcomers or not, but venturing inside now was probably better than waiting a night out in the wilderness just to arrive at a more convenient time. Vale kept an eye out for signs of any guards or lookouts or... well... anyone really. It was hard to measure a place's worth... and more importantly, safety... without seeing how any of its people reacted to their presence. Right now the only gate around was free for them to all enter. Which seemed a little unusual, all things considered, but none of them had yet to learn how things really worked out here.

"I thought there'd be guards... or at least a lock." she murmurs as they approach the swinging they gate. She moves in close to Nova and Scarlet, not having a way of defending herself, as they enter the town.

[Kuragari]

Kayin wishes both Crake and Mitch well before setting off, and hopes they get in touch with their convoy. She doesn't think its the last time they'll see them, but it could be. She does ask if they'd prefer to keep the water filter or not, and if they don't want it, she brings it with them. She then follows after the others, doing her best to keep alert for any signs of trouble. It is slow going thanks to how thick and untamed the forest is, with little paths suggesting any people have been through here recently. It does make Kayin wonder if the settlement even has anybody, as surely if people were living there they would have made some sort of path after a while, surely? Though as they reach the walls of it, there doesn't seem to be any activity, and when they find the gate, no guards...

"This place might be abandoned..." Kayin murmured softly, though she'd certainly prefer they find someone else. But at least if they did find it abandoned... that meant they could make it into a base at least? "Still best to try and take things quietly."

Out of curiosity, Kayin goes ahead and tries to use her newly gained telepathic powers to see if she can sense anything or anyone nearby. (Bid 1 Telepathy)

[Taria]

As everyone enters the outpost, immediately noticeable is the wildness, with grass long overgrown everywhere and shabby shacks in disarray. Also surprising is the amount of animals everywhere, cats, dog, goats, chickens, even some smaller things like lizards and snakes; it is a veritable land of pets. In the center of it all, in a large cleared out town square like space, there is a sprouting and gnarled wooden throne with ornate accents decorated all over. Sitting upon this throne and wearing a plain metallic headband appears to be a human skeleton, worn clean of all signs of flesh and hunched over in their seat.

Kayin rolls: 6 (diff 5)

Kayin opens up the telepathic channel of her mind to find out more about this mysterious abandoned place and is suddenly swarmed with a cacophony of foreign thoughts and feelings, an entire village filled with people. However, either from years of rigorous studying or just natural gifts, Kayin's mind is able to quickly process all of the sudden oncoming information.

Spoiler (click to show/hide):

You can see it now, through the perception of all the other collective minds here. There is an entire town here, the dilapidated sheds appears as stately townhouses with all the animals being the people coming in and out of their homes. They travel about living the daily lives of human beings, heading to places where they work, going out to farms to plow or harvest, all while their animal counterparts meander about along similar paths and scratch or graze as an imperfect imitation to whatever they think they are doing. They seem to be completely unaware of the visitation of you strangers, and the one known as Torben, the one upon the throne, does not seem to move in the alternate world either, just glowing in golden light.

[Kuragari]

Kayin stumbles a bit as she gets the collective impression from these minds. She tries to parse it, unsure at first if the animals were once people, or if the animals are all that remains and all that is left of the people themselves is spirits wandering about. She eventually settles on something sort of in between. She's not sure if she's tapping into some sort of alternate world or not, but at least she is getting something out of this gift, even if it just leaves her with more questions than answers.

"Well, uh, as strange as this is going to sound..." Kayin mumbles aloud, before pointing to the throne. "The name of that skeleton is, or well perhaps was fits better, Torben."

She isn't sure yet how to describe what it is she is sensing, though if asked to elaborate, she goes ahead and shares to the best of her ability.