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middleofsomewhere2020-09-15 10:10 pm
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2020-09-15 10:10 pm
Entry tags:
Onward: Orange
Island Hopping
The islands don't move fast but they float through the air, never clashing with one another but often getting close. For the brave this means they can jump from one island to another to get around. Flying would be safer, for those with the means.
The calla lilies don't cover each island, sometimes they can find small fields of them, other times they must go through undergrowth and forests to hunt down the small flowers.
The flowers themselves are delicate, but with steady and careful fingers the crystal can be plucked out without damaging the flowers. The huma birds fly around the islands and if called to swoop down to take the crystals. It's probably easiest if they are in a bag that the birds can carry with their claws, otherwise they carry them gently in their beaks.
Huma
The swoop of wings is a constant sound around the islands, the Huma birds have nests all around the islands, high in the trees. The chicks stick to their nests, protected by their parents though they might venture out under the wing of an adult, never going far. Huma birds run as well as fly and will often waddle across to those harvesting, to demand crystals. A competition of sorts appears to be developing between several groups of birds, regarding numbers of crystals freighted down from the woodlands, and competition for the attention and loyalty of efficient gatherers is heating up.
More worryingly though are the blighted birds. These are pretty obvious, their feathers stick each and every way as if they are constantly in a fierce storm. They divebomb crystal harvesters, talons out, screeching in rage.
Other times they fly at any who are island hopping, trying to knock them off course. Luckily for the voidtreckers, their regular fellows are keeping a close enough eye on proceedings to turn any falls into something rather less lethal… if a little too thrilling.
Sprites
The first sign that the sprites are aware of the trespassers in their domain is a flurry of leaves and down that whistles through the islands like whispery laughter. Smaller gusts and breezes break off to investigate individuals or wind through stands of smaller trees to collect stray leaves, whipping hair or loose clothing around and rattling branches.
Some sprites are more mischievous than others, and while lone sprites can do little more than disturb and bluster, changing directions and messing up hair and clothing, larger groups of sprites are capable of more alarming feats. Such as winds that spin a person rapidly on the spot, or ‘helpfully’ increase the distance of a jump several times over, or blow things carried loosely from fingers too slow to grip when the breeze comes by. They’re easily entertained, however, and can be distracted very easily by being given things to carry, or new scents to bring drifting along within themselves.
The islands don't move fast but they float through the air, never clashing with one another but often getting close. For the brave this means they can jump from one island to another to get around. Flying would be safer, for those with the means.
The calla lilies don't cover each island, sometimes they can find small fields of them, other times they must go through undergrowth and forests to hunt down the small flowers.
The flowers themselves are delicate, but with steady and careful fingers the crystal can be plucked out without damaging the flowers. The huma birds fly around the islands and if called to swoop down to take the crystals. It's probably easiest if they are in a bag that the birds can carry with their claws, otherwise they carry them gently in their beaks.
Huma
The swoop of wings is a constant sound around the islands, the Huma birds have nests all around the islands, high in the trees. The chicks stick to their nests, protected by their parents though they might venture out under the wing of an adult, never going far. Huma birds run as well as fly and will often waddle across to those harvesting, to demand crystals. A competition of sorts appears to be developing between several groups of birds, regarding numbers of crystals freighted down from the woodlands, and competition for the attention and loyalty of efficient gatherers is heating up.
More worryingly though are the blighted birds. These are pretty obvious, their feathers stick each and every way as if they are constantly in a fierce storm. They divebomb crystal harvesters, talons out, screeching in rage.
Other times they fly at any who are island hopping, trying to knock them off course. Luckily for the voidtreckers, their regular fellows are keeping a close enough eye on proceedings to turn any falls into something rather less lethal… if a little too thrilling.
Sprites
The first sign that the sprites are aware of the trespassers in their domain is a flurry of leaves and down that whistles through the islands like whispery laughter. Smaller gusts and breezes break off to investigate individuals or wind through stands of smaller trees to collect stray leaves, whipping hair or loose clothing around and rattling branches.
Some sprites are more mischievous than others, and while lone sprites can do little more than disturb and bluster, changing directions and messing up hair and clothing, larger groups of sprites are capable of more alarming feats. Such as winds that spin a person rapidly on the spot, or ‘helpfully’ increase the distance of a jump several times over, or blow things carried loosely from fingers too slow to grip when the breeze comes by. They’re easily entertained, however, and can be distracted very easily by being given things to carry, or new scents to bring drifting along within themselves.
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Having run out of the flying potion, Curufin resorts to literally island-hopping. He gets a running start and springs from one island to another, relying on his athletic intuition to keep him from misjudging and thereby plunging into the abyss. He scrambles through the underbrush in forests to find the calla lilies, and he carefully fills bag after bag with crystals. Each time, he whistles or calls to the birds, and they come and fetch the bags and fly away with them.
Huma: Here, birdies!
Sometimes the birds don't wait for him to call, they just walk up to him and in gesture language and bird language, tell him he'd better hand over the crystals. Sometimes they come in gangs.
He grins at them. "Don't worry, I'm no match for you guys. Here!" He hands over the latest clutch of crystals in a bag, watches them as they take to the air with their booty, and then he goes back to work gathering more with speed and efficiency. If the bird gangs seem to be arguing, he says, "Hey, don't fight over me! I can gather crystals fast enough to keep all you avian types happy!" And he precedes to prove this.
The blighted birds are a bit of a problem. They screech and try to knock him out of the air when he jumps from one island to another, but luckily for him, he's got fast reflexes. He whips out his arm and blocks them hard, deflecting them. Sometimes he gets his arm scratched by those talons, but oh well.
Sprites:
Curufin is rather entertained by the antics of the sprites. They move invisibly like the winds, blowing his long hair into tangles and trying to steal his cloak. He laughs at them and says, "I used to be an unbodied spirit myself, and I tried all your tricks." Big, bright grin. "So, you can't fool me!" He's discovered what keeps them distracted, though, and he uses this knowledge. He gives them handfuls of leaves or flowers with his bright, shiny grin, as though he were giving them gifts of great value. "Take these to the next island, will you?" he asks, politely. Funny how effective that is. The sprites usually leave.
sprites
"Hey---let me down!"
And they do, unceremoniously. It seems Curufin has something the sprites are more interested in. Kaiba grumbles and straightens himself out, ears perking as he listens.
"...you were a spirit? When?"
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Curufin replies, "I was a spirit for decades after my death. Mortals can leave the Earth after they die, but Elves never can. Our spirits are bound to the Earth forever. We're supposed to go to our death god's dwelling, the Halls of Mandos, and wait there for him to judge us and decide whether we deserve to be re-embodied and returned to life in the world. But I didn't go. I was afraid that Mandos would judge me unfit for reincarnation, so I refused his summons and stayed in Middle-earth. I already knew it was possible for Elves to re-embody themselves without the help of the gods, because I read a lot of our sages' works when I was younger, and that's what some of them believed. So, I wandered as a spirit and tried to make myself useful to the refugees of the recent wars and the one that began soon after I died. I found places where these homeless Elves and mortals could be safe, and I led them there. And I worked on that re-embodiment thing. It took a long time to get the knack of it."
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"Would've done the same thing in those circumstances, to be honest. But you re-embodied yourself on your own?"
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"I'll bet you would have, Kaiba! And yes, I did figure out how to re-embody myself on my own. It's kind of tricky, but I could condense my spirit into a physical body again. Only, I didn't get to live a new life in Middle-earth because I was snatched out of my own world and into another. That was my first adventure traveling the multiverse."
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The multiverse seemed to take a particular interest in some people. What an odd thing. But he was interested.
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He made a face. "The second world was Hadriel, and it was full of false gods, and the community was often in danger from a bunch of killer robots who wanted to destroy the gods and kept pursuing them, and us, the citizens. And although I had a lot of good experiences, I had some bad ones as well. Ah, well, I guess the art of living is to learn from our experiences and from our mistakes and the mistakes of others. I'm not sorry I spent time there."
"And then, of course, I left and wandered the Dark Between the Worlds for eight months before the Voidtrecker picked me up."
Birdies!
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"Thanks, Ichigo!" He grinned and waited for the man to set him down. "You just saved me from becoming a human pancake down below on the planet's surface. Elvish pancake, that is."
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He looked around, and sure enough, there was a whole bank of lilies growing nearby.
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He pulls the bag out of his tunic pocket and opens the drawstring and lays it down beside him. He starts picking the crystals out.
"I think there are some birds that are supposed to come and volunteer to take the crystals wherever they are supposed to go. Them, maybe?" He nods towards a distant flock of Huma birds that seem to be coming this way.
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"We'll have to yell at those birds, if they don't come over here soon enough. They're funny personalities, they's so smart they can almost talk." Smile.
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Curufin smiled at the bird and said, "Thank you! Would you send one of your friends down here, please, since I also have a bag?"
The bird nodded.
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Wanna wrap this thread and catch up somewhere in the future?
He smiled and then started filling another bag himself.
Sounds good to me!