middleofsomewhere | Day 11: Purple and Orange

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Day 11: Purple and Orange

Purple: A Very Foggy Morning.

The night before the fifth day since the goblin ambush brings heavy and relentless rain. When the children and their helpers wake they will find the air damp and misty. If the treckers look at their SCA maps they are close to Um’i’les, very close.

However the mist thickens and by mid morning it is fog, thick and heavy. It’s practically impossible to see their hands if they stretch them out in front of them. Goblin activity has lessened considerably this far North but there are still dangers. Most notably the treacherous landscape. Paths turn sharply, hills give way to steep drops over jagged rock.

The children call out for each other and hold hands to stick together but the days of marching are taking their toll. They are tired, hungry and cold. This is much further than they usually go and now they can’t see. The older ones are irritable, some of the little ones burst into tears. Some whisper about getting lost forever in the blanket of fog.

Orange: Tumble Down.

Approaching Um’i’les from a different direction mean the farmers, merchants and their companions avoid the worst of the fog, mist rolls in but rolls out again leaving the hills hazy but still visable.

Just before noon it happens, one of the cattle dislodges a rock on the path. A small, unassuming rock but apparently vital to the structure of the hill side.

Everything crumbles, the section of path that the cow was walking becomes mud, parts of the path ahead and behind collapse or warp. People and livestock go tumbling. It’s not a sharp drop, luckily the slope here is one of the gentler ones but a mud slide is still dangerous. Merchants shout, chickens squawk. Hopefully the Voidtreckers bring some calm to this chaos…

If they look around they will see a path lower down the hill, if they could just get everyone out of the mud, hope no one is too badly hurt and get them on the other path this adventure might be salvageable...

Purple: Safe Haven

It might be the group splits, or perhaps they stick together. Maybe they stumble upon the city, find a section of wall and follow it round. Perhaps they wander lost for hours, so close yet so far. Or perhaps they decide to stay still until the fog lifts.

But eventually they find it. Um’i’les. A city, much larger than Culin’e’ai. Much better fortified. Guards challenge them at the gate but once they see the children will let them in and runners are sent to inform those that need to know.

Things happen quickly and soon there is one of the lesser halls of the keep prepared for their use. It is simple but there is a fire at one end and servants bring in tubs of water and also blankets. Soon there is pottage on the fire and enough bowls for everyone. A woman with a face that invites no nonsense can be seen around, clearly giving orders and instructions. If she sees any of the adults looking remotely competent she will watch them, though only approach if they seem open to the idea.

Orange: Help Comes

It might be that Orange Team are well on their way again. It might be that some have gone with the bulk of the citizens whilst others hang back to help those stuck or injured. Um’i’les has sent out riders, a huge group of children with a few adults arriving in from the fog was enough for them to search the hills for any other people who may be lost.

So it may be they find the city on their own, it may be they are found by riders, who will lead them to the city. If there are people stuck the riders will help with rescue efforts.

But unless anyone has gotten themselves well and truly lost they will arrive at the city a few hours after the children.

Purple and Orange: Reunited

Animals are stabled or put in paddocks, given food and water. The citizens are led to the same hall the children were taken to. Children are reunited with parents, or much more commonly grandparents. Stories are swapped and talk soon turns anxiously to those who are still out there somewhere.

In amongst all the clamour Orange Team are reunited with Purple Team, their charges safe for now.

((OOC: A reminder that if you want an NPC to show up in your thread just let me know here. Likewise if your character wants to do something outside of this framework that's absolutely fine! If it's something that you feel mods should be aware of let me know here or on the event ooc post!))

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Orange: tumble down

Curufin just narrowly avoids being in the landslide. He loses his balance when part of the hillside slides out from under his feet, but he grabs a tree branch and saves himself. The tree is so large and rooted so deeply that it isn't pulled down by the mud, miraculously.

He works his way back up onto solid ground, and then begins rescuing people and animals. It's fortunate that the slope is no steeper than it is, but there are still people stumbling through the mud and looking for their animals or their friends and families.

Purple and Orange: Reunited

Curufin helps the farmers with the animals and then goes to the hall to see if all the people he sent down the safe path after the muslide have made it to the refuge. He's also looking for his teammates or his train companions.

Edited 2019-09-29 00:44 (UTC)

"Curufin!" Heiji calls out. He had managed to not get completely buried in the mud, but something caught around his leg and try as he might, he can't pull himself free. It felt like a rope or a lead, something that just kept tightening painfully around his skin. It wasn't helping matters that every time he reached for something around him it just sank into the mud too.

Curufin heard Heiji call out, whirled around, and spotted him struggling in the mud. He ran to help him.

"Whooo, looks like some animal's lead rope got caught around your ankle," he said, hip-deep and with his arms buried in the sludge while he groped for the source of Heiji's trouble. "Wait, I think I can cut this rope without cutting you." He pulled out the knife he had taken off a goblin's body, dipped it under the mud, and very, very carefully slid it under the rope.

"Yeah, careful. It's really tight." Heiji wavered as he watched the knife disappear underneath the mud. Wincing, he felt it against his leg. It would be so easy to get cut doing this, but he was putting his trust in his friend. And really, even if he got a cut it wasn't the end of the world. They could do something to patch him up, right?

Curufin slid his thumb under the rope and that gave him just enough room to get the knife blade in as well, without cutting Reiji. The knife was sharp as a razor, and it cut through the rope easily. Curufin put the knife away and disentangled the rope form the leg. Then he stepped back a foot and said, "Can you manage now?"

He waited for Heiji to start wading through the deep mud and follow him.

He yelped when he felt the knife move, but clearly Curufin knew what he was doing. Sighing with relief, he nodded and followed the elf back to more stable ground. As he went, he noticed a couple of chickens that were sink and pulled those up out of the mud.

"Ow!" He complained when one of them pecked at his hand. The cry was more because he was startled than hurt. He looked back at his teammate. "This is a mess. How are we supposed to get all these people free?"

Heiji's foot was freed from the rope without injury from the knife, thank goodness. As Heiji and Curufin waded back to more solid ground, there were the poor chickens in the mud. Heiji rescued them and got pecked for his trouble.

Curufin was looking around for more chickens, found one, and pulled it out of the mud. This one was in a pecking mood, too. "Sorry, little one," said Curufn. "Didn't mean to pull your feathers while I was pulling you out of the muck."

He replied to Heiji. "Just keep working at it, I guess. Nothing else to do." And he held up the rope that had bound Heiji's foot. He had pulled it out of the mud and coiled up and slung the coil on his shoulder. It was covered with mud but strong and sturdy.

Hearing a yell for help, he started down the hill again. There was a teenager in the mud up to his shoulderblades, and from the amount of mud on his face, hair, and clothing, it was obvious he had struggled part way out by himself. Curufin threw one end of the rope to the boy. "Grab this, and hang on. I'm going to pull, and you just keep moving your feet. If you can't touch bottom, then just float. It'll be slow, but we'll get you out." As soon as the young man had a tight hold on the rope end, Curufin began pulling.

"Heiji, can you give me a hand with this?" he asked. Two sets of arms were better than one, in this situation.

The elf was right. As much as he was overwhelmed but this situation, there wasn't much that could be done about it either. They just had to do the work and get these people free. "Yeah, you're right." He clenched his jaw in renewed determination and started toward a goat that was stuck.

Before he could take even a few steps away someone else was in trouble and Curufin went running. Heiji abandoned the goat- it would be fine for a few minutes- and was already reaching out to help when Curufin called to him. "Curufin, if you need to get closer, I've got you."

"Yeah, I think that would help," said Curufin, seeing how the boy who was stuck was looking exhausted and frightened.

He handed the rope to Heiji, climbed part way down the rocks, and then jumped in and waded towards the young man. He took him by the arms and pulled, expecting that the combination of his strength and Heji's would be enough.

"Don't let me sink in the muck!" said the boy, his voice shaking.

"We won't," said Curufin. And then to Heiji, "Go ahead and pull!"

"We won't!" Heiji also called when Curufin did. He pulled as soon as it was clear the elf had the boy. He grunted against the weight as he tugged, but he wasn't going to let either of them down. His leg was still throbbing from the rope burn, but he put his back into the motion.

Just before the two could get the boy free, Heiji stumbled a bit when one of his feet hit something that slipped in the mud, but he recovered pretty fast. Only an extra moment or two and they were both free from the mud.

Once they were out, he looked around for who else needed help. "There's a wagon over there! Let's see if we can get it free and then the boy can ride in it.

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so_dark_a_road - 2019-10-08 22:05 (UTC) - Expand

There were a lot of drawbacks to being so small. Conan had been right at the edge of the landslide, but it had still been more than enough to sweep him away. When the slide finally comes to a stop he find himself stuck in the mud and unable to get enough leverage to pull himself out.

Curufin thought he saw yet another person stuck in the mud. "Conan! I'll have you out of there in a jiffy."

He wades in, hunkers down, and takes a hold of Conan and starts tugging, carefully.

The suction from the mud holds Conan in place for a few moments, before finally releasing him.

Curufin lifts the boy after the mud releases him and carries him over the mudflow until they reach drier ground. "You okay, Conan?"

Conan makes an attempt at rubbing some of the mud off his face.

"Fine," he says irritably. Although on the bright side he hadn't come nearly as close to dying as he had in the avalanche.

"You can put me down. I think there's a lot of other people here that need some help."

Curufin grins. "Better muddy than buried."

He sets Conan down.

"You are totally and completely right. You want to be the spotter? Find people, reassure them, and I'll get to them as quickly as I can."

Reigen, unfortunately, was not as lucky in avoiding a landslide. He managed to avoid getting actually injured, but now he's waist-deep in mud, holding a panicked chicken above his head. Neither the chicken nor Reigen are happy with this situation.

"Just stop flapping, I'm trying to help, dammit!" He notices Curufin on actual solid ground, and holds out the chicken to him. "Oi, you're the animal guy, c-can you take her? Come on, Nugget-chan, go with the pretty elf man..."

Curufin arrives in time to see Reigen holding the chicken up. He keeps himself from grinning, as it's obvious that neither Reigen nor the chicken is amused by their situation. He wades out into the muck and comes near enough to reach for the bird.

"Of course I can take her. Come with me, little chicken! I'll find a place that's dry and warm for you, and probably your chicken friends will be there too." He takes the bird gently and holds her to his chest. He starts wading back towards the solid ground where he was standing to look out over the mud flows and see if anybody needed help, when Reigen called to him.

He looks back and gestures for Reigen to follow.

"Whew, thanks..." Now that he's not fighting with a chicken, Reigen wades through the mud to get himself onto solid ground. Thankfully these clothes aren't actually his, or he would be mourning pennies lost to dry-cleaning right about now.

"Are there any other people that got stuck? All I've seen are some smug goats." Reigen asks while trying to shake some of the mud off his boots.

"You're welcome," says curufin, smiling over the chicken's head. The chicken is cuddled up and obviously feeling safe, even though it's eyes are still a bit wide. Curufin's clothes and boots are as mud-covered as Reigen's, from all the wading and scrambling.

"A lot of people got stuck, and a lot of animals. In fact. . . " He listens and thinks he hears a call for help coming from far over to their left. ". . . I think there are some people who need help in that direction. Want to come along, or be the chicken-sitter? Oh, these must be the smug goats."

A pair of goats come nosing down what is left of the path that goes up the hill and give a baaah in greeting.

Well, it's clear who the chicken's new favorite is. Even after Reigen named her and saved her from certain doom! Thanks for nothing, Nugget-chan.

"I'll go with you, staying here and watching mud dry sounds boring." Plus, Reigen wants to help people along with shaking off this lair of crust from the mud. Then those goats come back, and his energy returns with a fire of anger at those bleating bastards.

"Yeah, those are the ones! Hey assholes, get off the mudslide!" These very goats passed him by in his hour of need, so Reigen might be holding a grudge. The two goats only give another baah in response to Reigen yelling at them, which he is absolutely going to take as an insult. "Curufin, did they just insult me?!" Reigen, Curufin has never said he can speak goat.

Nugget-chan turns and looks at Reigen and gives him a soft cluck, and then looks up at Curufin as though to say, Put me down now, okay?

Curufin puts the chicken down, and she clucks at Reigen a few more times.

Meanwhile, the goats are blinking their long slot-liked eyes as they are yelled at.

Curufin actually can't speak goat, but he makes a guess. "No, they said they're sorry."

"...Nugget-chan?" Reigen says, almost hopefully. Did the time they spent together mean something to the little chicken after all? He crouches down to Nugget-chan's eye level and holds out a hand to her. It's almost touching, he might cry if the chicken actually shows affection to him.

Now he feels kind of silly for yelling at the goats if they're offering their remorse to him. He calls out from his position on the ground, "It's fine, just...just go back on the other path! We're cool! Curufin, can you tell the goats we're cool?" Please, Nugget-chan and him are having a moment.

The chicken comes to Reigen's hand and lowers her head so that it is under his fingers, and turns it so that her head feathers gently caress the man's palm.

Curufin gets the picture, smiles a little, and speaks to the goats. "Like Reigen says, go on up the path and find the other goats. It's all cool, everything's cool."

The goats tilt their heads as though listening and considering, and then they bleat softly at Reigen again, and turn and trot up the path.

Wow, Nugget-chan really does care. Reigen pets her head, rapidly blinking his eyes to prevent himself from tearing up. He's a twenty-eight year old man, he can't be seen crying over a chicken.

"Animals are definitely capable of feelings, right?" Reigen asks Curufin, though regardless of the other man's answer he's going to tell himself that they are. It's like dogs, no one is going to say that a dog can't love you.