The Stars are my Lampposts, the Moon is my Guide

[Arlo Creede]

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1st Saun, Arc 717

The Scholar's Nook wasn't the sort of place that Arlo frequented, ordinarily. A cafe that served tea, just tea, and shelves full of books. The tall, lanky young man could count all the times on one hand, or just one digit actually, that he'd stepped foot inside a library of any sort. He'd much rather the open all around him, be it forests, mountains or plains, and the wide open skies overhead. And maybe it was more typical of those his own age, but the dreamwalker and follower of Cassion preferred to learn any given thing by the seat of his pants.

He'd make an exception this trial. In the absence of a more learned ear to bend, books might suffice. And besides, Saun had come in with a vengeance and it was cooler indoors than out, in the late afternoon. Still, it felt a little strange, hoping to learn something more of navigation from the pages of a book, or two, rather than learning it on the move. And Arlo did well enough by following the sun, his instincts and his compass. But time on board a handful of sailing vessels over the past arc, had sparked an interest in navigation by the moons and the stars

So he'd slipped into the Scholar's Nook with the unseen Lyova sweeping in behind him on a heated breeze before the door finally drifted shut. He'd gotten himself a cup of tea and found a table in the corner to set it on. And soon enough he had a small stack of books at one elbow and notebook at the other, opened to a page just waiting to be written on. Soon enough he was so absorbed in what he was doing, that he was hardly aware of others coming and going. And while he read and took notes in turn, he muttered to himself as if saying aloud, somehow helped the remembering.

Except that he wasn't exactly talking to himself, but to Lyova. Though no one would know it but him or an other dreamwalker. "Quicker and easier than using a compass," Arlo uttered and frowned while considering it. The stars, that was. Or the moon. Rather, two moons, and the telling of which direction was which, and which way one ought to be going. Even distance, according to the text in front of him. "So says you." From a quarter of a world away, apparently, all you needed to do in order to reach any given destination, was to follow the star that hung directly overhead it. As if you'd arranged to meet up with a friend, under the light of a particular lamppost. Scratching his head, Arlo scowled a little. "Well it would require knowing which star hovers over which destination wouldn't it?"

Then again, he realized and the book as good as confirmed it, stars moved, which would require choosing a different star to follow every few bits. They all moved, except for one, Arlo discovered. Or at least it didn't appear to. Resolving to learn more about that particular star, Arlo set one book aside in trade for another, and took a bit to sit back with his tea and survey his surroundings. He was curious to know how many others might seek refuge from the heat this time of the trial.

[Mero]

It was hot, too hot, miserably so. Mero wasn’t sure of his feathers could burst into flame or not, but he was sure that if they could they were considering it. Even in his lightest tunic he wasn’t able to find any relief from the scorching Saun rays and such but he was told that he shouldn’t spend all his time hiding inside his room. If he’d had a voice he would’ve retorted with something about how he’d rather never have an adventure and stay safe, but since it was just his room he was venturing out from he knew he stood on weak ground. So he left… begrudgingly. As sweat began to bead his brow however he realized that seeking sanctuary was likely his best bet.

So casting his gaze about he frowned eyes only alighting to places with other people, his idea of wanting to get out of the sun seemed to be a rather common theme among the people here. Swallowing he decided that interacting with strangers was apparently going to be a necessary evil whether he liked it or not. So mentally preparing himself he pushed open the door to the café and walked in. Looking about there were two things he noticed. People, lots of them all taking refuge at tables with drinks…. And the other things, they all had…. Books, lots and lots of books all filled with words made of letters he did not know… well he did know some letters, the four in his name, but that wasn’t enough to interest him in reading. However his note of the amount of people in the building managed to tear him away from his interest in the veritable library.

Looking about it became rapidly obvious that he was going to be hard pressed to find somewhere to sit down, nearly all the chairs were filled with people or spaces that were far to close for comfort. Looking around he finally saw a chair across from a curly haired man where a peculiar hat who looked quite interested in his book. Looking about once more for a place that was not occupied he frowned and decided that it was the best place to sit if he wanted to avoid people. Strangers weren’t to be trusted after all, but people who were more interested in books than him did seem… safe?

So sliding towards where the man was Mero sat quietly looking around to see if people were watching him. His wings and feathery legs always seemed to attract unwanted attention. He didn’t like being looked at or being asked questions about it, even if he’d accepted that people didn’t really mean him harm by it. He just didn’t know how to handle or communicate with people.

The man was reading a book about stars or something, at least that’s what the pictures showed but he didn’t know what any of the words were. But then when the man looked up he faltered looking down for a moment embarrassed that he’d invaded the man’s table without asking. He wasn’t sure if he’d made a mistake or not but he could feel the heat rising to his face as he tried to think of a way to extricate himself should he need to.

[Arlo Creede]

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If it was somehow strange, contradictory or ironic that he'd chosen this of all seasons to study navigation by way of the stars and moons, Arlo didn't seem to think anything of it. Saun was just forty trials long after all, and the stars and moons would make their usual nighttime showings soon enough. The young dreamwalker and follower of Cassion would be ready for them then, or so he believed. What were the suns but stars anyway? With one or both of them constantly overhead, there'd be plenty of opportunities to study their movements.

Besides, the weather wasn't fit for man or beast outdoors and others who he'd never have expected to see spending time in a place full of books, him included, had suddenly developed a real interest in reading and study. Or at least the pretense of it.

So it appeared, according to the open book in front of him, that it wasn't only possible to find one's way through the world by following the stars, but also the moons. For instance, if a fellow was to imagine a connecting line between the endpoints of a moon's crescent, and then extend that line to the horizon; "That point on the horizon is south," Arlo muttered to himself and jotted down a few notes in his journal. Unless, he observed, you were located in the southern hemisphere of Idalos, then that end point would indicate due north.

So focused was he on what was in front of him, he hardly noticed the waif-like individual until he sat down right in front of him. Looking up from the half-filled page, Arlo smiled curiously. One of the winged people, he guessed, but scruffy, thin and pale...as if he was sickly, had somehow managed to evade both suns of Saun for several arcs running, or as if in need of a good handful of meals. He could only guess where age was concerned, but this one seemed younger than him. All being relative, naturally, given the difference in origins. Strange he hadn't said anything though. And he seemed a little jumpy. "Hello, I'm Arlo," he said. "You come to study, or just get out of the heat?"

[Arlo Creede]

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That was a very quiet fellow who'd sat down across from him. And then he was gone again before Arlo had even gotten his name. Curious, the young man thought. But then that was the interesting thing about the world they lived in. It took all sorts to fill it. Shrugging off the mystery, the young man returned his attention the stack of books and scrolls on the table in front of him. His tea had gone cold but he'd forgotten all about it.

His mind had wandered back to that one star in the sky that all the others seemed to revolve around in the night sky. After a little bit of looking, he stumbled across a few lines that explained it. North. A northern star that seemed to be the center that never moved, while the rest of the heavens did. So reliably fixed in place, apparently, that the Biqaj had been using it to navigate their way through the seas for centuries. Arlo's travels on the sea had been limited to needing to get from one location on Idalos to another. But he didn't see any reason why he couldn't use that same star to make his way across land.

For that matter, Arlo wondered, what about the sextant that he'd watched the navigator using the last time that he and Vega had sailed together? Putting aside the scroll he'd been reading, he grabbed a book from the bottom of the stack and leafed through the pages. "A doubly reflecting navigation instrument," Arlo read aloud to Lyova, while turning to a fresh page in his notebook. "Says here, that it's used to measure the angle between an astronomical object, meaning a moon or a star I guess, and the horizon for the purpose of celestial navigation. Maybe even the sun. Estimating the angle, apparently, was known as sighting or shooting.

"Very precise apparently, since it allows objects to be measured relative to the horizon instead of relative to the sextant." Frowning curiously, Arlo sat back and considered it, finally concluding that maybe a sextant was in fact far more useful on the sea than on dry land. On land, there'd be too many obstacles in the way, between him and the horizon if he was, say, off in the forest somewhere.

Of course all navigational techniques, be it on land or sea or flying through the air he guessed, involved locating the navigator's position compared to known locations. But there were instruments more suited to travel on foot or horseback. Like a compass or even a spyglass. There was even something called a gyrocompass according to one of the books. A sort of non-magnetic compass which was based on a fast-spinning disc. He didn't understand half of it, but still thought he might like to get one for himself. Or even better, an astrolabe which was apparently also used by sailors to determine a ship's latitude at sea. Arlo liked the idea of the sextant though and an astrolabe, and he resolved that next time he found himself on a seagoing vessel, he'd seek out the navigator for a chat.

Meanwhile though, the trial had grown long and he'd spent more time in the library than he'd intended to."Best we get back Lyova," he said, gathering up the books and scrolls to return to the shelves, and dropping his notebook into his bag before leaving. Surely by now Vega would be wondering where he'd gone off to.

[Pegasus]

Arlo

Overview

I love the way you write Arlo- he's like a child opening presents at Christmas! He doesn't understand half of it, but he knows he wants one! LOL. I wondered if the North Star would exist on Idalos.. but then figured that *A* North Star would. Go figure! Great thread, such a shame it was abandoned, I would have liked to see how the two pcs interacted. Drop me a pm if there's anything I've missed.

Points

XP: 15

Fame: Nope

Loot

Knowledge

Navigation: Discerning north, south, east west without a compass
Navigation: Measuring distances by observing the moons and stars
Navigation: The north star
Navigation: Sextant: Doubly reflecting navigational instrument
Navigation: Locating the navigator's position compared to known locations
Navigation: Gyrocompass: Non-magnetic compass based on a fast-spinning disc
Navigation: Astrolabe: Used by sailors to determine a ship's latitude at sea
Research: Using multiple resources