• Open • [Eureka] Spooked

[Dandelion]

50 Ymiden 721


Dan was moving from one campsite to another when it happened. Even though he had been giving Volta and its endless lightning what he thought was a wide and cautious berth, a bolt of dry lightning seared down only a handful of yards away, and Cloud, quite understandably, spooked.

As his grey pony bolted across the grass, Dan focused both on not falling off, and hanging onto Smoke's leading rein as the younger pony pulled the cart containing his belongings behind him. When Cloud eventually tired herself out enough that she slowed down and came to a halt, he slid off, keeping one arm looped through her reins, to give her a breather and some much needed reassurance. As he petted and patted her and hissed soothingly through his teeth, his gaze darted round to figure out where exactly they had ended up and which way they needed to go to get to his intended campsite. He might not make it there tonight, he might have to make a temporary overnight camp to rest the ponies, but it wasn't as if he had a schedule or as if anyone was expecting him anywhere. He even had a pair of field-dressed rabbits strapped to the packs, so he didn't even need to take more time out to hunt for his supper.

His gaze snagged on buildings that he would have sworn weren't there the last time he came that way, and a sinking feeling turned his guts to lead as he noticed the people moving around. The only new settlement that he'd heard of was supposed to be out in the Stormwastes, on the far side of the river, but he wasn't exactly in the loop for news. There could well be others - and this looked like one. He'd probably have to go even further round to get far enough away to camp without being on their land.

Unless they hosted him for the night. He looked reflexively down at himself. It could be worse. The hide leggings were his better ones, and the patched soles of his shoes didn't show when he was standing, but his shirt was worn almost threadbare, more patch than original cloth, sleeves rolled up to bare his arms to the Ymiden warmth. A lacework of old scars showed pale against his tan, and all of it was filthy with travel dust. Would they even want to host him? Curiousity warred with caution in his heart, wanting to know what was going on, yet wary of the all too familiar experience of being dismissed or worse, pitied for not being 'normal' enough. For not understanding speech, only sign, as if he was a problem to be 'fixed'.

Then Smoke shoved her nose into his back, wanting some of the attention that Cloud was getting, and he turned to give it to her, taking his eyes off the settlement for a long moment, though the rest of his senses remained on alert in case anyone approached him.



"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

There was such a lot to do.

Faith had no doubt that it would get done - all of it. She was excited about what they were building here, what they were creating. It was a potentially huge thing, but that was fine. They would do and they were doing it. Faith knew that they were getting on as well as anyone possibly could. Thankfully, she was rather good at organizing things she thought with a smile. She had a list, it had sub-sections and priority colour-coding.

All was well.

"Good boy, Cosmo! Good boy - fetch the stick... nearly... GO!"

She was out walking with a few reasons for doing so. She wanted to get a feel for the place, to visualise what would go there, she was giving the dog his exercise and he was there because Padraig was always concerned about her and her safety. Faith didn't mind that, far from minding it in fact, it made her feel very loved and very secure. So, Alissa, her bodyguard, was walking a little over to Faith's left, and she was taking the dog for a jog. It helped, having Cosmo with her, because Cosmo could lead her home too. Faith's sense of direction being what it was, she needed that.

Having caught the stick, Cosmo came back with it in his mouth, delighted to provide it to her and Faith took it off him. "Good boy! Oh, good boy, Cosmo!" She grinned and threw it again and then she laughed as the dog looked at her in apparent surprise. He seemed almost put out that he'd just brought that back to her and now, here she was, flinging it away. Always happy to help his hapless human, Cosmo bounded off.

It was as they continued their walk that Faith noticed that they weren't alone. She saw a man - travelling, by the looks of things, and she waved. Approaching Dan was a short human woman with long black hair and very pale skin. Standing at just short of five foot four, Faith was small of stature. The dog, on the other hand, was big. Cosmo was a large dog with electric blue markings. At the sight of the stranger, the dog moved closer to Faith. A short way behind Faith was a tall biqaj woman, but she stayed back and watched.

"Hello!" Faith said, calling to him. "Are you in need of assistance?"

[Dandelion]

Dan's head snapped round at the sound of a voice, and Cloud (still somewhat unsettled) tossed her head uneasily at the sudden movement. There was a small woman waving at him, but it was only a wave, and she was flanked by a large dog and an even larger woman. With his hands momentarily occupied by Cloud and the various reins, he couldn't respond except to call back one of the few spoken phrases he had learned. IonlyknowSign!

Once Cloud had calmed enough that he could just loop his arm through her and Smoke's reins rather than hanging on to them with his fingers, he was free to reply properly. "My name is Dandelion. Do you know Sign?" He pointed to himself. Dan he added with a wary but polite smile. "I was - travelling - and my horse spooked." He nodded his head towards the new buildings - or settlement, if it was a settlement - and raised his eyebrows in a questioning look. "What is - that?" There were other questions he would have liked to ask too, and the wondering and curiousity flickered across his tanned face, along with a cautious hope. He wasn't about to be rude though. Normal people didn't walk around with guards at their backs, and since she was... Well, she was new and the buildings were new, it wasn't that hard for someone accustomed to figuring out where the food might be to put new and new together and come up with four.

He glanced sideways at the blue-marked dog at her side. His spear was in its saddle holder, arrows in a saddle quiver, both still on Cloud's back, close at hand, and his bow was slung on his back for easy hunting access. He swallowed and held out his empty hands, palm up, in front of him, where they could be sniffed if the dog - or its handler - chose. "I mean no harm."



"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

I only know sign

That was what he'd said and Faith smiled at him. She did not know sign, but the tall biqaj woman with Faith, did. So, Alissa stepped forward, so that she was standing slightly behind Faith and to Faith's left. That meant that Dan could see Alissa clearly, "Hello, Dan," Faith said. As she spoke, Alissa signed the words Faith spoke. "My name is Faith," Faith said, pointing to herself. Then, she gestured to Alissa, "And this is Alissa. This is Cosmo." The dog gave a cheery low bark and Faith put her hand on him. The dog was obviously protective of Faith and he eyed Dandelion rather warily.

"That's Eureka," Faith said, as Alissa told her what Dandelion's sign meant. She spoke more slowly than usual, but she did that so that Alissa could sign. "It's a place my husband and I are building. It will be a place of science, where we study medicine and stars and physics." Smiling, Faith glanced at the place. "Soon, anyway. It's still being built. Would you like to see it?"

There was no hesitation in Faith's words ~ she was happy to invite him along. "You can share a meal with us, if you want." What his interests were, she wasn't sure, but she would always strive to be a gracious host, if she could be. "Are you from Rharne?" Alyssa's signing of Faith's words was stilted, and sometimes she needed to spell out the words, because she didn't know the sign. But, Faith figured, it was better than nothing. She opened her own hands, then, in the same gesture Dan had used. "You're welcome here," she said, and gestured to see if he would come with her.

[Dandelion]

Faith. Alissa. Cosmo. Eureka.

Dan fixed the names in his head, instinctively slowing and simplifying his signing to make it easier for Alissa the moment he caught on to the stilted nature of her signing. It was still far, far, better than nothing. "Medicine, like the Dust Quarter Clinic?" he asked, some of the tension ebbing out of him at the discovery that they could communicate. He shrugged one shoulder. "I like to learn, but I'm more a jack of all trades than a specialist. I know enough about stars to navigate by them, enough about medicine to patch myself up well enough to get to - an expert. I guess if I have a focus, it's the land. Nature." That Faith inspired loyalty in an animal spoke well of her in Dan's view, and the dog looked well cared for, which was another good point. The medicine was a thing he was warier about - he had had too many people poke and prod him in attempts to "fix" his language problems when he was growing up, and it had left permanent marks of caution in him.

Still, when she asked if he would like to see the settlement, he allowed his curiousity to overrule his wariness and nodded. "I would indeed like to see it." He turned to go with her, still, of course, holding the reins so that his ponies and the cart had to come too. Smoke, the cart pony, stretched her neck out and whiffled at the strange dog, as curious about it as Dan was. Cloud was tired enough to just plod along beside him and he patted her shoulder in reassurance. He also kept enough of an angle that Alissa could see his hands to read the Sign, and he could see hers to do the same.

"If I stay for a meal," he warned, his gaze flickering up to gauge the slowly sinking angle of the sun, "I'll need to ask for space to pitch my tent for the night. But I can contribute fresh meat for the pot - if you like rabbit - and a willing pair of hands to whatever needs doing?" He offered a shy smile along his words, perfectly willing to work for his keep and aware he was imposing on another's space. "Build, mend, clean, hunt, guide to the area, help the cook..."

"I grew up in Rharne," he explained, going for the simple version of his background rather than the rather more complicated story of being found out here having come from no-one knows where, and dumped in the orphanage to finish his growing up. "But these trials I live out here, more or less." He made a sweeping gesture with his free arm that somehow encompassed the whole of the Stormlands. "It's like home, and I know it like one, so if there's something you're looking for, I can give you a good guess about where you're likely to find it."

He took a slow, deep, breath, as he went with Faith to Eureka, and made a small, awkward bow. "I thank you for the welcome and wish that all goes well with your settlement."



"Signed words" Spoken words

[Faith Augustin]

Faith decided, in that moment, that she was going to learn Common Sign. It would be useful in all sorts of situations and she felt a pang of guilt that she had not taken the time to do so up to now. If she could - if she had - then she would have served much better.

She listened to Dan - or rather, she watched him and listened to Alissa and she nodded. "Yes," Faith said. "Just like that clinic," she didn't say that she'd set up the clinic in the Dust Quarter, it didn't matter to her at all. What was important was that he understood, and that was that. "I love nature, but I have an awful sense of direction. I get lost, all the time." Alissa nodded and added a comment of her own. "She does. Worst sense of direction I've ever seen." Faith continued. "So, when there is open space, or forest, I get totally turned around and lost. It's rather embarrassing, honestly."

They began to walk, to make their way together and Faith nodded as he said that he wanted to see the settlement. He said that, if he stayed to eat then he'd need to pitch a tent. "You're very welcome," she said. "And there are plenty of jobs to do, always." Faith had always worked on the assumption that people worked together and pitched in so she was happy. When Dan explained how well he knew the area, Faith nodded. "I'd certainly love to learn from your knowledge. Maybe we could have a trade relationship? Something where we help each other?"

The settlement was very much in the early stages. There was an old large building carved into the mountain about half way up and there were two buildings which were under construction. One, at the top of the mountain was an observatory-like building. At the base of the mountain there was a large-ish building being constructed. "That will be an observatory, to watch the stars," Faith said, gesturing to the building at the top of the mountain. "That one will be a communal eating and sleeping area. Those are our first two projects." She smiled. "There's a long list."

When he bowed and wished the settlement well, Faith smiled at him. "I hope so too. Thank you, genuinely, for that wish. If you wouldn't mind, would you tell me about any flora or fauna in the area which might be of interest? I'm going to have a garden there," she gestured, "And the house goes down into the mountain. I want to make a mushroom farm." She said it perfectly seriously. So, any help from him in that regard - knowing the place as he did - would be very gratefully received. Faith gestured to where there was a temporary camp fire and so on set up. "I'm cooking tonight," she said with a smile. "Your rabbits will be most welcome." If Dan had things to share, she'd consider that very real payment for the food, as it would help the settlement.

[Doran]

Dandelion:

Knowledge:
Athletics: keeping your balance on a bolting pony
Athletics: dismounting without using hands
Navigation: working out where you are in relation to where you want to be
Socialisation: polite greetings
Socialisation: making a counter offer
Socialisation: indicating peaceful intentions
Socialisation: setting out conditions
Socialisation: assessing relative status

Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

Faith:

Knowledge: -
Loot: -
Lost: -
Wealth: -
Injuries: -
Renown: -
Magic XP: -
Skill Review: Appropriate to level.
Points: 15

- - -

Comments: I have to admit, I was wondering why the title of this thread is “Spooked” and who exactly was spooked. When lightning struck, and Cloud got scared and bolted across the grass, I couldn’t help but worry about Dandelion. Fortunately, he managed not to fall off.

That was an exciting scene, and a good way to start the thread!

What a coincidence that he ended up in Faith’s and Padraig’s new settlement!

I loved the interaction between Faith and her dog. The scene where she threw a stick, and you mentioned how Cosmo who was always happy to help his hapless human bounded off, made me smile. I didn’t know that Faith had a bodyguard, by the way, so that was interesting to find out!

When Dandelion signed at Faith, I couldn’t help but wonder what she would do. I was surprised when Alissa translated for her. I like the way that you handled this linguistic challenge!

With that being said, I wonder what exactly Dandelion will end up doing and what Faith will learn from him. It sounds like the beginning of a potentially very interesting relationship.

I wish Dandelion a pleasant stay in Eureka and Faith good luck with her new settlement!

Enjoy your rewards!

P.S.: Faith, I checked Alissa's writeup in your CS in order to find out how well she knows sign language. It doesn't say. Faith and Dandelion didn't talk about anything overly complicated in my opinion, but I thought this would still be worth mentioning.