Hopetoun rangers build a lodge doo-dah doo-dah

[Oram Mednix]

34 Ymiden 721

Oram had not had a pleasant journey. The voyage from Egilrun had taken a full trial longer than it was supposed to, because the captain hadn’t initially been able to find the Hopetoun dock. By the time the crew caught sight of the pier, Oram had been ready to ask the captain to just let him take a boat to shore and find his way to the colony on foot. The hunter’s relief at finally seeing the stockade on shore near the pier brightened his black mood to merely grumbly, and by the time he caught sight of familiar faces, he was almost able to manage a smile.

Refed was there, along with Elise, whom Oram didn’t yet know as well, the rangers responsible for setting up the new ranger headquarters here on Faldrass. It was needed, Oram knew. He was already hearing reports about how settlers and cadouri were encountering strange and sometimes dangerous wildlife, and there were ominous rumors, too, about the Badlands, a new terrain still largely unexplored, and apparently already undergoing some rapid change. In all, there were plenty of things for rangers as well as elements to do, and Oram planned to be a part of it, if he could disengage from affairs in Egilrun long enough.

In addition to the rangers, Oram would want to talk to Darius Baer, who was the governor here. He had seen Darius sporadically over the past arc or so; it had been a while since they had caught up properly. He looked over the modest structures of the humble settlement and wondered which one was Darius’ house. For some reason, he had pictured something grander, more…baronial for lack of a better word. Come to think of it, Oram hadn’t seen the new Smooglenuff Manor, either. He wondered how Alyssia and the others were getting on there.

Perhaps Darius would show him around. Or not. The man was bound to be busy. From the looks of things around here, he already had been. Hopetoun might not look like much to someone used to Almund or Scalvoris, but one had to remember that, merely an arc ago, there had been nothing here but ash, dirt, and sand. Now there were a few score souls scratching a seemingly adequate living out of that ashen earth, as well as the surrounding sea. The hunter in Oram was eager to find out what the locals did for meat. For that, Refed told him, he would want to talk to Vega. That was the wife of Arlo Creede, apparently. Oram had met Arlo at the Glass Temple last Ashan during the Slag’s Deep crisis, though he still struggled to piece together all his memories of events on that trial.

Trying to at least remember what Arlo looked like, Oram followed the Rangers off the pier and onto dry land. A knot of people had gathered nearby to welcome new arrival, or at least to gawk at him. Oram searched their faces for Darius, or anybody else he might recognize. Hopefully his fellow rangers had made some friends and would be able to introduce him to them.

[Vega]

34th Ymiden, 721

Vega was, on the 34th Ymiden, over half way through her pregnancy. On this particular trial, she was standing at Hope Point. Behind her stood the Beacon of Hope and she was looking out to sea. In her hand, she held a small piece of lace. It was made to spell out a name and she held tightly to it as she watched the waves. The waves which had made her seasick all of her life until she realised that it was her own sense of imbalance which had done that. The waves which had carried the boat on which she had been born and, in the process of that in which her mother had died. The waves which were now as much her home as anywhere else.

Breathing in, she rested a hand on her stomach as she felt the light fluttering sensation. Not recognising it for what it was, Vega kept her focus out to see. "Happy birth-trial, Mama," she whispered and she held up her hand. The lace she'd made fluttered in the wind. "I hope you're proud an' happy. I can't tell you I love you, nor that I miss you, because I never knew you. But Papa mourns you every moment, an' that tells me how much I'm missin' by not knowin' you." She let the lace go and watched as it flew - caught on the wind and dancing away.

She sighed slightly and looked down. There was a boat coming and, so, Vega made her way down.

There were all sorts there, both visitors and residence, those who were arriving and those who'd come for a looksie, but Vega made her way to one, specifically. "Refed, how're you doin'?" She smiled at him and then to Elise, "You both a'right?" The Rangers were here in Hopetoun and were building a Ranger building. Refed smiled slightly, and gestured in greeting to Oram.

"Things are well, thank you! And we have here another to help us. Oram, it is good to see you," Refed said and then, made the introductions needed.

"Oram Mednix, this is Vega Creede. Vega, this is Oram. He's good people." Vega gave a smile and held out a hand. "Hey, nice to meet you," she said with a grin. "Welcome to Hopetoun. I'm sure Darius will be here in a bit too." She was sure he would and she knew that he would be pleased to see people helping out with the Ranger HQ here. "I've heard of you, I think," she said, with a slight frown. "You helped out in the freeze an' are a hunter? We've got a system set up here, where we've started mappin' out the hunt an' what populates different areas an' stuff. If you'd be interested, I'm happy to show you, an' what we've found."

Glancing at Refed, she smiled. "Refed an' Elise helped us enormously, when we was buildin' the Inn here," she said without pause. "So, a recommendation from them is a good one. You hungry?"

[Darius Baer]

Arc 721, 34th of Ymiden

Oram's searching gaze did not find Darius.

Not initially, at least. The leader of Hopetoun had been spending the previous break or two with Lars Kashir, the man who knew the trails of Faldrass better than anyone else. The outdoorsman had encountered a local farmer who had made an unusual discovery while tilling his land.

The farmer had found what he had initially mistaken for a few inconsequential pottery shards that revealed themselves as the soil was turned over, but he soon realised that they were made of marble. After speaking to his neighbours, he had discovered that they had made similar discoveries, and he was adamant that there was surely more beneath the surrounding fields.

Lars had tried to convince the farmer to come to Darius directly, but the man had refused, and had in fact attempted to keep the settlement's local guide from leaving the farm at all, saying that he wanted Lars to help him search for more. The farmer's reluctance to let Lars go had taken the discovery from a curiosity to a concern, and as their conversation drew to a close, Darius agreed to go with Lars to take a look for himself.

But it would have to wait until later in the trial.

A ship was said to be arriving shortly, and he was expecting a delivery of some of the Yellow Dragon Wood that he had acquired with Faith and Oram the previous arc. It might have seemed trivial compared to farmers wanting to tear up their land, but woodworking afforded him the time and mental space to think through the various challenges that Hopetoun was faced with.

And besides, he reasoned that it would only be a break or two before he made his way out there.

By the time Darius got down to the water's edge, the ship had already docked. A throng of people were around it, disembarking and unloading goods. As the bearded blond began to navigate his way through the crowd, he recognised a handful of settlers, and saw the familiar red hair of Vega. The woman had her back to him, and she was in a conversation with someone, so Darius went to move past without interrupting...

...until he heard a familiar voice.

"Oram?" he asked, and, craning his neck, he saw that his suspicions were confirmed, which caused a smile to stretch across his features. "Welcome back to Faldrass! Is it your first time since...?"

He didn't finish his sentence. He wasn't quite sure how to refer to it. The eruption? The forging? The evacuation? He was ever wary of how the settlers might react to such terms. Most of them were, after all, survivors who had lost loved ones, and so he preferred to avoid explicitly discussing it without considering his audience.

"You've met Vega, I see," he pivoted, extending a hand in greeting to the wilderness man before smiling politely at the redhead. "What brings you to Hopetoun's doorstep, Oram?"

[Oram Mednix]

Shouldn’t that be “*are* good people”?

Oram did not initially see Darius, but he grinned, relieved, when he caught sight of Refed and Elise. He had not been looking forward to feeling his way around Hopetoun without somebody he knew on hand to make introductions. They were talking to a striking, pregnant, red-headed woman on the dock when he approached. Refed introduced her as Vega, and mentioned that she was Arlo Creede’s wife.

He took her hand and muttered: ”A pleasure, Vega.” And it might well have been if he could but remember her damned husband better, yet for some reason the man’s face and details of his actions refused to lock firmly into place in the hunter’s mind. His memory of those events had improved gradually over the last few trials; lately he had felt maddeningly close to piecing it all together, but a clear recollection of events still evaded him.

Oram’s preoccupied and vaguely frustrated mood lightened a bit when the eidisi endorsed him as “good people”. It would have been more meaningful, perhaps, coming from Elise; Refed liked pretty much everybody. But it was still a nice sentiment, and one he didn’t want to denigrate.

He listened to Vega. Of course Arlo had mentioned the events of last season. He wondered if the man remembered more clearly than Oram did. In response to the woman’s queries he nodded. ”Yes, I’m a hunter, and yes, you’ve heard right about the freeze. I was there. I like to imagine I helped, as well.”

He perked up when she mentioned the hunting map. ”That sounds like a very good project,” he said. ”And yes, I’d like to see it at some point.” When Vega complimented his fellow Rangers’ efforts, he smiled and nodded to them. ”I’m glad to hear that, though not surprised. Together there isn’t much these two don’t know about getting stuff set up, be it a base camp or an inn.” He thought a bit about her last question. ”Hungry? Not at the moment, though I reckon I will be soon enough. Darius!” he called out when he caught sight of the man.

Darius looked like someone who was busy and happy. In response to his question, though, Oram’s face darkened slightly. ”Came here on one occasion that wasn’t very pleasant. Balthazar was part of it, too.” Nir’wei had been, but…the politics of his decision not to help had never made any sense to Oram; the traveler had found the whole thing frustrating. ”We came to bring a necromancer to justice who had previously been kidnapping and…experimenting on children in Almund.” The hunter shuddered. He had killed a man that trial. His first and only to date. Not that Gaston de Grey didn’t amply deserve it, but the event still haunted him, for that as well as other reasons.

He willed himself to move on to the next subject. ”Yes, I’ve met Vega. Refed was just explaining to her what good people I am.” He grinned, relieved at the shift in mood and topic. ”As to why I’m here, well, officially, it’s to check on these two, and how they are coming along with setting up a new Ranger outpost.”

Refed clapped Oram on the shoulder while looking at Darius. ”Yes, Oram here *isn’t* going to be taking over for Elliott as Chief Ranger anytime soon.” As he said this, he alternated between exaggeratedly shaking his head from side to side and just as exaggeratedly nodding it up and down. That provoked a knowing smirk from Elise.

Oram sighed. He didn’t like all this talk about succeeding Elliott. Wishing yet another subject change, he looked at the assembled group. ”I don’t suppose any of you would like to show me around? And then maybe I could get a bite to eat? I think I’m getting hungry, after all.”

[Darius Baer]

It was a conversation that took place amidst the hustle and bustle of a ship being unloaded at the Hopetoun docks. That wasn't to say that it was a large port, for it was anything but. Rather, it was the inevitable result of what happened when a ship arrived at the small settlement and settlers and sailors alike had to work carefully to ensure that no goods - and no people - ended up in the water.

None of that bothered Darius. He was accustomed to such boating busyness, and he was pleasantly surprised to see a friendly and familiar face in Oram Mednix.

The initial joy he felt at their reunion was tempered somewhat by the discovery that the eruption was not the only bad experience the wilderness man had had on Faldrass.

What is it with the kidnapping of children? he wondered, immediately recalling his own experiences of such horrors.

"Well," he responded with a sympathetic smile, clapping Oram on the shoulder, "I hope third time's the charm!"

The topic of conversation shifted to what Darius took to be some banter between the Rangers, and as much as he could see that Oram wasn't particularly enjoying it, the mariner couldn't deny that he felt a little bit of pleasure from witnessing someone so serious squirming at being the butt of a joke.

Even so, when it became apparent just how uncomfortable Oram was with the jest, and how eager he was to change the topic of conversation again, Darius didn't resist. In fact, he was content to quickly follow the man's lead - especially if it helped to put his friend at ease.

"Aye, we can give you a tour, though there isn't much to look at!" he chuckled lightly.

It wasn't true. While Hopetoun was nowhere near the size of Scalvoris Town, it had grown a fair amount since Darius and a few dozen Faldrassians had claimed a piece of barren land as their own.

"Let's get you fed first, perhaps - can't have you wandering around Hopetoun with an empty stomach!"

He smiled towards Vega, raising an eyebrow as if to check that she was happy to join them, and then he started making his way towards the Hopeful Rest Inn.

[Vega]

34th Ymiden, 721

Vega watched Oram and Darius reunite and she considered that they were, obviously, friends. That was good and she was happy to see that the Rangers she knew liked and rated Oram. That meant that he started on a good footing, as far as Vega was concerned. They talked about the Rangers and Vega gave a slight shrug. "As long as you lot aren't still doin' that Darbyton Derby the way you used to, that's improvement," she said. She and Arlo had joined said Derby and, "the one time we did it, everyone had to compete naked, an' when there were a rockslide they didn't stop. Arlo an' I did, an' tried to help where we could, but it right flibbertied my gibbet," Vega had the art of a chunter at grandmaster level and, indeed, she chuntered about the Darbyton Derby. "Still, I know now it were the loggin' consortium folks bein' dweebs."

Shaking her head slightly, she brought herself back to the now. Darius suggested that they feed him first and Vega nodded. "Yeah, that makes good sense." She smiled at Darius' words. "He's bein' humble," she said as they made their way. "He's worked wonders here. An' not just with what he's done in terms of buildin's. It's a community, an' a real good one. That takes a lot of work," she said and she meant it entirely. Vega had no issues with saying things how she saw them. It was her way. "Though, he's a rubbish student," she said, with a slight teasing smile to Darius. It was obvious that she was fond of Hopetoun's leader and that was not something that she was, as a rule, of many people.

"Once we've eaten, we can show you the beacon, an' the Order of the Adunih place, an' the administrative tent where we sort ourselves out," she looked at Darius, wondering where else. "Oh, Hopetoun Hole!" She liked it here, quite evidently. "You two alright with me taggin' along? I need to keep movin', because if I sit down for too long I get stuck in the chair an' can't move." She chuckled and patted her bump. "An' I'm just always full of energy these days. People tell me that pregnancy makes you tired, an' I jus' feel like a bouncin' bean with a sugar rush."

Or, something like that. If they were happy for her to, Vega would accompany the two men to the Inn.

[Oram Mednix]

I’ll have the hoitie au toitie

In spite of himself, Oram’s stomach grumbled at the mention of food. His appetite had returned surprisingly quickly now that he was back on land and among friends. ”Yes, let’s please do that,” he accepted.

He found Vega’s banter -or was it ‘chunter’- a bit hard to follow. ‘Flibbertied my gibbet?’ ‘Dweebs?’ ‘Bouncin’ bean?’ Well, she was animated and cheerful, and seemed the sort that would be easy enough to talk to, if you could understand her. Perhaps the hunter would understand in time.

It did not help that some of the things she referred to weren’t familiar to him yet. What was Hopetoun Hole? Or the Beacon? The Order was already here? Well, she and Darius would show him around in time, so perhaps then he would know what all this ‘chunter’ was about.

Oram recalled the Darbyton Derby. It had always been one of those reckless prove-your-stuff sort of competitions he found pointless and needlessly dangerous. And he recalled the story about the rockslide at the last one. ”You were there for that?” he asked Vega, genuinely surprised. Behind him, Refed made a face as if he knew something, although he said nothing. Elise, if she noticed, did nothing to encourage the eidisi to share. Oram, unaware of the wordless exchange, continued: ”You said the Logging Consortium were being ‘dweeds’? What does that mean? It so happens I’m looking into some of the mess those dweeds left behind that’s still lying around the island. So I’m always open to finding out more about what they got themselves up to.”

There had been no Derbies of late, nor did Oram miss them. If Vega told it true about the Logging Consortium being “dweebs”, then it was just as well. On the off chance that anybody consulted him on the matter, the traveler would readily vote for keeping the Derby in the past.

As they stepped away from the dock and approached the stockade that surrounded the chief buildings of the settlement, including, Oram hoped, the Hopeful Rest Inn, it became easier to hear one another, and oneself. The clatter of boards underfoot gave way to the soft padding of sand, then the absorbing silence of beaten earth. He turned to Darius. ”And you, my friend! Governor of Hopetoun and Baron of Smooglenuff, too! Granted, you’ve got others to help with the Baron business but…you must be busy. And the job has you shuttling about, doesn’t it? How are you managing that?”

He paused a moment, thinking of other questions he could ask so that the conversation wouldn’t be about him, nor anything to do with the Rangers. ”And how is the girl doing? Alyssia?” Hopefully, those questions would take up the Rest of the conversation until they got Inn to the inn.

[Darius Baer]

The conversation flowed easily. It must have seemed a little curious to anyone who bothered to eavesdrop on them. Oram was not renowned for being the most cheerful and expressive orators, and much of Vega's vocabulary took some getting used to. Darius liked to think that he was the most 'normal' of the trio, though he could hardly be called the life of the adventuring party.

Even so, Darius found the light banter between Oram and Vega about the Darbyton Derby to be a nice distraction from the concern that Lars' news had brought a pair of breaks earlier. Part of him wondered if the settlement's newest arrival would be interested in the idea of an amateur archeological dig, but he didn't want to bother Oram with such a suggestion when he had only just stepped off the ship. It would be best to get some food into the man's belly before asking for any favours.

As they walked, Darius felt a familiar burning in his cheeks. Vega was waxing lyrical about him - unnecessarily so, in his view - and the Scalvorian was blushing.

"Vega is exaggerating," he remarked to Oram as he attempted to brush away the compliment. "It is the Hopetounians themselves who have made the community what it is. I am but one piece among many."

Darius knew that wasn't quite right. He wasn't just one person in the settlement. He was Hopetoun's founder and leader. But the sentiment was true. Hopetoun would have failed if the settlers themselves had not pulled together in the way they had.

"Aye," he chuckled at Vega's suggestions. "We can show him all of those. And you're welcome to join us."

Another chuckle came in response to Oram's praise, though it was somewhat muted. Receiving compliments was fine with Darius to a certain extent, but he didn't like to highlight his achievements too much.

"I've been busy, aye," he acknowledged. "In truth, I probably underestimated just how busy both roles would make me, but it's very rewarding work. It's a bit of a juggling act, between Hopetoun and the Barony, but I think I'm getting better at it. We've achieved much, but there always seems to be a long list of tasks to complete!"

Oram's question about Alyssia came as the group arrived at the Hopeful Rest Inn, and Darius stopped at the doorway to let Vega through first, and then their guest.

"Alyssia has been based at Smooglenuff Manor since the beginning of Ymiden," he replied, "but she still visits Hopetoun when she can. She's clever, Oram. I think people underestimate her at their peril."

Darius grinned at that, before guiding the pair to the bar, where Serena greeted them.

"Would you like a drink to start with?" she asked the group.

Darius gave his companions a blank stare, genuinely unsure of what they might want. He wasn't familiar with Oram's drinking habits, and Vega was...well, Vega was pregnant.

[Vega]

34th Ymiden, 721

If there was one thing that Vega Creede was never short of, it was opinions.

So, when Oram asked her about the last Derby, she nodded. "I were there. Arlo an' I stopped, we wouldn't carry on, it were not right the way they were doin' it." She had no issue with sharing those opinions, either. "I was the one that threw a stone. No bigger than a pebble, but it was what caused the rockslide. An' someone died in that," Vega looked at Oram as she answered him. "Biffuno died. There were a burnin' bridge an' I wouldn't have it no more. I stopped, an' I told people off, an' then we helped Biffuno's sister. We found his body, gave him a proper burial." Casting her mind back, Vega nodded. "It were rigged. I didn't realise it at the time, but it were. An' Singhar - he were the Ranger in charge of it - he admitted it. He pointed at Cornel, the Loggin' Consortium person there, an' he said that she'd twisted it into a killin' spree, which she made money from an' he'd been a fool to let her. She threatend him, then, said that he'd made a powerful enemy, an' then she flew off on an Enormowl." She shrugged slightly. "I told him, then, that she were organisin' a mutiny among the Rangers, an' that you lot needed to get a leader. Ship without a captain's no good to no one. So, the beginnin' of the next cycle, Elliot got made Chief Ranger." Vega chuckled. "He told me once he'd never forgive me. But he's a good bloke, an' he's done right."

Vega shrugged slightly. "They were makin' money off the Rangers, an' they had a number of the Rangers in their pockets. Elliot sorted that out, I think. But that Cornel woman was bad news." Vega had said her piece and she said no more of it, instead quietly letting the two friends re-acquaint with each other. They walked together in companionable chat and then they got to the Inn. Darius asked about a drink and Vega nodded. "I'd love a mint tea, please," she said, sitting down with a grateful sigh. "I'm lovin' anythin' mint flavoured at the moment. Apparently, it's a pregnant woman thing. I dunno."

When the three of them were seated and at an appropriate moment, she spoke up. "So, in terms of a tour. We've got the Inn, which is this place. The Hopetoun Hole is a while away, about a mile, an' it's a cave system. The Beacon is a very big lighthouse built in a tree what Xiur asked us to build. There's an Oasis, an' all." She glanced at Darius and smiled at him. "The Order's here, aye, an' every man in Hopetoun is pleased. The thought of a pregnant woman an' no healer seems to make them all nervous." She was teasing, of course, but there was a grain of truth in it. "I think the thought that I might suddenly need hot towels an' water makes them nervous."

[Oram Mednix]

He ordered a cider, and sat down beside her

Oram felt heartened as he listened to Darius explain what was going on with him and with Alyssia. Was Alyssia clever? The hunter had met her and, while he had liked her, had not been bowled over by her cleverness. But if Darius vouched for her, that was enough for him.

His mood darkened as Vega recounted the events of the Derby, and the shenanigans of the Cornel Sherapo. He winced when the redhead got to the part about inadvertently starting the rockslide, and the death of Biffuno. The whole thing was even worse than he had imagined. Cornel Sherapo seemed more than just venal and corrupt; she was actively cruel, turning what should have been a fun -if still dangerous- competition into a blood sport, without the contestants’ knowledge or agreement. It bothered him to know that she was still at large; if, in fact, the job were to fall to him, he would make sure to root out any residual influence Cornel Sherapo and her associates might have with the Rangers and with the logging business once and for all.

”Dweeds indeed,” he muttered in agreement to Vega’s assessment, hoping he got the word right. And he agreed with her as well about Elliott; the Chief Ranger might be an unorthodox leader, but he was, as far as Oram could tell, both an honest and an effective one.

Oram for his part shared some of the news about Osric and the other travelers in his camp, unremarkable as that was, and also concerning his doings in Egilrun, the work of getting the Ranger headquarters set up there, the vexed task of earning the trust of the locals and establishing working relations with the Order and the Elements. He shared some of the news, not at all of it. He did not wish to involve either Darius or Vega in his investigations into EWWW and the Dustins.

When it came time to get something to drink, he answered: ”Cider, whatever fruit, hard or soft is fine.” Tea sounded good, too, especially with some lemon, but a good cider was more nourishing. For the second time he grimaced at something Vega said, this time the mention of hot towels and water. ”To be honest, that would make me nervous, too,” he admitted.

While they waited for their drinks and Oram mulled what he would like to eat, he looked at the two of them and asked a more serious and businesslike question: ”Since I’m here supposedly on Ranger business, I should ask: are there any issues either of you are encountering here on Faldrass that you’d like the Rangers to help with? Apart from organizing a Derby, I mean?”