TURN FORTY-FOUR: MAKE YOURS WHAT IS MINE
So, it's been some time.
More time than I expected.
Life has a certain way of throwing quite interesting things at people, namely in the form of unexpected windfalls, challenges, and disasters. To say that the last few weeks have been stressful for me is an understatement. Put short, my family is going through some tough times right now in different ways. There's issues both inside of my personal family and with my relatives, which has put more than enough stress on my parents already. Combine this with the mounting schoolwork that I have with the approaching end of my school year, as well as mental issues, and it makes for a very stressed individual.
To sum my experience up, I mean that I have neither had the time nor the energy to put into updating Roll to Medium, or to posting turns in any other games that I am in. I really do love this RtD and I wish to continue to update it regularly for everyone involved in it. It strikes me in my heart to know that the time drags on while this RtD remains without the updates of the GM that were promised before. I didn't want to post a notice before because I kept telling myself that I would be able to update this tomorrow, or the day after that, or the weekend after that.
It simply didn't happen.
So here I am now. I hope that this has at least showed you why I've been out of the motions recently. I cannot, in any way, promise that updates will continue to be regular. My life situation is still very volatile. Things could change any moment for me. But I will try my best to update within the same timeframe that I've updated before - that is, two weeks or less. No guarantees, but I will try my hardest to aim for that. Who knows? Maybe some free time will be spared here or there.
Perhaps the summertime will offer an escape for me - a window of opportunity to give you even more frequent updates. But, for the next month or two, things will have to be managed slower.
For those who are still around, I thank you for understanding, I really do. At the very least, I hope that my RtD has proven to be palatable at the least, if not decent. If this is not the case, please PM me how I can improve. I am still a fledgling writer, and would love to hear criticism on my work. I try my best to present this RtD as cleanly and engagingly as possible, but I am still a human. I do appreciate any interactions I get from you all.
Thank you for reading this. My hopes are for more time to write and, possibly, a better life situation. Without further adieu,
Artemis.
Eh Ah
To Magis.
Eh AhHaving observed the situation in Aecrocia and the Atisi tribe, you decide that its time to see how the Magis are faring now. Due to their close proximity to the volcano, you are curious about the state of their infrastructure and government, especially considering the establishment of the Theyin Empire on the island in such a crude fashion. The Magis are known for being quite isolationist and proud of their own culture. With no doubt, there must have been some sort of long-standing conflict before the eruption occurred.
And so you go, spending your time walking through the partially-destroyed forest and past abandoned structures. There are ruins both from the past and the present blending together in the scarred stretches of land. As you near the volcano, you can easily make out the hardened lava flows that originate from the center of the volcano itself. Though your curiosity wishes to pull your toward the volcano, you remember that you have something to explore first.
It feels like you've been walking forever through the forest. You continue to glance up, looking for the sun, but finding nothing but stretching, wispy clouds for now. It must be getting later in the day for you to not be able to find the sun above you now. A few more steps here or there, a hop over a branch or a walk around piles of rubble or ashes that have not yet been displaced, perhaps due to lack of winds that penetrate the forest. Finally, you find what you were looking for. The ancient, cracking walls of the Magis Kingdom loom over you now.
These walls, made of large bricks interlocking with one another, stand about thirty meters above you. To your right and to your left they stretch out into the distance, where you presume they fuse with the volcano or with the ocean. You haven't been here all too frequently - the distrust of the Kingdom's citizens and the lack of reason to ever be on this side of the island have left you in the dark about the Kingdom for the so long. Perhaps now, with these changing circumstances, you might be able to see a different kingdom in front of you today.
To your far right, you can see one of the giant, wooden gates of the kingdom. It seems to be closed for now, communicating that there may still be occupants inside of the kingdom now.
Warren Drake
"Oh, well, I'm not from anywhere in particular, and I'm in a hurry because... well, I was approached by a talking lizard, wrestled some giant iguanas, met some monsters loafing around in a forest, turned into a lizard myself, but I got better, discovered some supernatural life detection powers and some other things I currently forget to mention. Might as well get some alcohol in me to help soothe the terrifying implications on the nature of reality and my life expectancy, which, being an Atisi tribesman, was not particularly astronomical to begin with, I might add."
If no more questions, then it's off to Jeb's alco-shop. The quest continues.
Warren DrakeA few moments pass as the man tries to process the information you've just given to him. Two more moments go by, and his facial expression still has not changed. Finally, as the awkwardness of the situation is about to brim over, he breaks out in quite boisterous laughter, sitting at the front of the chair and making you uncomfortable with how he is gesturing wildly. Several more moments pass before he is able to control himself once again and look at you without completely breaking down in laughter again. Still, he has to fight back a snicker or two during his words.
"Mate, you sure you 'aven't visited Jack the Hermit yet? 'cause it sounds like you've just barely gotten into yer first hallucination. 'grats, my friend!" He laughs once again and pats you on the shoulder, the smell of alcohol apparent on his breath.
"Well, I'm not gonna hold you 'ere. Go get yerself a drink or two. Maybe twenty, I'd say. Might be enough to wash down your bad trips." He chuckles once again and gestures down the street. You shrug and simply follow his instructions, as you don't seem to have any other business with him.
Down two streets and turn a right. That's what the drinking man said. You walk down the streets casually, noticing the structures surrounding you and the behaviors of the people around. For the most part, this seems to be a relatively small community that appears to be out of the way. At the very least, you don't see any trucks, carts, or cars moving through the roads. Occasionally, you'll get a strange look from a couple of towngoers, but people are too busy with their own lives to care about you. Overall, this seems like a very quaint place, definitely a change for the better, considering your past predicament.
After your observations on the townsfolk, you arrive at what appears to be the alcohol shop. It's a rather small place wedged in-between a farmer's market and a clothing store, with only a simple wooden sign above the front entrance to indicate that it is indeed for purveyors of fine liquor.
Though, you do question how fine this liquor really is. Why don't you find out?
I stare at her for several seconds before speaking
"Erin, my father is dead. My mother is dead. My next door neighbors are dead. My teachers are all dead. Of everyone I knew in my hometown, everyone I ever spent any time with, only one of them isn't dead. I don't want you to die too. No. I'm not willing to get you caught up in this. Your father probably knows even more about this than I do, that's why I need to talk to him. I'll tell you when either your father thinks you are ready, or if it puts you in danger not to know."
LirianAs you speak, she remains attentive, but begins to lose her enthusiasm in her eyes and her expression. You can almost see her trying to make herself small, as if she is fearing your words. You finish your statement and look at her for her reply. She straightens herself and clears her throat. As she replies, you can hear her voice waiver.
"I...I understand. I apologize for my zeal, ma'am. I just thought... I thought.." She looks up and stops talking, though her mouth remains agape. A second later, she recovers her line of thought. She bows and says in a small voice,
"Forgive me for asking." Straightening herself once again, she motions using her right hand over to the dining room. She puts on a smile, though you are not too sure if it is genuine or not. Her eyes seem to be of a mixture of emotions at that moment.
"Well, I shouldn't delay you anymore. Your breakfast is waiting!" You study her for a moment, unsure about her in general. From what you can tell, she seems to be genuine in her emotions. There is nothing in her movement that would suggest she is trying to hide something. At the same time, however, you have an instinctual feeling that something is
off. You can't tell what it is. You don't think it's related to her physical character or her words; No, it has to do with her... whole person, really. She makes you uncomfortable, but for reasons you can't understand. That alone should probably make you suspicious, but at the same time, she has been nothing but hospitable this whole time.
Before the awkward silence drags on for too long, she decides to speak again.
"Um, yeah.. I should probably get back to the stove now. I still have to prepare my father's breakfast and my own. I might join you in a bit, but I can't promise that I can join you in time for your breakfast." She bows slightly and says,
"Enjoy your meal!" Before you can say another word, she begins walking back to the hallway that she came from. You watch her as she leaves, still very uncertain about her presence. It might just be a case of some bad chills, but your instincts haven't failed you before.
You can still catch and talk to Erin if you call to her. Alternatively, you could head to breakfast with Cromwell and discuss your situation with him, or explore freely around.
"I'll see about talking to more animals, then."
He paused to think about the inherent insanity of what he just said.
"So physical attacks aren't very effective. Any idea on if there are any... extra-physical means that I'd have access to? Or could acquire access to? I'll train with Lirian as much as I need, but if it isn't going to do anything more than simply slow them down..."
Cromwell sighed. He needed some kind of weapon to fight these things with, now. Knives weren't going to cut it, ironically.
Cromwell Jackson"Now, now. I did not say that physical attacks arree inherently ineffective. They may work," the voice of Tileno echoes in your mind.
"But you will need more than physical strength. We've found that our efforts in spiritual, mental, and physical realms of attack have been met with.. complications. You see, we are able to quell the Shadows for.. a whiilllleeee. But killing them does not necessarily kill them.. if you may decipher what I mean." Seeing your blank expression, Tileno continues on, further delving into complicated suggestions.
"Well, what I mean is that these Shadows don't stay dead forever. They continue to come back. They reform. Obliterating them in any way... is futtillleee." The way he drags out that last word chills you, but you let him continue with his explanation. He turns his head to the side and stares out the window for a moment, and then turns his attention back to you.
"I may be exaggerating. It's not futile. But we have found it very difficult to push back these Shadows forever. They become aggressive. We are in need of new methods of extinguishing the Shadows also.
"Let us take a step back, first." He lies down on the floor and begins grooming himself with his tongue, still speaking in your mind with completely clarity.
"You require a connection. A connection to different realms. That is what your power lies in. We all are connected to different planes of existence. I don't know how. I'm just.. a feline, as you would call it. You are also just a human. We know nothing of how this.. supernatural realm works. We simply know that it just is. So, for now, that is what we will rest upon. Back to the topic now.." You can't help but notice that he continually goes off on a tangent before returning to his train of thought. It's an odd behavior, but not one that you don't expect from a cat that can
talk. "Like I was telling you, one requires a connection between all of these dimensions. Physical, mental, spiritual, energetic, spatial, kinetic, whatever you wish to call them. As one of us - one of the network of the gifted - you have an ability to connect a certain facet of your spiritual self with your physical being. I cannot tell you what your ability is; That is something that you will have to discover for yourself. From what we have gathered, the ability becomes especially apparent to a living being when in times of need. It is a defense mechanism. It draws on expensive connections between different realms, but it is especially effective against the Shadows. So there you have it."Now satisfied with grooming himself, he returns to his paws and paces up to you.
"There is only so much that we know. You are able to help us discover what remains to be seen. If you have come to us, I may only assume that you and the little one have more than simple coincidence to thank for being here. There are many questions that we have, and you might be able to aid us in that way. Of course, we are not the only ones who may assist you. There are others around the world who have simply not awakened to their powers yet. Look around. One thing leads to another and suddenly you're on a trail to discovery and passion."You're a bit impressed by the apparent thought structure of this elegant cat, even though the ability of one such creature to talk is astounding enough. A few wild questions pop up in your head. Is this a cat talking to you in a human voice, or is this a human's mind talking to you in a cat's body? Is it neither? Does it have something to do with these other planes of existence that the cat was talking about?
You shake your head and put those thoughts away. There are other things that you need to worry about right now. You'll have time to wonder about silly questions like those later.
Eleri
Eleri sighed, then put her chin on Flynn's shoulder.
"In all the danger I've been, there's been no danger where I was in with someone else. That's my chin, on your shoulder."
She then sat straight up, gazing outside and saw some flying fish on the surface of the water.
"And, hey. I came here because of all that 'danger' where I was. I've never encountered danger with someone at my side, though." She rolled her eyes and replayed her lines in her head, thinking how much sense they sounded when spoken out.
"Meaning: I don't mind. Put me in danger all you want, I'll jump in there along with you. I'm rather curious as to that...tar. Next is how this danger came to you. Nobody's here to help you, as far as I know in the last week I've existed here, so if you've any ideas where we could go, please say. I can carry you out."
Eleri took a deep breath and stirred a bit of sand my her feet, feeling the grains in between her toes.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm a fugitive too. Nobody has ever stayed in the same...area, for more than fifteen seconds, after seeing me. Honestly, it happens to much that I've been counting how long you've been sitting there. Top record: five minutes. And counting."
Converse! Inquire as to any places we can go to! Console!
Record new time in hall of Eleri fame.
EleriAs you speak, Flynn continuously tries to interject a response here or there, but he has no real words to counter your statements. After you finish, he is left wordless. However, you do notice that his eyes do seem to have more energy to them now, as if the embers of a long-extinguished flame suddenly heated up once again. For once, he actually begins to calm down and settles in. Slowly, he breathes in and out, closing his eyes and leaving them closed for a long while. You almost begin to become worried when he suddenly opens his eyes. You can see a slight, meaningful smile form on his face. He laughs weakly, still not sure if he can manage much whole-body movement without hurting himself.
"Well, I.. um.. thanks. That's.. that's all. Thank you." He coughs softly after saying this.
"It feels.. good knowing that, at the least, I won't die alone in some ditch." He manages to chuckle a bit, but stops before the pain of the action settles in. Shortly after, however, you can see that he is beginning to realize the gravity of his situation.
"Um, right.. I need to get out of here." He begins to prop himself up on one elbow before noticing what he just said.
"I-I mean, I like it here! And I appreciate your.. help. But.. you're right. I need to get help. And, then, if you're still around here.. maybe I could tell you more about.. my situation. But I can't promise anything. First thing's first though. Can you check the time for me?" You nod and move over to the entrance to the dilapidated building, peeking outside and looking for the sun. You find it quick enough, high up behind cotton-textured clouds rolling in from the sea, painted in tints of light purple and dark grey. You don't think those clouds will be enough to bring rain, but it's something that you should keep in mind in case the weather decides to take a turn for the worse. The wind seems to have picked up, now whistling lightly through the ruins of this once-occupied village. According to the position of the sun, you say to Flynn, it should be around the morning, which should be plenty of time to make it to most parts of the island. You reenter the building and sit back down with Flynn, who now has a worried expression on his face. You ask him what he's thinking, and he replies in earnest.
"I'm... I'm not sure if we'll have the time to make it where I think we could go. This place is.. this is downhill from the spring I went to, right?" You nod to him, confirming his belief.
"Okay... hmm. We're probably somewhere on the southern part of the island, maybe eastern. I know a family that lives up in a cupped area of the mountains on the north side of the island, near a river going downhill. The woman in that family knows some very good things about medicine, I think. I visited them with my father for a day or two. They might be able to help me... at least, in relative safety." He sighs and relaxes, turning his head to the side and studying the area outside of the building.
"I'm just.. not sure about how safe it'll be, especially since I can't walk very well at all, and can't defend myself. And then there's the problem that we might not get there before sundown.. and I'm afraid of that too. But there's not much we can do here, either.." He sighs again, this time out of frustration.
"There's a mountain path that we could follow up there, but it requires that we go through the woods on our own and find it in time; plus, I don't think it goes all the way there. There's branches and forks off the road, but I don't.. I don't know where we would go from there." He bites his lip and looks to you with worry in his eyes.
"What do you think? This is your decision, after all.. I'm just extra work for you." He laughs once again, this time with nervousness in his voice.
So many unpredictable variables in this equation. There's no way you could control everything; you'll have to plan for the worst and hope for the best.
[6]Somewhere, in the deep recesses of your mind, lies a magical place, where bright memories are stored. Sometimes, some of those memories surface for you, and remind you that life is good - that not all is as dreary as it seems.
This conversation will take its place in that same area of brightness and hope that you keep within your mind.
5 minutes, 59 seconds, and 386 milliseconds.
And counting...
quickly scurry out of my room when in the hall i will muscle through anyone in the way and as i reach the top the stairs attempt to slide down the banister.
Jack WeaslyNo time to waste! You won't be the last one there. After all, the best choices of food exist only for the fastest to the punch. Anyone else gets left down, in the dirt, to pick up the scraps. From your time here, you already know that it is best not to be at the bottom of the food chain. That applies both to the orphanage and to the mines - well, practically for any place that you dare to go in this blasted town! So let's get to it. You pick yourself up and dash out of the room, catching yourself on the door frame and swinging around to face the hallway. You propel yourself forward with the momentum, not wasting an instant. Some of the other boys manage to run faster than you, but you catch up by pulling them back. Some of you laugh and jostle, some yell, some scream behind you. For some, this is a game. For others, this is the difference between a valuable dinner and the feeding on leftovers from the ones who managed to get there first.
This truly would be an interesting environment to study.
You reach the end of the hallway and, in your excitement and confidence, decide that you will show off to the others while continuing to pace ahead of them, all in one neat package. You run up to the top of the stairway and, for an instant, see the stretch of stairs below you. It will be no problem, you think. You'll do perfectly fine, you say to yourself; better than fine! You'll be smooth and quick and towering over the others, better than you would have ever imagined. You hop onto the left-side banister of the staircase and begin sliding down. As soon as you begin sliding, though, you notice that your balance isn't quite right. You're sliding too fast. You're tilting forward. It's already too late. Your view is spinning around.
A moment passes by. And then another. You fall off of the banister, but can't catch yourself. Your footing is all wrong. You trip over your own feet and tumble down a few of the steps, bruising yourself in the process. You think that it's not so bad, nobody saw you anyways. But that's not the end of it. The other boys don't care about your little fall. Yes, they don't notice you, but not in the way that you would have thought. They pass over you, they step on you, they kick you out of the way. Some of them are still laughing and roughhousing. You can hear one of the orphanage keepers yelling, "No roughhousing! Move down quickly and orderly!" Yet nothing is mentioned of you. You simply try to get down the stairs as fast you can, attempting not to be injured in the process. It seems that you have already been injured, however; another orphan's foot here or there has taken the wind out of your stomach. It couldn't have been an accident, you think; someone must have deliberately attempted to hurt you there, but the flood kept moving on. At this rate, you can't possibly find whoever hit you that hard. Finally, you reach the bottom of the stairs and roll to the right, struggling to get back up. You cough and hack, trying to get this terrible feeling out of your stomach.
You feel a hand on your shoulder. You look up to find Aneita Metter offering a hand to you and sighing. You weakly accept her hand and pull yourself up. She shakes her head and says,
"Weasly, please don't hurt yourself like that again. We still have a job to do tomorrow, and I don't want to have to be stuck with Olias to fill our quota with only us two." She brushes your right shoulder off and motions for you to follow. Most of the boys and the girls have already made it to the cafeteria before you. Looks like you're not going to be getting the meal you dreamed of.
"Come on," she calls to you.
"I might be able to bargain with one of the older girls. Maybe we can get a better spot in line."
"Stop, or I'll do the same to you."Alex would go for the rifle. He doubted his capabilities to use it effectively, but intimidation is powerful.
Alex RamanYou warn the doctor of your ability to seriously harm or kill him, just like you did with the guard before him. Of course, you don't think that you have it in you to do that sort of thing again, but the good doctor doesn't know that. For all he knows, you could kill him if you blinked at him the wrong way. He slowly stands up and nods. You can see the fear in his eyes as he puts his hands up. Looks like the bluff worked, for the moment. It would be a crime to continue wasting time here, so you move over to the rifle as best as you can and pick it up. Your vision is still blurry and you can feel your entirely body pulsing, as if the motions of your beating heart were magnified a thousand times. Still, you manage to keep your composure for the moment, aiming the rifle at the doctor and demanding that he stay put.
You begin to assess your situation. So far, from a physical standpoint, you are probably at a disadvantage against the doctor. However, your rifle would beg to differ. At this range, accuracy does not really matter, especially with a military rifle such as this, so you're not too worried about the doctor. However, the other guard worries you. He might come in at the most inopportune of times and incapacitate or kill you in a heartbeat. You simply don't have the physical sense necessary to react quickly to a threat. Though your ability to walk is slightly hampered, you think that you'll be able to escape within a reasonable amount of time - that is assuming, however, that you manage to escape
at all. There are so many opportunities to be shot at and not enough for you to get out of here.
There might be some back access door that you could use to quietly go out the back. However, from what you've seen, this is a highly protected town. You don't think you would be able to roam the town without being noticed by at least one guard. The other guard would quickly figure out what went on, as you were the only one with the doctor and the guard. You also don't know the layout of this town too well. It would probably be best to find somewhere to hide out for the night and recover your strength in the morning. You're simply not in a condition to continue fighting effectively right now.
Whatever you do, you're going to have to be smart with your decisions. A single mistake could end in your death, one way or another.
And you don't think that it's appropriate that someone like you should have to die yet, especially since you have many unanswered questions about your situation.
Cut control to all golems except one. Channel all of my mental force into it. See how well it works. My main goals are to have it achieved ge either the ability to have minor thoughts, like to move out of the way of a sword, or to allow me to see through his eyes and control him as if I were controlling my own body. Once done with these experiments, set every golem to bake, and then release control once again. Allow myself some time to recover from the strain of controlling clay. Heck, maybe even meditate.
Rune[5 for focus roll - Successful!],
[5 + 3 (domain bonus and focus) = 8]Now that you have become comfortable with your range of abilities, it's time for some experimentation. You release your control over all of your golems - the Creators, the Protector, the Civilians, to all of them. You select one of the Creators as your test subject for now. You walk up to him and admire your own craft, inspecting the patterns over his arms and his chest, the interweaving lines, dots, and repeating, polygonal patterns to make the front of your creation majestic. Admittedly, it's not too impressive - after all, it is just a rudimentary clay figure that is your servant - but for what it is worth, you are proud of your own creation.
Back to the topic at hand now. You relax yourself and take in deep breaths, focusing your mind on the thought of controlling this single golem. It takes a few minutes, but you manage to completely calm yourself down and focus your mental state. You begin to feel that same familiar "drawing" feeling - the one where you feel the energy flowing to a different place, the golem. Finally, you are able to hone in on the target, and the mental link between you and the golem has been established. You can feel the energy kick off, the golem coming to life, the clay becoming more than simple clay and moving, feeling, living.
First things first: can these golems produce thoughts? You prod around within the mental faculties of the golem, trying to provoke some sort of response to your prodding. Maybe a thought or two. Nothing complicated, just a basic reaction. Nothing so far. You move the golem over to an area lit with natural light and study it for thoughts then. Still, nothing comes up. The exchange of energy between you and the golem remains a simple one - a transmission, but no reception. The last test for now: You lead the golem over to the magma pool and allow it to dip the tip of its hand into the magma. Slowly at first, you enter the hand deeper to see if the golem reacts in any way. Any reflex reactions? Any notions of temperature? Any sense of the glow or heat of the lava? No. Everything remains quite inside of the consciousness of the golem.
In short, no, you're not even able to get the slightest of a quip from the golem. However, quickly enough, you find that you
are able to guide minute movements - dodging, hand grabs, rapid movements, the like. In fact, it's not incredibly difficult. It might take a little more concentration than simply designating blanket orders for the golems, but you think that you'd be able to control them effectively in no time at all. This will be especially important for your Protectors and your other fighting golems once you get around to building them. For now, though, this shall suffice.
As for directly controlling the sight or other senses of the golem, that is a much more difficult task. Of all of your testing, you only manage to flicker into the view of the golem
once, and it took a massive amount of mental concentration. All of your other attempts were met with failure. It is indeed possible, but it has so much of a mental drain that it is not worth it for all but the most dire of situations, or if you just so happen to be extremely energized and mentally prepared for such a task. Even then, it would probably be dangerous for you to perform for more than five minutes at a time - and that is at your peak performance. You're going to need more practice in mental endurance if you are to undertake abilities like that.
With the testing finished and your mental reserves exhausted, you simply walk yourself over to your primary cave and huddle up in a corner, deciding to take a nap. Right now, you don't have the mental ability to even focus for a meditation. Slowly, your eyelids droop as you look over your clay creations that are watching the tunnels. These are your family members, your protectors, your subordinates, your.. your..
Fatigue has lessened to "Slight Fatigue" from taking a nap.You yawn, finding yourself rolling over onto your back. That was not the most comfortable of naps, though anyone could have expected that. After all, normal people don't sleep in caves with no beds or pillows. You take a quick look around to make sure that everything is in order. The golems are still in their same positions, the magma bed is still running smoothly and baking the golems that you set earlier, and whatever minor possessions you have still seem to be on your person or around the cave. All is well in your humble cave system.
Is the land near the cliff's edge still muddy, vegetated and steep? If so find a path down the cliff then find better ground. Either way, find a good spot to camp for the night then if possible do some foraging while there's still light to add to my supplies.
Jonathan EridisTo your dismay, the cliff does appear to be dense with vegetation. Although it is not particularly muddy, the mud could be enough to detract your efforts to build a solid camp. It would probably be best to make your way downhill and choose a better location for your camp. You navigate along the cliff side, searching for a nice path to make your way down along. About five minutes into your search, you find a decent-looking rock face that will allow you to climb down at a reasonable pace. The rest of the cliff side is surprisingly steep and will not allow you to navigate easily along the terrain. Looks like you have no other choice, lest you become stuck atop this waterfall at the beginning of the night.
You sling your bag across your back and begin feeling the rocks below with your feet, using your eyes to judge your path down at the same time. You take it slowly at first, so as not to mess up and end up with a potentially fatal situation. This part of the cliff isn't so high as to instantly kill you, but you might be seriously injured given the harshness of nature. Thankfully, these rocks are dry, allowing you to find footholds very easily. It gradually becomes a process of momentum, using the step of your last foot to guide the next foot down. Seventy meters becomes sixty meters becomes fifty meters and so on. You find it surprisingly easy; at this rate, you might be able to forage for a decent half-hour or so before the sun goes down.
Your thoughts begin to occupy your mind, pushing out your focus on your ability to navigate the terrain. A mistake was bound to be made at some point, and that point seems to be now. You put down your foot on what you thought was a foothold, but your foot only finds empty air, making you destabilize and completely lose your footing. With your balance gone, gravity takes care of the rest and pulls you into a fall while you scrape at the cliff side with your hands, trying to find purchase. Nothing comes out of your attempts, however, and down you go, down you go..
THWACK, CRASH! A few moments pass while irritating pains begin throughout your body. You open your eyes to find that you have been both saved and damned by a tree and some vegetation below, in particular a few bushes. You were hit by branches on the way down; these branches seem to be the cause of your pain. You quickly pick yourself up off of the bush and wince as the pain stabs through you. You do a cursory check over yourself. You don't think anything is broken, but you were indeed scratched and cut in a number of places - namely, down the backside of your left leg and on the upper part of your left arm. There are some minor cuts on your right leg and hip, but those aren't as serious at the moment.
You're going to need something to stop the bleeding soon for these major cuts. You run the risk of getting an infection, which would be incredibly unfortunate out so far from any civilization. You quietly gasp as you touch around the wounds to your left leg and arm. On the bright side, you didn't die; on the dark side, you have the potential to attain a life-threatening infection. Anything else will have to wait for now; these wounds will at least have to be run through water and covered up. You can worry about getting rest later. You've seen many an animal succumb to infection before, and it isn't pretty.
There's still a little bit of light left in the day, but the night is quickly approaching. If you don't find help soon, you might not be able to survive the night. To die this early - to die at all - would be tragic. You can't let this happen. You're resourceful. Think - what could you use in the forest to temporarily bandage?
Well, there's not many things, to be honest, but concessions can be made. You have the will and nature around you to help.
That same nature that might kill you, too. Ah well, no time right now to contemplate such things. Survival comes first.
Author's Note: So, not much to say here that I haven't said in the introduction to this turn. I hope you all enjoy this. I need to get some sleep now.
Thank you for reading all of this, if you have. I do appreciate it. Even knowing that some people still read my writing makes me happy.
Thanks and have a wonderful week,
Artemis.
Author
Topic: Roll To Medium: Awakening [Chapter VI] (Read 146453 times)