MOD EVENT ↠ Happy Campers

[faderifting]

WHO: A lot of people
WHAT: Wilderness survival practice
WHEN: Drakonis 9:47
WHERE: The Vinmark Mountains, which we will continue to spell that way forever.
NOTES: OOC post. Teams below!

After everyone in need is given a brief overview of wilderness survival skills—how to start a fire, how to craft a basic trap, how to recognize any deadly-toxic local flora, etc.—teams will be transported to a point on a nearby mountainside and told to reach a different mountaintop within five days for pickup. They'll be provided with a knife and a hatchet to get them started but otherwise not permitted to bring anything except anything truly necessary for their health (lyrium for Templars, for example), their sending crystals, and their clothes. But if they hide extra things in those clothes to cheat with, that's between them and their team members and consciences.

The terrain between the two mountains is a woody, hilly, rocky valley, cut through with a river that branches into a few creeks and feeds a few ponds. There are caves, thickets, and a few small open fields, all populated by the expected wildlife and perhaps occasionally a hermit or little group of bandits. A road crosses through the valley, but there are no villages or permanent structures. If at any time the team is in danger they can't solve themselves, they can ask for a griffon rescue.

If they reach their pick-up point before the five-day mark, they have to hang out there and wait anyway, but they'll be able to do it in a nice spacious cave beside a spring, stocked with bedrolls, soap, playing cards, and two bottles of wine.

LOG TEAMS

These teams plan to log out portions of the adventure. Our general advice is to keep it chill and spammy, but you can do serious standard logs if that's what your heart desires. The provided prompts are optional, intended to help you get started, and you're welcome to ignore them or add to them if you want.

• TEAM 1: Gideon, Vanadi, Colin, and Sol might deal with three straight days of unrelenting rain (which may cause floods, depending on where they go and where they set up their camps) and a swarm of furious hornets.
  
• TEAM 2: Petrana, Loxley, Herian, Aenor, and Bastien might deal with a day and night of strong, unpredictable winds that try to topple shelters and whip away anything loose, as well as a patch of wilderness filled with traps left behind by overzealous hunters.
  
• TEAM 3: Benevenuta, Dirghe, Sawbones, and Adrasteia might deal with a heavy, raucous thunderstorm and a rotting rope bridge over a gorge that can only be avoided by either climbing up and down the sides of the gorge or losing half a day of walking.
  
• TEAM 4: Benedict, Marcus, Laura, and Vanya might deal with a rock- and mudslide, caused by previous rains, and a bear scavenging through their food that seems more lost and confused than aggressive.
  
• TEAM 5: Edgard, Sidony, Diana, and Valerius might deal with three straight days of unrelenting rain and a pair of raccoons that follow them for the entire journey, intent on stealing their food.
  
• TEAM 6: Ket, Richard, Barrow, and Erik might deal with a day and night of strong, unpredictable winds that try to topple shelters and whip away anything loose, as well as a flock of extremely loud and somewhat aggressive birds nesting above their camp.

HANDWAVE TEAMS

These teams have opted to handwave. Feel free to just discuss OOC what they would have gotten up to or learned about each other in the process. If you wind up inspired to play something out after all, you will not be arrested.

• TEAM 7: John, Vance, Cosima, and Nell.
  
• TEAM 8: Thais, Derrica, Maud, and Joselyn.
  
• TEAM 9: Ellis, Julius, Mado, and Nadka.

Comments

[sohighandwild]

[She raises an eyebrow, but without hesitation, she indicates Richard with the knife she's using to peel potatoes:]

Definitely.

[Indicating Barrow:]

Maybe, with sufficient motivation of some kind.

[A small shrug.]

That makes you the wildcard. How are you with cover stories?

[clawings]

[ Well. She's got a point about Silas, at the very least. Barrow, Erik hadn't met before this exercise. ]

Fine, usually. I don't see no reason for this to be any different.

[ He gestures towards Barrow with his chin. ]

What's gonna be the sufficient motivation there?

[sohighandwild]

I was assuming money, but if you have other ideas, I'm very open to something more creative.

[clawings]

Nah, I can't say I know the man well enough to have any sufficient information on that.

[ Erik shakes his head. ]

You got enough money?

[sohighandwild]

[A so-so motion with her hand.]

Not sure of his going rate, but I'm afraid it might be higher than it should be, considering he would also get to abandon the camping.

fuckin hover menus man

[clawings]

Hm, fair.

Got any good secrets about him he wouldn't want out? You ain't gotta tell 'em to me, but now might be the time to remind him, if his price is too damned high.

[sohighandwild]

Not so far, but it's a sensible suggestion. I feel like some well-applied wine might get one or two out of him, so we could always fall back on that plan.

Or, I suppose, you know. The camping. It just seems that if none of us are in our elements, we could think of a more creative solution.

[clawings]

If I had known it'd be useful I'd have brought some stronger shit with me.

I mean... the birds are the fuckin' worst. I don't disagree that we could be doin' something else with our time.

[sohighandwild]

Just as well to save the stronger stuff. Celebrate when we're back in civilization.

You know, about a year ago, a lot of us got trapped in a jungle, but at least that time it was an accident.

[clawings]

I'm down for celebratin'.

[ Erik frowns a little. He really needs to start reading the old reports that are public. ]

Which jungle? How?

[sohighandwild]

About a year ago. We were ... wait, to back up, do you know what eluvians are? Broadly, I'm not an expert myself.

[clawings]

[ Erik nods. ] Yeah I read about 'em, they're like... mirrors that are connected to one another on a network of some kind? Magical, right?

[sohighandwild]

That's about as much as I know too. Elf-made, a long time ago. The place they all connect is called the Crossroads, and some of our people were trying to map it when they got taken by the Venatori. It was an all-hands-on-deck rescue situation. We chased the Venatori out of one of the eluvians into the jungle, they tried to double back past us but we noticed, and in the fighting the thing broke.

At least this time we were all prepared to be camping for a bit. And the insects are a more reasonable size.

[clawings]

[ Elf-made. Erik makes a mental note to ask Athessa if she knows anything about them sometime later. ]

Damn, that sucks tho', that it broke. [ He shakes his head. Somethings are unavoidable in a warzone, he knows this. ] How'd all y'all get home?

[ There's not anything he'd call a 'jungle' nearby to Kirkwall. ]

[sohighandwild]

Sending crystals still worked, so between what we could tell them about the wildlife and geography and what the people back at the Gallows could research, they eventually figured out where we were and sent a rescue party. Embarrassing, all around. The scoutmaster nearly got eaten by a giant snake, and how would that have looked.

[clawings]

[ Erik snickers a little. ]

Pretty fucked, I imagine. Damn. Giant snakes and giant spiders, who the fuck needs those?

[sohighandwild]

My feelings exactly. An unpleasant experience all around. At least if we don't make it to the departure point in five days this time, someone will come fetch us.

[clawings]

True enough. [ He shrugs a little. ]

I dunno about getting out of here early honestly. Feels like it might cause more trouble than it's worth, but if you're still gung-ho about it, I'll do what I can.