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 Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 7:20 pm
Perhaps "wall of trees" was too hardcore a descriptor. But then again, Scarker couldn't see, so it was probably all the same.
The density was high, so high that one could touch two trees simultaneously at nearly all times. However, it wasn't at all unpassable. Underbrush was still minimal for the reigon's normal fauna, which would make walking easy.
Scarker's magesight would find a place where trees were farther apart, an apparent path. There was definately something up ahead, but what? The only way to find out... would be to walk the silent path.
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Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:43 am
Paths are good. Much better than climbing over roots and squeezing between trunks, so that's the way that the mage travels, snapping pictures every now and then (they weren't very good, but at least they always managed to be level.)
And he's got the jerky out again. The strip that he's chewing on just happens to make it look like he has a really weird tongue sticking out of his mouth. It's very tough jerky, so it takes a while for him to go through it. Thankfully it hasn't warmed up much, so the smell wouldn't attract anything that quickly.
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Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2008 6:19 pm
[damn it, i promise i had a full, great post here. and then i copied it because the page sat too long and i know firefox "timed out" on the entry...and f5'd... thens tupidly copied something else.
so i'll be posting veddy soon.]
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 6:11 pm
[because "veddy soon" = "the next day."]
Paths were very good, especially when they were the only open way around. This path could stand to have more varying scenery though... for just over a mile, it was naught but the thick trees. However, it was perhaps better than the thin ones.
Eventually, the landscape changed again, and rather quickly. The path opened up to a clearing that presented a cabin containing many weapons and pieces of armor littering its front yard. The snow was fairly even all about, and there was neither light or heat to be detected within the cabin.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 9:24 pm
"A cabin?"
Scarker walks up to the edge of the clearing, jerky tongue waving as he makes a show of looking around. Each weapon and plate of armor is individually swept over, tactically analyzed, and given a specific thread of energy so that he can identify them quickly, where there are discarded weapons, there's been a battle, and battlegrounds can hold more than one battle.
The mage of course didn't look like he was planning all of that. He looked just as clueless as always. He was a fighter, and fighting was second nature to him, so of course it didn't effect his outward self.
"Hello!? Is anyone there? I hope you don't mind the intrusion!"
He takes a quick picture before stuffing the camera away and taking cautious steps into the field. If nothing happens, he'll start striding more casually into the cabin, but he doesn't like the look of the place.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:23 am
There were a few good-looking weapons and armament. Some might even be special made, or have some sort of magical signature. However, they'd need to see a smith before being of any true use... and most, if not all, magic weapons would need to see the same smith who crafted it, along with the mage who enchanted it, if the two were separate. Whether or not Scarcer thought such a side-quest was worthy of his time, was absolutely his choice.
As for the cabin's interior, he'd find that it was long empty. A fireplace lay cold and ashen, with dust everywhere. For its level of upkeep, it would seem that the last inhabitant suddenly left. Flies managed to eke out an existence here; it was them and their progeny that had finished off the steak and vegetables that used to be on the plate, that sitting on a table of solid design. All that was left was the bone and unpalatable scraps.
The bed had been kept well... same wood as the table, same minimalist design-- it had four legs and a surface. The mattress was leafy and covered with a patchwork quilt. Covering was five-fold... two were spread evenly, with the last three at the feet... perhaps at the ready for those particularly freezing nights.
A weapon rack was the last thing to note. It was much less a "rack" and more a "weapon catch that saw its home in the corner near the door." It was empty, and such might make its purpose harder to discern.
All in all, the cabin was fit for more use, given a bit of clean up. The last person here had apparently vacated with intent to return and never made it back, or saw reason to leave post-haste and not look back.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:31 pm
Scarker's poke around the cabin showed him little, the weapons weren't interesting enough to replace his own, self crafted ones, but it was enough to make him curious. An empty weapon spot in a cabin that'd been deserted in the middle of a dinner meal, and a yard that was covered in weapons caught the simple minded man's attention extremely well.
His instincts told him that this was a bad place to stop traveling. Something unexpected had happened here, and by the mass of weapons, it was obviously dangerous. Still, the mage's curiosity and wish for a night with shelter proved to be able to override his sense, and he made to settle in for the night.
The plate was tossed out to the woods, and all the bugs were dragged away (even those that had made their way into the bedding were plucked out with the help of a little magic energy). A fire was lit in the fireplace, and as a final setup, his blades were stuck into the floorboards in front of the door, barring it somewhat and keeping them in his path just in case anything did happen.
Around dinner-time, the mage would be pouring over and marking a larger version of the map that he had in his notebook. The small one was fine for letting himself navigate, but he needed a larger one to turn in. He would mark that more carefully than the smaller one, although not including the tower detour that he'd made. He was still munching on jerky (now starting to tire of having the same thing, though).
It would be about midnight before he'd allow himself to turn in if nothing interrupted him, and then he'd sleep lightly until morning, but he had his fingers crossed that something interesting would happen near the house before then. Either way, it would at least be a place to stay the night.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 9:14 pm
Sleep came easy and undisturbed. It was the tundra, after all. There were the sounds of a few animals here and there, those that made their living in the cold desolation... and a few more that were perhaps attracted to the adventurer's target.
And after his adjustments and cleanup, the place was a pretty nice place to stay, proving further that much care had been taken when it was inhabited.
The morning came, and Scarker's target still remained to be found. Would today be the day?
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 10:59 am
The mage is indeed refreshed. Disappointed that there hasn't been anything interesting happening, yes, but well rested enough to try again.
The cabin is left behind, and the mage continues on his way. If he finds another, more promising path when he looks around outside, he'll take that, otherwise he'll just continue along in the direction he'd been heading along the previous path, whether it continued after the cabin or not.
He'd probably also kick a helmet or something on his way out of the clearing, but otherwise leave the place as it was when he woke up (including not making the bed, isn't he just a horrible house guest!).
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 9:35 am
There is but one path to take out. Again, it is a well-worn path, but at least it'd tell him that this was the proper way out. Other than a few taken for hunting that were already pretty much covered, there were no other ways to go. But was it so bad? With every step he took out of the area, the farther away he got from the cabin, the closer he would get to his destination which had an energy signature burning as brightly as it did the previous night. It hadn't lessened, it hadn't strengthened, and it certainly hadn't moved.
The thickness of this area going out was just the same as going in, and the path was about the same size. When he reached the exit, the "wall" of trees would stop just the same, and the area would be back to the cold, rocky tundra it was before. However, something would be different. Though he couldn't see it, and though no person could see it, something was straight ahead... and it was huge.
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Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2008 11:24 am
Scarker emerged from the trees with reluctance. He would have sworn that that forest would have held some sort of eden-place if it was anywhere, but there was still something interesting in front of him.
It felt important, that's all that Scarker knew. It may not be where he was supposed to go, but he knew that it was where he was headed. His pace changed to a light jog as he traveled through the colder air, warming up his body and getting closer to his destination at the same time. Though, the bouncy nature of jogging made it hard for him to eat his jerky...
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 2:10 pm
The forest... it was on the way to this supposed eden-type place. Definitely, worth another notch on the map the man was making, but it would likely prove not the last-- especially since he continued on.
He would find things back to how they should be... sparse coverage by some trees, lots of snow, a hill or so with outcropping rocks that may hold the hint of some kind of green on one side. Such would be the things treated to his eyes for about 3.5 miles, where then he was met with quite a high hill of snow. It rose up on all sides with a rather steep slope, with a height so great that obscured vision of what may be on the other side. This lifting of the terrain could be seen well away of course, and rounding the area would give him just another view of this great, snowy hill.
Scarcer, if he deigned to look down at all, would also be able to see hoof and paw prints going towards the place. Such might be a relatively mundane thing, not worth notice at all. That is, until one realized that the prints were all about the hill and featured a variety of creatures to whom they belonged. Also, there was the fact that other than a big cat resting in a tree and a few critters, there had been no fauna to speak of. To find that a plethora of them had decided that something over this hill was worth going to warranted investigation, no?
You're getting warm.
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Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 5:58 pm
The mage slowly noticed how odd the number of footprints was. He didn't know what it meant, as far as a tracker would know that it meant that there was obviously somewhere ahead that could support so many animals (like a certain eden-esque paradise), but if strange things kept happening, he was certainly bound to run into something interesting!
And so, the blind man kept following the footprints around the mountain. His jog could have easily kept on all the way around it, but instead he receded back to a brisk walk. Better to let his food settle, after all.
His mage sight would also delve slightly into the snow mound, just to be sure that it was actually a solid mound of snow and/or rock. Because he's weird like that.
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 6:29 pm
The footprints went not around it, like a track set around a pool or somesuch, but they all led up and over the high, high hill that was all rock and ice, ice, baby.
Too cold, too cold...
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Posted: Thu Oct 02, 2008 9:11 pm
Up? They went up?
Now Scarker would admit that whenever he saw a street sign directing him forward, he always looked up to follow the arrow, because up is a very understandable direction for him. However, he knew of almost nothing that would scale a mountain rather than go around it... This required investigation!
The cleats of his boots shot out, a sudden half-inch of sharp metal piercing the ground below him. If the ground was solid enough for animals to make the trek up it, it should be no problem for the mage. Still, his staff slid out of his sleeve just in case he needed a walking stick. Although, he'd be holding it in a gloved hand... What with it being metal in such a cold environment and all...
Properly equipped, the mage would leisurely stroll up the hillside, leaving the most curious tracks of them all.
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