Instead of lingering at the campsite, Olivia leads her group away immediately, following tracks with an expert eye. She is a hunter, a tracker, and that's obvious from the soft way she steps, avoiding disturbing the life under her feet, and in the way she holds her bow ready at her side, quietly alert for any danger.
"Some people came this way, at some point, but mostly it's wildlife," she offers, quietly, with a short look back over her shoulder to make sure that her crew is following -- and then ranges ahead.
They'll find their way to a small clearing, where they can pause to catch their breath, Olivia's eyebrows pulled together slightly. "I see tracks going in several directions. North, northwest, and east. I'm not sure which ones we should follow."
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:11 am
OOC POST:
Please make sure you start with this prompt before posting in any other thread in this subforum!
If you chose to join Olivia on her investigation of the woods, then you are now free to post in this thread! A second prompt will be posted tonight, once a good number of people have replied. If you miss the opportunity now, you can still trickle in later; just assume your character was always here, but sticking quietly to the sidelines.
Briiva followed behind Olivia, careful to mimic her movements and do as little to disturb her surroundings as possible. It was clear though, that while Olivia was clearly skilled at tracking, moving, and most importantly, remaining silent all at once, Briiva most certainly was not. For now, she was content doing her best on that last part. Stepping where Olivia stepped was doing the trick, but Briiva had to brace quickly once she stopped at the first clearing. Briiva crouched, not sure which way would be the best. For now, the smartest action would be letting everyone catch up so a decision could be made.
Character Name:Brianna Pavlovich Brief description of character: Headstrong and impulsive, Briiva is an excitable, over zealous ball of energy that can explode at the slightest provocation. While friendly and always ready to help out, she has a flair for the dramatic and will get carried away more often than not.
Deity: Hephaestus Weapon: Great Bow HP: 50
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:49 pm
Though used to trekking through different terrains tracking animals for photo ops, Tara was not the light-footed sort that Olivia was. Still, she tried to stay quiet as she followed the Southern-belle, her own gaze flicking about the woods. Her knowledge of what sort of wildlife lived in bayous like this was minimal, and she doubted pulling out her phone and trying to Google stuff would bring any results.
She wasn't skilled at tracking. Only after Olivia pointed out the tracks in the various directions was she able to squint and sort of make out the tracks. "Is there any way to tell which tracks are the most recent..? That might be a stupid question," she acknowledged with a small laugh. She wasn't going to waste time trying to pretend she knew more about the subject than she did, if they had to decide which way to go. She looked about, unsure if they could split up and search each trail.
"Um... I mean, are there differences between them? Like, do any of them look like tracks of people who were running from the camp? Widely spaced?" Or maybe those were useless questions and she was barking up the wrong tree. Which, if that's the case, then she wasn't sure how they should determine which way to go except maybe flip a coin or rock-paper-scissors.
She stood near Briiva, grateful for a familiar face--whom she gave a cheerful smile to--but unsure if now was the right time for chatter.
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
"No need to sound so skittish," Izzy said, coming up on Tara's other side. She slapped the unfamiliar girl on the shoulder, in a friendly sort of way. "That makes a ton of sense."
"If people were running away, yeah, we would expect widely spaced tracks. I'd also imagine seeing uneven prints, where the print would be deeper at the toe because of the additional force." Izzy stepped away from the real prints, and made one of her own, mimicking the kind of footfall she'd have if she was racing away from something.
Character Name:Izzy Sandoval Brief description of character: Izzy lives to be outrageous - she is a PhD astrophysics student who revels in her party-girl persona and in-your-face feminism. Izzy's core strengths include her sharp perception and intelligence, but her weaknesses include poor teamwork and her pride.
Deity: Artemis Weapon: Spear HP: 47
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 11:49 pm
It didn't take long for Davor to catch up to the women who had also decided to follow Olivia's lead. More used to skulking about in the taiga than the oppressive heat of this particular biome, Davor nonetheless had long since mastered the art of keeping quiet, easily sidling up as if he'd been there from the start... But he hadn't, so he didn't know exactly what the discussion at the moment was about. The branching tracks were easy enough to see, at least, as well as a familiar face. Still, Davor hung back and observed, as was his manner.
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
Though he'd often been wild and a little carefree with his bird murder back in the Alps, that was really only because employing stealth with them had proven pointless after the initial strike. Running at them, arms flailing, had been too fun to pass up as well.
Here Zan was more subdued, following most of the others with minimal disruption to the mud and twigs beneath him. He graced the gathered Chosen with a wry grin when they stopped, shrugging at what he'd heard.
"I don't know a thing about tracks, but back before we left they were talking about power surges? Maybe look for something that could cause that."
Character Name:Zan Gethin Brief description of character: Friendly, perceptive, phony. Zan has wholeheartedly embraced the more mundane aspects of his new life at the Prytaneum—such as regular meals, his stipend, and the gym—but his inability to stick with any one thing for long has left him struggling to pin down how he might best serve his god long term.
Deity: Hermes Weapon: Dagger HP: 50 Minicert:
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 10:26 am
They're only able to take a brief break before something starts to move in the underbrush, a rustling and a rumbling that rattles bushes and branches. Olivia's hand goes immediately to her weapon, the other extended to make sure that her group stays quiet, and doesn't scare off whatever approaches.
Slowly, she picks her way across the clearing, her steps silent. When she reaches the source of the noise she reaches out a hand, inch by inch, to catch the branch -- and sweeps it aside all at once.
There, in the underbrush, is a raccoon: dirty, with a scratch on its face and a deer-in-headlights look. It tries to run, but as it does, it trips over its own legs and lets out a pained, miserable chitter that softens every inch of Olivia's posture.
"Oh, it's injured," she says, low and sympathetic. "Someone bring over some food, let's see if we can help it."
_________________________
At this point, this is an OPEN RP, for you guys to interact with the injured animal and maybe get some answers! You can also RP in the clearing, explore the surrounding greenery, and interact with each other.
Note that if you missed the first part of this thread, you can still enter. Just assume that you have been there all along.
If you try anything that seems like it should prompt GM attention, or you interact with Olivia/the raccoon, please make sure to put relevant parts in bold red so that I can see and reply to them.
Izzy had held her breath when Olivia had pushed back those branches. Now, all of that air rushed back out of her mouth as a hugely exasperated sigh.
“We are going to be held up by this?” She dramatically threw one of her hands up, the other hand still on her spear. They had just stopped, and she wasn’t in the mood to stall longer. She walked past the group. “Whatever, I’m going to scout ahead.”
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:49 am
The raccoon came as a surprise. Izzy's reaction came as another. Davor raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Animals weren't everyone's thing, he supposed, and anyway it couldn't hurt to have other Chosen continuing the investigation. He took this as his own cue to step up, swapping his war-hammer into his good hand as he rummaged around in his deep, generous pockets for... some stale biscuits! Truly, this coat never let him down.
Joining Olivia in that practiced, cautious way of no sudden movements (the very same manner he wished more people would approach him), Davor crouched in front of the raccoon and extended the crumbly offering in his scarf-wrapped prosthesis.
Character Name:Davor Kozel Brief description of character: A bear of a man in both stature and apparent dexterity in tree-climbing, Davor is really more like a teddy than a grizzly once you get him talking. Just, good luck with that.
Briiva smiled back at Tara and was about to speak up, urging Izzy to wait, but she hesitated, not sure of how to best try stalling. "Don't get too far ahead. I'm sure that this won't be much of a setback. Just be patient a moment."
She knelt down and pulled her bag gingerly off her shoulder so that she could more thoroughly rummage through it. She had packed not only snacks, but emergency ration bars. Briiva preferred being over prepared. Finally she found some grapes in a plastic container and approached the Raccoon cautiously, trying her best to make her body language as nonthreatening as she knew how. She was a little surprised, and relieved when Davor beat her to the punch of offering food, but she had come this far aleady, might as well make sure the raccoon had plenty to eat. "Here you go, little guy!" Briiva set the container just a few inches from the raccoon and stepped back again, careful that she didn't make any loud noises or sudden movements to scare the animal more than it already was. She quietly pulled her back back over her shoulder, going back beside Tara. Briiva grinned at Davor, gently patting him on his back. "Thanks!" Seeing him and Tara her put her more at ease; two less peoples for Briiva to worry about. "Think the fella is going to be alright, Tara?" Briiva whispered.
Character Name:Brianna Pavlovich Brief description of character: Headstrong and impulsive, Briiva is an excitable, over zealous ball of energy that can explode at the slightest provocation. While friendly and always ready to help out, she has a flair for the dramatic and will get carried away more often than not.
Deity: Hephaestus Weapon: Great Bow HP: 50
Sage of Chaos
Kaefaux
Soldier of Song
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 2:11 pm
Songtao had, under intense deliberation, decided not to smoke, no matter how badly she wanted to, and she very much wanted to. She stepped behind the group surrounding the injured raccoon, brow furrowed.
"We are looking for people?" she said, hesitant in the words though not the sentiment. "Does," she paused, trying to remember the word for raccoon and failing, so she gestured dismissively at the creature, "animal help us find people?"
To hide her embarrassment, she dug around in her pockets for a piece of gum or at least a pen she could hold. Her English tutoring was for circumstances such as buying coffee and asking directions, not wildlife rescue.
Character Name: Songtao Zheng Brief description of character: A capricious, leaning towards grumpy, chain smoker who has joined the Prytaneum to further her conservation efforts back home in China.
Deity: Demeter Weapon: Buckler HP: 56 XP: 20
dirigible plum
Fashionable Gaian
Offline
SSBrosB
Springtime Noob
Offline
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 4:49 pm
Tom had been trudging behind the group as they made their way through the woods. He hadn’t thought of making any conversation, he had never talked to any of these people. So he figured that they might as well just make their way through. So he had been silent the whole time and was in his own thoughts, probably not a good idea out here, when he noticed the group had stopped walking.
Well, it was less ‘notice’ and more ‘realize he was about to bump into someone’. He took a few steps back to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally knock someone over. It looked like they were in some sort of clearing now and a bit of the group seemed to be fussing over what seemed to be a raccoon. I don’t think it would have rabies? He thought to himself as he looked at the group a bit aways from them.
He wasn’t sure why they were fussing over the raccoon, he hadn’t seen what had happened or heard Olivia’s statements, so he was kind of surprised that they would take time to go and bother the creature.
Of course if it was injured or something they could try to help it, but it was also a wild raccoon. With claws. And really sharp teeth. If that thing decided to attack he might end up using all of his supplies before they got into a real battle.
He wasn’t sure why they were pausing to pay attention to the raccoon either, though he wondered if by helping it, that it would help them? Maybe that sort of Disney scenario happened sometimes with Chosen?
Character Name:Tom Wolf Brief description of character: A new doctor who tends to be quite sarcastic though isn't sarcastic with his patients. A bit in the dumps because he has been unable to find a job as of yet. Always wears a black cowboy hat when possible.
Deity: Apollo Weapon: Bow HP: 47 Minicert: N/A
Posted: Sun Sep 11, 2016 5:01 pm
The new voice made Tara jump a little, bright eyes wide as she looked up at the copper and brunette ombre haired woman. The clap on her shoulder was met with a smile, and Tara didn't jerk away or anything from the intrusion of space. She'd hardly met all the Chosen around thus far, and didn't see the reason to be skittish around another. She listened intently to the other's input on tracks, nodding a little in interest, particularly intrigued when the other did a quick example. "Tracking's a super new thing to me, so I wasn't sure if I was remembering the right stuff... but thanks!" Smiling, she offered a hand towards the other woman, the symbol of Artemis clear on her bracelet. "Tara O'Connell, don't think we've been able to meet yet."
Hearing someone mention power surges, she blinked and looked towards one of the guy she recognized from one of the--many--fights against the birds. "Power surges? Did they say anything else about them..? I missed all that."
Though things got a bit sidetracked when Olivia uncovered the poor raccoon. Tara's sympathies went immediately to the creature when she heard the miserable cry. She was relieved when others moved forward with food for the creature--though the other woman's response to just march on ahead made Tara wince a little. Agreeing with Briiva, she added, "Its injuries could be related to what happened for all we know... but if you're sure you want to go ahead, don't go too far ahead in case something happens."
When Briiva moved back over to her and asked the quick question, Tara frowned a little. "I'm... not sure. I would think so... it just looks like an injury on its face, but I'm not sure if it's injured elsewhere..." Reaching into her bag, Tara shuffled around the contents a bit until she found a water bottle. Grabbing that, she then searched until she found an empty food--or well... whatever she needed it for, really, if her previous specimen gathering was any sign--container with a somewhat deep screw-on cap. Undoing that, she poured some water into the larger cap before moving over slowly towards the others to set the cap of water a few inches away from the raccoon. Soon as that was set down, she moved back carefully from the poor creature and back over to where Briiva was.
Lissesul
Sage of Chaos
Smerdle
Character Name:Tara O'Connell Brief description of character: An always smiling, cheerful sort, Tara wears her heart on her sleeve. A keen eye makes her a valued photographer, and an improving shot with a bow, but her temper makes her surprisingly stubborn and too willing to dig her heels in when she feels it's needed.
"I'll be around," she called back to Tara, walking backwards. The athletic young lady was already quite a bit into the clearing already. "Name's Izzy. Yell if something important happens."
Of course, chances were that all the interesting stuff was still ahead of them. Izzy walked along the set of tracks they had been pursuing, looking to see if it veered off course at all, or just continued straight to the forest again.
