Welcome to Gaia! ::

Things may be peaceful in Tendaji these days, but that doesn't mean that trouble doesn't suddenly appear out of nowhere. In fact, you just happen to stumble upon trouble and must figure out the best way to step in and help (or not, if you're more of the troublemaker type).

6 - 10: Mudslide It has been a dry few weeks, and many were excited about the rains coming in. But alas, it seems that too much rain has caused a mudslide. The damage isn't bad, but there might be a few people missing that need to be tracked down.

For himself, Viltre had spent his morning arranging the post. The pendant was message enough. It had to be packaged thrice to throw its recipient off, each with a sending address on the next parcel inside. She'd find out eventually, no stopping that, but Merle's response could be delayed a bit. The rumble off to the east came just as he was walking away from the postal station.

The foreign scribe looked off towards where the sound was dying down. East. The direction his bodyguard had gone on her run. He stood still a moment, sighed, and made his way to the stables.

Xarthin, her black janarim, had never quite got on. He'd put up with the Leafling, even bear his weight, but this was not his person. The best way Viltre had found to get him even partially compliant was treats. She'd likely fed him already, so it was anyone's game. Couldn't hurt to try...

Viltre saddled and reined the big war-lizard while he was attacking the snacks. Each took a few moments to gnaw through, being jerky for earthling consumption. When they got there, he had a chunk of salted meat that might as well have been wood. Might take ten minutes for him to gnaw it away. There were still growls in between snapping jaws and swallowing, mostly to establish that he wasn't the scribe's friend yet. At least, according to Variel.

Being unfamiliar with lands that shifted, young Kavensei stuck to the trail as he guided the beast along. Every so often, he'd drop another scrap of meat, just to be sure he'd kept its interest. The walk took around twenty minutes before they came across the source of the noise. Viltre stopped. He blinked. And then he stared for a minute. The land wasn't supposed to do that. It was meant to stay still like sensible firmament, anchored by grasses and trees.

And there, buried up to her armpits and singing to herself, was Variel. A gentle tug on the reins, and he led Xarthin on. The low voice rose to carry over the fresh slope. "Hoy there! You alive?"

In his defense, the closest the cityborn Taleian had ever come to working with a beast Xarthin's size was learning some of the tricks involving wagoneer animals. He had no previous context for how one might handle a predator of similar scale; particularly one that hadn't shown any recognizable affection as yet. He still thought it lucky he hadn't lost a finger to those snapping ivories yet.

With the janarim suitably istracted, though, Viltre wasted no time in securing a length of slim rope to the saddlebow. The rest he wound out from a tight coil over one arm, stepping forward onto the muck. An upside to living in a city built mainly up in the trees was that he could trust his feet moe than his footing. Considered especially lightfooted even amongst his people, the tall thief had a knack for knowing where a bad step was, where it would hold longer, where the solid bits were a pace or two ahead. Following these keen observations, he skipped, strolled, and occasionally slid steadily, if erratically, towards the buried bodyguard.

The redhead stopped, began to circle a bit, seeking somewhere to hold his weight more than a moment within two feet of her. "Excellent. Think you've had your exercise for the day, then?" He paused again to her right, still two paces off. About as good as I'll get without falling in. The scribe stopped, began loosing a couple coils of their rope, and tossed her a good length. "I can't get too close without being mired myself. Can you get your torso bound securely? Or do you need me to wind you around a bit?"

With Variel trussed up properly, her employer scuttled away back to her mount. He couldn't well pull the Oban woman out himself, not with his slim frame. So instead it was time to see if someone stronger than the both of them might help. Rather than waste time doing more complicated knots, he undid the first, drew the line tight between them, and fastened that point to the saddlebow. Though another bit further on was set to the saddle, just in case, she now had a tensed rope to pull herself along.

All this done, the only thing left was getting the janarim to move. Viltre cupped his hands and called back from the road. "Alright then. Going to have him take a few steps forward, see if that doesn't give you something to work with." With that, he moved back to the front and tried the same gentle tug as before, to pull Xarthin along a little ways. If he went along with it (and if the suction didn't dislocate something of hers), the beast's motion, and therefore the line, should have pulled the warrior along. Or at least got a bit of her out of the hole, give more leverage.

Viltre did as called, being more at home with people than animals and shifts in the forces of nature. Her line stopped, the saddle knots holding securely. The black war-lizard seemed more tractable than before, with his person yelling commands. Going to need to ask questions about his training once this is over. They bond once, I think, but I'm not going to have that much meat lying around all the time. Intimidating jaws continued to gnaw, even though the beast's gaze was recognizably less hostile.

Stopping Xarthin after a few steps was the tricky bit, and earned a confused growl from the janarim's chest. Viltre was still thinking of ppssible alternatives if this didn't work out. The first one was to have her companion dig her free. If he got stuck too, then the rest amounted to setting up a signal fire and heading back to town for help. At least it seemed to be working...

All the stopping and starting had begun to annoy Variel's big reptilian friend. His person shouting orders was one thing, meant she was present. The hard plank of jerky he gnawed was another, it was tasty and fun to gnaw. But the indecision the earthlings were displaying was not a thing to which Xarthin was accustomed. Indecision did not befit a hunter. Patience did, and this did not feel like patience to his mind.

Viltre, meanwhile, was glad of his employee's freedom. She'd already saved his live by her presence and expertise in the brief time she'd been around. That alone proved the investment worth saving, after humanitarian reasons. Also because of the dissatisfied noises coming from the janarim's chest and throat. The head they came out from remained in striking distance. Leaving her, had the thief been so inclined, looked a good way to get a solid chomping.

The low voice sounded again, a caution. "Stay down for a bit, let's not get you stuck at the ankles!" When he saw the tension hold and the rope move, the tall Taleian tugged a final time, putting aside the warning rumble with a glance. "Stop that. She's coming free, you silly thing; keep walking." Dragging her over the mud might not have been the nicest thing, but it seemed more likely that she wouldn't fall into a sinkhole lying down.

The slim man stepped forward, crouching down to his rescued bodyguard. And now we wait a bit. When she was ready, he'd lend a shoulder to her standing, and get her arm over the janarim's saddle. At worst, she could lash herself to it and trot along beside until feeling came back into her legs. Viltre was not a sturdy earthling, and could do little else for physical support. "A small one, maybe. Been leading him along with treats. We're gonna need another plank of salt meat, by the way."

A look at the sky saw the sun rising higher, promising a fine hot day if the wind didn't blow all the heat off. Unstable country, these mountains. Small wonder the folk here stay moving. This led to a brief once-over of the warrior. "You look as whole as could be hoped. Any damages? Pains, aches? I'm no doctor, so all I can do is help get you to one."

The beast in question, now that his reins were tucked aside, had other ideas, circling Variel (and the he-twoleg by association). He took a snuffle of her, from nape down to knee, making sure she was whole after taking too deep a mud bath. Fledgelings did that, and sometimes they lost their tails. She didn't have one to begin with, but all of her legs and paws were accounted for. Satisfied, he thumped down to the earth beside the Oban and got to cracking the last holdout fibers of dried meat.