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Post by leaftail on Jan 13, 2020 18:18:17 GMT -6
-Lending a Hand-
Featuring: Taeith and SebleLocation: A small settlement near the Niurros River Time/Weather: Mid-Morning, Winter, Overcast with the potential to rain once more, Chilly Takes place during the Windbreak Mini Event
"The winter rains come. Always a joyous occasion, many gather to the towns and villages to celebrate before dispersing once again to tend to their farms and herds. But this year, something is different. Sedo is not yet done changing.
The rains come down as harsh storms. Thunder rumbles in the sky every night, storm fronts rising and falling with alarming unpredictability. Harsh winds tear the the Sedo heartlands, and piles of sand wash in from the Sear. The new rivers flood their banks, leaving behind a layer of mud. Niurros rises to an unprecedented water level, washing away huts built on its banks - but leaving behind new and fertile soil.
With unpredictable and harsh weather, everyone in Serora is challenged in their ability to adapt. The strength of the herd has always been their ability to collaborate and come together to find solutions larger than any of them, and this time will be no different. Sultan Jibriel has called for all of those able to help head out to assist those in greater need. People are directed towards the flooding riverbanks to build ditches and mount rescue efforts for families separated by the floods, especially around Niurros river. Others are dispatched to the dry heartlands to help herders with their flocks, while others yet find their way to small settlements and help in preparing the buildings there to withstand harsh weather. Every able hoof is needed."
As part of a group dispatched to the Niurros River to help rebuild settlements, Taeith and Seble must overcome the elements as well as any difficulties in building new residences. The threat of Thunderbirds still lingers, though the river is more of concern. The group has split into various pairs, each taking a hut to rebuild as well as help create portions of a levy to hold the river's waters back. With the threat of rain on the horizon, there is an urgency to their work. Will they get their task finished before the next storm, or will they have to face the wrath of the river? |
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Post by leaftail on Jan 13, 2020 18:20:41 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Stepping towards a pile of wood, rope, and other materials needed for the task at hand, Taeith mentally jotted down all of the pieces. The sun had risen a few hours ago, but had yet to actually peek out from the clouds and bring its warmth to the land below. Breakfast had to be cut short as the storm clouds had grown in the distance, and the group leader called everyone to attention. Their instructions? Get their huts done as soon as possible and then re-converge to work on making a temporary levy for the small village. Their time was limited as long as the storm clouds continued to build and slowly creep closer. Tae nudged one of the wooden planks that was meant to be a floorboard and glanced over her left shoulder at her work partner, Seble. “ What do you think? We separate all the materials by what section of the hut it belongs to and then get to building?” she asked, twirling a rubber mallet with her purple teke. “ Or...do we just start with the frame and build as we go? What do you think is faster?” The mare gave the pegasus a grin. “ I think this is my first time actually building a hut. Mom and I lived in the holes on the side of the mountain back in Osulas, so...really didn’t need to build much of anything back then. It was more of ‘what can I do to make this place look more liveable’, ha! Now that it’s gone…” her voice trailed off, a little hint of sadness mixed with her nostalgic tone. “ It’s been fun living on the road again. I hope we soon figure out if we want to move into that new city that was discovered or just return to being nomads. Mom’s getting old, so I'd rather we settle down somewhere so she can rest her bones...ah look at me rambling, we have work to do, don't we?” “ Let me formally introduce myself. I’m Taeith! Have...you ever built a hut before?” Taeith started tugging at the wood meant to be used for the hut’s frame, pulling one long piece away from the pile as she awaited Seble’s reply.
Post: 1 | Word Count: 371 |
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Post by Kelpie-River on Jan 13, 2020 18:33:20 GMT -6
Seble | The Folk | Post One
Seble's stomach growled, and the chimera mare lamented the fact that she hadn't been allowed to finish breakfast. After all, the storm clouds weren't going to end the day's work; who cared if they got a little wet in the midst of building? But, she'd trekked along with her partner to where they were supposed to gather and start putting together huts, all the while wishing she'd had time to finish her honey and oat cake. It felt wasteful to throw the thing away, but they hadn't even time to choke down a few final bites with the rain looming in the distance.
Seble turned her attention to her partner, realizing that the other horse was talking to her. She honed in on what was being said. Something about huts. Living in the side of the rocks. That was familiar to her; Seble had lived in the cliff faces as well, though probably not close enough to have bumped into Taeith. Of course, she had also lived in nomadic fashion all over the place with her crazy family after her mother...
"Well, if we're doing formal introductions, Seble," the mare said, dipping her head in what she hoped was a respectful enough manner. People were often telling her that she was gruff, not likeable enough. So, she was at least trying. "I've built a shelter or two in my day, but nothing quite like this," she admitted, shrugging.
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Post by leaftail on Jan 13, 2020 19:50:03 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Hearing the other mare’s stomach growl, Tae couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. “ Let’s get the frame started and then maybe we can have a snack?” She nudged her head toward her saddle bag, which sat away against a rock nearby. “ Can’t hurt to have something waiting for us as we pass building milestones!” “ It’s a pleasure to meet and work with you Seble! I’m lucky to have you as a partner. We can definitely get done in time with you and your beautiful wings!” Taeith had always been slightly in awe of the pegasi of the herd. She, too, wished she could join her herd mates in flight sometimes. It just looked like so much fun. To have Ayla’s winds in her mane and soar over her gift of flight...it was an impossible dream. With another tug, the piece of wood she had been working on finally tugged loose and Tae pulled it off to the side, starting a pile for the frame pieces. “ I’ve only pitched tents, so this is all new to me. At least it’s...kind of like a tent...and they made it easy on us, see? It looks like the wood pieces can just slide into each other by using these notches here. I think the rope might be for reinforcement...ah these look like the stilts.” Taeith trailed off once again as she continued to pull pieces of different cuts of wood from the pile. The hut they were about to build was a one room, open floor-like plan of a hut that would rest on stilts to keep low flood waters from entering. The residents could later customize or add things, but for now the settlement just needed to be rebuilt. Homes were needed no matter how they looked. “ Hm...I guess we can do the frame and stilts first, then the walls and finally the roof?”
Post: 2 | Word Count: 318 |
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Post by Kelpie-River on Jan 15, 2020 15:39:00 GMT -6
Seble | The Folk | Post Two
"That sounds like a great idea," Seble agreed, trying not to sound too sarcastic as she nodded, looking around to see what tools they had at their disposal. She wasn't sure what to do exactly, but it couldn't be that hard, could it? "Oooh, um, thank you," Seble said, feeling her fur flush hot at the mention of her wings. It wasn't that she was unused to being told about their beauty, but she never really thought about it for herself, and it always took her off guard when others admired them. To her, they were just tools to get her into the sky. But, she took the compliment as well as she could, cleared her throat and moved on.
"Kind of," Seble agreed, nodding. It was like tents. "I bet we can get a frame up pretty quickly," she agreed, nodding still as she walked around the little pile of supplies. "If we use our teke, we can probably lift these pieces of wood up onto the stilts and lash them in place to make a floor, so we have somewhere to stand when we build the walls," she suggested.
WC: 195
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Post by leaftail on Jan 16, 2020 16:48:39 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Tae nodded hearing Seble’s comments and started to arrange the framework pieces on the ground after putting the rubber mallet back with the other supplies. It had been fun twirling it around, but it was time to get serious now. “ This looks like a corner...this one too...hm, that one looks like it’ll support the roof so we can wait. That’s another roof one…” Tae mumbled to herself as she laid out the basic look of the hut. “ We can attach the floor frame to the corner pieces for now, and then attack the floor and wall like you said. That way it’ll be easier to work on the roof!” Taeith grabbed the rubber mallet once more, handing Seble one as well. With the pieces already pre-notched, all they really had to do was knock the pieces together. “ You take that side, and I’ll do this side. We can do our respective sides and meet in the middle with the floor frame. Then we can do the floor like you said!” Taeith started with two pieces, lining the notches together with her teke and then hammering them together with the mallet. The pieces slid together after two knocks and Tae wiggled them to make sure they were locked in tight. She moved onto the next pieces, knocking them into place and continuing till her side of the hut’s frame was ready to be attached to the floor frame and stilts. Above them as they worked, the sky continued to slowly darken. Huts were going up at various speeds around them, some pairs getting farther than others. The wind was beginning to become noticeable thought it was still just a light breeze. If one paid close enough attention they could smell the beginnings of a rain storm on the horizon. Flicking her forelock out of her eyes, Tae admired her work before looking towards the sky. She couldn’t tell if the weather looked like it was getting worse, shrugging off the clouds and the slightly dip in temperature. “ Ready to move onto the floor?”
Post: 3 | Word Count: 344 |
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Post by Kelpie-River on Jan 17, 2020 20:12:03 GMT -6
Seble | The Folk | Post Three
The mare nodded, listening intently to what she was told. Shuffling her wings and her thoughts, she moved to start putting together her side of the little hut. Using Tae's instructions, the chimera kept up with her pacing pretty well, and soon enough she was nailing together the last of the framework on her side. It wasn't exactly pretty, but it was sturdy, and that was the really important part, Seble thought. With a sigh, she huffed her mane out of her eyes, and inspected their work. It looked...good. Better than she'd expected it to look.
Shivering at the sudden dip in temperature, Seble glanced at the sky. She didn't like the look of the clouds above; they'd better get this hut together before things got too out of hand up there. She wasn't blessed with any sort of air or water manipulation, and the idea of getting soaked was not pleasant. Not to mention that it would be all that much harder to do the work itself in the pouring rain.
"Let's do it," Seble said, nodding as she grabbed a piece of the floorboards in her teke.
WC: 193
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Post by leaftail on Jan 19, 2020 18:08:00 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Seble’s enthusiasm gave Tae more of a drive to get the hut done. She grinned at the mare before giving her a big nod, grabbing a floorboard herself. It seemed like they made a pretty good team. She placed her floorboard next to the one Seble had, making sure they were parallel to each other on the frame. “ Where were the nails...ah, there they are!” Taeith spotted the nails in a small wooden bucket next to the other building supplies they were given, pulling eight out with her teke. She gave Seble four of them, and then started to nail the boards on her side of the hut. Once she used up her nails, she went and grabbed the next floorboard, repeating the process until the floor was done. She took a step back to admire their handy work. “ Want to take a break? We got pretty far, I think we can rest and eat a snack.”
Post: 4 | Word Count: 158 |
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Post by Kelpie-River on Jan 22, 2020 14:06:13 GMT -6
Seble | The Folk | Post Four
It had taken them a bit of time to get done with the floor, but done it was. Seble sat back, smiling at their progress. They had actually done pretty good, in her humble opinion. The floor was straight, flat, and even. More than could be said for some of the things that Seble had built as a child, that much was certain. And the walls were strong, ready to support the hut's inhabitants from whatever might come their way.
"I think that sounds like a lovely idea," the mare sighed, shuffling as she shifted positions. "I'm tired and hungry both, and a rest could fix both those problems at once," she said with a soft chuckle.
WC: 119
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Post by leaftail on Jan 23, 2020 16:45:25 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Taeith walked over to her saddlebag, and quickly rummaged through it. She found the pre-packed snacks she had prepared before and a canteen of water. The snacks were a variety of dried fruits, nuts and oats, a kind of trail mix that would fill anyone up if they were out traveling the desert. She walked back over to Seble, handing the pegasus the canteen with her teke before setting the bundle of snacks down on the ground, opening up the cloth they were wrapped tightly in. “ Go ahead and drink up. With the river nearby I can always refill it if we run out,” she explained, grabbing a teke-full of goodies. She chucked all the fruit and oats into her mouth, chewing them up before swallowing. She looked to their hard work, satisfied at how the hut was coming out. It was definitely better than what she had expected, but she guessed it was do to how prepared everything was. If they had to do all of this from scratch it probably would’ve been a lot worse. A light rumble of thunder echoed in the air, causing her to turn her attention to the sky again. “ Hm…” she hummed, taking the canteen from Seble. “ That is...picking up some speed isn’t it?” Pulling her eyes away from the clouds, she looked to the other mare. “ It’s been a pretty chaotic winter hasn’t it? I mean...aside from all the drama with the new city that was found…” Tae trailed off, remembering her venture down into the cave and finding the city of Alhaj. “ I wonder if it’s a good idea to move there now that Osulas is gone,” She was bringing up something she had mentioned earlier in the day. “ To have structure, you know?” She let out a tiny laugh, taking a drink and putting the canteen between them so Seble could freely pick it up if she was thirsty. “ Away from the threat of Thunderbirds, sandstorms...the heat when summer comes back...but it just reminds me of being stuck in the Oasis again. Crowded, though at least I could leave if I wanted to...jeez, we as a herd have been through a lot these past years, huh?” Taeith wasn’t sure how interested in this Seble might’ve been, but she was just trying to start a conversation and distract herself from the storm that continued to inch closer.
Post: 5 | Word Count: 401 |
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Post by Kelpie-River on Jan 26, 2020 16:30:09 GMT -6
Seble | The Folk | Post Five
The chimera mare's ear flicked, and she rustled her wings as she stared out oat the sky. "I have no idea when the storm is going to hit, but it looks like it's going to be nasty when it does," she agreed, her tail twitching as she looked to the clouds. They definitely seemed to be moving in at high speed.
"I don't much keep up with politics," the mare said, trying not to snort or seem too derisive of the conversation in general. She was trying to be nicer, after all. "I've never had much structure in my life. Being nomadic had always worked for me before, but I thought I'd try to change things up. Guess that all went to hell," she said, shrugging.
"I think we'll be through a lot more before things settle down," mused the mare darkly. "After all, things seem to get worse before they ever get better." She remembered the fight they'd had with the water bandits, how defeated they'd all seemed afterwards. And that was MINOR compared to all the things that had happened recently.
WC: 185
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Post by leaftail on Feb 4, 2020 8:13:34 GMT -6
Taeith | Folk
Taeith listened intently to the pegasus mare, her ears perked in Seble’s direction as she took another helping of the trail mix she had brought. She remembered being young and going out on supply runs with her family. They were more on the move back in the day, when her father had been alive. She could still hear his voice telling stories around the nightly camp fires, or telling her where to find the best veins of ore for the herd. The memory was bittersweet when she thought about how her family became more stationary after his death; almost in agreement with Seble’s reason for trying to start a new way of life. Tragedy seemed to be the bearer of change. “ I’ll drink to that!” she said, taking another small sip from the canteen. “ I just wish we, as a herd, got a freaking break. Let us rebuild, and come back together as a herd before hitting us with the next big disaster.” Thunder rolled in the distance and if one looked closely they could see a small flash of lightning. Tae looked in the direction of the storm, then towards the other groups nearby. The others seemed to pick up their pace, fearing the storm would come any second, and Tae decided that their small break should come to an end for now. If they could get the hut up before the storm hit, they could ride it out back at the campsite in their warm tents. “ Well...let’s get back to it. We’re practically done. Let’s get this roof up and call it a day before the rain ends the day for us. I guess we’ll work on the levy for the river tomorrow.”
Post: 6 | Word Count: 286 |
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