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[PQ] [RQ] absence of green - Printable Version

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[RQ] absence of green - Deimos - 05-12-2023

Gods, he hated this place.

The desert was a particularly loathsome land by design – hot, arid, and in the vicious cycle of summer, overly tenacious and bothersome. He’d long since shed all figments of Halovian layers, and could barely exist in his thinner clothing, tying his hair in a makeshift bun, and ensuring none of his companions had come along. Belial would’ve been a nuisance and likely to become overheated, and there’d been no reason to drag Zuriel through this molten mess.

To be fair, he wouldn’t have come either, had it not been specifically outlined by Frey. It was for the good of Halo, but he wrinkled his nose each and every stride.

Turning to those alongside, he pointed towards the fixtures in the distance – massive skeletons rising out of the flattened expanse. [say]“We will head over there first,”[/say] and take what they could in their baskets, bags, and whatever else everyone had decided to carry over. [say]“Just be wary, cautious and quiet. No need to entice any landsharks.”[/say] He gave a pointed glance to Noah, because the Sentinel would understand, and to Evie, who he could see attempting to launch at one again just for the stories. He figured Alys would be wise enough to not bother, but he didn’t put anything past anyone nowadays.

--

[say]This is the first portion of a split PQ for Halo’s RQ for healing springs, in order to obtain bones of dead animals from Hak Etme. Please post your character arriving and anything they’re bringing.

1. Deimos
2. Alys
3. Noah
4. Evie
[/say]


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Alys - 05-13-2023

Alys felt out of place amongst the gathering of warriors, but she'd volunteered to come along, and there was no going back now. She wasn't really sure what had possessed her to volunteer to go on some god's errand, but perhaps her recent conversation with Tal had softened her a little to the notion of Caido's deities and their quests. That, and the fact that it was for the good of Halo - a place that she'd rapidly come to care for as her own.

As she traipsed along with the group, she shared Deimos's sentiments: she loathed the desert. It was ridiculously hot, even in her lightest, most airy clothing: a simple white short that bared her arms and beige pants that tucked into calf-high boots. She wore her dark curls pinned up atop of head in a messy semblance of a bun, but a few sweat-soaked tendrils fell limply around her face. There was a dagger on her belt, a quiver at her hip, and a bow on her back, besides the bag that she carried that contained some basic necessities. She also toted a large basket braced against the hip opposite the quiver, which they could use to carry whatever they found home.

She nodded in acquiescence to Deimos's instructions. She wouldn't have been particularly interested in exploring beyond the group, regardless, planning to stick close to her mentor in case anything went wrong. She didn't know these other two people, but she trusted that Deimos could keep them all safe. Besides, how much trouble could they really get in, when they were just here to gather some bones?

------

Alys arrives with Deimos. She has a basic dagger; a basic bow; a quiver of 12 arrows; a bag containing a sun balm, a healing balm, her journal, and some writing implements; and a large, empty basket.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Evie - 05-15-2023

They're all pretty miserable, and Evie eagerly counts herself among the ranks. She and Deimos both infamously despise the desert so of course it had to be their first stop for Frey's quest. Despite how benevolent Frey has been, Evie cannot help the dark humor that makes her wonder if her own Abandoned status was the cause of their unfortunate environment.

Swiping sweat off the back of her neck with a grimace, the expression transforms itself into a wrinkled nose and briefly stuck out tongue at Deimos' pointed words. Not that it lasts long - immediately crumbling into a grin, because it had been funny. [say]"No shark riding, got it."[/say] Shame, for all the terror it had been rather fun looking back on it. Certainly the wind in her hair would be a relief.

- - -

Evie arrives with all the items on her profile except her companion. She also has a set of throwing daggers, two canteens of water, and a large satchel.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Noah - 05-17-2023

Like Deimos' bonded ones, Noah's own companions were not made for the desert. Noah himself wasn't even made for the desert, but unlike them, he could shed furs and coats and don linen and canvas for comfort. Sharing their dislike for the place, Noah traveled with his companions mostly in silence. If there hadn't been so much heat, so much walking, and so much work to do, the hunter may have been interested in getting to know Alys more. Alas, such actions would need to wait. He was confident she was glad none of them were hounding her with questions, as she stayed silent herself.

He lifted his hand to act as a visor as Deimos pointed to the bones rising in the distance and he squinted. [say]"Seems easy enough."[/say] He chuckled some, trying to keep his tone light though the understanding of the monster's danger level was not lost on him. Taking his invisibility cloak around him, Noah faded into nothing but desert.



Noah has everything on his profile except his Sentinel's Coat and his companions. He arrives with the crew and covers himself with his invisibility cloak.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Serendipity - 05-17-2023

On any normal occasion, the desert is a dry, decrepit place – bones jutting out of the scenery, sand dunes for endless miles upon miles.

But today is a wondrous day, for now it rains.

A pouring deluge of wonder and coolness brings much needed respite from the heat as the clouds roll in, making the world come alive before your eyes as animals embark across the plains, and plants begin to crawl their way back to the surface, grabbing every drop they can get.




RE: [RQ] absence of green - Deimos - 05-17-2023

Were they not in other company, Deimos might have responded in much of the same juvenile tactics as Evie. Instead, he lifted his head higher, all sedition, with a light wrinkle to his nose that conveyed he’d be saving a multitude of reactions for later. Noah and his easy remarks seemed like a personal challenge, and his sudden disappearance earned an eye roll from the Sword. Poor Alys was likely subjected to a whole host of their nuances, and were they in a better location, introductions could’ve been easily forged.

And then, it seemed, they were to be blessed.

The escalation of clouds, and then the sudden rain pouring down upon them was a brightening deluge. An instant relief from the dry, agonizing heat, and he couldn’t help but turn his features towards the droplets cascading down around them, completely indifferent to being doused in the downpour. [say]“A good omen,”[/say] he noted in his quiet rumble and boyish grin, as they all persisted across the sodden sand.

Eventually, they wound their way towards the collection of bones without too much trouble. His eyes flickered back and forth across the distance, expecting some fins rising out of the ground, but maybe the showers kept the landsharks at bay.

Regardless, the mounds of deceased animals were aplenty – some poor, withered old things who’d clearly made a wrong turn somewhere. There were a variety of piles – from some enormous reptiles, landsharks that had bellied up to the surface, and then smaller constituents, like fallen birds and scavengers.

--

[say]Choose a pile of bones! Deimos will take the last one. Based on dice roll, you may find something cool or neat or not at all!

Pile Choices:
- Enormous reptiles
- Very dead landsharks
- Sadsack looking birds
- Scavengers who were then scavenged in return

No post order![/say]


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Alys - 05-18-2023

It was both strange and familiar to feel like an outsider again. On the one hand, it certainly wasn't the first time that Alys had felt like the odd woman out; on the other, it had been some time since she'd felt that way. Since she'd moved to Halo, in fact. So to experience it now was an unpleasant annoyance, and she did her best to ignore the feeling as they traipsed through the desert.

They had no more begun their journey than the sky overhead clouded, and then it began to rain. Alys looked up in surprise, holding a hand out to catch a few droplets on her palm. It must surely be a sign, for such an odd occurrence to bless them. Even Deimos seemed to agree: a good omen, he called it, and Alys had to agree, returning his grin with a quick smile of her own.

They found themselves eventually at a burial ground of sorts - though Alys wasn't sure what one would call it when the bones weren't properly underground. In any case, she looked around with interest, morbidly curious about the many piles that surrounded them. She wandered closer to a pile, peering at it, wondering what it had been in life, and contemplating how it could be useful in death.

------

Alys chooses the very dead landsharks (although she doesn't know what they are, oops).


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Noah - 05-18-2023

Not in the blink of an eye, as Noah disappeared beneath his invisibility cloak, the skies opened. Rain pattered down and soaked the top layer of sand. The rain and the soaked sand were the only thing that gave Noah's position away. His footprints were unmistakable as he made his way towards the boneyard, and if one looked up from there and focused enough, one could see the way the rain hit against the cloak like it would any other man and roll down the Sentinel's covered back. Had he any real need for the current invisibility, Noah surely would not be winning. Yet the hunter didn't remove it, for now it protected him from the wetness of the rain.

Noah's strength would be a blessing for him (he hoped) in this moment. Closing the distance between himself and some Enormous reptile bones, the Halovian lowered his hood. The rain touched his hair and it pilled up on the blond strands before rolling down and mimicking the behavior in his beard. Stepping up onto a giant spine, Noah lowered himself slightly and grabbed the base of a rib bone -- then twisted and pulled up hard.

How comical he must look -- a floating head bobbing around as his invisible body grasped the bone.


Noah goes for the Enormous reptiles™.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Evie - 05-18-2023

The first few drops of rain she attributes to sweat, because it seems impossible otherwise. As it begins to come down harder, becoming a proper downpour that seems unfitting of the arid landscape, she laughs and tilts her head to the sky to let it wash over her heated cheeks. Deimos' comment makes her turn to look at him, blinking droplets out of her ginger lashes to smile his way as she enjoys the moment while it lasts.

But it can't last forever, though she hurries a little now in hopes of remaining in the relieving embrace of the rain. Hoping to be more welcoming, she searches nearby Alys and can't help but look over at the woman's selection. [say]"I think that's a landshark,"[/say] she offers. [say]"Deimos teases, but it's because I helped take down a truly gigantic one - my shield was made from one of its teeth. Nasty buggers."[/say] She gestures to the tooth-shaped shield on her back, which only shows how massive the beast had been. Luckily, the skeleton Alys is examining is the regular size.

Not wanting to pressure the woman into talking, Evie looks for her own bones - eyeing the predatory marks of long snouts and teeth that had come to scavenge and clearly found themselves on the wrong end of luck.

- - -

Evie goes for the scavenger bones!


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Deimos - 05-18-2023

And so began the scrounging, much like scavengers themselves, slinking in and amongst the piles of bones, debris, and dust. It was no wonder that a majority of the skeletal remains had been bleached white from the constant rays of the sun, or the flickering of sandstorms on occasion. Even amidst the rain shower, it only made the stark white stronger, easier to see.

And on those notions, perhaps other things gathered in the midst were naturally spotted too.

Deimos, close enough nearby to hear Evie’s notions passed over to Alys, snorted between raindrops. [say]“She neglects the part in the story where she rode it,”[/say] and he snickered, passing by and wandering towards the avian sets, though extending some notions to the seer just the same. [say]“They had some in the Grounds too, though they were much rarer.”[/say] Picking at his set of bones, he managed to collect quite a few leg portions, settling them into his bag.

Alys and Evie however, would find more than just ivory portions. Below some archaic frameworks glinted various objects, clearly further buried in the sand – a glinting gold, a spun silver, a metallic bronze.

Noah looked, well, appeared rather ghoulish out amid empty space and cloth, enough to look comical from a distance and bizarre up close. If one were watching, they’d simply see vastness coiled around artifacts, massive reptilian factions lifted, and then…an eerie snap as one of them broke.

--

[say]Keep snagging away! One of Noah’s bones has broken (oop), and Alys and Evie have found something.

No post order![/say]


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Alys - 05-19-2023

A landshark, then. Alys shot Evie a grateful smile. Even a modicum of inclusion went a long way with the young woman, who had been poking around her skeleton rather forlornly. But before she could say anything, Deimos interjected that Evie had ridden one. Alys raised a brow. [say]"That was very brave."[/say] Or very stupid. Although, she'd clearly lived and come out the victor, so who was Alys to judge? [say]"What was it like?"[/say]

As she waited for Evie's response, she continued to pick through her pile of bones, selecting this one and that to place in her basket. Anything cracked and crumbling, she left behind. She found a few that looked like teeth and wondered if all of the bones were meant to be gathered for Frey, or if she could sneak away a few for a private collection.

Just then, something caught her eye, and she knelt closer to brush sand away from something that looked shiny, glinting in the dull like of the overcast desert.

------

Alys continues to pick over the bones of the landshark, then investigates the shimmery shiny thing.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Noah - 05-19-2023

The snap had been unexpected, but was it unprecedented? No, certainly not with the demigod's strength behind his forceful movements. The hunter stumbled some as the force of the bone breaking combined with the force he had been using to, well, break it. He made some sort of noise that mixed with a gasp, a growl, and a groan. He went to gain his balance again, but beneath the cloak his boots only met with slick, wet spine and the Sentinel tumbled.

Cloth waved around him for a moment, a mirage of man and nothing, before with little pomp and circumstance the cloak settled around him again. This time, it covered every part of him. Noah sat up, unseen by any, and held the bone close to his chest. Noah frowned as he sat in the wet sand, holding his broken trophy, tucked all away inside his invisibility cloak for no one else to see.


Noah pouts with his bone under his invisibility cloak.


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Evie - 05-23-2023

Evie shoots a look over her shoulder at Deimos that is too full of fondness to be as withering as she hopes for it to be, edges of her lips twitching with the desire to smile even as she narrows her eyes at him. [say]"That's because it was unintentional,"[/say] she objects to both his comment and Alys' one of bravery. Turning back to the woman, she grins slightly. [say]"Though once I was on it, it was a rush. It's hard to describe how large and fast it was."[/say] While the adrenaline and need to kill it had been at the forefront of her mind in the moment, once it was over she'd been exhilarated for days.

Alys is not the only one distracted however, as Evie's eyes are similarly drawn to the glint of something that is definitely not bone amidst the skeleton. Using her earth magic to gently unearth the bones further in hopes of not breaking it (sorry Noah) she also tries to get a clearer view of whatever item or sediment is beneath the bones, glinting in the sun.

- - -

Evie investigates the shiny!


RE: [RQ] absence of green - Deimos - 05-23-2023

The rain persisted, slowing to a dismal shower, keeping a majority of the heat away. It was a blessin to work while they could, and the droplets started to reveal more and more of things left amidst the piles.

Enough for the Sword to be amused instead of constantly wary and apprehensive of distant rumbles, though he often paused to listen, to narrow his eyes, and to glance along the horizon. Which meant he caught Evie’s narrowed eyes and pinpointed affections, and with a seditious shake of his head and a shrug of his shoulders, the glint of his boyish grin still in place. [say]“Semantics.”[/say]

But Noah, for instance, would be able to spot strange etching scrawled across one of his longer femur artifacts – not breaking, not falling apart, but strange and intriguing nonetheless. What could it mean? What could it be? And why, out here in the middle of the desert?

Alys and Evie had their own curiosities intermingling – and so as both Abandoned ladies reached for the bronze, silver, and gold, they’d find…utensils! One very nice butter knife, one spoon, and one that could be considered a spork…given the bizarre shape.

Placing the bones in his bag, he figured there would be more elsewhere, and to tackle them now, while the wrath of the warmth was still held at bay. [say]“We can go over there now. Then we should have enough.”[/say] He pointed to another large jumble of bones some yards away, though those didn’t seem to be assembled into much of anything but chaos.

--

[say]Noah has found etched writing on one of his femur bones!

Alys and Evie have found utensils left behind! Neat!

Move towards the next bone site! No post order!
[/say]