[PQ] i can feel the pressure

Sohalia

Well, her friends had been right. The Feverlands stank.

It wasn't that Sohalia thought they'd been lying, exactly, but there was hearing and there was seeing, and she hadn't believed them until she'd seen it with her own eyes.

She was seeing it now, though. And smelling it.

She made her way carefully through the swamp, trying to watch where she put her feet through the putrid gas that settled everywhere she looked. It was difficult terrain to cross, and despite the fact that Soh was growing to be an experienced explorer, she was trying to be mindful of the things that could go wrong. Especially since The Incident. There were things in the world that could do her harm, and for the first time in her life, Sohalia found herself keenly aware of that fact.

"Well," she sighed, turning to her companions. "This is as good a place to start as any, I suppose. Just - stay close. Which way should we go first?" She gestured vaguely around: to the right was boggy ground, unstable and uninviting; to the left looked drier, but the yellow fog was more dense. Sohalia pulled her journal from her bag and began a rough sketch of the terrain she could see, setting the scene for her map.

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This is an open PQ to scout the Feverlands in order to map the area. Come on in and join Soh!

1. Sohalia
2. Talyson
3. Jude

Please post which way your character thinks we should go.  Majority rules! ;D

Well, he'd warned her. But just because he didn't want to go back, it didn't mean he'd let his friend go alone. The swamp rats he'd fought off with Morgen the last time they'd been in the Feverlands were no joke and even though he'd been teaching Soh knife-fighting, the nasty rodent fuckers weren't the sort of critters he wanted any of his friends to be fighting at close-range.

Besides, Boreal had a positive affinity for mud, given her white scales, and she would have felt left out if they'd gone without her.

Tal justified it to himself with the excuse that a map of the place would be a big help when he needed to make deliveries there, but those were thankfully few and far between. Either way he'd come along, his scowl deepening as the smell intensified until his face was permanently wrinkled up while he slogged along behind Soh and the others.

"I don't suppose 'back' is an option?" he asked glumly, and sighed - which turned into a quiet retching noise as he gagged on the yellow fog. "Uh... I vote right, I guess, if we haveta keep goin'."

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Tal is along with Boreal and everything on his profile! He suggests going right.

Jude

Jude had been unaware that Sohalia and Talyson knew each other, but he'd been delighted to discover that the older man would be accompanying them on their map-making journey. Because, well, of course Jude is here. This is his best friend's business!

It is a little intimidating to be seeing Tal before their agreed upon reunion in the fall, but luckily Jude is a far more sturdy and enjoyable presence when balanced out by Sohalia, so his anxiety is merely a faint hum in the back of his head.

The smell is truly terrible, so while the ground to the right looks more unstable, Jude immediately agrees with Tal's judgment. "I don't want to find out if that fog can make you sick, let's go right." Prolonged exposure is not something he is interested in investigating; at least pants and shoes could be washed or replaced.

- - -

Jude agrees with going right! He has a walking stick and a small backpack with a length of rope, rations, and a working knife.

I wish you a kinder sea even if you do not sail with me

Sohalia

If the collective mood hadn't been so sour, Soh might have laughed at Tal's suggestion of 'back.' As it were, she shot him a brief smile. Since both of her friends voted right (and, in fact, that was the way she'd prefer to go), she nodded and steered them in that direction. "So, um, you both know why we're here," she said as she walked carefully over the boggy ground. "I'm looking for any notable landscape features and any interesting flora and fauna."

The bog surrounding them was damp and dismal, and the smell of the Feverlands did not diminish the further in they went. After a short period of walking in silence, a large pile of bones appeared in the distance. Soh pointed it out to her companions. "Should we check it out?" she asked, trying to keep from sounding as nervous as she felt. "It could be the skeleton of something interesting."

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Vote to check out the bones or not (and feel free to go interact with them, if you so choose...)

The Feverlands have quite a reputation for its noxious fumes, rampant death, infernal decay, and that wonderful yellow fog that really gives the skin a fresh glow as you wander into its depths.

And ah…now you’re stuck.

Your feet have somehow become wedged in one of its many quicksand-like areas! Maybe you can find a way out – there might be a branch nearby. Or you can snag a friend.

Before the gore crows, blind swamp rats, and all those other lovely things do!

Honestly, what did you expect?

Seeing Jude again might have been more cautiously pleasant if the setting had been a little less of an actual swamp. Still, even if Tal felt like the young man was too nice to be hanging around him, he was glad that the kid and Soh had apparently hit it off so well. They were pretty much two rays of sunshine to his raincloud - though he'd be a lot less rainy if they'd picked a less stinky place to map out.

The big pile of bones in the distance drew another sigh from the courier as he gave a morose shrug. "It's prob'ly crawling with penolaeths, but sure," he agreed, leading the way towards it.

Or at least, starting to. He put his foot down - and it promptly sank in past his knee. Flailing his arms for balance he managed to avoid going face-first into the quicksand, but his other foot became stuck to mid-calf. After a moment of windmilling he managed to stabilize and heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Don't worry 'bout me. I'll catch up," he intoned, resigned to his fate.

Up in the trees, Boreal was chortling so hard she almost fell off her branch.

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Tal agrees to checking out the bones but then gets stuck in quicksand ¯\_(ツ)_/¯