[mission: hyrypia] then the holy paths we'll travel strew'd with rubies thick as gravel

[onemind]

CHARACTERS: EVERYONE
WHERE: Hyrypia - The Graze
WHEN: DAY :014 - 016
SUMMARY: Two days of horseback hunting training, followed by the second round of competition.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!

THE GRAZE
DAY :014 - :015
THE DAY FOLLOWING the festivities finds the majority of competitors and spectators still buzzing with the competition’s failures and successes, but there is little time to gloat or moan about the results. By the time the sun has risen over the graze there's a new announcement: there will be two days of additional training followed by another day of competition. Today and tomorrow will be dedicated to learning skills vital to the hunt.

0. TRAINING
THE TRAINING FIELD has become familiar, but the decor has changed- as have the the teachers. Unlike the previous riding and herding lessons which featured ropes and hooks, today's syllabus includes a series of more dangerous tools. The short spears that line the racks may be dulled but they still look painful, and the speed at which they're hurled from the intricately carved Sarvat - the traditional spear throwers - is intimidating.

At first glance, the slings of woven and stained Gryer leather are less impressive-- but the different ammo that can be loaded in them proves interesting: a bio-luminescent tagging liquid that stains the targets that it hits and leaves distinct trails, hard metal weights, and carefully handled poison globes.

Over the next day the envoys are are trained to use the weapons from Elinback in addition to being schooled in a number of simple traps and snares that leave little confusion as to the nature of the next challenge events...



THE GRAZE &
THE MINIATURE FINGER MAZE
DAY :016

I. THE CHASE
THE HERD of technomanced automaton Gryer sits idle in the knee-high silvery grass of the Graze. They're nothing like the Elin (who exhibit all the traits of live animals); these automatons seem to know only two basic concepts: don't run, and run. Right now they're practicing the former as the competing riders are divided into large, mixed hunting parties. Once the parties have been formed, they take turns taking their runs at the herd. Among the herd of thirty, four Gryer have been painted a brilliant sapphire. To strike one down requires either two metal weights to the head, a spear to the neck piece, or two spears to its midsection.

When the hunting parties take off so do the automaton Gryer. And they're fast, moving as of one mind - a school of mechanical fish through a sea of silver grass. It'll take cleverness, skill and a bit of daring riding to either cut the targets free of the herd or go crashing through among the running Gryer to strike a target down among its brainless brothers and sisters. Once struck enough times or in the right place, the sapphire Gryer will lose power and drive spectacularly into the earth.

The attentive audience (many of them armed with an array of binoculars from their personal belongings) might cheer when appropriate, but due to the distance at which much of the action takes place most of the observation is spent eating, drinking, and enjoying the shockingly pleasant weather.

II. THE 75th HUNGER GAMES PURSUIT
THE BREEZE GROANS through the shadowy pocket of the canyon system, whistling tiredly through the coral structures - along narrow bridges and between tight passages. Familiar to anyone who competed in the individual race on Day :013, this shadowy miniature canyon is crawling with automated creatures to 'kill.' The only problem? Beating everyone else to one of them. With the blare of that now-familiar horn, the hunters mounted on their Elin take off into the canyon and rapidly splinter into disparate groups or simply go off on their own into the tangle. It doesn't take long at all to lose sight of other riders, to begin to feel completely alone in the low light of early evening. Mist rises from the canyon floor and the breeze moans ominously through the pockmarked coral structures.

It'll take more cleverness and accuracy than high speed riding skill to claim a prize here. But best work quickly and quietly to avoid having your target poached out from under your nose…

III. THE AFTERMATH
THE SECOND CHALLENGE ENDS with a long, mournful cry of the now-familiar horn. All of the possible targets have been captured and to the victors go the spoils in the form of the accumulated scores, carefully kept by the judges. The losers are left empty handed-- at least until the spectators and competitors alike have made it back to the tent encampment. Then their hands are filled with the same liquor and a new spread of simple, filling, and delicious dishes expertly prepared by the servants of the manor.

There’s some ceremony to it - the meat they are eating is the same that they would have served if their hunt had been for something more than machines. However, mostly this seems to be a chance to relax sore muscles. That's aided by the addition of several leather-enclosed tents raised earlier in the day. Once the sun sets, these tents are filled with hot, relaxing steam and lined with benches: saunas! ...which might provide some comfort for anyone not stuck wearing a heavy robe. :(

---

((OOC Notes: This log covers the two days of mounted combat/hunting skills training and the competition which follows. You can find a full breakdown of the events/a place for mini-event specific questions HERE. Sign-ups will remain open until the next event log for the finale goes live, however going forward please make sure to either join the individual event or have a full team selected for the team events. Please be aware that signing up late won't give you extra time to finish your thread to qualify for the finale event.

Have more generalized questions? Drop them on the MISSION: HYRYPIA OOC POST or get in touch with us on the Mod Contact page.))

NAVIGATION • GAME CALENDAR • MISSION: HYRYPIA • FAQ • MOD CONTACT • GLOSSARY

( CODE BY WHAMBAM )

Comments

mat cauthon | open!

[calhar]

II. PURSUIT (??)

[ Mat's distrustful of the creatures to start, but boredom and curiosity eventually take their toll. Training's uneventful, if slightly embarrassing; by the time they get to the events, he's idly considering names for the bizarre looking mount, though he can't be completely sure it's even the same one he had yesterday.

He doesn't hesitate to break off from the group as soon as they hit the canyons, and for a few paces he's keeping up the pretense of the hunt; then he sits back and pulls the Elin to a walk, letting the one he's trailing dart out of sight. The coral looks like bone up close and the mist's more creepy than it is exciting, but he's frankly more interested in sightseeing at the moment than winning. He draws the mount to a full stop, shakes one hand free of his heavy robes and bites off his glove, then reaches out to brush his fingers across an arm of coral jutting out into the path. Maybe it feels like bone, too.

If someone happens down the same winding path, hopefully they're watching out for a traffic jam. ]

III. AFTERMATH

[ Mat doesn't win. He does get booze and food as soon as the games are done with, though, which is better than any pointless title or medal. He's actually in better spirits than he's been in since first setting foot on the planet — might just be thanks to the booze, though.

He'll be easy to spot. Rather than dodging socializing altogether he seems fine with being in the middle of it, this time; praising the food, chatting up locals, making up stories about the hunt to keep them entertained, shamelessly flirting when the cues are right. He's hardly making a scene, but it'd be a stretch to call him particularly "mysterious" or "reclusive".

Later on, he can be found dragging the claustrophobic robes off his head as he ducks into a shared tent and out of open view. ] What do you reckon we're missing in those tents?

[ Jealous of the people who can actually use the sauna? Intensely. ]

WILDCARD

[ Interrupt wherever, run into him right before the hunt, right after, while he's putting moves on some local, when it's time to cut off his booze, etc. Training's also fine, he'd be mostly competent with the given weapons. ]

>> aftermath

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena herself has recently ducked into this tent as well, looking for somewhere to find a bit of solace and just breathe before settling in for the night in her usual spot. She's more settled now than she has been the entire night, Gildor's incredibly generous donation sating her hunger enough that it's easy to stuff the rest down into the depths of her mind and keep it from bleeding into the rest of the Nest. Looking up as Mat enters, she watches him remove the robes, her own top layers folded in her lap while she sits on a randomly chosen cot. ]

Warmth and more alcohol, probably.

[ She's a little bit jealous of them too. ]

[calhar]

[ She isn't someone he recognizes — not in the old-fashioned way, anyway, where you had to meet and speak to someone to have a sense of knowing them — but she's apparently part of the crew, and he isn't feeling cagey enough to stand on ceremony. Mat's robes are tossed onto the ground as he takes a seat on the cot beside hers, then he starts dragging off his shoes. ]

I figure if they have no idea what we're meant to look like, there's nothing to say we can't look human, is there?

[ He's over the disguises. There's surely some logic to it, and he seems to have enough faith not to go out without keeping covered. Won't stop him from complaining. ]

[otrazhenie]

[ Likewise, she doesn't recognize him, but there are so many members of the Nest who she hasn't met yet. It's only been two weeks, after all, and trying not to feed on everyone in sight kept her secluded until very recently. Now that she's feeling at least a modicum of control, she's allowing herself to meet people without needing Damon or Sam to be in shouting distance. ]

Not that we know of, but I'd personally rather not take that risk. Not that I have much of a choice either way.

[ He's not the only one who's done with their disguises, but he also probably won't burst into flames without his. Lucky him. ]

[calhar]

[ He's half paying attention, but he's enough of a stickler about personal autonomy that the defeatist comment makes him stop what he's doing and look up. His first thought is that she's as trapped as the rest of them. Except she'd already said as much, so the last bit seems redundant. ]

How's that? Afraid they'll put you in time out?

[ There's no other reason for her to be hiding, as far as he can tell. And if there's anything to be gleaned from the link, Mat's currently (generally) slightly too self-involved and stubborn about minding his own business to chase after strange, stray thoughts. ]

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena's a bit surprised that he doesn't already know, considering how many people have probably heard from Lakshmi by now about her terrible bloodsucking broodmate. But perhaps he has and just hasn't put the two together, or maybe she just has a very skewed point-of-view and she's not actually all that renowned yet.

She shoots a frown in his direction regardless and glances briefly down at her bare hands, where there's supposed to be a daylight ring that she never received. ]

I'm a vampire. If I go out in the sun without my costume, I'll die.

[calhar]

[ He can feel it when she takes affront. He's so intensely used to getting that sense from women that it doesn't particularly faze him, though he does squint at her slightly, trying to place the self-important vibe he's getting.

The last bit's straightforward. Vampire isn't, though not being able to walk in the sun makes him briefly wonder about Shadowspawn. They're still allowed out in sunlight, as far as he can remember. Unfortunately. ]

What's a vampire?

[otrazhenie]

[ Okay, so not from somewhere like Earth then. Or not her Earth, anyway. That's not something she'd expected, but perhaps she needs to stop assuming things like that. ]

Sorry. Vampires are... complicated. They're kind of humans who have died, but because of the way they died, they come back to life. We have to drink blood in order to not... die again.

[ Wow, does she suck at this. She's never met anyone before who didn't have a concept of vampires to draw on her explanation from. ]

[calhar]

[ He's got his own thoughts on that Earth thing, actually, though they aren't particularly relevant here. They're also half mad. Sort of like someone saying they need to drink blood to survive.

There's an instinctive flash of disgust, fear, the image of a strange man in a dark hood. Doubt, too, though it's hard to accuse her of lying when he can literally feel the authenticity of her words.

To die and live again. He's heard it before, though he sincerely hopes he won't have to drink flaming blood when he comes back; he'd rather stay dead. ]

And they die in bloody sunlight. Of course. [ He hasn't flinched back, but the way he's watching her is undeniably more careful. And because 'kind of' feels like an important qualifier— ] So you're not human?

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena tries not to take his reaction personally, she really does. Her description of vampires sounds like something out of horror movie, and it's true that a lot of them are, but not all of them. She's not like that, he just doesn't know her. But there's still that lingering bleedover of disgust and hatred from Lakshmi that permeates her own emotions, leaving Elena shrinking back into herself a bit, pushing more of the water in her mind between them. She's not quite pulled back enough into herself to settle on that ocean floor, but it probably won't be long now. ]

I was two weeks ago. [ It's a quiet admission, leaving unspoken the confirmation that, no, she's not human anymore. That fact doesn't hurt any less now than the day she turned. ]

We die in sunlight because of the magic that was used to create vampires a thousand years ago. It was a way for nature to balance our strength. [ It's taking thought and effort to say 'we' instead of 'they', but it's progress that she's managed this much. Damon would probably be a little proud if he knew. ]

[calhar]

[ He can feel the withdrawal, incomplete as it is. There's a flush of guilt and shame in response. Mat doesn't act on it, though he's starting to realize how little that means when people can see inside his head. He's too used to brushing things off to change the habit now.

But two weeks is nothing, and that at least earns some straightforward and indignant sympathy. He nearly starts in with twenty questions — she'll likely feel it, the grim curiosity — then haltingly settles on one. ] How much blood?

[otrazhenie]

[ She notices his emotional reaction, but it falls flat of doing much to soothe the damage done. Not that she has any inclination that was the purpose of it, of course. It's easier all in all to focus on that question, to hold onto the curiosity she feels from him, and provide him with the answers he's looking for. ]

I don't have to kill people, if that's what you're asking. [ Maybe it is, but maybe it isn't. The latter is why she continues. ] I don't need much, not enough to really hurt someone with the loss.

[ After a moment's pause, she adds: ] You can ask other questions if you want. We're all connected, you might as well know about what I am.

[calhar]

[ It's absolutely what he's asking. Knowing that she doesn't have to kill doesn't make the concept any less unsettling, but it does make it easier to keep his cool. When she offers to answer his questions, he feels weirdly called out; his curiosity's snuffed out, stubborn resignation settling in its wake.

Tolerance isn't exactly his strong suit. He's learned it, though — how to sideline bias and focus on someone's usefulness and loyalty in the field, how to see past half his bloody friends turning into witches. ]

You said your strength needs balancing. What sort of strength?

[otrazhenie]

[ Elena looks down for a moment, her fingers tracing one of the designs on her costumes while she gathers her thoughts. Oddly, it makes her feel a little better that he is continuing to ask questions, because at least he's not pushing her away or ignoring her. It's not acceptance, but it's not rejection either. ]

Enhanced speed, strength, agility. Stronger senses, really fast healing. Vampires can heal almost any kind of injury, and we can heal others with our blood.

[ That's the one thing she likes about being a vampire. The singular benefit she can find to her present state of being, that she can help others. ]

AFTERMATH

[wille]

[ With the array of drinks set on a table just a handful of steps away and the many servants circulating around the room while eagerly offering refreshments, there is absolutely no reason for Misato to swipe his drink out of his hands, which is why she does precisely that. A few healthy gulps later, she sets the stolen glass on the nearby table and pulls a chair to sit close.

The interruption is hopefully enough to deter what company he had been entertaining just moments before. ]

What's your name again?

i'm exCITED 4 MISATO

[calhar]

[ It's enough. The local seems to get the impression this is very important and mysterious business, because she ducks politely out of the conversation as soon as Mat's distracted. He can't see Misato's face to recognize her (not that he would, vague bleed-over from Kaji aside), but her robes are nearly a match for his.

There's also the link. Quiet, but still there, uncomfortable by virtue of how normal it's becoming. ]

... Mat. [ A little slow and suspicious, eyes narrowed under his hood. ] What are you after, woman?

[ Stealing his drink, interrupting. She's up to something. ]

!!!!!!

[wille]

[ Straightforward, as she was. She tweaks a smile that he can't see but may be able to sense through the link. This ineffable sixth sense. The same one that helps her tell him apart from the other robed figures, taste the idea of him without seeing his face. She's just putting a name to a feeling. ]

It's Misato.

[ She leans in, close enough to seem conspiratorial, wanting to turn this into a shared joke between them regardless of the initial hostility. ]

Were you working hard or hardly working?

[calhar]

[ The suspicion's quickly dropped in favor of pleasant surprise, the echo of familiarity and affection — for Birgitte, who isn't here, but who would've been just as quick to invite herself over and take his drink. He's had enough that he's slow to curb the stray thought. ]

Misato. [ Testing it out. They have strange names, half of them. No stranger than any other region back home, but certainly nothing like what he grew up with. ]

I've never worked hard a day in my life, save the ones my life depended on it. [ Which was quite a few days, actually. Does this mission qualify?? Feels like a lot of nothing so far. ] Surely you're not here for work.

[ he has never heard that phrase in his life, p.s., so have a very literal response. ]

[wille]

[ She lets out a tuneful, considering hum that carries with it every bit of amusement as well as disappointment. ]

You think I'd be talking to you if not for work?

[ How rare for her to have someone else to stand in as the butt of the joke instead of herself. She relishes it, it's clear, resting her chin on her hand as she grants him her full attention for no other reason than to unnerve him further. Her legs are crossed, flexing her foot in a measured rhythm. ]

I'm not saying you can't be useful, it's just . . .

[calhar]

[ Rude as hell. Mat frowns at her, then pointedly retrieves his glass from the table to see whether she's left any drink. ]

I've never claimed to be bloody useful, either. [ There's barely anything left in the glass. He sinks back against his seat, weighing the option of ignoring her and getting a refill. Or demanding that she get him a refill.

There's no sense of urgency when he looks back towards her, though he does sound slightly suspicious — it's more good-natured than a moment ago, somehow. ] Just what?

[wille]

[ Boy, she's finished that drink to the last drop. She would not be herself if she didn't see things through to the end, consider it a personal code of principles, scout's honor. Besides, his slight suspicion is what piques her interest, leaning forward now to rest her chin on her hand. ]

Just that I could use another drink and you looked fit for the honor.

aftermath.

[deployed]

Nothing.

[ The sauna hadn't appealed to Bellamy until people within the Nest had started regarding it wistfully. That kind of longing had been settling in slowly all night, leaking in around the edges of his mind and coloring Bellamy's perception.

But on some level, he can understand the desire. It would be nice to be free of robes and clean. Such free access to good quality plumbing for two planets has skewed Bellamy's expectations. ]

There's nothing in the sauna we can't accomplish from hanging around the food and drinks.

[ Except you know, the whole point of the sauna itself. ]

[calhar]

I think you might've missed the point.

[ It's said a little dubiously. Mat tosses his robe onto the floor — it'll be in bad shape, later — and starts fussing with the sleeves of the shirt he's got underneath. Save for when he pauses to squint at Bellamy, anyway.

Mat's thoughts are almost aggressively laid back, focused entirely on food and drink and, as of tonight, saunas. It takes some genuine effort to guess at any other perspective, even with the benefit of the steady press of the mental link. ]

You mean for eavesdropping?

[ That's the practical and goal-minded approach, right? It's just another chance to brush elbows with locals and try to dig up the 'enemy', whatever that meant. ]

[deployed]

[ Connecting with Mat's mind too firmly drags up a wealth of uncomfortable sensations. Bellamy skims along the surface briefly, catching up the considerations of saunas and feasting before the contact recedes. ]

Yes.

[ But there were other people who were doing better at that than Bellamy. ]

Or gossiping. Making friends.

[ Bellamy's tone has gone a little flat. He hasn't been enjoying much of his time playing at courtier. It's hard to define progress, or if they're even trying the right strategy anymore. This mission is harder for him than Concordia had been. At least there, blending in hadn't been such a chore. ]

You know, gaining influence among our fellow travelers.

[calhar]

[ Looking at it in terms of the mission, Mat's opinion is roughly the same: it feels a bit pointless, about as productive as trying to climb a rock slide. And while there's some clear benefit to simply enjoying himself, chatting up locals and drinking and gaming, it's hard to completely kick the fact that they're here to work. The robes make it impossible, as does the reality that he's chatting up aliens instead of people.

Bellamy's frustration bleeds through the link in a way that feeds into his own, cancelling out what shallow enjoyment he's scraped together. Mat's aware of it in the same way you'd be aware of any type of downer, mental link or not, and he frowns at Bellamy for a moment before speaking. ]

You've been here too bloody long.

[ Mat's seen his fair share of bullshit and responsibility, but at least he still knows how to have fun. ]