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Entry tags:
[mission: hyrypia] the mountain seems no more a soulless thing
CHARACTERS: Hyrypian Team
WHERE: Hyrypia - Mount Mideria
WHEN: DAY :044 - DAY :045
SUMMARY: The Pilgrimage arrives at a base camp. A letter is delivered. The ascent begins.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!
((OOC Notes: This log covers the arrival to the Mount Mideria base camp and the climb during the day following. Please refer to the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information for a detailed description of this location. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))
WHERE: Hyrypia - Mount Mideria
WHEN: DAY :044 - DAY :045
SUMMARY: The Pilgrimage arrives at a base camp. A letter is delivered. The ascent begins.
WARNINGS: Will update as necessary. Need a warning added? PM this account please!
HYRYPIA - MOUNT MIDERIA
DAY :044THE BASE CAMP
THE WIND HOWLS through the valley at the base of the mountain. The chill nips at the heels of the Pilgrimage for the entirety of the slow, winding climb through the jagged foothills to the slash where the base camp sits tucked back into the looming mountain's dark face. It's dim here, but at least the wind doesn't cut so as the envoys are led into the heart of the bedraggled seasonal outpost.
The small town nestled in the cool grey stone seems as much a part of the mountain itself as Rabadocean made. The buildings are low and broad, as so much of their architecture is, but unlike many of the other places they have been the spaces between buildings are narrow, and the buildings themselves are quite small (the better to insulate). The buildings are clustered into ‘U’ shapes, with a central fire pit in each one that heats the rest. It seems quite old and in fairly good repair, but there’s a little-lived in feeling to the whole place. Dust can be found in the corners and crevices, and there’s little personalization anywhere. As it turns out, the camp is not occupied at all times, and no one lives here permanently. It is only filled as it is now on occasion, and while the Morran servants and household members seem quite familiar with the place they seem to be passing through.
One of the Morran which led the party from the coastline, through the foothills, and finally to this overcrowded interior courtyard, climbs onto one of the low stone retaining walls. She raises her hand to cue the muted blast of that now familiar horn. When she speaks, her voice is amplified by the technomanced clasp of her heavy fur cowl."Welcome, friends. My name is Lysan Morran and you have my gratitude for a peaceful journey since we left the Red Coast." She seems young, though serious - her dark hair twisted into a heavy plait. "We'll be staying in the place for one night only, and then will begin our ascent up the mountain. I have heard that you've faced many dangerous things in your time here on Hyrypia, but this trial before us will be the most dangerous of them all. The conditions on the mountain are cold, the nights are dark, and the peak is no place for division. Tomorrow, and for some days after, this mountain is our enemy. With that in mind, I invite anyone who prefers to take the long way around with the baggage to do so. I would wish you well and hope to see you again in six days' time.
"Tonight, each envoy will have their own house here and a delegate of my house will attend to each lodge to see to it that anyone who wishes to make the climb is given equipment and supplies to do so. Tomorrow, we go."
With a curt nod, Lysan Morran then lowers hand hand and hops down from the wall. She and her retinue evaporate into the tangle of the base camp's close stone structures, leaving the rest of House Morran's servants to show the separate envoys to their houses.
Each envoy is instructed to keep their belongings packed - anything that isn't strictly necessary for survival will be transported around the mountain alongside anyone who doesn't want to make the climb. Every participating individual will be outfitted with an individual tent, and individual, highly insulated sleeping bag, a parka, extra gloves, goggles, a number of spikes, axes, ropes, and raked hooks to attach to their shoes to assist in the higher climb. They will also have to pack in their own food, clothes, and water, as there are few beasts who will be able to accompany them for the entirety of the climb.A MESSAGE IN THE DARK
IT ISN'T SLIPPED BENEATH THE DOOR. No, it's brought in a box carried under the arm of a Meradan musician who arrives in the company of her band. They are all wrapped in heavy furs and beautifully embroidered cloaks, bemoaning the cold in good spirits as they insist on visiting their good friend, Gildor. They stay for an hour, have a short jam session, admit they personally have no intention of climbing the mountain but that they wish the Carbauschians and the Meradans mad enough to do it all the best, and then they take their leave: "We should be gone before someone suspects of us murder," one of them jokes (poorly).
The box is left behind.
Inside the box is a lovely, seafoam green cloak in a rough approximation of Carbauschian style embroidered with a rich red thread. When unfolded, a letter addressed to Misato falls from it. It reads:Thank you again for your kind and thoughtful gift. I've found great use for it here and thought I might at last return the favor. Please convey to your companions that my thoughts are with you and that I look forward to working together during the task that lies ahead of us tomorrow. I seem to recall an earlier conversation that I would very much like to continue given the opportunity.
Best Regards,
Ser Ilya MorONWARDS AND UPWARDS
COME MORNING, DARKNESS LINGERS. The sun rises behind the mountain, and very little of its light reaches inside the gap to the base camp. The air is cold and sharp and warns for the days to follow as it cuts down from the mountaintop to the valley below.
The Pilgrimage that assembles in the early gray light is a radically reduced one. Many of the smaller, less key envoys who had attended for their own varied reasons choose not to go or lose some portion of their contingent. However, almost the entirety of the Descendant, Carpathan, and Meradan envoys seem to be intent on continuing their journey. There are less servants, less guards, but still a healthy contingent from each major envoy buckling on their kits as instructed by the Morran guides.
And then at last, the climb begins. It's tough hiking at first, but surely everyone here is used to being on foot now. The pace is methodical, but patient - the Morran guides are quick to tell anyone in a rush to conserve their energy. There's plenty of mountain ahead, which means the day's climb is punctuated by frequent pauses and a number of small, light meals. Hiking turning into light climbing, traversing intermittent shelves. The cool air turns bitter, the wet damp turns to a dry, chapping cold.
They reach the first true cliff face late in the day. Hand and foot holds run in irregular, jagged guides up its face. Rather than tackle the climb while dark looms, the Morran guides instead insist on making camp in the shale at its bottom. Tents are pitched, portable technomanced heaters are broken out, and meals are eaten as the Hyrypian sun sets, rugged and beautiful, behind the smudged sliver which must be the coastline on the horizon.
But eventually, darkness reaches this place again.
((OOC Notes: This log covers the arrival to the Mount Mideria base camp and the climb during the day following. Please refer to the MISSION: HYRYPIA ooc information for a detailed description of this location. If you have any questions, please hit up either the mission's question thread, the FAQ or MOD CONTACT pages!))
no subject
Asuka is invoking a potential jinx here, but she's never really known when not to push her luck. She purses her lips and raises a hand, almost as if she's tempted to start climbing immediately. It might almost be easier, as far as she's concerned.
"What's the point of making us go through all of this again? To prove we're worthy?"
no subject
Maybe not in quite the sense she seems to be implying, pass this trial and prove you're a badass, but -
"You learn a lot about people from how they handle themselves in difficult situations."
no subject
Asuks rubs the bridge of her nose through the cloth of her veils.
"This whole mission gives me a headache."
no subject
If they're being judged by their demeanor, their reactions, rather than their skill at the actual climb, then it's much more complicated than a little bit of carefully placed sabotage.
no subject
And then leave alive. Although that feels like a bonus objective at this point.
no subject
He's not entirely sure about the politics himself, but sometimes the group feels oddly disjointed, for a hivemind. At least the smaller group should make it easier to pass information around and agree to be on the same page.
no subject
She's only half joking, because she's sort of tired of this will-they, won't-they thing and she wants to get this over with. Still, even she knows that they can't drag their feet too long. They have to do something.
no subject
A serious answer for an only partially serious question, but the thought has occurred to him, as well. But without knowing how much of it there is, whether it's a renewable resource, how it can be safely disposed of - there are an awful lot of unknown factors to muck things up.
no subject
"I'm not even sure I can keep all of them straight..."
no subject
Especially when they seemed like half of them were pursuing different leads or different approaches than the other half.
no subject
She's no culinary specialist. Whatever.
"Half the time no one told me anything, anyway."
no subject
Sad trombone sound effect goes here.
no subject
She doesn't know how to change it.
no subject
"Every now and then."
There had been one person who'd managed to understand him, somehow. Far better than he even understood himself. And that had been like having a weight he'd spent his entire life dragging around suddenly lifted, because he'd been so sure there was no way anyone else would ever understand him. He was too fucked up. He was never going to be able to live with normal people and he shouldn't be allowed to anyway. Estelle had somehow just swatted aside all of his objections, figured out the things he couldn't admit even to himself -
And now he was here, and she was back home, and he was never going to see her again, and he had to wonder if he'd just be better off never having known what he was going to lose by having had her in his life.
"...for all the good that does."
no subject
Asuka murmurs, half lost in thought. Half agreeing with the sentiment she can feel coming off of him. It's stupid and complicated and she hates it. She told herself, once upon a time, that she'd live on her own - but she hated that. And now she's started to open herself up again, only to find that it's just as painful as she remembered. She just needs to get off this planet and finish this mission.
One foot in front of the other.
"I don't understand any of it."