![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
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
Oh. Yeah. I mean - a lot of people did. There's not that many of us left to finish up down here.
[ There's a pause. ]
Do you think we can do it?
no subject
[To pull her back whenever she needed it. He won't break the promise now.]
Sort of feels like we're back where we all started. Just a handful of random people against... some horrible danger.
[They've even got their mysterious alien guide. Even if Cathaway is incredibly more bizarre than Allura ever was.]
... Do you think we can win the war, back home?
[Because his answer is yes. To both questions.]
no subject
[ She manages a smile. She likes their little group. Even if she's hated having this thing in her head, she's still... she's still proud of what they can accomplish when they work together. She's proud that she's been able to keep her head above water. They've made it this far. ]
Yeah, I think so. No matter how many Galra get in the way, I think we'd win. Eventually. Even if we did have to fight Zarkon again.
no subject
So... this time won't be any different. Handful of people doing their best can do a lot of things right.
[There's a hand at her shoulder, squeezing gently. Proud of her -- as much as she's probably right to be proud of the group as a whole, she takes priority in his mind.]
Then if we can take on Zarkon, we can win here.
no subject
[ There's a beat. The memories are still there, if faded with time. ]
Even if you don't remember it.
[ If he's proud of her, she's just as proud of him. He's made progress since they arrived. Or - well - he hasn't gone backward and even if she doesn't know that much about mental trauma, she's pretty sure that's a good thing. ]
no subject
[He does remember that first day. All the chaos of it. The sheer relief in finding her. That much, at least, hasn't faded.]
[His shoulder knocks into hers again. Her focus on the goal of getting home, of finding her family, hasn't wavered. And that's helped -- it's helped a lot. Knowing someone that sure of herself.]
I believe you, though. Even if I'm pretty sure we couldn't actually lie to each other at this point.
no subject
[ She pauses and squints, as if she's considering something for a moment. Wait a sec. ]
I'm actually not sure if not being able to lie is a good thing or a bad thing.
no subject
Just maybe not you and me.
[Because they're a lot closer to each other than the rest of the people left back on the ground here.]
[Most of which seem to be the younger members of the team, come to think of it.]
no subject
[ Aside from pretending to be a guy. Then again, he'd practically seen through it in one go, so it wasn't that effective of a lie anyway. ]
no subject
[That's mostly teasing. But the fact he's doing it at all is probably a good sign, all things considered.]
no subject
[ Give her a break, Shiro! ]
no subject
[He repeats it, looking at her a little incredulously for a moment. And then shakes his head, laughing. Genuine amusement flicking through his head.]
Wow, Pidge.
no subject
[ This isn't her fault. ]
no subject
Sorry. Maybe I just -- really needed to laugh.
no subject
Maybe we all do.
no subject
We'll see what we can do then, hm?
no subject
[ She shoots him a grin that's just a touch cheeky. ]
no subject
[That's a good look on her. And he returns it with a genuine, if not tired, smile.]
Thanks, Pidge.