I'm on my way from misery to happiness today

[itookashot]

WHO: Jesper Fahey, Ciri, Claude von Riegan, and Gideon Nav
WHAT: It's Quest Time Baby
WHERE: Throughout the journey to Solvunn's Supply Run
WHEN: September
WARNINGS: Eventual violence!



With Solvunn providing aid, the leaders of Thorne and the Free Cities have asked some of their trusted Summoned to travel to an agreed-upon meeting point to retrieve the supplies, check them, and bring everything back safely. This will take two weeks out of Cadens to do. While portals will be utilized to cut down on travel time, they will still need to cover the remaining distance of some miles to reach their final destination each way.

The Free Cities will ask the Summoned to accompany some soldiers to help guard the supply transport. They will be taking the southern trail (shown by the dotted lines) across the desert, traveling west to the forest that sits between the Solvunn and Free Cities border. While a portal will take the transport team as close as possible, characters will still need to make the rest of the journey by horse, ensuring the wagons come through the portal safely. They will also need to watch for the usual beasts and bandits, as well as take into account weather, terrain, and other hazards. To complete the assignment, they must successfully bring the supplies back to the waiting portal and into Cadens.

Comments

Let's Team Up!

[itookashot]

[itookashot]

Jesper really didn't want his first huge taste of action to come on the end of something so terrible but when approached to do something important, like get much-needed supplies from Solvunn, he leaped at the chance. Helping Libertas did give him something to do but it was intense and a little draining, and he'd rather have the option of using these guns at his hips than not.

After explaining to Kaz and Inej, and promising to check-in on the road, Jesper went to voluntarily meet up with soldiers for the first time since arriving. He's been resisting the barracks for so long, but at least this has a really good purpose. Jesper is usually someone who wears bright eye-catching colors but considering the situation, he's surprisingly dressed down. Or rather his usually flamboyant green jacket appears to now be replaced with something simple and tan. His guns are the flashiest parts left of his outfit and he has a bag slung over his shoulder.

One thing that does stand out a little about his clothes is that he's wearing a patchwork type of armor that doesn't make a whole lot of sense at first view. It looks like a normal tunic but with pieces of metal attached on top of it, which seems like it wouldn't be a useful type of armor. But it's not meant to be.

He is waiting by the transport that he was told to meet up with and it doesn't take flashy clothes to make the very tall and skinny teenager to stand up among the wagons and soldiers. Gray eyes wander; he's been told others will be joining him but he has no idea who yet, although he does know most of the Summoned. Hopefully the kind that will be fun to travel with. No Goro, no Goro, is all he can beg.

[godshattering]

In another life, Claude had been the one to direct and organize supply runs, plotting their routes carefully on maps and syncing groups to meet with each other rather than go on them himself as positions dictated. At first, he'd been too consumed with offering as much aid in Libertas as he could handle between the search and rescue operations, infirmaries, and anything in between. Anything just to stay moving, anything to help.

When hearing of the request for volunteers to assist with transports, the only answer in Claude's mind was of course. The next couple days he split his time between still helping and packing up to get ready to travel, something also familiar in the aftermath of an attack. The morning of, Claude appears dressed in a simple set of traveling cloak, tunic, and trousers in muted colors not meant to attract more attention than their group likely will, packed saddlebag of personal items in hand and bow and quiver strapped to his back and at the ready. As he walks he trades nods with soldiers here and there in a brief greeting. He figures he can match names to faces later, but there's one particular name and face he doesn't have to worry about remembering.

"Well, well, well. Imagine seeing you here." As he calls out and though his smile is a tad on the grim side given what their mission's about to be, Claude is glad to see Jesper there. A familiar face is always a welcome one - even more so when heading out to travel for a while, so it's easier to relax and ease into some teasing from there. "Ready for our grand adventure into the unknown?"

Claude eyes the transport and idly shifts the strap to his bow across his chest before glancing back to Jesper, figuring the other man will be in the know as he's learned is almost always the case. "Do you know if it's just us, or is anyone else coming along too?"

[itookashot]

Jesper has already made the soldiers laugh once, which startles them as much as it usually does anyone else not used to his particular brand of charm. So he knows he's going to have fun with them, or as much fun as anyone can under the circumstances. The only question mark is the Summoned and he gets one of those answers with a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well right back at you, Claude." That's definitely a face he wouldn't mind seeing for several weeks, so far it's looking very good. He knows they singled out some people for this and it's interesting to find him one of them. Not bad, he's just new, so it is a little impressive.

"I was told they're assigning two more of us but I don't know who." He grins. "I know, me not knowing something, how rare." Jesper likes having all the answers but sometimes it's the spin of the wheel.

"You good with horses?"

The Adventure Begins

[itookashot]

[itookashot]

With the group of them united and ready to go, Jesper hops up onto a horse and pats its neck affectionately. It has been a little time since he went riding, but a farmboy never really forgets. His enthusiasm means that once they make it through the initial portal, as close as they can be, he circles the wagon himself to make certain everything looks good. The soldiers know what they're doing, but Jesper's high energy guides him.

There is no ability to portal close from now on. They're on foot and horse. Jesper has put his jacket away for now, it's hot out here as usual, and he glances at his companions. "Who has the map? I don't even know what direction we're pointed at now." Listen portals are confusing! They could be far north or west for all he knows. Luckily none of them are really the ones required to map anything out.

"I brought cards for later."

[godshattering]

It is hot, but Claude's finding he's rather enjoying it. Being out in the heat and on the road makes it feel better than roaming Cadens as he's been doing prior to all of this. He's also been chatting here and there with both their group as well as what soldiers seem willing to talk even if it's just briefly. There's not much information to gain there - probably because their jobs take priority while actively traveling compared to short breaks to stretch their legs - but Claude files it away all the same.

When Jesper speaks up about the map, Claude snaps out of his thoughts. "Not me, or - not the one the soldiers have." For a second he hesitates with a glance back over his shoulder, and decides they're far enough away from being overheard. Mostly. Then again, should this be a secret? He decides to trust his fellow Summoned and pulls the compact mirror from his pocket he's taken to carrying with him, and with a bit of concentration he casts a map of the night sky at about chest height and small enough so it'll be blocked by their group. It takes him a minute to find the stars he's looking for he's learned the Free Cities use in navigation, then with his hand holding the reins he points to one in particular. "Looks like we're headed west for the most part."

The map's swept away when he closes the compact and places it back into his pocket for later as the mention of cards brings a smile to his face. "I've always been more of a board games guy so I only have a couple card games to offer myself, but whatever anyone's up for teaching me? Count me in. Promise I'm a quick study."

[wiedzminka]

Ciri leans over a bit to study the map of the sky and stars, despite the fact it is still light out. That's one way to pinpoint a direction. "What a fascinating device. Where did you get it?"

While Jesper removes layers of clothing, Ciri draws her hood up over her head to protect against this sun. Her clothes are made of light cloth, but they cover nearly every inch of skin, up to the fingerless gloves. Though she's gotten used to the Free Cities' desert, developing a tan hasn't really happened; she's just gotten a few more freckles, and a better sense of what to do to avoid sunburn.

"We'll probably take a break to wait out the midday heat soon," she points out mildly at Jesper's suggestion. "A few rounds of cards may pass the time."

[wiedzminka]

It's evening, the cool air settling quickly as soon as the sun is out of sight behind the mountains, but the light hasn't gone all the way yet. There's perhaps an hour, maybe more. Ciri finds Gideon before she can untack her horse for the night. If she even knows how to do that.

She approaches without Nixie, and without bags or weapons. Just herself, and a wry smile.

"How's your ass?"

[frontlinetitties]

She has an idea. Half of one, maybe. Not entirely certain, or even sure that it's safe to do so. You're surely meant to take this stuff off, but what if you piss off the horse while you're at it? What if it suddenly decides to bite, or kick? Or worse...takes another steaming shit? Eww. Yuck. Totally gross and bad. At long last the impossible day has come where she finally understands what Harrow meant when she said bones were so much cleaner, so much more elegant, to work with. At least they don't tend to leak excretions all over the place.

She's hovering close to her night-dark mare, face arranged into a determined if dubious expression, when Ciri and her small, tight smile rock up.

"You gaze upon me and behold a truly destructed ass," she says, in her best impression of Ninth House sepulchral tones. She stretches then, makes a low and dismal sound that perfectly conveys her current state of bodily devastation, "I swear every inch of me fucking aches."

Beside her, her horse nickers. To Gideon's ears itt sounds suspiciously like a laugh.

[wiedzminka]

Ciri laughs, not at her so much as in agreement. Understanding, at least.

"I warned you. And it'll be worse tomorrow."

Putting out a hand for the horse to snuffle at as she approaches, Ciri gives her a moment to get acquainted before reaching up to stroke the mare's glossy neck. The same midnight color as Kelpie, but the resemblance ends there. This creature is far too docile.

"You don't get to rest yet." This is aimed at Gideon, though she's too busy petting the horse's nose to look up.

"I need to fix your bad habits before you get thrown off. Or hurt your horse. What's her name?"

[godshattering]

More often than not throughout their journey, Claude volunteers for either part of the night shift to allow others to get some rest. He's never really been one to sleep well or long at night and being on the road dovetails nicely into that ability to stay awake. Having time to sit mostly undisturbed gives him a chance to sort through all he's learned both during this travel and back in Libertas.

Though he'll be pretty quiet (relative to his usual chatter, that is) to not disturb anyone else, Claude can be found around their camp with relative ease. If he's not on watch he'll be seated near the low-burning fires meant to cast enough light to keep people from stumbling through the dark. There he'll be in the process of maintaining his bow, sword, or knife, or working on creating a new batch of arrows to add in with those already in his quiver to be better prepared. He's also brought a book or two with him to read here and there, but will never be too busy with any of those to not chat instead.

During his assigned watch Claude will reliably be at his post, and if someone approaches he'll nod a quick greeting before offering up, "Nothing to report over here so far." If they're also on duty, so to speak, "Everything good for you too?" will follow and if not, he'll wait to see what else might be said with a slight smile.

[wiedzminka]

Ciri shakes her head.

"Quiet so far. You want me to take over your watch? I'm already up."

They'll be leaving in a few hours, at the first light of dawn, to take advantage of the time before the sun makes it impossible to keep going and they have to break again.

[godshattering]

"You can if you'd like, if you don't mind that I'll keep you company either way. I'm wide awake as it is."

If Ciri steps forward to take over where he'd posted himself on this particular night Claude will step to the side, find something to lean on until he decides whether it'd be worth working on some more arrows in the low light without any immediate signs of dawn in the sky. Being wide awake isn't an exaggeration on his part; even if tiredness sets in later he'll catch a bit of sleep where he can so they can keep going.

For now Claude looks back over his shoulder to check the status who else is awake (and the answer is only those also on watch, on the opposite sides of camp), then glances Ciri's direction, and shifts his gaze back out into the shadows before them. "Being out here reminds me a lot more of the wartime I lived through than I'd mistakenly thought it wouldn't. Add more battalions and wagons and we could almost be at home. Well, my home, anyway."

Uh Oh Time To Ford the (River) Ravine

[itookashot]

[itookashot]

A few days in and Jesper's energy is still high. He's been taking late watches and not sleeping much and yet he doesn't seem to be flagging (yet). He knows that what they're doing is very serious and important, although his cheerful demeanor might seem to counter that. He's sore though, he really hadn't ridden horses in a while and complains about it a bit.

Abruptly as he's head of the group for now, ready to get into those woods and out of the bright sun any time now, he isn't actually paying close attention to where he's stepping because when his horse abruptly stops, Jesper's genuinely confused. "What? Wait? Oh shit." He leans over and his hat (for the sun) swoops off, headed down into a ravine thanks to some new some collapsed terrain.

Luckily it's Jesper so he reaches out a hand and the hat comes flying back toward him, set right back onto his head. "I'm pretty sure this isn't on the map."

[wiedzminka]

Seeing Jesper stop suddenly, Ciri nudges Nixie's flanks and trots up to close the distance sooner. It doesn't take much to gain enough elevation on the path they've been following to see beyond Jesper, and realize why he's stopped. There appears to be a deep crack in the road that spreads out significantly in either direction, and as she slows to approach more carefully, Ciri realizes the drop is steep and rather lengthy.

"What the fuck...?" she mumbles, mostly to herself.

As the others approach, she turns to Claude.

"Run back and warn the caravan. Get them to start looking for alternative routes on the map. Might be worth pitching the tarps and taking a break while we figure this out."

[godshattering]

His first thought upon seeing Jesper and Ciri stop to peer at something he can't make out yet, is that there's danger ahead. Automatically he shifts the reins to one hand and reaches back with the other to rest on his bow to draw it and an arrow in seconds flat if necessary. Which it turns out to not be (for now), and it's only a couple more seconds before his own horse stubbornly digs her hooves into the ground and refuses to advance as they see the sheer drop ahead of them at the same time.

"Gods," Claude mutters under his breath as he lets go of his bow and looks up to scan across and around the ravine with one hand shading his eyes. Apparently that assessment of danger wasn't far off despite not being the monster, bandit, or otherwise immediately life-threatening kind, but this won't make their way through to Solvunn any easier. Surely there's another way around; if one isn't obvious beyond this brief scan then he's determined to find it later. A sentiment Claude's also positive their group will share.

Not the time to dwell on it, however, because at Ciri's instructions which echo the next part of his thoughts on the next move, Claude nods in both agreement and acknowledgment. "Will do. If there's any part not caved in, it might be worth us investigating - on foot - to see what it's like. But hold that thought."

With that, he nudges his horse to sidestep over to the side of the road where it's potentially less fragile to about face and start a gallop back. The quicker the better to stop them farther away, he reasons, before the added weight anywhere near the ground's breaking point can make the road situation worse.

Let's Do The (Time Warp) Ravine Again

[itookashot]

[itookashot]

The good thing about crossing over the ravine the first time is the second time is so much faster. They now have a whole new set of supplies to make things heavier and more cumbersome, so it's good they know what they're doing. After a brief chat with the Solvunn delegates, just to be polite and all, they know they have to get moving if they're going to get back on schedule. They made the drop just in time too, it was a little stressful there toward the end.

As they carefully get everything back to the other side, Jesper can't help but peek down at the very creepy and dark ravine. This is the sort of thing most people would want to get away from as soon as possible, and the soldiers and wagons definitely seem like they want to do that. There is a pause as they make certain everything is accounted for, so he gets off his horse and walks up to the very edge of it. He doesn't want to freak out his horse by going too close, but Jesper's curiosity is insatiable in a way.

He glances up when he feels one or all of his companions wander up too, rubbing a hand against his jaw. "Anyone else getting the urge to just throw something down there, see what happens? A rock probably wouldn't be very helpful, it's a far way down." He's curious, but he's also wondering if this will be a problem for anyone else traveling.

[godshattering]

The ravine seems less daunting as they approach again now with the benefit of knowing it's here. Some part of Claude hoped by some miracle that the earth would've sealed itself back up somehow, through magic or otherwise, with all the abruptness with which it'd seemed to appear unmarked on any of their maps.

This, of course, doesn't happen. The benefit now is they know the best way around it, the path likely still viable despite the added weight on the wagons packed to their brims with Solvunn's generosity. Soldiers can keep an eye on that, though, because when he spots one of their own getting down from their horse Claude's quick to do the same. An impromptu break from riding during this investigation certainly doesn't hurt.

He should maybe feel some trepidation about approaching a giant crack in the ground, especially given that nothing good has ever come out of the ones he's seen before, but. Curiosity almost always wins out and if something happens, Claude's also not about to let Jesper deal with it himself. Or be the only one to cast a stone into it if it comes to that, since the suggestion ("suggestion") causes him to grin.

"I see we had the same thought." Now stopped beside the other, Claude leans forward a bit - feet firmly planted on the ground as reassurance against the void he's looking into - and whistles. Mostly because the depth is impressive, and it helpfully swallows up the sound as if the noise bounced up against something muffling it. Surely that can't be the case. "The fact that sound doesn't seem to echo in it... doesn't seem positive for us or whatever else we might toss in. Might be all the more reason to test it out. What do you think?"

[wiedzminka]

Riding up ahead of the caravan, it takes Ciri a few minutes to realize that anyone has stopped. Some of the soldiers shout for her to turn back, and she pulls Nixie around to figure out why the fuck the party is beginning to dismount. Those in charge also seem to not quite know, annoyed and confused chatter going up between the men and women of the military. They've just put that accursed ravine behind them again, and the hours before total nightfall and unsafe darkness are growing short. No one wants to pitch camp anywhere near this thing and the beast that lurks inside it.

With a nudge of her rider's heels, Nixie picks up into a trot around the wagons toward the back, until the two men peering into the ravine again come into view.

"Jesper! Claude!" Ciri shouts, impatiently.

"Get a move on!"

It's edging too close to dusk. The things that sleep during the day are going to be active again, all too soon, and they need to look for better camping prospects.

(Backstreet) Everyone's Back, Alright!

[itookashot]

[itookashot]

They are probably the worse for wear by the time they make their way back to Cadens. The supply caravan is safe and the four protectors are alive, but maybe a little frazzled. Now that Jesper is finally through the guard posts and back into the city, he can feel the weariness fall over him. The heat of being out there, the long journey, his legs adjusted to the horse but still aching, he's tired.

But he also got to feed his adrenaline for the first time since he got here, and that at least is satisfied. A good (if very intense) fight, a good chance to test out his armor, even if it wasn't perfect. Jesper is pleased that the projectile idea worked though; not bad for a first time. The four of them make it to the meeting point and he slides off his horse, patting her neck one more time. "You were a wonderful travel companion, my dear." He kisses her snout and then adjusts the pack on his shoulder.

"And you three, what a ride!" Jesper flashes one of his dazzling smiles at Ciri, Claude, and Gideon. "We should really do that again some time."

[godshattering]

"Maybe next time we can find a smaller opponent than the ones we had. Might be a little better, don't you think?"

Note that he's not saying how much smaller since really, they handled everything thrown at them with skill he's every bit as happy to talk up and he's still confident in their ability to take on anything and everything else. Claude hops down from his horse with a groan of relief to be standing without any future horse riding in his immediate future, and takes a second to stretch to reflect that same relief before retrieving his pack and coming to stand by his horse to allow her to chew on the edge of his cloak as she's done throughout their journey one last time.

"I don't know about all of you, but I'm looking forward to a long bath and being able to sleep in a bed tonight. But-" with one hand held up, since that's not really a complaint, "this was an excellent adventure, even taking into account what it was for. I'd gladly take something like this on again with the rest of you, including smaller stuff around Cadens since that work never ends."

Or in Libertas. That can probably go unsaid given it's likely to be a constant implication for a long while yet.