A. Rama Raju ([personal profile] load_aim_shoot) wrote in [community profile] singillatim2024-01-11 09:36 pm

🎵whistle while you work🎶(closed)

Who: A. Rama Raju, Lanfear, William Gibson, Renny Oldoak
What: wilderness chore bonding time!
When: I'm thinking some time after the ghostly housefire, but it's loose
Where: the forest around Milton

Content Warnings: talk about food/eating/not eating, possible talk of fire stuff. will add as stuff comes up
cantor: (aber.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-13 07:52 pm (UTC)(link)
Renny's unaccustomed to remaining in one place for too long. Even when their finances stabilized, he and his sister would spend afternoons combing over requests from the Adventurer's Guild and marking rumors on maps. But Milton's different. It's a remote village rendered barren under mysterious circumstances, its secrets buried beneath ice and snow. There is no guild to turn to for direction, no ever-encroaching danger spurring frantic treks, no bustle and clamor of a port city. This plane's wilderness is a freezing grave - and the days stretch, ballooned by worries about home, about his friends and family, about what the next step should be.

He's still learning about the strange nuances of this plane. There's so many things similar to Faerûn - the humans, the fauna and the flora - but the differences are what he occupies himself with. If he's to make any progress in discovering a way back home, Renny has to first learn what he doesn't know. And to do that, he needs to survive long enough. Therefore: he needs to figure out his food situation, sooner rather than later. No adventurer can continue without knowing where to gather their rations.

His childhood growing up in an apothecary serves him well, even here. There are some plants he recognizes, to his delight - lichens and mosses, the fir trees bent underneath the snowfall - but there are even more that are a mystery. In the afternoons, Renny goes foraging, careful to pick plants with gloved hands. He's examining a particularly leafy find (curious, its shape reminds him of mothers'leaf) when he picks up movement out of the corner of his eye.

Immediately, Renny straightens up. An animal passing by? No, he catches sight of someone trying to go around and grins.

"Hello!" he calls out, being loud on purpose. All the people he's met so far have been friendly. He has confidence that, if anyone meant ill-will, he would have been attacked by now. "Don't be a stranger, come on over."
cantor: (chordal texture.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-13 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
That Raju had tripped isn't something Renny comments on. Company makes everything better, as far as he's concerned. A stranger's a potential ally and friend - and if not, then they'd still make for a decent story. He stands up, three feet tall, having to crane his head to properly make eye contact with the newcomer, but he doesn't seem bothered by it. There's so many taller races scattered throughout Toril that you got used to talking to them like this.

"Disturb me?" Renny chuckles. He waves his free hand, the other still holding onto the mysterious plant. "Nature doesn't belong to anyone, much less me. Are you like me?"

Ah. He should clarify.

"An Interloper?"
cantor: (allegro.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-14 08:44 pm (UTC)(link)
It is an odd term, one with interesting implications. 'Interloper' - unwanted, intrusive, something to be defended against. Raju's right. Renny's yet to meet anyone who'd intended to come to this frozen little village. And if there's anything his experience as a bard has told him, it's that titles - desired or otherwise - speak to the giver as much as the receiver.

He slips a hand into a pocket, mirroring the man for a moment, as he twirls the leaf he plucked in the other. Renny raises his brows at the last piece. "Really? I didn't hear anything about the corpses."

It's a horrifying fact but the adventurer in him stirs at it. Wherever there's danger, there's answers and power to be found. Curiosity lights up his eyes, apparent even to a stranger.

"What's so special about the east? Someone must've tried to find out, right?"
cantor: (cadence.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-15 11:12 pm (UTC)(link)
That's Renny's favorite word to hear - how - because there's an inherent challenge in it, no matter the way it's said. Nights spent around the campfire, laying out maps and supplies, preparing spells for the coming day, discussing with his companions: How do we get into the tomb? How far are we from the Gate? Never mind the fact that Renny's got a tendency to throw a plan's details out once he's in the thick of it. Sometimes, a bit of improvisation goes a long way, for music and for adventures, right?

This man seems like he's itching to see things done. Renny will keep that in mind. He holds up the leaf, going along with the change in topic for now. "I aim to find out." He points to the seeds clustered in the middle of the leaves, then prods at them. "I was thinking of taking a nibble, actually."
cantor: (chordal texture.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-16 06:18 pm (UTC)(link)
"My mother was a dwarf. If it's poison, I'll just throw it up." Renny says this with a dismissive wave of his hand. He isn't too concerned about the consequences because he believes in the best outcomes - more importantly, he's managed to distract the other man for a little bit.

"But if you know which plants are tastiest, I'll be happy to listen." He touches the brim of his knit cap, grins. "Name's Renny Oldoak, by the way."
notarat: (013)

[personal profile] notarat 2024-01-17 10:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Even though Billy may not always be the most social person around, he can't help but go to the Community Hall from time to time. If he is to live in this place - or rather, survive in this place - it's better to make some connections, he thinks. Or at least to see what the people of this place are like, even if his main opinion so far is 'strange.'

Maybe this is yet another example of it. It's not too strange to find anyone sitting near the fireplaces here when warmth is such a precious resource in this place, though it is definitely strange to see the man wearing a blanket, before the other takes it off and starts to work on it.

It leaves him to blink for a moment or two, not even fully realising how much he's just standing there and staring.. It's a good thing the other man seems caught up in his work, really. Keeps Billy from looking like a creeper.

The combination of the familiar activity with the unfamiliar object use for a garment makes Billy slowly approach after a few moments though. It's pretty unobtrusive, like there's something about Billy that just seems very unoffensive, like he blends in with the scenery.

".. may I ask a question, sir?"

Look, he has manners! He knows how to be polite!
lanfeared: (pic#16801534)

[personal profile] lanfeared 2024-01-18 01:24 am (UTC)(link)
While Lanfear's own irritation at being trapped here primarily stems from being cut off from the One Power, that only means she has to be more deliberate about how she acquires what she needs to endure her circumstances.

Relying on the hospitality of others isn't a position that's unfamiliar to her — and now, she at least has a temporary place to rest her head with the spare bedroom that March is extending to her. Beyond that, she has very little to her name, but there don't seem to be many here who can boast more in the way of possessions. Everyone is scraping by, though Lanfear has already internally decided that it would be much easier to concoct a plan for departing if she could at least channel. Without the One Power, she's as helpless as any ordinary human, and she loathes it.

For now, she's going to make herself useful, or perhaps even indispensable as far as her current host is concerned — and from there, she's going to attempt an audience with Methuselah, especially if she's managed to garner a reputation for being helpful towards others who have been displaced.

March's firewood supply is dwindling, and she decides she can at least procure him more as she sets off away from the house, wrapping her blue cloak around herself. It shouldn't be an errand that demands she remain away too long, and certainly, nothing that would arouse suspicion, but it feels as though she's only just made her way past the initial treeline before something cold and wet splatters down over her, draping her in a blanket of snow.

Lanfear gasps, the sound an audible seizing of breath, and then glances up into the bare, branch-laden canopy, blinking in a somewhat dazed manner that she doesn't even have to work to feign. "What — ?"
cantor: (cadence.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-18 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
"Renny'll do just fine, Raju."

He nods along at the short list. Renny's relieved, to be honest, that the plants of this plane don't appear vastly different from his home. If acorns and pine needles exist here, then it meant some of his foraging knowledge remained useful. He'd been concerned, at first, that he'd have to learn everything from scratch.

He holds up his find, its leaves rustling in a suddenly robust breeze, and gestures at it theatrically. Renny never could resist a bit of dramatics, especially when he's given a chance to share knowledge.

"Mother was a druid. She taught me to smell it, touch it, then boil it. If it doesn't smell rotten and it doesn't give you a rash, throw it in some water."

He winks.

"I'm not certain if it is safe to eat, actually. That's what I'm trying to find out."
notarat: (004)

[personal profile] notarat 2024-01-21 10:59 pm (UTC)(link)
At least Billy realises why the other is giving him that reaction. Even if he might be from before certain events in history, it's not like Billy is blind to the differences between the colour of their skin. But-- well, he figures that sort of thing matters very little in this place. There's no such thing as society here, let alone British society. (Which, in turn, was a society his own standing wasn't so great in either, making it feel like it matters even less.)

They're just a bunch of people trying to make things somehow work out here together. They are all stuck on the same level. If anything baffles Billy much more than the other's surprise, it's that easy smile on Raju's face. As if being greeted with friendliness on the other's part is the biggest mystery here to Billy. That is what makes him blink and stare in turn, even if it's just for a slight moment before he regains his voice, his expression more neutral again.

"Why were you wearing that?"

It's a bit more of a blunt question, compared to the softer edge his politeness had a moment ago, but Billy is still careful to not put any real judgement into the question.

Even if wearing a blanket around is, you know.. a little strange..

"It doesn't exactly seem practical."
cantor: (concerto grosso.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-21 11:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"It'll be more efficient to gather as many plants as one can. Of course, we wouldn't eat all of them at once - it'd be hard to tell what's poisoned you if you go about it like that."

Renny tilts his head, a question in his look.

"What are you doing in the woods, by the by?"
cantor: (cadence.)

[personal profile] cantor 2024-01-23 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm the same as you," Renny answers. He tucks the plant away into a pocket, along with the others he's plucked. Acorns. Not a bad choice. They're the safest bet, though they'd have to gather many to make a decent meal. "Truth be told, I hope to hurry to the good parts of this adventure."

Raju had considered Renny earlier; it's his turn to do the same, his gaze inquisitive.

What makes Milton tolerable is its people. Had Renny arrived alone - bereft of his dream guardian's guidance, his magic wrenched from him, the knowledge of the army that marched upon the Gate - he would have sunk into a deeper, darker place even he'd struggle to push through.

But there are others here, who are just as frustrated and puzzled and - most importantly - attempting to survive. That is enough to gird Renny against whatever comes next.

"It's as my friend said, 'Good things don't always come to those who wait.' So here I am, learning the lay of the land."

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