Southern Landing (open)

[HG]

((Everyone feel free to make your own threads on the shore. The first few days the Expedition is going to get settled, stock up on some food, fish etc, and try to figure out which direction would be best...))

Land! He'd never been happier to be somewhere in his entire twenty turns! Small boats brought small groups of them to shore at a time and he being who he was had insisted on being first. No one would say no, besides if things went poorly he'd be the one being eaten or attacked or drowning, not them. As soon as he could walk onto the earth Nevarre, quickly ran toward the white sand and plopped down on it laughing.

Oh this was joy! Land land land!!! His joy may not be shared by all but anyone could be happy that half their journey was over. They had crossed the sea! The accomplishment of that deserved celebration. Even he would say that it was a worthwhile thing to do at this moment in time. As soon as he remembered propriety he stood up, shook the sand off of himself but his face still held a somewhat goofy grin. It would look goofy since his face had gone hollow. He used to be quite handsome if he did say so himself. Now there could be no doubt he had nearly starved at sea despite the cooks best efforts to help him.

He waited for the others to come ashore and once all of them were assembled and not talking loudly he began a pretty little monologue that he expected everyone to pay attention to. "Expedition Members." He greeted with a lightness to his voice they had not yet known. "We have made it to the Southern Continent. First we must consider this as a great achievement. Sailing to the South has never been done before." At least it had not been reported to have happened. His blue eyes scanned the people before him. Most of them he would consider trustworthy and true to the cause of finding the dragons and their riders... however a couple of those girls really got on his nerves!

He continued smoothly, with an air of complete confidence " In order to continue on our way into the jungles I need everyone to work together. I'm going to ask that you each find a buddy, as it were, to stick with you in case you get lost or need to do something, such as find food, search for herbs or anything of a private nature. Girls, I suggest that you each find a girl to buddy with for the simple reason that you don't want a man going with you when you need to relieve yourselves." He was completely serious about that.

"As you know we need a few supplies to start with. First thing is food. I suggest that those who know how to fish help with this. Also Rolgar is a Healer and will need to search for medicinal herbs in case of an accident. Anyone who wishes to help him has permission to. " He looked over at Koldyn to make sure there was nothing the other youth wanted to add before he said.

"Until we are ready take some time to enjoy the beach, you never know what you may find..." The end was almost cryptic he thought with an easy smile. As for himself, Koldyn and young Quintre they would be deciphering hints in the records as to where the dragonriders may have gone. He had kept them safe and away from the sea water the entire trip so hopefully nothing other than the stench and usual wear would make them illegible.

[Marnark]

Rolgar was on the second boat to land. Mostly for practicality. He made sure Cemar went with him, mostly so he could bop the other lad over the head if he tried anything stupid. That and to have the brawny lad help him move all of his gear. Which was not insubstantial. He had chests full of medical supplies that may well end up exhausted before he could scrap together replacements from this wild place.

"Looks awfully wild like I've never seen." Cemar said, somberly, looking at the wall of forested jungle that greeted them on the other side of that crisp, sandy white beach. No telling what all lurked in there. It was so dense there was no seeing through into it, either.

"It's the South." Rolgar answered, simply. "Even dragonriders couldn't tame all of this land. There's more South than there is North, you know. At least, that is what the records allude to."

Cemar glanced at his uncle at that. "How do you know that?"

Rolgar shrugged, eyes still on the land they were headed for. "All Healers have some Harper training. Just as all Harpers have some Healer training. It kind of crosses over. That, and since I knew I was coming here, it only made sense to read up on the topic before I ever set foot on the boat. Now doesn't it?" He glanced over at Cemar for a moment, before his gaze returned to the shore.

Cemar merely grunted. When the boat scrubbed bottom on the shore, both of the tall, burly youths jumped out, landing in warm seawater up to their knees, along with the sailor that had come over with them. Between the three of them, they got the laden boat up onto the beach out of the water. That done, they unloaded the waterproof crates from the awayboat onto the sand. Once it was unloaded, the seaman shoved the craft back into the water to row back to the seagoing vessel they had spent altogether too long living aboard.

"Is the ship going to stay here, or are they going to sail back?" Cemar asked, as he took the other end of a crate Rolgar was starting to move.

"I honestly have no idea. I never asked." Rolgar answered, glancing at the boat before trudging across the loose, soft sand toward the treeline. It would take a few candlemarks to get some of the tents and what not set up. Until then, the valuable healing supplies would need to be out of the way. Lest they get in the way.

Once they were set aside, the pair helped to unload following craft. Cemar even bothered to help some of the girls ashore without getting them wet - even if that did make it look like he was showing off. He didn't really care and didn't think it would hurt either! Rolgar let him, not really caring one way or the other.

Once everyone and most everything was ashore, they paused what they were doing when Nevarre decided it was a good time to go into speech mode. Rolgar was honestly surprised at some of what Nevarre had said ... some of which he intended to discuss with the lad. Some was just at being mentioned so specifically.

Afterward, Cemar went back to helping to set up a tent, and Rolgar went to get Nevarre's attention.

"If you're going to pair the lasses with other lasses, you best make sure you can keep them on this beach until we figure out what we're doing." He told the Holder lad, quietly. No, he would not try to undermine the lad by contradicting him publicly. But he would not stand by when he thought something was going askew. "They're more liable to get into trouble in the forests than the rest of us. If only from the local fauna. They're not exactly trained to wield a blade to good effect after all." he pointed out. "Do you think you can control them that well?"

Going to the necessary in private was the least of Rolgar's concerns.

[Yuu Kanduet]

Jerezen waited for the small boat to make it to the shore before he climbed out of the wooden vessel. The apprentice harper didn't want his clothes to get spoiled this early in the day, especially since he probably wouldn't be allowed to change if they got dirty or wet.

Unloading all of his more precious belongings, Jerezen placed them with the baggage of the other expedition members before wandering over to join the group that had collected around Nevarre. It seemed as if he was saying something, and Jerezen joined the others and listened.

Jerezen was surprised at the so called leader's decision. He was just going to allow them to wander into what is probably the most dangerous jungle they had ever seen without any sort of know how simply because they were partnered off?

"Excuse me Nevarre. I am a harper and, as such, have been studying old records. I believe this place to be dangerous. There are precautions that should be laid down before any action takes place. Having a partner may help reduce certain risks, but other risks can only be bested with the knowledge of things should be handled in the situation."

[firethorne]

As Koldyn stepped gingerly out of the small vessel, more nervous in the little rowboat than he had been aboard the mighty ship, the holder allowed the largest smile had had worn in a while to grace his features. Finally, they had reached the Southern Continent, and his life was no longer in the sailor’s hands, but in his own. Now, he and the other holder’s sons could lead this pesky group as they saw fit. He was especially glad to see Nevarre actually laughing, seeming happier than he had since Kol had met him. Why he felt such a bond with the other boy he wasn’t exactly sure, but he had a feeling it had something to do with their similar heritage and the need for each other’s company when the rest of the expedition had already taken sides against them. Oh yes, that had certainly been fun.

Pausing on the beach, the boy fisted his hands and pressed his knuckles against his back, arching his body and digging in against his muscles, breathing deep as he did. The feeling of solid ground beneath his feet was amazing, and Koldyn took a few more breathes in that position before finally straightening and strolling over to the other holder. As he approached Nevarre, he saw the rather silly grin he was wearing and smirked to himself. It looked like he was even more excited to be here than the Igen was, and believe me, that was saying something.

Standing easily, arms crossed, Koldyn’s amber gaze was on his co-leader as the other spoke, his speech smooth and confident. Eyes raking to the side, the Igen could see unrest in those assembled, and sucked in a breath, his brow furrowing as he prepared for oral combat. By Faranth, these people would never just listen for once! Giving one jerk of his head to indicate he would speak later, he waited for Nevarre to finish and the complaints to begin. He was not close enough to hear the healer’s words, but Kol did turn his head to the side as Jerezen spoke, listening patiently.

“We are certain it is quite dangerous, but we have not decided to take any actions yet, good harper.” Koldyn’s voice was as it always was, smooth, calm, and holding no trace of malice. Perhaps he was feeling some, and perhaps not, but you could never tell just by judging the Igen’s words. His father’s lessons were instilled too greatly inside him. “Right now, Nevarre has only commanded everyone to find their ‘buddy’ for the rest of the journey so we may take note of whom is staying with whom, and decide how they can best help the expedition. Later, we will be assigning roles and sending pairs out, but only after we have finished studying our record skins and are confident those leaving are capable enough to do so.”

Amber gaze intense, the boy made sure that everyone was still listening as he continued. “The ladies are only to leave if they must relieve themselves, and do not go far. This is only in the interest of protecting us all. So please, feel free to explore the beach as Nevarre said, as we can easily see each other on these white sands. He has thought this through more carefully than you assume. We will be deciding who shall do what in just a moment. Jerezen, if you have any knowledge you think would benefit our decisions, you are welcome to come and share them while we speak with our good healer.” There. That should diffuse the situation. Turning to Nevarre, the Igen sidled up to his co-leader and bumped his arm with his elbow gently. “Speaking of buddies, I think I found mine.” Koldyn’s voice was soft, only able to be heard by the other holder, and he grinned.

[shinachan23]

They had finally made it. Finally, no more rocking around in open seas with the chance of falling over on your butt, or throwing up on the side from the waves giving you an upset stomach. Clean, refreshing, stable land was what Senyrae had hoped for. Things were beginning to take a turn for the better for all of them, and she was eternally grateful.

The sand felt nice and cool, not like the burning of the deck out in endless heat, a welcome relief for her feet despite the thick soles. And the breeze was nice and unsalty as she breathed it in, a hint of plantlife and other foreign smells. Was there dragonriders nearby, perhaps? It was a little disconcerting to not go off and find them now, but they had to find supplies and get prepped up before heading off into the unknown, so perhaps it was for the better.

But what was there for her to do for the time being? Koldyn had taken command of relying on everyone to find partners and work together to get prepared for the next part of their journey. She didn't really know anyone here well enought to pair up with, so she would just have to wait and see whether anyone needed help in something.

She couldn't fish, so that was instantly scratched. And she couldn't help Rolgar with finding herbs because 1. She wouldn't be able to tell the difference between one plant and another, and 2. She was a girl, while he was a boy. Hm... perhaps she could search along the beaches for a suitable place for everyone to camp unless they were going back to the boat to reccuperate. Was the boat staying? The sailors really had no reason to stay, of course if they were willing to search out the dragonriders along with them, then that was a different story entirely. That left scouring the beach in search of anything remotely interesting to aid them in finding their riders.

[HG]

The questions he had expected though he thought it would be one of the girls to begin protesting first. It seemed however that it was now the other men on the journey that seemed uneasy. As they should be. They were headed into unknown territory. Nevarre listened to what was said and made no attempt to stop people from commenting. They needed to say what they needed to say. The Holder's son was not impatient to answer as he was trying to find the right wording. In this he was thankful for Koldyn's interference. The other youth was the closest ally he had on this mission.

Looking at the faces of the people gathered he watched to see their reactions to what was being said. Despite Rolgar's thoughts on the girls going off by themselves, he had deemed it best. Unless the Healer wanted to take time away from herb gathering to walk the ladies into the forest so that they might do private things...things he was certain they'd be happier to do away from the men. He had toyed with the idea of sending the women into the jungle on purpose. Losing one or two of them would not be such a loss, as long as they weren't the cooks he would survive.

Back on topic he spoke lowly back to Koldyn, "Indeed, there is no one I'd trust with my life here but you." They would be perfect as buddies. His trust and appreciation for the other young man grew every day. For some reason he felt more close to him than his siblings which was not saying all that much but it was still something. Seeing that some of the people gathered had no clue what to do with themselves he made a quick addition to what was said. "Anyone who has no idea who to buddy with or needs a task may approach either myself, Koldyn or Quintre and we will help guide you to something you are capable of doing."

Some of them were about to learn their strengths for the first time. Others already knew what they could and could not do. All of them were about to be tested in the dangerous jungles which was why he thought it best to be prepared. The back of his hand swiped sweat off his furrowed brow. He was thinking, clearly thinking about who could do what. He himself would be pouring over old records, something the Harper could help with. He spoke first loud enough for Jerezen to hear and then more quietly so that Rolgar and Koldyn were the only ones within ear shot.

"Jerezen, we'll be needing you to help with some of these old records of the South. Rolgar, if you'd like to pick a few able bodied persons to help you with what you need do so. Anyone who doesn't know how to fish, read or help find herbs will be setting up camp for the evening. The ship is leaving now and we'll never see it again." If all went well or if all went wrong, they'd never be boarding that ship again. They were on their own.

[Marnark]

Rolgar frowned pointedly at the obvious and blatant disregarding of his concerns by the holder's boy. Not even a word to say that he'd been heard. This was no way to lead, and the lad was only alienating everyone around him, in this fashion. He was pretty sure that Nevarre had indeed heard him, so what gives?

"I had intended to." Rolgar answered, tersely. "I do think you need to rethink how you are handling this mission, however. Keep going the way you are going, and it will fall apart around your ears. Probably at the expense of people's lives." He warned.