Xeno/Valley - Sandy Willis

[Ruideside/OM (RP)]

Character name: Alexander “Sandy” Willis
Description: Tall brawny and handsome, Sandy works as a wilderness warden, patrolling the edges of the wilderness to prevent wildlife incursions, and hunting down those dangerous beasts that do stray into the settled area. He is a skilled marksman (or archer if the technology is such) and an experienced tracker.

Attributes
Strength: 2
Endurance: 3
Smarts: 1
Learning: 1
Beauty: 2

In my room....
 The sound of the alarm jolts me awake, tearing me away from an absorbing dream about Laurel (a local girl who is my current crush, though as the daughter of an Elder she is out of my league), and I reach over and slap down on the button swearing softly. Despite my sleepiness and a mild hangover from last night’s over indulgence, I drag myself out of my bed and grab my towel – heading for the showers. As I pass the window I look out into the predawn darkness and wish that this was not the first morning of my week-long tour of patrol duty. I mumble to myself:

"Oh well, it beats digging potatoes."

[Torele Anviras/TA (Niels)]

Day 1:
Valley Diary

Sandy lives in a 5 unit cottage on the western outskirts of the village. The cottage is shaped a bit like an X with the 5th unit in the middle and being the shared bath, kitchen and common area.

He shares it with three other woodsmen, and together the four of them are a unit of scouts.

Among the woodsmen, there are three formal ranks.
 - Hunters, at the bottom rung and most plentiful, their prey is food animals
 - Scouts, in the middle, their duty takes them far, and their prey is all that is dangerous.
 - Rangers, veteran champions of war. Their skills and equipment make them the paragons scouts dream to become.

His equipment is ready, food has been packed, and as Sandy prepares himself, his unit is quietly making their own preparations.

Their planned trek takes them north of the middle mountain mesa, all the way through the valley, up as the terrain rises, until they can turn south behind the mountain and reach the unnaturally smooth incline.

Once there, another unit will receive supplies from them, and Sandy's unit can begin their trek back.

On their return trip, any spoor of dangerous wildlife is to be investigated. If termination is unfeasible, marking it on the map will suffice.

[Ruideside/OM (RP)]

My teammates (Carol, Al, & Ivan) and I laugh and joke as we check our gear and then head out. Waving to the hands as we pass them we call out good-natured taunts: "We'll be hungry when we get back, make sure you dig us up an extra bushel of spuds!".

As per usual, once we reach the woods, Carol takes point and the rest of us spread out in a loose inverted "V", striding easily and confidently behind her. I smile as I wonder if Carol has figured out that it's her rump and not her skills that gets her on point so often, and then shake off those thoughts as I pause to listen and attune my senses to the woods around me...

[Torele Anviras/TA (Niels)]

The scouts follow that shapely rump into the lightly wooded area SW of the village.

Carol keeps a good pace through these well known woods. Even so, the woods change with alacrity, growing boldly, decaying and growing again. Since his first forays with the Auxiliaries Sandy has learned that only cliffs and landmarks remain for long.

There are no well worn pathways in these woods. Gnarled trees with trunks like spun rope screw themselves up from the ground on thick heavy roots. Thick branches up along the trunk create natural platforms as it goes, before blooming into mighty canopies. Fungus, moss and vines climb the trees.

These knotted growths reach large sizes before rot overtakes them and they sink into mounds of organic material that compost to the tune of myriads of insects, bacteria and more fungus.

Trees resembling fir, grow fast and high, sprinting to reach the light and complete their own cycle, before coming crashing down upon the neighboring tress. Creating messes of toppled trees that are dangerous to walk under, as even a minor shift can cause the precarious thing to tumble down.

Ivan, ever vigilant, manages to clip a fowl in the wing as it bursts from a bush in front of him. He is quickly upon it, wringing its neck and  adding it to his pack.

For three hours the group marches on, no sounds revealed beyond the expected. The land slopes lightly upwards, ragged hills break through the ground on either side of the group's course. Your path takes the pass where the land is most flat, preferring to cross a patch of forest over climbing the hills.

By midday you are deep in the forest. You climb one of the platform trees and have lunch.

Large grazing animals are in the area, so their predators may be too. Nothing uncommon or unexpected, nothing to warrent the wrath of the scouts.

Al flirts with Carol and Ivan laughs. Carol puts Al in his place, and he ends up having to clean the dishes. Ivan cleans his bird.

The party will have a short rest here.