(no subject)

[ruin_mania]

[Good evening, explorers! After departing from Cair Paradisa, the path was south at first, but turned west fairly early on. Skirting well south of Eldritch Forest, the travelers had camped near the edge of the Amber Steppe, not quite within sight of the forest that marks the Totem Coast. The grasses are parched brown by the heat, though greener patches mark the presence of water. It's near one of these - a small, bubbling stream leading west that Raine has chosen to follow as it will almost certainly run into the river marked on her map - that the travelers have made their camp.

The carts and wagons are arranged in a defensive circle, though the campers are free to set up their tents outside them as well as inside wher ethe rest of them are. There are small cooking fires scattered around as well as a large bonfire in the center for socializing.

Play music? Sing? Teach those poor non-Earth kids how to make s'mores? Or just sit around and socialize with others.

Or hide in your tent and ignore everyone, if you really want to.]

Comments

[not_mafia]

Ahaha, well, if the smell is any indication...!

[He blows on the soup before tasting it. A pleased little 'mmm!' escapes him.]

It's good! What is it?

[ino]

It's just a kind of makeshift beef stew, I guess.

[not_mafia]

It's really good for being makeshift!

[ino]

Thanks! [she'll grin] How are your legs? [since you were lookin' pretty tired before]

[not_mafia]

Aha... they're a bit sore. [like quite a bit sore he was WORKIN' 'em yesterday.]

[ino]

I figured as much. [a little smile] Make sure not to overextend yourself, okay?

[not_mafia]

Yeah, I know.

How have you been traveling, by the way?

[ino]

Me? I've been doing great! [really. she has such a spring in her step!!]

[not_mafia]

Aha. You seem really energized!

[ino]

I'm excited to see what we'll find, I guess ...

[not_mafia]

Has it been a long time since the last expedition?

[ino]

Yeah, the last big one was last year sometime.

[not_mafia]

Where did you go?

[ino]

Libet. It was another castle.

[not_mafia]

Oh, yeah. The benevolent castle, right?

[ino]

Ahh, so you heard about it? Yeah. It was supposedly kind to its guests and gave them all kinds of gifts constantly to make them happy.

[not_mafia]

Mmm... but it fell because even with all the love it got, it wasn't enough to keep it going...

[ino]

Yeah. Pretty sad, huh?

[not_mafia]

I wonder if that's why Paradisa does the things it does... Like the losses. Maybe it's because it has to.

[ino]

It's definitely possible, yeah.

[not_mafia]

What if it got another source of power? Maybe it would stop, then.

[ino]

Like what? [a little frown]

[not_mafia]

I'm not sure...

[What in the world would be a suitable substitute for human emotions?]

[ino]

Well, that's the problem. Even if we knew how to replace it, who knows what would be an actual equivalent.

[not_mafia]

Maybe the castle would know?