Chamrosh's Chattel Conglomeration

[Chamrosh]

So this is where I'm going to be dumping things I've written, if we're all okay with that?
We are?
Okay.

Firstly:
I don't mind people posting here on the condition that it's minimal.
For instance, if you want to put a critique or encouragement or whatever on this thread, feel free, but if you want to put more, please edit the previous post and PM me if you don't think I'll see the edit, rather than filling up this thread!
It's also fine to post on here if you have suggestions of things you want to see me write, but, again, please try to edit the previous post rather than keep making new ones! That said, if you want to prompt me, PM-ing me is also fine, so if you're nervous about me not seeing things, I'd recommend that.

Secondly:
I like alliteration, please don't hurt me for its contrivance.

Thirdly:
I have a character storage here, which I will try to keep vaguely up to date. There will be a lot of linking back and forth between posts here and there, so sorry if you don't like hyperlinks.


This isn't going to be a thread for anything specific, just "things I've written that are CS appropriate", so you might find a pretty big mix of things once this really gets going. Part of the reason for not separating things out is so that people who like one thing I write can more easily find other things I write as well, which they might like. If mixing things helps you find more things you like, it's worth the sacrifice to my organisation. That said, if something is a series, I will always be posting links to the next thing in the series before/after it so you don't need to scroll through a whole load of stuff you don't want to have to read! It also has the benefit for me that it doesn't matter much if I post things on strange orders in here, and I don't need to make a ton of reserve posts at the front and hope I've made enough. Finally, doing a linking system means that I can have people post on here a bit and it not make it really awkward to access things or just read the bits you want to.

I'm basically always open to prompts, which you can either post on here (please try to keep it to one post!) or my PMs. Feel free to suggest drawings as well, but those will go on my character storage thread when they're complete, rather than here! Please keep your prompts CS friendly. If you absolutely must see something that's not, please PM me for my Discord account #, and we can sort it there.
Currently (until the 10th of March) I have deadlines pretty soon, so I will not be doing any long prompts unless I am procrastinating very strongly. Please do not pressure me to get anything done before the 10th unless it's literally a few dozen words if you want a prompt. I'm happy to take things of any length, but longer prompts may take me a while to do/get to, and I'll prioritise shorter things.
I'm also happy to do trades of stuff (including art for writing), but those conditions also apply, and I'll definitely want to discuss with you!

Categories/Masterposts


Create a Clan - Gustclan
Create a Tribe - Rippling Corrie
Create a Village - Nuudotkhyat/Nuudot
Rise - Volcanoclan
VoK - Chattering Stream
Unsorted/Unsortable

[Chamrosh]

Create a Clan is a game based around building a warriors' clan from the ground up.

Character Masterpost
Drawing Prompts list
Writing prompts list


My posts

The mod response will be quoted, with a link back to it, at the bottom of the Gustclan post that I have added here. I also might add some commentary at the bottom, even if it's about how terrible my first few posts are and that's it.

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30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49
xxxxx
50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59
60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69
70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
- 142171 words within posts (6754) (10217) (11956) (12886) (22097) (50426) (27835)
- 157491 all words (+15320)

As a scale, this is 80547 words into the second Harry Potter book, and Dobby has a very different reaction to bad Christmas presents than most humans...
each chapter in book 2 is 4730 words



List of prompts that aren't done yet


Bits Between Posts

The higher they be - Before post 0


Extras During Posts

29 - Birthing Rituals and 31 - Newborn Dies from my Create a- Scene challenge are set during post 51.



Contest entries


Valentines Cat 2018 -> Won Adoniscloud from this event
Poly Pride Entry 2018 -> won Amo, Elsker, and Amuri from this event

[Chamrosh]

Create a Village is a game based around building a village, on whichever theme you can think of, from the ground up.

[url=?]Character Masterpost[/url]
Drawing Prompts list
Writing prompts list


My posts

The mod response will be quoted, with a link back to it, at the bottom of the post that I have added here. I also might add some commentary at the bottom occasionally.

00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39
40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

- 7625 words within proper posts
- 7625 words total





Bits between posts

[Chamrosh]

Rise is an adoptable based on Warrior Cats and focused around world building and character development.



Character Masterpost
Drawing Prompts list
Writing prompts list


Levelling

Here will be links to anything needed on this thread for leveling up:
For Level 2 I need to 1) gain a second clan member and 2) [url=?]show them meeting my leader[/url].


Bits between Levelling




Contest entries

Cats that I have entered writing for and results have not been announced will have their links in Fuchsia. I plan to do some longer entries too, but not right before deadlines!

136 - congratulations, Tynahi!
178 - congratulations, Juni.purrs
204 - congratulations, Mackstar!
205 - congratulations, Mewmew!
257 - congratulation, Ravenshadow17!

[Chamrosh]

As I said on the first post, I'm okay with you posting here if you want to give me prompts for things, or you can PM me.
A brief summary of the prompt will be found here. If your prompt is not here, that just means I put it on the art prompts rather than writing prompts.

Create a Clan - Gustclan

"Gustclan at the moment is the one in the kitchens" - who knows - whichever - my phone's predictive sentences + me after seeing it - [url=?]post it's in[/url]
Vague description of prompt - length - which characters - who asked for it - post it's in

Create a Village - Nuudot

Vague description of prompt - length - which characters - who asked for it - post it's in

Rise - Volcanoclan

Vague description of prompt - length - which characters - who asked for it - post it's in

VoK - Chattering Stream

Vague description of prompt - length - which characters - who asked for it - post it's in

Anything else
Did you see a character of mine you really liked in a roleplay and want to see me just write prose for them? Just curious what I'd write about something without caring about the characters involved? It'll probably go here.

Vague description of prompt - length - who asked for it - post it's in

[Chamrosh]

Welcome to The valley of Kagonn, an adoptable Roleplay Game.
Here you will discover the world of Kagonn, create your own tribe, and develop your characters!
We hope you enjoy your stay!



Character Masterpost
Drawing Prompts list
Writing prompts list


Levelling

Here will be links to anything needed on this thread for leveling up


Bits between Levelling




Contest entries

Mice that I have entered writing for and results have not been announced will have their links in Fuchsia. I plan to do some longer entries too, but not right before deadlines!

[Chamrosh]

Nuudotkhyat

Next Nuudot Post (2)

Nuudot Description
Writing Master Post
Original Version

xxxxUp in the mountains, there was always snow. It was always cold. And the air always felt so clean that you could stand contented for many minutes, eyes shut and face pointed to the sky, simply enjoying the sensation of chill air entering and leaving you, gently pushing your stomach out.
xxxxThe path was barely a metre wide. On one side, a towering rock face. On the other, no barrier before a sheer drop to a stream swelling with the first water of spring, singing a song of heat enough to touch the depths of glaciers. A good jump and a skilled landing would be enough to reach the cliff face opposite, admittedly a few metres lower. The water itself was a murky grey-brown, and would need plenty of boiling before drinking here, but there was time before that would be needed.
xxxxAn ibex, horns curving in wide, jagged arcs around its head, marking its crown as king of the goats, two dozen metres higher took a step forwards against the sheer surface, and one of its cloven toes knocked a small collection of tiny stones onto the path.
xxxxNitin affixed his gaze on the creature where it rested, licking the rock’s surface ahead of itself. A confident step forwards and he was ahead of where any more rocks would fall. The ibex turned its head for a moment, slightly startled by the seeming sudden appearance of a human, but quickly calmed itself, knowing that no human had a chance of climbing up to his lofty height.
xxxxNitin dipped his head slightly towards the ibex, and turned his attention back to the peaks ahead of him.
xxxxThe sky was a pure blue (likely because most of the clouds were now below him), and Nitin had chosen this as his time to cross them. Another few months, and storms would race each other up the mountains and, in fury at having no further to go, drop their contents as blizzard after blizzard. It was a cruel trap, and surely a sign of higher malevolence that the safest time to pass had to be so soon after the coldest.
xxxxAnyone who wished to pass through only once the weather was good enough would be caught in the blizzards, and surely freeze. Anyone who went too early would likewise be caught in the depths of winter, and as they hit the peak, would die likewise. It was a precise window left for travelers through this way.
xxxxThe trees had been left behind two days ago, and now the only plants were small shrubs, sedges and grasses, the flowers having ended far before the trees. His only company here were the goats and the birds. Fish couldn’t survive the water freezing. Of grazing animals, only goats could cope with the poor diet and still be able to navigate. Birds would find themselves anywhere if allowed.
xxxxThe day before, Nitin had seen flocks of cranes as white as the snow glistening above him in utter harmony. Another cruelty. Humans would forever be able to see the cohesion that others could achieve, but they – we – are instead cursed to infight and hate each other all our lives, unless we happen to find the select few who we truly can cooperate with.
xxxxNitin turned the corner of the valley, and saw the path rising steeply ahead of him. By no means was this the highest or hardest part of his journey, or even of what he still had to traverse, but this was the last real climb he planned for the day.
xxxxWithin an hour, the sun would have set far below the mountains down to where the real horizon lay, but a distant memory to one suspended so far above the rest of the world. He knew there was a wider area near the top of this section of slope, large enough so that should he roll in his dreams the icy waters below would greet him only with their song and not their embrace or their kiss.
xxxxThere were enough shrubs at the top of the ridge that he could see from here that Nitin was sure that he’d be able to find enough firewood to prevent any major risks of hypothermia, and, besides, he was enveloped in many layers of furs, hides and skins.
xxxxBefore he started his final climb, he bent down, and investigated the stones below him. He was finally out of the granite, thankfully, so he picked up a few stones from here. Large stones were far more likely to accumulate at the bottom of a slope – along with any other type of stone – and Nitin carefully examined his before wrapping them up in a pouch.
xxxxAs he ascended, his fingers danced around the stone, navigating the grain of the rock. One stone fell into the waters churning below, and only splashed long enough later for Nitin to really be aware of the height he may fall from should he slip.
xxxxMore stone fell over, in smaller and smaller shards, and then suddenly one huge chunk dropped onto the ground below him. Nitin carefully ran the fingers of his left hand over the razor edge he’d formed. That would be plentifully sharp for what he had in mind.


—A few weeks later--

xxxxIt was really the journey downwards that made mountain trails worthwhile. The wind was still icy fresh and crisp in Nitin’s mouth, the sky still clear and a beautiful balmy blue, especially in the light of the early morning sun. Here, some of the rocks shimmered with crystals captured deep inside themselves, and combined with the soft polish of the water on the rocks in the gulley, even the rocks themselves were beautiful.
xxxxA somewhat precarious looking boulder clung to the rockface far above and far ahead, but the path split before that, and just around the corner, where he was coming to now, he knew the view he’d get.
xxxxAnd here it was.
xxxxMountains stretched their faces up to the sky, each posturing each other to be king. Far in the distance, the mountains merged together, so far away that the mere air in between Nitin’s eyes and the (knowingly) grey rocks made them appear almost as blue as the sky at midday.
xxxxDotted among the mountains were smaller settlements, and even compared to those, this mountain, with it’s curved face, was the king. A temple made of gold was just a hollow crown.
xxxxThe slope was entirely open to Nitin’s left hand side, and here the path itself sloped, but it was far wider than before due to wooden scaffolding some considerate person had laid out years ago. Nitin couldn’t see the line of it, due to the wood, but by the time his view of the rocks below was again unobscured, the moss had started poking through in desperate spots between the rocks, and then grass had started up again, first in patches, and after, what looked to be a few hundred metres lower, in a plentiful field (which could be clearly identified by the domestic sheep finding their breakfast there). And below that, just close enough for Nitin to be able to identify individuals, the pine trees reemerged.
xxxxThis region was cold and dry, the rain blocked by the mountain much of the year, and so far in land that anything that got here by another route had long since lost most of its moisture, but following the streams (as he planned to, although there was no safe route through this section that allowed that) would always be a myriad plants.
xxxxAfter dried meat and preserves for long enough to make his gut feel dirty, now was definitely the time to take advantage of the bounty of plants.

- 1295

[ Nitin founds Nuudotkhyat ]
[ Nitin gathers food ]

Nitin gathers two potatoes.
Nuudotkhyat has 4 more fasting days.

[Chamrosh]

Nuudotkhyat

Previous Nuudot Post (1)

Next Nuudot Post (3)

Nuudot Description
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xxxxNitin used a quick blow from the flint shard in his hands, discharge from a handaxe, to cut through the jugular of the hare he’d trapped. It struggled for a moment, before hanging limp. Nitin stood up fully from his crouch, holding the hare carcass.
xxxxHe’d found a waist-high boulder a short distance away – a few hundred metres - as he’d made his morning descent. There were plenty of boulders around the right size here, but one was the wrong angle, one was unstable, and one needed a climb up to an unstable spot, and so on, until there were only a few dull-grey boulders that could be used.
xxxxA second discarded stone from his Levallois technique, a tiny shard of stone, sliced through quickly and easily, leaving him with plenty of food for now. He laid out the hide and scraped it off.
xxxxThere was bamboo growing nearby, with Nitin used to create a small bow and arrow, alongside a tendon from the hare’s back leg. It took most of the rest of the day’s work to process the carcass, and then to make shelter for the night, but he’d be set for food for a few days. Which was as well, as he should be reaching his father’s village tomorrow.

-----
xxxxMist swirled around the path, blocking light beyond a few feet.
xxxxClouds had fallen as far below the sky as the heavens would allow, pale grey belts decorating the mountains for leagues around.
xxxxAn eagle’s cry cut through the silence that had descended, and occasionally a small animal’s feet could be heard.
xxxxThe air itself was damp, so that as Nitin continued, every time he crossed through clouds – like now – he could feel the water vapour clinging to his clothes, and dropping off. Animal hides were always good for keeping yourself dry, and he had several layers on, but his hair, immaculately styled as usual mere hours ago, was frizzy and escaping its arrangement in the humidity.
xxxxHe’d have to redo it before he arrived. He’d been away for the last few years, travelling. He was sure his father would be pleased to see him, but Nitin could feel the mixture of excitement and nervousness building up in the whole length of his oesophagus, running up and down like a dog between joint owners. He’d been away so long, what might have changed? Would his family be the same as he remembered?
xxxxThe mist wasn’t helping.
xxxxNitin was making slow progress, just to be sure he wasn’t walking over the edge and down a drop as beautiful and deadly as the glaciers he had passed just a few months ago.
xxxxThe air smelt cold and oppressive, like it was choking the air currents and stopping anything moving.
xxxxThe mist was starting to clear as Nitin made his descent, but there was a long way down to go before he’d be there. The view should open out soon though. His birth village was on a plateau, and reaching it required a winding path back and forth across the cliff face that would soon be below him, as soon as he turned this corner, which was only a few metres ahead.
xxxxNitin had to fight the urge to hurry ahead, to get to see his birth place just a little faster.
xxxxBut there was no point seeing them just to slip and fall to his death at a broken neck. He was sure of that, but it was so hard, and…
xxxxWhat was that smell? Was th-
xxxxSmoke
xxxxAnd…
xxxxAnd something far worse…
NO! NO! HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED? WHAT BEASTS COULD HAVE DONE THIS?
xxxx-
xxxxNo!
xxxxThat couldn’t happen!
xxxxThe valley down below was relatively clear of mist, and between the wispy tendrils down there, the outlines of black were clearly visible.
xxxxNo longer beautiful white houses he’d known since he was a baby. And minute wisps of weeks-old smoke rising slowly.
xxxxAnd bones. The smell of flesh smashed into Nitin suddenly as the still air took a tiny hint of a breeze, and he turned to vomit so violently he almost fell from the momentum.
xxxxHe pulled a scrap of cloth over his mouth and nose, holding it with one gloved hand tight to his skin, hoping to avoid the scent.
xxxxThe cold bit into his eyes as tears emerged. But he couldn’t afford to hurry to get down there faster. He had to pause to wipe them off to stop the pain as his eyes closed each time it regularly restarted.
xxxxIt seemed to take years to descend down the slope, far longer than the rest of his time away, eyes fixed hawk-like, rapidly scanning for the most solid sections ahead of him. He scrambled down the last few twists off the path, and pushing himself from the rock face to sprint forwards as soon as his feet hit flat ground. It was disorienting and bewildering to see the village without walls, and by instinct he found himself following the dirt paths that had been their roads in this height far above where roads meant anything.
xxxxThere were a few charred wooden fragments, a few half-melted metal remains, the short remains of the walls, blackened with soot in one area, turned to charcoal in another, and a few small trinkets he saw scattered and buried in the ashes.
xxxxNitin fell on his knees. He knew he’d need to get up to look for any survivors, and to get away from the reeking stench he didn’t dare approaching to investigate now, but those could wait. Those could wait until the storms of summer and he still wasn’t sure he’d be finished here, with his hands and knees pressed into his childhood’s crematory remains.

- 957

[ Nitin scouts for other nomads ]

Nitin finds a tester and their older sibling, a hunter. They were being protected by a warrior. They appear to be the only surviors.
The tester's traits are: ST-A1 | HC-52 | HS-HC | EC-Grey | Elven
The hunter's traits are: ST-B3 | HC-48 | HS-HC | EC-Brown | Elven
The warrior's traits are: ST-A6 | HC-76 | HS-S | EC-Brown | Denisova
Nuudotkhyat has 3 more fasting days.

[Chamrosh]

Nuudotkhyat

Previous Nuudot Post (2)

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Nuudot Description
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xxxxTwo elven sets of fingers held each other tight together, their owners curled behind a boulder, seeking whatever shelter they could find. A hulking figure, armed with a spear, just fit behind the cover provided, but his back pressed flat against the stone, its every edge and spur digging straight past hi furs and into his skin.
xxxxMelor had seen the raiders come, had seen their torches, and had known he stood no chance. He had known no one stood a chance. The main bulk of the warriors had left the village already to fight them as they approached from down below. They had had shields over their heads so that their bows did nothing, and the drop was so sheerly vertical that a thrown boulder would never be able to maintain a true path without hitting a plant on the way down and being intercepted.
xxxxHe had run to the chief, and begged that he let the others go, let them be safe, and leave – and he had agreed, many had. But they had been met in an ambush the other way, and had to turn back.
xxxxAnd as much as Melor had wanted to be brave, to fight directly – frankly, they stood no chance. And so, like a coward, and fearing he’d be known as one, he’d practically dragged one of the hunters after him, trying to at least save someone. In turn, Pema had delayed, wanting to protect her littlest brother, the only one of her brothers who she had seen since the initial deaths took place.
xxxxIn the panic, there was no time for negotiation. Melor knew the family well enough to pick out the boy, backing away in fear from the flames that had nearly entirely replaced the walls of their home, and were now using the beams of the house above him as their own home, his skin darkened with smoke and ash, and knew his own abilities well enough to charge through the blaze, quickly sling the slight figure over his enormous shoulders, and barrel out again, bare moments before the structure collapsed.
xxxxPema had sprinted over, crying, her hand grazing Gyatso’s cheek for the barest second – as long as she could spare for tenderness – before following Melor, as he fled. A narrow gap in the rock lead to a cave network, and then a large empty space once used to shelter livestock during thunderstorms which would never see that use again, to a split in the passage, and just behind the fork, Melor stopped, panting heavily. It was as much the effort of sprinting with a boy on his shoulders as the smoke he’d inhaled in his efforts to save a life.
xxxxSilently – or in as close an attempt as they could manage with their panting breaths, Melor knelt down, allowing the elven boy off his shoulders. Pema passed over her father’s spear – all she now had of him – and quickly put a hand to her shoulder to check she had enough arrows. One was whipped out precisely, and pressed tight against a bow Melor was sure she hadn’t had in her hand a moment before, and the two weapon points headed in opposite directions, in case of ambush, the two of them not having to communicate their worries. Pema was hardly a skilled warrior, but an arrow through the neck would kill a man as easily as a sheep.
xxxxGyatso curled against the rock, initially in a spot where stalictites dangled from the cave roof like so many icicles along the edge of their house on a cold day; a sight that would never great them again. But as the fingers of rock dropped damp cave tears on the back of his neck, Gyatso slowly shuffled away from them, not needing any reminders. He curled tight in a ball, his forearms clasped in front of his knees, and tried to keep his tears even quieter than the cave’s.
xxxxAfter what felt like many hours, Pema had curled down beside him and offered him a hug. Melor pressed himself in against the rock, such that someone unknown to his manner – his tense back and battle-ready stance on the nearly comically small spear – might believe him to be feeling more relaxed.
-----
xxxxPema sighed heavily.
xxxx"We must go out. I hate to think we might be killed by them still, yet should we stay, surely we would meet our end at a fate far worse. Hunger, thirst or cold, perhaps, but I would rather not learn which.”
xxxxMelor nodded, solemnly.
xxxx"Come on, then.” They’d been in the cave for nearly a day now, and despite the moist, cold air, his mouth burned with the need for water, and he had clearly heard Gyatso’s stomach roar (nearly as loudly as his own).
xxxxMelor had lowered his weapon at some point, but one hand had stayed on the wood, even as he hit the floor. Sitting, he was still far taller than the elves, them barely making it half way up his ribcage, and Pema was hardly short herself. He straightened himself up without the use of his hands, having to lean forward, and straighten his knees first, grunting slightly at the motion. The elves’ movements were smoother, seeming only to move upwards, though how that was possible, Melor didn’t know.
xxxxGyatso walked between the two adults, Pema at the back. Her bow swiveled to face anything that might be a threat, hawk eyes carefully scanning for the slightest movement. Suddenly, she ran a few steps forwards, and her bow dropped from her shoulder to her hand, such that it hung at her waist height (and half way up Melor’s thighs) to stop him in place. Two gracile fingers pointed over to the wreckage of one of the houses.
xxxxOne of the merchant houses.
xxxxA figure was bent over, looking forlornly at the rubble.
xxxxAnd Pema beckoned Melor and her youngest (now only) brother to follow her at a distance, a bamboo arrow never leaving the string of her bow.
xxxxHe looked up once she was well within what she deemed point blank range. His head turned within its furs, and the figure scrambled awkwardly to his feet.
xxxxHer bow lowered suddenly, pointing at his shins rather than his chest.
xxxx"Nitin?” She asked, hesitantly. He hadn’t been around in years. He’d gone South to learn from the lands far beyond the mountains (apparently the mountain did not go to the ends of the world, whatever her grandma had said when she was a girl) and had never returned. They’d all assumed he’d forgotten about them, and been too engrossed in trivial pursuits like wealth and politics to want to return.
xxxxThe man’s hood lowered, and Pema smiled broadly, ran towards him and tossed her arms around him. They’d never been close exactly (despite living around the corner from each other, though that was a factor that was hardly special in such an isolated community), but she was glad to see a fourth survivor of her childhood.
xxxxNitin didn’t even seem to need to ask who she was, and Pema was troubled to feel his sobs through his furs. Of course. Though it was certainly not enough – even for elves – she’d had a day to process what had happened with nothing else to do. He may well have arrived mere moments before.
xxxxNitin’s trembling breath shivered the bones throughout her chest with their strength. Elves were not nearly so emotional as humans, but Pema could feel his anguish, and not just physically.
-----
xxxxThe wind whistled past Gyatso’s ears, a high pitched scream of pure joy that perfectly fit Gyatso right now. It whipper around his head, tugging on his curly hair, tangling it up in the way his sister so hated him leaving it. And he so loved having it.
xxxxHis feet dangled over the edge, hitting the rock with his heels on each swing. His legs were aching somewhat from his climb, and he knew his shoulders would be stiff tomorrow, but, frankly, he didn’t care.
xxxxNitin had suggested climbing up the slope the boring way, weaving round between the boulders on the path. Melor and Pema had actually gone along with that which was boring of them too. When he was old, he’d learn how not to be grey, and not be. Then he’d still be fun.
xxxxHe’d never seen an elder boulder up a slope like that before. He was pretty sure the only reason why his sister wasn’t yelling at him to come down was because this slope was far shallower than the ones he’d learned to climb near… near home.
xxxxGyatso drew in one slow, shaky breath.
xxxxIt’d been six months.
xxxxIt’d been six whole months, and that was still his home, and it was gone, and he’d never have a home again, both his big brothers were dead, his parents were dead, and all his friends were dead, and their neighbour, Jamyang, was gone (Pema had been sure Jamyang was going to be his wife one day. But that made no sense. Jamyang was Jamyang and had she been into all the stuff the other girls seemed to be into when they started fussing about marriage, she wouldn’t have been Jamyang anymore. She’d just be a silly girl instead of his best friend), and his grandma’s sweet fruit pickle was gone, along with all the other wonders that came with a grandma, and the sweet scent of the mountain flowers in the jar on the windowsill in his mother’s room was gone, and his fine bed was gone, and the baker who gave him bits of bread which had “accidentally” fallen on the floor… gone.
xxxxEverything he’d ever known was gone.
xxxxBut crying was for babies. Whatever Nitin and Melor said. He didn’t need to cry.
xxxxMuch.
xxxxHe’d only got water on his face from when he’d misplaced his hand in a tiny stream between the rocks halfway up and it’d splashed on his face – and the wetness on his fingers was from that too. Of course.
xxxxThe view was fantastic, though. Lines of fir trees stood like armies far off into the distance, then mighty hills rose, with clouds gracing their heads like his grandma’s fluffy white hair, and beyond that, huge mountains as tall as the sky.
xxxxHe had plenty of warning as the hulking figure of Melor sat down beside him. While Gyatso had panted slightly after finishing his ascent, Melor looked as though he’d walked across the street, rather than up a sheer rockface.
xxxx"I’ve seen monkeys far less agile than you.”
xxxxGyatso smiled slightly at the compliment, though his fingers focused on where the tips of his fingers just poking out of his sleeves toyed with a tiny plant barely clinging to the rock he sat on.
xxxx"If you want to climb like that as an adult - usefully-, you’ll need to learn how to be a scout.”
xxxx"I would rather that I tested with my sister next year.”
xxxx"It’s your choice. You’ve got potential as a warrior, too, kid.” Melor moved, about to slap Gyatso on the back in a gesture that, through thick furs, was well recognized as encouragement, but stopped himself as he comprehended the height of the drop the kid would have been sent to. Nitin would have killed him, then Pema would have dug up his corpse and burned it if he hadn’t stopped himself, never mind the trouble of it.
xxxxHe stood cautiously, not so certain of himself getting up from as down to a seating position on the edge of a cliff. “Come on, Gyatso. Nitin and Pema are seeking a spot to camp out already. There’s time to fit some training in.”

- 1954

[ Melor, Pema and Gyatso join the Nuudot ]

[ Pema goes hunting ]
[ Nitin gathers food ]

[ Gyatso tries being a warrior with Melor ]

Pema caught a water fowl.
Nitin gathered two potatoes.
Gyatso has tested warrior duties and is ready to try the next profession.
Nuudotkhyat has 2 more fasting days.

Imp asked to have my 666th post dedicated to her, so here is the dedication, where it is nice and obvious

[Chamrosh]

Nuudotkhyat

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Writing Master Post
Original Version

xxxxOne of the less pleasant duties of being leader involved being responsible for reading the weather correctly sufficiently early that there was time to plan for it if something went wrong. It wasn’t that itself that was unpleasant, but that he was the first one to know of any troublesome weather conditions, and therefore he had no warning.
xxxxAlthough far further down south it was near the height of summer, here was a seemingly different story.
xxxxNitin slowly brushed his arms past the dark brown fur layers of their tent. With only four village members, the extra weight of a second tent simply wasn’t worthwhile, and there was just enough space on the floor for their belongings and for Pema and Gyatso to sleep separately from the two grown men, as she had asked.
xxxxWhen Nitin had entered the tent the previous night, he had just put out the fire, such that the air following him had still been warm to the small areas of exposed skin he had.
xxxxNow he felt his breath freeze as his nose stuck out the entrance.
xxxxNitin whipped back inside for a moment, grabbed a hood, and turned his attention back to the outside.
xxxxThe wind was furious. Its raw strength had flattened all the natural undulations of the earth, such that he was sure it was many days’ journey to get to the tiny rock spires that were barely as large in his vision as an ant’s head, which he knew to rival those where his village had once been. It screamed in his ears, yelling battlecries of the cities it had levelled with the water that followed it inland in the southern heat, seeking to tell all the world that it could not be defeated. It had laid snow – deep enough to just reach Nitin’s thighs, and that was just the snow that hadn’t hardened over the past day and so was above the base of the tent – across everything, so that, bar from the few patches of scruffy trees (themselves cowering against the might of the wind and the blizzards it brought) everything he saw was the same blinding, glaring white.
xxxxNitin pulled his wooden snow visors from the pouch at his waist. They were carefully carved, originally a rectangle, but now shaped to exactly fit his eyes when his face relaxed, a leather cord attached at either side to hold it in place against his head, and a horizontal slit so fine that it was almost invisible, unless you were wearing the eyewear, in the middle. Indeed, horizontal was exactly what was needed. In this whiteness, any object of interest would be visible from its outline on the horizon, with nothing to hide behind without a good deal of patience.
xxxxFortunately, Nitin had bundled up warmly before he had taken his first step in the snow to test the feel of it.
xxxxHis leg sunk straight into it. The snow around the tent was slightly deeper than the snow elsewhere, because of the snow rolling off the roof in the night, but luckily they had angled the entrance in the tent’s lee from the wind, where it couldn’t quite reach. Nitin dreaded to think how cold it was outside the lee.
xxxxHe didn’t have much choice, though. Someone had to do it. Nitin had to force himself to step out fully, revealing the tiny exposed sections of his face around his nose, between his eyewear and where the fur parts of his hood hugged his eyebrows, and the very tops of his cheekbones poked out from the furs.
xxxxThey wouldn’t be able to get very far if they had to struggle so much to get their feet to move forward to their next steps. But Nitin had an idea. Increasing the surface area of his feet somehow would surely help them make progress. And there were trees within a close enough distance that he could reach them before long, and he had a few stone tools on him that would well suit the job of using them. There were a decent number of tendons for string within their tent, stored together – Pema had been minding them as she was most likely to need them at short notice – which together with the sticks and wood he was about to look for would surely provide some help.

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xxxxGyatso removed the snowshoes that he had made from his feet, pulling the string that Pema had indicated earlier. If he was honest, Pema and Melor had made them during their attempts to make sure he’d understood Nitin’s idea too. It was pretty patronising, really, and he’d tried to do it himself, and his knots had been fine, whatever they had said. Okay, he’d put the string in exactly the same places they had, seriously.
xxxxAnd they’d kept telling him off for putting things back to how they were meant to be.
xxxxAt least they hadn’t told him that his method of storing them out of the way between wearing them was wrong yet, which was certainly a relief.
xxxxHe looked out across the landscape that had got him so excited. They were barely ten metres from the start of it – a huge area of ice, clearly braided streams, spanning for kilometres over the landscape.
xxxxGyatso practically flew down the slope towards the ice, and skidded forward across the ice, going almost impossibly far forward, so that Pema ran out to the bank after him, her snowshoes still on, somehow. She stopped just before the first touched the surface, realizing the risk of stepping forward.
xxxxGyatso came to a dead stop at what would have been the confluence between two braids. He took a few steps tentatively towards a nearby island in the ice.
xxxx"I was planning for us to cross this where it was a bit easier. We’re not going to be able to get enough force on him to physically stop him doing that and judging by this morning, he’s not in the mood to listen to reason. Are all elf children like this?”
xxxx"I believe that all those who have not yet had their childhoods and yet have enough thought to say “no” are like this.”
xxxx"I could try to get him back.” Melor offered.
xxxx"No, don’t worry. It’s not going to be dangerous to cross here. It’s cold enough that I’m sure the ice will hold all our weights. If we had more with us, or more of us, I’d say otherwise.”

- 1083

[ Melor looks for nomads ]

[ Nitin gathers food ]

[ Gyatso tries being a hunter with Pema ]

Melor found a nomadic shaman and a scout.
Nitin gathered four fungi.
Gyatso has tested warrior and hunter duties and is ready to try the next profession.
The shaman's traits are: ST-D11 / HC-104 / HS-LW / EC-Hazel / sapiens
The scout's traits are: ST-E2 / HC-130 / HS-S / EC-LBrown / sapiens
Nuudotkhyat has 1 more fasting day.