Tower Expedition - Day 2

[lord_wizard]

Who: Felix's tower expedition team
What: Testing begins
When: Wednesday, May 30th
Where: The ruined tower
Rating: PG
Note: PLEASE TAG IN

SECTIONS BELOW: TESTING - PART 1 | CAMP & ELSEWHERE | CAMPING

Things are fairly quiet on the second morning. Felix doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get moving at the break of dawn at any rate. It's nice to work at his own pace rather than one set by the Curia or anyone else for that matter.

Don't let that fool you, however. Once breakfast is out of the way, it's back to the task at hand.

Comments

CAMPING - NIGHT 2

[lord_wizard]

Things are probably settling down into something of a routine by now. Time to settle down for the second night and prepare for the last day.

Felix certainly has a lot on his mind in that respect. The table by their tent is laid out with a meal that's a little more than standard camping fare - roast chicken stuffed with goat cheese, fresh fruit mixed with spices and bread with butter and honey. And wine, of course. There's more than enough for everyone, if you'd like to partake.

The wizard himself barely is touching his meal. Instead he's settled down with his journal and the outpost blueprints, tapping a pen against the table as he jots down notes and ideas.

[ruin_mania]

Raine is sitting down close to the fire but looking up at the tower from time to time, making drawings, diagrams, and scribbling furiously. All the different kinds of magic had appeared quite fascinating to her mana sense, and was trying to see if she could come up with the magic bullet of how to protect from all of them.

[its_worthdoing]

Willow was tucked next to the fire as well. She was tired, but not from the drained sense. More from a -- she was recognizing just how asleep she had been lately. Since Jilly went home, really.

Much of the magic being practiced was unfamiliar to her. But it was also a reminder of how much she was missing.

[ruin_mania]

Raine eventually noticed she had company, looking up from her book and seeming a bit startled.

"Ah, excuse me there. Do you know, is there anything to eat or are we cooking for ourselves tonight?"

Raine had some new recipes she wanted to try out, like banana pepper ice cream, after all.

[its_worthdoing]

The formations of words into sentences cut through the silence and pulled Willow from her thoughts. She supposed she should do her part. Add more words, mix and have actual conversation.

"You know? I don't know if we decided. I think I have some granola bars in my bag?"

[ruin_mania]

"I can't say as though I've had those," she admitted. While similar to Earth cuisine in many ways, Aselia's didn't have much to offer in the way of packaged food, and Raine had never really got the hang of it from her time in the castle. Easier to wish up something already prepared, or have the ghosts cook it.

[its_worthdoing]

"Really?" That made Willow blink. And realize again just how different they all were.

She reached for her pack then, rummaging around until a chewy concoction of cranberries and almonds emerged. She passed it over.

"You should try one then. You might like it."

[ruin_mania]

Raine took it curiously, looking over the packaging thoroughly before opening it. Ah, cooked oats and high-nutrient ingredients held together in an easy-to-eat bar. Yes, that would be something good to take along on a journey. But how would it taste? She took a bite experimentally.

"Oh, this is quite good."

[its_worthdoing]

Willow smiled as the other woman took a exploratory bite of the small granola bar. She wasn't sure why it really mattered that much that she liked it? But they were all going to be working together. It seemed as good a start as any.

"There are all kinds of them, but I really like that one."

[ruin_mania]

"Yes, I can see that it would be a fairly simply matter to alter the recipe. You could add chili, perhaps."

No, stop her, nobody should want her trying to make them on her own.

[its_worthdoing]

Willow blinked. And it was not because of the smoke from the fire.

"Like chili powder? Or actual chili?"

[ruin_mania]

"I suppose I could try both." Raine looked thoughtful, which was probably a bad sign. "The powder wouldn't really have much nutritional benefit, though."

[its_worthdoing]

That actually caused Willow to laugh. As points went, it was a fair one.

"So when you are in a kitchen, how much time do you lose?"

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia approaches Raine with a decently loaded plate of food - she's never had this kind of food before, and it smells awesome, so she took a little of everything (including the wine sdkfjal). "Mind if I sit here?" she asks brightly.

[ruin_mania]

...What an interesting-looking person. Raine wonders if she's some kind of demon, perhaps. (Someone's clearly not very familiar with trolls.)

"I don't mind at all, of course."

She offers a hand. "I'm Raine Sage."

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia's eyes light up at that. She probably should have expected Raine to be along, but she didn't! She lets go of her drink to shake hands. Fortunately, the drink remains suspended in midair because telekinesis is awesome.

"Oh, you're Raine Sage! Okay! I'm Aradia, we talked on the journals a while back. Took us long enough to meet for real, huh?"

[ruin_mania]

"Ah, yes! It's a pleasure to meet you in person - I'm afraid I haven't been out much since my return to the castle. It's well past time I returned to exploring. How are things at the outpost?"

With any luck they'd be applying the results of this experiment to her outpost first, of course. She doesn't seem to notice the suspended drink at first.

durp ima switch to past tense if thats ok....

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia sat down nearby, plucking the drink out of the air after a couple seconds. "Really good! I'm just putting the finishing touches on it, actually. The main bunker's pretty much done. It's practically unoccupied, though, except for Huey's workshop. He's building some robots to guard the place," she explained. "Other than that, it's just me out there."

fine by me!

[ruin_mania]

Raine nodded, finally noticing the telekinesis. How very interesting.

"Mmm, robots can be a very good first line of defense, though if they're at all predictable in their patterns a skilled infiltrator will have little trouble in passing them by. Still, it's always good to have a little physical backup if the magical wards fail."

[psych0p0mps]

"My thoughts exactly. Well, my thoughts in retrospect," said Aradia. "Actually, he started on the robots before anybody was talking about wards, if I remember right. But it's good to have both magic and technology out there, either way."

She took a sip of her wine, then pulled a face at the taste. "Wow, this stuff is sour."

[ruin_mania]

"Precisely. The more complete one's arsenal, the better defended one is."

Raine laughed at that, though. "What are you drinking?"

[psych0p0mps]

Aradia squinted critically at her drink. "I don't know. It looked like some kind of grape juice. Or there were grapes on the label, at least. Do you think it's spoiled?" She held the glass toward Raine, in hopes of a second opinion.

[ruin_mania]

Raine took the glass and sniffed it carefully. She frowned a bit at the smell and then sipped it, but that just made her smile and laugh.

"It's wine, dear. The taste you're unfamiliar with is alcohol. Would you prefer some spring water?"

[psych0p0mps]

Oh, alcohol. She'd heard of that. Aradia wrinkled her nose. "Yes, please," she said. Raine could keep the wine if she wanted. "That's kind of sneaky, serving intoxicants with food."

[kungfuwitch]

Phoebe was certainly more exhausted than she'd been the previous night. Spell writing and casting certainly took more out of her than she'd thought.

She sat by the fire, gazing into the the depths and letting her mind drift back to thoughts of home.