Navigation Event

The hot springs have always been hot, that much is obvious. These springs are more than just hot, however. They are literally boiling! One false step and you could end up blanched...

Goal: Investigate the boiling hot springs! Be descriptive and think about the possible causes and side effects of the revved up temperature.

Skill Claim form

If you complete this navigation-focused thread with at least 3 rounds each, you can claim 20 skill points in navigation for participating in a random event! Only the first three participants are allowed to respond. Please be aware that if you take more than three days to reply you might be skipped that round!

Bonus: Also earn +15 Healing points if someone is burned and healed in the same thread! (All who claim this must be actively participating, whether it is being healed or doing the healing)

Code:

[b]Skill[/b]: Navigation
[b]Points claiming[/b]: 20
[b]For what?[/b]: Participated in a navigation-related random event
[b]Proof[/b]: <a href="https://www.ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=27792">click!</a>

[*code]+20 - <a href="https://www.ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=27792">Participated in a navigation-related random event</a><br>[*/code]

If applicable:

Code:

[b]Skill[/b]: Healing
[b]Points claiming[/b]: 15
[b]For what?[/b]: Participated in a healing-related random event
[b]Proof[/b]: <a href="https://www.ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=27792">click!</a>

[*code]+15 - <a href="https://www.ardently.org/showthread.php?tid=27792">Participated in a healing-related random event</a><br>[*/code]

ooc backdated to pre-capture, post-companion getting

Although she had been spending considerable amounts of time in the South, the East still called to her. The better acquainted she could get with this new territory, the better off she would be in the long run. With her ferret curled on her back, now fully healed but still unable to speak above a whisper, Eris trotted towards the hot springs. It was an unseasonably cool day and a dip in the warm, churning waters sounded like a welcome relief.

As she rounded a tree trunk and came upon the pools, something seemed... off. There was too much steam rising into the air, and there was a foul, almost sulfuric scent that had fallen over the clearing. Eris tilted her head to the side, considering her options. A stiff, cold breeze tore through the surrounding woods, causing her hackles to rise. Maybe a little dip wouldn't hurt...

The small female approached the most shallow pool, pacing in front of it warily. She had never been here before, though, and perhaps it was always like this? Eris leaned down to sniff at the water, and all at once a hot bubble burst, splashing the tip of her nose and searing it good. She yelped and fell backwards, dislodging her companion. "Rats!" Eris cursed, whimpering and pawing at her nose.

ooc: I can have Chrys or Bolla get burnt to if you'd also like the healing points!

Chrysanthos had sought to familiarize himself with his new home. While part of him still longed for the old homeland he couldn't bear the thought of leaving his siblings and mother here and now that he knew of the mission, well, he had to do his part. Chrys wasn't the warrior sort but he had other skills in understanding the world around him and of course he sought to improve his skills in healing. Since meeting Lydia he'd acquired a bag for carrying his herbs and also a new companion, Bolla, a ring-tailed lemur who was currently asleep in said bag making it far heavier than it should've been.

He journeyed east and soon came upon the boiling waters of a hot spring. Curious he stalked forward. The springs would be a boon when winter came. His nostrils flared, taking in the scent caused by the warm water bubbling near the rocks.

A sudden cry caught his attention and he raced to the source to find a young woman whimpering and pawing at her nose. "Miss, are you ok? Do you need some help?"

After exploring a fair amount of the caverns surrounding the intimidating volcano, Aralanne ventured south to see for herself what more there is to these curious new lands. It wasn't long before she stumbled across a cloud of steam rising from the ground. Curiosity got the better of her and she headed straight for the mist. What appeared next were a series of springs which were most certainly emitting heat. No, in fact, they were hot springs! She grinned from cheek to cheek, knowing very well the healing qualities of this territory. Finally! She could submerge in the water and have a relaxing bath. Approaching the edge, Aralanne squinted her eyes suspiciously. That's not good. The water is boiling hot. So hot, that she didn't dare risk a burn.

Unfortunately, not everyone knew this fact. A yelp made her head perk up, ears and eyes looking to locate the creature that gave out the pained gasp. She found two wolves standing by the edge of a pool and quickly made a beeline towards them. "Is everything okay?" The girl lifted a brow, approaching the two. One of them was a tiny she-wolf who seemed to have injured her muzzle or perhaps she had tried to drink or taste the boiling hot water. The other was a stark contrast to the female - he was must bigger than Aralanne as well, and he carried a large bag. The blue-pelted female approached the edge of the pool once again, studying the surface as hot steam rose from the water and engulfed her face. "Is that normal for these springs?" She wondered, looking back to the strangers. Did they know?

TABLE BY NESLA/RABBIT

ooc Eris gets the points for being healed as long as Chrys gives her a little lesson about how/why he's treating her!

The ferret scrambled back up Eris' back and into the ruff on her neck, tugging insistently on her fur to alert her to the newcomer. Squinting against the steam, she turned towards Chrysanthos. "I feel so foolish... I could smell that there was something off, but I just wanted to check..." Eris muttered, her eyes watering from the sulfur and steam. The small female scrambled awkwardly to her paws, but her nose was still burning. A blister was already beginning to form on the end of her muzzle just before her nose. "I've never treated a burn before - " Eris began, before another female arrived.

She was used to being the smallest in a group, but two strangers at once had her a bit intimidated. Eris straightened up to her full 21" height and tried to focus on her Ademic training. Calm. Cool. Collected. "I'm not sure if it's normal, this is the first time I've been around these parts," she confessed to the newcomer. Her discomfort was growing by the second as her burned skin grew taught. "I think I do need some help," she muttered, turning to Chrys with the assistance of her ferret. Eris' cloudy gaze belied her failing vision, but her small companion helped her keep up appearances by directing her eye contact appropriately.

"Why would they get this hot? It's been unseasonably cool," the little navigator wondered aloud. Was there something brewing beneath the earth? What made a hot spring "hot," anyway? Perhaps the others had better information than she did. There hadn't been anything like this in her homeland.

Chrys glanced at the ferret, pleased to see that it wasn't unusual to have a traveling companion of another species in Boreas. "Then consider me a fellow fool. I've been burned before for my curiosity. I haven't been to these parts before but I don't believe the hot springs are supposed to be boiling like this. Loners praise these springs…" He supposed he could've been lied to but the loners he'd met seemed so sincere.

"Is everything okay?"

Chrysanthos turned to see another woman approaching and by now the noise had alerted Bolla who undid the strap of the pack and poked her masked face out into the sunlight. He dipped his head in greeting. "A burned nose." He glanced back to the injured woman. "I've treated burns before one momen-" Just as he was about to reach around to grab his pack Bolla scrambled out with a few marigolds clutched between her fingers.  "Looking for these?"

Chrysanthos quickly nodded before gently seizing the flowers as Bolla balanced on his back and went to rummaging in the pack for some strips of hide. Chrys set the flowers down. "I don't think they're supposed to be this hot… it makes me nervous. There's a volcano not to far from here. I hope this doesn't mean there's an increase in geothermal activity." He'd hate to just get to know this area for something like a volcanic explosion. "Have there been any earthquakes here lately?  Oh!  I'm so sorry, my name is Chrysanthos of Olympia."

He flinched suddenly as Bolla backed out of the bag with some strips of hide. "Got it!"

Chrys glanced to the injured woman.  "I can show you how to treat that burn if you like."

When Aralanne turned to face them both, she noticed that the two wolves had pet companions. One was on the ebony girl's back, and the other was handing over herbs from the bag of the male! She was surprised that she hadn't noticed them upon arriving. If it wasn't for the dangerous springs and the injured stranger, her questions would've been endlessly sprouting. The dim-eyed girl seemed to have no information upon the topic, but the healer made a good assumption. "Yes.. I was asking because I've never been here either, but I've seen the volcano from a distance." Concern appeared upon her face, forehead scrunching slightly at the notion of increasing geothermal activity. That was one possibility. "That is.. if we are to assume that these springs heat up from the volcano. They do most likely, but what if they don't.." She looks back into the boiling hot water, as if thinking aloud.

The male asks another good question. Earthquakes. "I am unsure." She said, looking back. "Name's Aralanne! Nice to meet ya, albeit at such.. concerning circumstances." A smile tugged on her lips now, friendly and kind directed at both of them. She sat down, observing as the lemur peeked out of the bag with some hide pieces, which the girl assumed were to help with healing. "Is there anything I can do to help? I'm not skilled with herbs, per say.. but if you need anything I can go look for it." The blue girl offered.

TABLE BY NESLA/RABBIT

Eris offered a weak smile as Chrysanthos reassured her. "I've only heard tales of places like this," she admitted. "I didn't even know there was a place like this here." What a poor navigator she was. Hopefully her ferret would keep her from making similar mistakes going forward. She watched curiously as Chrys' companion rifled through a container of some sort. Now, something like that would be incredibly useful! Eris made a mental note of it. Perhaps Lament could assist her in acquiring such a thing. "Oh, please, if you would," she murmured, stretching her nose out towards him.

The volcano, of course! Eris made a strange, strangled noise in the back of her throat. "I did recently feel a tremor, but I didn't think much of it," she admitted. The idea of an eruption chilled her to her core. It was the kind of inescapable natural disaster that threatened you no matter your walk of life - pack wolf, loner, or prey animal. They would all be rendered powerless in the face of nature's awesome rage.

"I'm Eris Pyre of the Ademre," she added, addressing the both of them. Her family name didn't mean anything in these lands, but it gave her comfort to say it aloud. If gas was emitting from the earth - was that the strange, sulfuric smell she had noted? - then it was quite possible all of Boreas was in jeopardy. Trying to push the thought from her head, Eris turned to address Chrys. "Do let me know how you're planning on treating the burn, I'd like to learn. And if, by chance, it was more serious, how might you treat that?" If an eruption was on the horizon, she had better brush up on all of her burn-related knowledge.

Chrysanthos pondered the words of the steel blue woman. She was right, he didn't know for certain that the volcano was heating the springs but he did imagine that whatever internal system fed the volcano was also feeding the springs. But why were they getting so hot now? "Hmmm, I'm not sure what else could be heating them. There's probably some sort of shared geothermal system of some kind but I have no idea why its acting up now. The redbud forest south of here is still young, much of the vegetation looks to have been killed off not that long ago, possibly from some sort of fire or maybe even an eruption but I can only guess." Surely the drought wouldn't affect the heat of the springs? He truly had no idea. There might be less water and perhaps it heated up more quickly as a result but then the ebony woman spoke and he felt his stomach sink. So she had felt a tremor! Oh, he really didn't like this.

"I don't suppose there's a way to tell how often a volcano might erupt? I wonder what the other signs are." He looked to the two women wondering if either of them might have more insight.

Bolla reached out to hand him some scraps of hide and he shook his head. "Ah, thanks Bolla but she's burnt her nose, I think a paste with some bentonite clay would be more suitable." The lemur scrambled back into the pack and started tossing out jars and bundles before settling on a scrap of hide filled with the moist clay.

The women introduced themselves as Aralanne and Eris and he dipped his head again. "A pleasure! Thank you miss Aralanne. I assume you're familiar with dandelions? Would you be able to grab me a few? I don't carry them with me since they're so common this time of year. If you can get the whole plant including the root that would be most excellent!"

He turned his attention back to Eris. "I find Marigold flowers to be most excellent in treating burns of many severities, among other uses. Dandelions get a bad wrap as weeds but they can help bring down inflammation when applied topically. In a moderate or serious burn I'd recommend adding something that will help against infection, like elder, and also something a bit stronger to help with the pain like wintergreen. I suppose depending on the severity you may need to take bleeding into account but in most cases a burn will be cauterized."

ooc skipping post order as allowed by the random event!

"Oh no," she murmured, cringing a bit. What were the other signs of a potential eruption? She was young still, and this was the first time in a long time that was reminded of her own youth and inexperience. It made her feel helpless and small. "I don't know any of the other signs," Eris confessed. "But maybe after you treat the burn, we should leave this area. I need to let my family know what's going on, they might have some more information." The Sword Tree had always been safe territory, though, with predictable climates. Would her siblings be able to help at all?

Trying to push the thought from her head, Eris listened attentively to Chrys as he worked. Clay made perfect sense to her, and she nodded as he mentioned it. Eris was always glad to learn more - she was quick to admit her own shortcomings and work to correct them. With new knowledge on how to tend to burns, she would be an even more competent healer. She nodded as he spoke of all the possible uses for marigold - the flower was really incredibly handy for a myriad of woes. "I use marigold frequently too," she added, with a wag of her tail. He seemed much more experienced from her and she respected him for it. "Isn't wintergreen rather dangerous if it's administered incorrectly? What is your preferred way of using it in treatments - orally, topically...?"

ooc: Rabbit, feel free to have Ara bring back the dandelions, I'm leaving it vague.

"That's ok, I'm not sure of other signs either unless the earth starts shaking again or we start seeing a lot more activity at the top of the volcano but that would require getting closer…" and to be honest he didn't want to go take a closer look. Chrysanthos nodded enthusiastically at Eris' suggestion that they leave the area. "Sounds good to me."

With his herbs on hand, Chrysanthos began working them into a paste, taking one of the marigolds and chewing that up first before adding it to a small bit of clay. Carefully he used his toes to mix it together, more for Eris benefit. Bolla was agile enough with her fingers to be more competent but it was helpful to know how to make the mix without a companion to assist. Satisfied he looked up. "Then all you need to do is apply the poultice to the burned area. Would you like to apply it or shall I have Bolla?"

He nodded at her mention of wintergreen. "It'd probably be best to give it internally. Wintergreen can irritate the skin and on a burn it could worsen inflammation and cause irritation."