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Post by Badrani on Feb 18, 2022 22:55:55 GMT -6
Badrani was quite sad, that early day in January. It had snowed outside; and that meant no visit from Shahrazad that month. She would probably have even described herself as 'heartbroken' over that, had she knew enough common to do so. Instead, she simply mills about the yard off and on for a few days until she finally gains the confidence to go out and go to the quest board by herself. The snow had just kept on coming during that time. She'd never seen it before. She'd heard of hard water before, but she really couldn't imagine it. Now she realized why it was universally disliked in the areas where it was produced by anyone that wasn't still a hatchling. It was hard to go anywhere or get anything done with the thick piling of the stuff all over the ground- and it was -cold-. It had never occurred to her that cold could also be unpleasant... [1] - [Ironhide will not start being used in the story until I make a note of it in Whatever Post that he Does]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 14:04:43 GMT -6
Badrani does bundle up a tad before she goes on her way. She used to enjoy the fairly cold desert nights, but this was different- a type of cold she most certainly wasn't used to. It was cold and -wet- and it was amazing to her that such a thing could be so unpleasant. She wasn't sure what sort of quest she'd find this month, this cold. She did hope that it would wind up being something that would be simple, and hopefully indoors. She was quite unsuited to work in the cold, or at least she felt so. She draws her extra shawl around her shoulders (it was uncomfortable enough around her feather ruff that she would not have worn it had it not been so cold out!) and steps down the road, shivering by the time she got to the end of the street.
"This is... Miserable." She decides, voice shaking with the shivers.
[2]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 14:15:23 GMT -6
The journey took a long time due to it. There were not many individuals out- and perhaps that was a good thing? It was her first cold season in the Labs City so she wasn't sure if it was normal or if not. It made sense to her that others may not find the cold even as fine as she did; so perhaps this was indeed a common thing. Still the empty streets caused her a bit of distress as she waddled her way down to the quest board's square. The snow made it difficult to make the way there. She trudged through some of the softer snow, and crunched over long strains of the extra hard snow. She slid down a little hill and found herself clutching her chest at the bottom of the slope- it could have wound up a lot worse than it was. She couldn't even imagine how people dealt with this every year.
[3]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 15:20:46 GMT -6
There were a few more terrifying situations that occurred that definitely convinced her that she ought to stay inside or perhaps even at the Canyon during the winter's worse weather instead of trying to do anything else in the future. There was at least one equillion-drawn cart that she'd seen tipped over into a ditch (thankfully there was no one around, so the chances that anyone had gotten hurt was probably quite low) on the far side of an ice patch. Badrani could not help but shake her head. "I cannot imagine what people do during this time of the year for fun." Perhaps reading was the normal activity? That was what Badrani was thinking of doing- preferably with a hot drink and inside her home.
"I can definitely see why Shahrazad couldn't come on the trip this time, this is a mess." She says to herself and to the empty air as she makes her way the rest of the way to the board.
[4]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 15:48:30 GMT -6
The empty streets also meant that the square that the quest board was in was also very much empty. That was definitely a good sign; hopefully there would be a lot of different kinds of quests for her to pick- and that at least some of them would be inside somewhere and not out in this cold. She struggles to actually get up to the board due to a giant snowdrift that was out in the front of it. She finally climbs the giant lump of snow and then she realized that there was only a small selection of the slips that were stuck to the board that she could see due to the snowdrift. She tries to clear out a little path so that she can see some more just below her, but she had no luck. She comes back up with only really cold fingers and stinging portions where her talons sprouted from.
[5]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 16:12:29 GMT -6
"This isn't working." The dark ssashirk complains beneath her breath. "I guess I won't be getting a good selection after all." She felt more than a little bit frustrated at this entire venture already, and she really had not even began. "If I weren't here already, I'd go home." She grumped. Maybe she still would. While she was there, though, she took a look over the different quest slips that were in a place where she could see them. There is one particular slip on the board that was much larger than the rest and it seemed easier to read from her rather horrible vantage point otherwise. She squints and tilts her head until she is able to read the middle big block letters that automatically drew her eyes- "SLED RACE!"
Sled race? She had an idea of what a sled was- she'd seen some made to work on sand before, so it would make sense that there were some that would work on snow.
[6]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 16:21:21 GMT -6
"Welcome... To the First... Annual... Sled Race." She reads. So sled races were apparently a thing that were done in the Labs City- or at least in an unofficial setting. This appears to be the first official one, but it did give her a little insight into how people dealt with this horrible snow stuff every year. People really could find a way to make anything fun, no matter how thoroughly 'un-fun' she'd personally consider it to be. "Tallest... Hill... Bring pet." That gave her entirely too much pause to really consider it from that point on. She hadn't trained any of her pets yet and she had no idea HOW to do that. It would be a waste to go.
So the dark Ssashirk works to read all of the other quest slips that she could possibly see with all of the snowy obstruction, and soon enough she realizes that there really is nothing else she CAN do.
[7]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 16:28:18 GMT -6
All of the other quests required people with even more specific skills, and she sighed. It was either go home cold and empty handed, or at the very least bumble-flop through an accident waiting to happen... She was bored, and she at least wanted an excuse to SEE the event- and she did have an equillion. She hadn't worked with the equillion, but she figured that it might just manage to come with her? She also didn't really have a sled... Maybe they'd have sleds there? She re-read the entirety of the message now that she had decided to try to go through with it- pet or no. "Ah- yes, sleds will... Be provided." She murmurs, words really slow. She sighs again, and clambers down. "I'll need to check with the office so that I can see where this 'Tallest Hill' is." She didn't know enough about the Labs City to know where this hill was.
[8]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 16:40:21 GMT -6
Badrani turns around to go into the building nearby. It never occurred to her that she could probably ask the attendant for information on the quests obscured from her view on the board due to the giant snowdrift in front of it. Instead, she shakes off the snow from her feet at the door (the door itself had the snow brushed off of the stoop) and then she asks, in her anxious common- "I need to know where the big hill is? For the sled race." She hoped her syntax even made sense. The person didn't seem to have trouble understanding, and that made the Ssashirk feel much more comfortable about their common. She had managed to learn it verbally quite well- even if her reading skill was going by halves at this point.
The individual provides Badrani with an address, and then also a tiny map. Armed with these things, Badrani really had no excuse now not to try to manage wrangling the equillion.
[9]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 16:48:09 GMT -6
The journey home was just as difficult as it had been for her when she went out to the quest board. At this point, she wasn't even sure if she was going to be able to get out to the hill that was indicated on the map! At least this mess would have been quite a bit easier to avoid if Badrani hadn't been so stubborn about going out in the first place. Now she really just wanted to see the spectacle- so she would probably try to go (at least to the bottom of the hill) to watch it even if she couldn't wrangle her equillion. Whenever she got to her home she took a moment to get warm since she had the moment to take (even if the equillion gave her trouble!) and then she packed a warm lunch and warmed a few stones by the fire to keep wrapped in a warm blanket for her.
[10]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 17:00:43 GMT -6
After making sure that she got everything that would make her more comfortable all gathered up, she sighed and went out to the little shed-like area that was weather-proofed to keep the creature cool in the summer if it needed an extra cool spot- and apparently it made for an excellent warm spot in the winter, too. She opens the curtain and then reaches out her hand to the lead. She had read about how to care for these creatures, but she hadn't tried to get it to do anything specific since getting it home, save for eat and an ill-fated attempt to groom it before learning how to get the creature to accept a grooming without snapping it's blunt teeth at her.
"Come on, Ironhide." She'd been told the name meant 'armored' more or less. She still wasn't familiar with it. She bribed the creature with a few tasty treats she'd found would work for it in the past.
[11] - [Ironhide is here now.]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 17:03:25 GMT -6
Needless to say, Ironhide was a somewhat stubborn creature. She was easily fully grown, and apparently didn't have much experience with being made to do anything in specificity. Badrani had difficulty with working with her regularly at this point. However, she was intent on getting the creature to follow her, and the treats and the lead did it easily enough that she wasn't too worried. She was sure to keep her movements very slow and predictable. The creature was a prey creature, from what she understood. She understood the basics about this, since it was her goal to become a creature tamer to at least some degree...
The roads, in the hour that she spent doing nothing, had become to melt. Just enough to make the trip to the hill much safer than her trip to the quest board had been. She was quite glad, because she knew that Ironhide was going to be a mess.
[12]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 17:06:01 GMT -6
Ironhide seemed to be amenable enough whenever Badrani had some treats for her, but as soon as the dark Ssashirk had run out of morsels to give her, she seemed very intent on trying to go back to their home. "NO NO- Ironhide, no!" She was just barely able to have a steady enough hand on the reign to get the mare to come with her. "You've got to come with me, today." She said. "Come on..." She tried to keep her voice as smooth as possible, but apparently her voice wasn't as soothing as she would have hoped. She'd been told that it was basically indistinguishable from a deeper-voiced male human, so she wasn't too surprised.
'Fighting' the equillion the entire way, Badrani does finally manage to get to the bottom of that hill and GOODNESS Was it BIG. Badrani has a moment where her jaw hangs open just looking at it.
[13]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 17:11:35 GMT -6
They were definitely not joking when they said that the hill was big, and Badrani didn't think she could argue against it perhaps being the largest in town. At least she hadn't seen any larger than this in her time in the City! How was she going to get Ironhide all the way up there? She was already thinking a little better of the entire endeavor when luckily, someone else came by with an equillion mare- and Ironhide seemed quite keen to follow her up the hill. Badrani would take it- luck or no! She guided Ironhide up the hill, where a slightly more safe side had been prepared to do so. Once they were at the top, Badrani took two looks at the sleds that were provided and went "Oh... She's going to kick me." Below her breath. Someone saw her anxiety, and gave her a few pointers and helped her set everything up with Ironhide.
[14]
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Post by Badrani on Feb 20, 2022 17:16:53 GMT -6
Luckily, or perhaps unluckily depending on how one looked at it, whenever the signal was given and Badrani tried to get Ironhide to mush using the reign flip she'd been taught, Ironhide just refused to move forward- even after all of the other mounts took off running quite gloriously down the hill. Badrani was frozen with fear for a moment, and then relaxed when she realized that she probably wasn't in any danger. She slowly got off of the sled and then unhooked the equillion. No one could say she didn't try! Everyone laughed a little, and Ironhide was given treats anyway. This had been an absolutely dumb idea, and not one that Badrani was going to repeat! At least the melt of the snow was well on the way now, and Badrani probably wouldn't have to deal with it for many more days.
She wondered vaguely if she still would be rewarded for taking the quest if she failed to win?
[15] - [End, the pair goes home!]
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