[IC] Lost in Dreams (Stephen)

[ericthered]

Stephen Cirega dreamed of rain that night. Rain, mud, rivers, and swamps. People trudging through the rain in old fashioned clothing, tools and bags over their shoulders. Giant Salamanders hauled carts either through mud or up waterways, huge clawed hands expanding their webs as they sank into the mud and gained traction. Rain poured down on rice fields, already full and draining into nearby rivers.

The houses were almost entirely made of wood, with steeply peaked roofs that stretched all the way to the poles holding them three feet off of the ground. The heaviest traffic areas were board-walks suspended above the muck that seemed to cover the place.

No one seemed to be taking shelter. There was little effort to stop the rain, only practical precautions built everywhere.

The people only a few people chose to undress for the rain, and those worked up to their knees, waste, or higher in water. Most wore protective clothing: broad brimmed hats, long slick coats, and shirts and trousers all the way down to their extremities. There seemed to be two categories of these: those who worked with wet clothes that seemed to still keep them warm, and those who waterproofed everything.

There were two ethnicities of people. One group had the gruff beards and brown to blond hair that marks the inhabitants of europe. The other was a strange pasty white, almost albino, with elongated features and thin black hair. They were quite tall, but very thin as well, and many more of them chose to wear clothes wet than of the caucasians.

Stephen woke with a sputtering, and with his face in water, and panicked. He put his feet down and found mud at the bottom of where-ever he was. Pulling himself forward and up, he saw where he was.

It was raining. Large drops came down from a uniformly grey sky. From the light, it seemed to be about noon-- there was enough light and he thought the center of the sky looked brighter than the rest, though it was a little off-centered. It might be 11, but it might not.

the puddle he had been in poured over the ridge of something, and on the opposite bank was a bunch of trees that looked like classic beaver work, though thicker than you would expect your average 30 lb rodent to be able to move. In front of him was a steep slope, angled at almost 60 degrees, with a wide course of water (30 feet and percetibly moving) along its base. The slope was over 100 feet tall, and stretched as far as he could see in either direction (due to the trees, this wasn't too far, but it was still impressive).

Stephen was completely naked, and somewhat cold.

[Justin_Bedard]

Shivering slightly, Stephen wonders where he is. shaking off most of the water, he looks to his surroundings before following the river uphill.

[ericthered]

Stephen follows the two twin paths of water until they diverge. The ground is soggy and sinks around his toes. The stream filling the pond eventually turns, diverging from the canal. Stephen sees a crew of men working farther up stream, apparently cleaning the canal. The embankment continues to run right next to the canal.

[Justin_Bedard]

Stephen examines the crew before trying to cross to one of the banks.

(He is standing in between the two rivers, right?)

[ericthered]

Yes, he is between a stream and a canal. On the far side of the canal is the embankment.

The crew is about 10 men, and they seem to be scooping mud and debris out of the canal and putting it on the bank-- keeping it good and open. One of the men seems to be some sort of foreman. Stephen can't see them that well through the rain, distance, and due to the fact they are mostly in the canal, but some of them look like that strange ethnicity he saw in his dream...

Which water does he want to cross, the stream of the canal?

[Justin_Bedard]

Stephen crosses the stream, keeping his distance from the group.

[ericthered]

There are fairly dense woods on the other side of the stream, allowing him to stay fairly well hidden once across. They seem quite occupied with their work and do not notice Stephen

[Justin_Bedard]

Stephen lines himself up opposite to the crew and the river while staying hidden. Should there be something on the opposite side of some importance (past the crew), he'll go further up and circle around.

[ericthered]

There doesn't seem to be anything of importance. Behind the crew is lots of fresh mud that has been hauled out of the canal and into the bank. The canal and embankment continues on.

[Justin_Bedard]

Stephen follows the river upward. Once he's out of sight from the crew, he'll try to find a fallen branch to help him walk through the mud. If he can't find one, He'll try to break one off one of the trees.


[ST roll to break the tree branch: 9]