Search Posts
Sonna stares at the official for a moment in disbelief. "Are you sure? We're the first group here?" Concern can be heard in his voice, as he speaks to his team, "We know that Trace and Fail did arrive at the last checkpoint before us, and left before we even arrived. How is it possible we've beaten them here? Perhaps the they ran into the short-faced bear before us, and didn't fair so well? Should we out looking for them?"
After the difficult trek to this final trial, Sonna is glad to be able to rest a few moments. He stares out at the ribbon on the frozen lake, considering how he would approach the challenge, but as he sees Elanna make her way onto the ice he starts cheering her on instead. "You can do this, Elanna!" Inwardly, he thanks Sarenrae for guiding him to such capable companions.
Sonna is very eager to get started on what is hopefully their last day of travel. As always, he trudges ahead, relying on his physical strength to make his way and leaving the finer details of trail finding to others. "You know, at this point, after all the build up, I think I'd welcome an encounter with this beast."
As much as he tries to hide it, Sonna is feeling the wear in his muscles from days of constant travel.
As before, Sonna volunteers to take first watch. "I'm thinking we may want to get an early start tomorrow and try to push through to the end if possible. If I haven't lost track of time, tomorrow is day four. Seeing as we're here to make a good impression, I'd hate to finish late," he suggests to anyone whose made their way back to camp.
"Yes, Elien. Elanna's creativity has really helped out! It's certainly made this trial more interesting," Sonna says quietly as his eyes are focused on Elanna's quick crafting of Snirt's harness. He glances over at Elien, "say, I am a bit concerned about Ander's next attempt across. The river is looking pretty angry. Do you have any rope you can hand me a side of, in case I have to jump in after him?"
Sonna cheers his friends on enthusiastically as they make their way over one by one, helping them back to their feet when needed. After Orla makes the triumphant first trip down the zip line he calls back to Elanna, "This was a great idea, Elanna! It's working spectacularly. We'll have to set it up again at the finish line to celebrate!"
"Well, this task seems to celebrate both Balgird's physical prowess, and ingenuity in finding a creative way across the lake," Sonna offers with a shrug, "we'd still be using the poles, just in a slightly different way." The champion take some rope out of his pack and hands half of it to Elanna. "I'll try to jump over the river with the pole. If I don't make it, at least you'll have rope to pull me back to dry land." He ties the other end of the rope to his backpack, to keep his hands focused on the pole. After backing up a suitable distance, he quietly asks Sarenrae to see him safely to the other side, and begins to run towards the river, hoping he can plant the pole at just the right time.
Once he feels dry land on his feet again, Sonna looks for a sturdy tree to tie his end of the rope to.
"No problem, Faergrim. We want to see all of our competitors make it to the finish line" Sonna replies with a bright smile before making his way back to the camp. He nods in agreement as Elanna talks about getting some rest "If we're splitting up watches now, I'll volunteer for the first. I'm not all that tried yet, and frankly, my eyes aren't going to be all that good in the middle of the night."
"Yes, we'd best let the other teams know what to expect." Sonna finishes his stew before getting up and heading over to some of the groups Nurten hasn't approached. His message is similarly to the point,"Hello friends. I wanted to let to know that a few of my teammates have found evidence of a large predator in the area. I'm sure it's nothing you all can't handle, but best to be alert to possible dangers, right?"
"True, the wool would keep the caribou from running away," Sonna replies as he watches the stew being stirred, "but amongst all those caribou we would likely have had to rely on the sounds of bells ringing to single them out... if we didn't have such keen eyed team members. We may be cynical here, but the wool was likely placed there to make it harder for us to locate the bells."
"Well, the officials have seemed pretty helpful, but I guess with 2 teams of outsiders, that could make for some animosity." Sonna nods in agreement with Elien. "You seem to have a good rapport with one of the officials, maybe they would have some more information for you? I wonder if the other new team has had a similar experience." Sonna wanders off in the direction of the Varki team. "Hey, you're the other new team, right? I'm Sonna. I figured it'd be nice to get to you know all a bit, since we're all newcomers. That last trial was a tough one, with that wool stuffed into the bells. Have you had any issues yet?"
As sneaking up on animals is completely out of Sonna's wheelhouse, he defers to Elanna's knowledge and turns his coat outwards. He's ready to help with a rescue if something should go horribly wrong, but other than that he will stand back and allow those in the group better suited to this task work their magic.
With a mug of beer on offer Sonna cheerfully takes a see and trades stories with the friendly Ulfens. ”We may not have as much muscle on our team as you lot, but don’t count us out. You should have seen how effortlessly our halfing friend scaled that tree!” Sonna remains with the Brawlers as long as he’s welcome –and as long as his mug gets topped up- and eventually makes his way, slightly dizzy after the drink, to the FrostFur Friends Camp. Sonna finds a place by the fire with the rest of the team and takes out some rations to work through as he listens to Elien speak. ”Bluetongue’s Brawlers are certainly a friendly bunch, although I’m not sure I did much to develop any rapport with them,” he adds when prompted, ”Seems like they underestimate our abilities. They commented about a lack of muscle on our team. If we keep going at the rate we are I’m sure we’ll prove them wrong.” As the bottle of wine comes his way he gladly partakes ”This is good wine. From Ustalav you say?” He pauses to take a look at Elanna’s work, ”Yes, Elanna, I think this could work well. We might want to add some strips of leather if we have any. It’s softer on our hands than the rope.”
After carefully descending the pole Sonna allows himself to fall the last two or three feet. Wow. I guess climbing trees isn’t all that different from climbing buildings. He shakes out his arms a bit to loosen them up again and turns to the official. ”No need for that I think. Looks like we’ve decided to get some rest tonight. We don’t really want to be lost here either.” He chuckles a bit before turning to the group. ”I think I’ll go see if we can make some friends here.” champion makes his way to the camp of the Bluetongue Brawlers. ”Great start on the race, eh?” he opens, warmly, ”how’d your team fair on the trial?”
Sonna watches in awe as Orla jets up the pole. "That's quite the potion there. Well done!" He feels slightly foolish holding on to the base of the tree given how quickly and lightly the halfling made her way up it. Still, he gets ready to steady it again for the next person. "I can also give it a try, if needed. I'm not as graceful, but I'm a decent climber"
"You're right, Orla. This tree doesn't look too sturdy," Sonna replies after studying the tree for a moment. "I'll do what I can from down here to steady the tree while you or Anders climb. Elien, catching the egg if it falls sounds like a good idea too. That might need some one quick on their feet."
Sonna laughs along with the official as he tells his tale, partially out of politeness. Well, I’m glad sea serpents and moon phases won’t be an issue for us.” As the official wanders off, Sonna spends some time making small talk with some of the other competitors, until he notices Elanna and Anders returning from the supply run.
"We're all new to this race,” Sonna informs the official who delivered their race pack, "I know I'd appreciate a quick rundown of the rules. Some of our competition let us know about the checkpoint etiquette, and we were told that fighting is rightfully discouraged. Anything else we should know? Oh, and I heard rumor that our team isn’t entirely welcome here. Is there anyone we should be keeping out distance from?”
"Oh, another person of faith!" Sonna comments after Orla finishes, "I'm a follower or Sarenrae myself. I spent some time in prison for some petty crimes back home in Senghor. Sarenrae guided me to the Pathfinders, and set me on a better path." He looks around at each of his companions, thinking to himself how amusing it is that as a bunch of green pathfinders we're being sent of to spend a few days walking in the snow. "It looks like we're all pretty new to this. I've only been to the Crown of the World for some monster hunting, and then to look for that gorget for Lief's family." He glances as Elanna, "I'm not all that good at finding my way around out here, but if I do my job right, I'll at least be able to get between you and a wild animal or a blade."
Sonna smiles as Leif introduces himself, and nods in agreement with Anders, "Yes, it was a pleasure. Recovering that gorget was actually my first assignment as a pathfinder." He ponders Elien's suggestions for a moment, before adding, "As much as I like the Mighty Icewalkers, I don't know how comfortable I am keeping the glory for ourselves. 'The Pathfinders' gives that glory back to the lodge..." he pauses, realizing how prideful that sounds, "... if we win."
Sonna shrugs at Orla's question, "'Under your own power' sounds like a foot race to me. Not that I'd be against a few dogs to speed the way." He nods in agreement with Nurten, and takes a warm coat out of his pack and quickly puts it on, sensing they are close to leaving the warmth of the lodge. Unless we need to pick up some supplies, we should make our way to the sleighs."
A Caldaru man quietly approaches the group, wearing armour decorated with the symbol of Sarenrae. "Sorry, I can see I'm a bit late," he says meekly, with a sigh, "I stopped for a moment for a prayer, and lost track of time. I am Sonna, I believe I am your sixth." He takes a spot beside the others. "A 200 mile race? That sounds exciting." |
