[closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

[bunnyhopped]

who: hana song, genji shimada, x'rhun tia, shigeru miyata, keith, shiro
what: the carnivorous harvest mission
when: sept. 15-18
where: the jungle; outside of the abandoned city walls
warnings: none foreseen; will update as necessary

TRAVELING, CAMPING

[ It’s early in the morning when the team sets out from the Perimeter Guard’s base of operations; they have a long ways to go to reach the jungle, which lays beyond the outerwall that surrounds the abandoned city. The Guard has equipped them with supplies for traveling, including camping gear, containers for collecting the Lababerries in, and of course the information they need to reach their destination within the jungle.

Passing through the abandoned city before reaching the outer wall is quicker than the traveling they will do outside of the wall; while the abandoned city is grown over, there were still paths that were relatively clear for the party to travel along – there won’t be much of that out in the jungle. That does not, however, preclude any sudden appearance of the monsters that may have broken through the outer perimeter of the city.

Traveling concludes during when night falls, which puts the team just within the confines of the city: it would be easier for them to take on what may lie beyond the fence once they’ve rested for a night. They camp out around what would have been an old house on some small plot of farmland at the very outskirts of what would have been settled before the Quarantine was compromised. At the very least, it provides some solid shelter in the event of a freak weather event, but vines and other vegetation have overtaken it to the point that it was really barely a shell of its former structure. The area around it is open and well-suited for setting up tents and a fire and everything else.

Members of the team, of course, take turns keeping watch through the night.

The plan would be to find a suitable campsite for the following evening within the jungle but away from the area where the Lababerry plants grow; it wouldn’t be wise to camp near carnivorous plants, after all, although there’s nothing to say that there aren’t other dangers lurking within the jungle. After examining the search area and locating the plants, they would harvest the fruits and then journey back, likely making this a four-day trip in total. ]

SURVEYING THE SITE

[ After about half of a day’s travel into the jungle from the outer perimeter, they reach an area that had been marked down as habitat for the Lababerry-growing, carnivorous plants. The party will have to make camp at least some distance away come nightfall lest they be eaten in their sleep, but in the meantime they can get to work by surveying the habitat area and pinpointing the locations of the plants; both for data collection purposes and to make it easier for the seasonal harvest that will take place once the plants are once-again dormant because, in an environment as rapidly-growing as the forests outside of the Quarantine, things are constantly changing.

The Lababerry plants grow on a shrub that enjoys the shade and dampness of the jungle’s understory. At first glance, it is almost indistinguishable from most other plants growing beneath the large trees, but closer inspection would reveal the Lababerries themselves growing in clusters directly along the shrub’s stems. But closer inspection would get your hand and/or face possibly bitten off by the leaves also growing on the stems. They appear to be completely unsuspecting until someone gets too close, at which point the leaves split and reveal toothy openings much like a venus flytrap’s that can elongate and extend from the stem almost like a vine, and snapping at its prey much like a snapping turtle. So, good luck fighting off the plants while making sure the berries stay in tact (which probably means less fire and explosions, more hacking and slashing). The goal, for now, would merely be to observe the plants’ behavior and come up with a good strategy for harvesting later.

Oh, and making sure the party doesn’t get attacked by any of the other monsters dwelling in the jungle. ]

HARVEST

[ After a day of surveying and clearing the area of any outside threads, it’s time to harvest! If the team has prepared sufficiently the previous day, this should be the easiest part of the mission! Hopefully. Barring, again, any angry monsters coming through.

Using the information they gathered on the plants and coming up with a good way to extract the fruits, the team will have to fight the plants without completely destroying them to leave enough crops for the next harvest season and collect them in the containers provided by the Guard before making their journey back toward the inhabited area of the city. ]

Comments

[verflair]

[ He chuckles. ]

We red mages are jacks of all trades, so to speak. I have a bit of everything up my sleeve.

[ But this isn’t really the place for idle discussions about X’rhun’s skill set, because the branches near him rustle suddenly. He realizes then that he’s probably overstayed his welcome, and with a quick flourish of his sword, he severs the fruit from the plant, catching it in his free hand before leaping back, out of the range of more snapping leaves. ]

It would figure that these oh-so-popular fruits grow on man-eating plants, wouldn’t it?

[tempredmental]

[Keith's attention shifted immediately when he heard the rustling, but X'rhun had that well in hand, so he moved away a bit to scan the tree for more fruit. He smirked a little at the comment, though.]

Yeah... really. Though, something that seems good suddenly being dangerous doesn't really seem to be all that weird to me anymore. [He shrugged.

Red came over then, placing one of her baskets near the two of them. She grumbled a bit, as being used like a pack animal was beneath a Lion of Voltron, but she was doing it because Keith had asked nicely. And because she really bonded to her Paladin and didn't want to disappoint him.]

Thanks, Red. I promise this won't become a thing, okay?

[verflair]

I suppose I ought not to be surprised myself, really. Back on Hydaelyn it’s nigh impossible to go ten yalms without some beast or large insect or carnivorous plant trying to take a bite out of you.

[ He exaggerates, of course, but sometimes it does feel like that.

As Red approaches, he tips his hat at the Lion, smiling a bit. He’s privately amused at the way she seems to be pouting, but appreciates her presence all the same. Having the Lions along has been like having rather large pets along. ]

I know, such work is unbecoming of a warrior such as yourself, but it is appreciated. We would not be able to make this trip without help from you and Black.

[tempredmental]

That... is actually not as surprising as I would have thought... [Sometimes, Keith wasn't even sure what 'normal' was anymore. He just rolled with it. What else could he do, right?

He watched Red react to X'rhun's comment, noting she seemed almost a little flattered. Keith smiled a little.]

I think she appreciates the sentiment. With that, he got to work trying to harvest some of the fruit before the vines started attacking them again. If anything, he knew Red had his back, and he trusted X'rhun to point out anything he might spot as well.]

[verflair]

[ X’rhun can be quite the charmer when he wants to be. Nice to know that even robot lions aren’t immune to his flattery.

His blade flashes outward, severing the leaves that had tried to snap at him earlier off the plant. They have a few seconds worth of fight left in them as they flutter to the ground, but lie still soon after. ]

Tell me Keith, what is the strangest creature you have encountered on your journeys?

[tempredmental]

Strangest for me?

[Keith considered it.]

Well, being here is definitely pushing the boundaries of what I consider weird, but a lot of stuff lately has pushed that. I feel like that boundary keeps getting further and further away from what I used to think of as 'normal'.

[He sighed a little.]

I have to say, though, that I haven't really met a lot of creatures... but I've met a lot of strange beings. A lot of who we've met along the way are sentient and communicative, capable of civilization and, in many cases, space travel like us. In fact, in some of the situations, Shiro, me, and the other Paladins have been the least technologically advanced in a group.

[So far, it had really just been the Arusians and the Balmerans that were less so. The Arusians mainly because they were just not that advanced at all, and the Balmerans were likely so because they'd been oppressed by the Galra for thousands of centuries. But, even the Balmerans were familiar with the idea. The Galra had come from space, as had the Alteans, and they knew of 'aliens' and space travel from stories and other races, even if they didn't have a way to do it themselves.]