Rocks are falling!

It was pretty late at night, but it was decently warm and the clouds occasionally blocked out the moonlight. Anyone traveling along the coast to the north or nearby might be in for quite a surprise, however, as Viviene adopted very strange habits to work out, and today was no different!

A loud, resounding CRASH echoes along the forest, with moments before an enormous limestone or basalty boulder might have been seen falling through the sky.

Late night? Check. Hyuga cannot sleep? Check. So, here he is, on a walk, still carrying that greatshield like it is not a hefty item, though he also has his hammer in hand. Whether this came from seeing the boulder, or hearing the crash, or out of an overabundance of caution, who can say? Still, he pauses, considering his next move, and wondering if things are going to get better or worse before the night ends. To himself, he mutters something about fire and forests, before sighing and taking off at a brisk pace to see what in the ten hells is going on.

Nighttime travel can be pretty dangerous, especially if you don't keep an eye on your surroundings as you travel familiar and unfamiliar roads. But all seems fair and quiet at the moment, and Curtana simply enjoys the moonlight as he travels to his next destination. That is until a loud CRASH has the traveling knight ready his shield in defense. At first all seems fine, but the whistling of wind picks up, and only his instincts has him leaping off to the side in time to evade the crashing boulder from the heavens.

Staring at the boulder in shock for a moment to process, Curtana stands up straight before he starts to trace where the boulder came from due to it's flight path. "Hey, everything okay?! Gods above, what could have sent that flying...?" He already had his longsword in hand, ready for what must be a massive beast.

Goldenblade is dead in the path of a falling boulder, but then isn't. It's not clear that she even saw it coming, yet she adroidly stepped out of the path. How she /got/ in harm's way, is another question entirely, as it'd take a bit of stealth and a lot of not paying attention to where she's going. So as it turns out, she /does/ have both. But the impact does rouuse her from her almost sleepwalking state, complaining loudly, "The ironmonger's not over here at all." She sounds frustrated.

Theres a bit of a shaking of the earth resonating from Viviene's direction, it appears she has found a place filled with a wide variety of enormus boulders, and she had approached another one, and was beginning to pull it out of the ground, but it was so large, that unless someone approached her with her back to them, they probably wouldn't see her at all. The boulder is torn out of the ground with a loud shout, and then, she jumps, and tries to heave the stone into the air, aiming for the nearby ocean. There seems to be several uprooted boulders of varying sizes sitting on the ocean or beachhead nearby, and others that have missed their mark and landed in the meadow or forest nearby. "Three... twoo.. one..GOOOOOO!" she exclaims as she hurls the boulder up into the air, but Viviene is no catapult, so the aim she has is a lot more random.

Look out below! But, by now, its fairly easy to discern the origin of these giant rocks, as one could probably seen shooting up into the air now.

Goldenblade looks up at the sound of Viviene shouting, but the next rock isn't coming at her, so she doesn't have to dodge it. She'll come closer, so she's easier to not aim at, and she exclaims, "Cheese and crackers! What in blazes is going on here?" She looks around, taking in Viviene, and the others as they approach, then the rocks all on the ground. "You quarrying?" she asks incredulously, looking at the uprooted boulders. "Isn't this a weird time of day for that?"

The search for what must be causing boulders to be sent flying and the raiser of heart rates takes a few minutes search, but eventually Curtana manages to find the field of boulders. There's no giant beast slinging the rocks around or the cries of frightened Adventurers or Landers, so that rules out a giant monster attack. But then one of the boulders seem to be lifting itself out of the ground. With a loud feminine cry, it's sent skyward after its' brother and...the cause is a tiny Spriggan?

It seems like he's not the only one who came to investigate the rise of flying boulders in the area, so Curtana sheaths his weapon and lets out a weary sigh as he nears. "Bloody hell, you almost hit me with one of those boulders. And...I don't think she has the gear for that, but i'm not much of a miner."

Greatshield leading the way, Hyuga entered the area that was minus a few boulders. And plus a few others. He put his hammer back onto his belt, jamming the greatshield into the ground, and he took the time to look around. "Hey, Goldenblade, good to see you." Apparently he was chatty tonight. Six whole words. Otherwise, he took in the appearances of everyone else in the general vicinity, noting that the person doing the heavy lifting was fairly new to him, and the fact that they could lift boulders willy-nilly had him a bit green.

Viviene spots Goldenblade first, and offers a wave, laughing. "Quarrying? No, not really! I don't have any skills in that! Some of these rocks I pulled out had some shine to them though if you want to take a look." she suggests to her. "And I'm practicing my throws! Also trying to do stone skipping with REALLY big rocks." she said, scratching her cheek. "When I have trouble sleeping, I usually burn restless energy working out, and this is one way I do that!" she adds after, Curtana is spotted next and waves, grinning. "Psh, even if came close, you look like you could have slashed it in two just fine!" she said, giving a thumbs up and a wink, Hyuga is noted finally. "Cool shield. You want to join in on the rock tossing? bet you could do just as good! Lugging around that big piece of metal!"

Goldenblade huhs as Hyuga calls out to her, turning, and, "Oh, hey," she calls out. She glances at Cortana as he approaches also, but then looks back to Viviene expectantly. Those who get too close to her will note the Unwashed debuff that has her a bit whiffy, particularly given the physical nature of her construction work, and the Hungry debuff, which is glowing an angry red. She apparently hasn't eaten in a couple days. Adventurers may know of these Fae Moods some people get into.

Viviene gets a confused look. "Skipping ...? Look, that's not how you skip stones, right. Skipped stones since I was a boy." She looks on the ground, finds a flat chip half the size of her palm, and wings it at the water sidearm. It goes quite a ways, skipping aling with the spin she put on it. "That's how you skip a stone."

Yet another Adventurer seems to be arriving to investigate the falling boulders, this one sporting a rather impressive greatshield that makes Curtana's own shield look small in comparison. Hyuga gets a nod of respect and a waved hand as he is spotted, but he blinks as he takes a second look towards Goldenblade. Frowning in concern, he scans through his inventory before materalizing a wrapped sandwich before walking over to offer it. "You might want to eat something before that debuff gets any worse...I never seen Hunger flash that deep red before." Certainly doesn't seem like Viviene is in danger, but he can still offer help to someone else.

"Well, sure, but my sword would have taken a heck of a durability loss. Repair work takes time and resources, and that can get expensive." He almost seems a little indigiant that Viviene would suggest using a sword like that, and gives another look. He seems to be thinking about something, but Goldenblade brings up a good point. "I agree, these stones would need to be a lot flatter for proper skipping. That's more like rock chunking."

Hyuga looks over the boulders, assessing his own strength, and deciding to take a deeper look at things. Though he can likely left them, as any one of them might only be slightly larger than his shield, he speaks simply. "I will respectfully decline, rather to watch you, than to do heavy lifting at night." His greatshield becomes a wall upon which he leans, gesturing at the boulders. "I would not dream of interrupting." A nod to the other folks, whom he did not know, and he took up watching the antics. A pouch of dried fruit hung on his belt, and it became his snack for the time being.

Viviene is given thought by curtana's words as she looks over to one of the uprooted boulders near her. "You know, making them flat might be a good idea." she said, as she begins channeling her earth magic to 'crush' and shape the stone into something more flat. "I've skipped stones before, but why not trying doing whats normally impossible for us?" she said with a grin to everyone. Curtana's attention to Goldenblade has her look. "Yeesh, He's right, you should eat, Goldenblade. What have you been up to?" she asks as she continues shaping the rock, until its mostly flat, but there is obvious imperfections, as her skill with earth is middling at best! she grips it by the side, still incredibly large, and prepares to heft it in a horizontal throw towards the water! "And seriously? You don't carry extra swords? What if it breaks in the middle of a fight?"

Goldenblade huhs to Cortana, but will take the offered sandwich. She eats it in like three bites, and is lucky to come away with all her fingers. The Hungry debuff fades to a mild amber, and she's still stinky, though. She nods, though, as he agrees with the proper method of skipping stones. "See, he knows."

She hrmphs at swords breaking in a fight, and says, "That won't happen if they're made right and used right. I've been using sword since I've been here, and never seen a sadder lot. It's like they were designed by the most junior engineer on his first day on the job." She's seen one or two of that sort of design, usually passed around as a joke. But as to what she's been up to, she says, "No time to eat. Working on building a hydoelectric generator for Eas." The Olympus people, at least, will know of the huge castle on a waterfall. "Got to buy seventeen tons of steel," she explains. "But this isn't the ore shop." Why she would think it's the ore shop is anyone's guess.

An eyebrow twitches as the hedge knight watches Viviene alter the shape of the rocks with her magic, and he pinches the bridge of his nose with a metal-covered hand. "That...wasn't quite a suggestion, but you seem to be enjoying this." And it seems the greatshield-bearer is settling down to watch more boulders learn how to fly. Well, every Adventurer has their quirks, and he's no different.

Speaking of which, Curtana taps the hilt of his sheathed blade and gives it a fond smile. "Well, i'm kinda partial to this one. This was my first sword that I ever made here, and I been doing my best to keep it upgraded, but i'm no master smith." He shrugs his shoulders as if to deflect attacks on himself. "I have spares of course, but I always carry this one with me."

The sandwich is quickly devoured, but the mention of Goldenblade's current project as him giving her a surprised stare, eyes wide. "Wait, you're trying to make a hydroelectric dam? Good lord, that's an impressive undertaking. I wouldn't know the first step in helping with that. Most I ever done construction wise is helping to build some houses out of brick." Frowning as the debuff doesn't fully go away, he retrieves yet another sandwich and offers it to Goldenblade. Best to take care of that now if she'll stand long enough for it.

Hyuga merely attempts to not be overwhelmed by the presence of so many people. Like, more than him. Still, he seems to listen intently to what's going on. He looks over at Curtana, then evaluates the blade as best as he can. Of course, Hyuga preferred the hammer on his belt, with one side for killing and the other for working the forge, but who could tell. He decided to clear his throat. "That is a fine blade to continue evolving, friend. No shame in it." More dried fruit is popped into his mouth like candy. He seemed content to join the conversation, though there was a slight hesitance to his demeanor, as if nervous inside of that platemail.

"You know, with how much shine I saw on a bunch of the rocks I threw earlier, there might be at least iron in them." Viviene mentions to Goldenblade, and nods to Curtana and Hyuga after. "Goldenblade here fixed me up some blades that last much much longer, and I'm keen to work on upgrading them. I finally invested into weapon-making myself, though I can't gather materials to save my life. Every time I try, I just shatter the ore." she said, as she then begins heaving, gripping that rock, as she prepares to hurl it in a horizontal throw towards the ocean. "Three.. two.. one.." she counts down, her legs planting themselves, as the ground trembles a little and her feet crumble into the ground, and the boulder is sent hurtling across the ground, and over the ocean. It skips in giant bounds for three steps before sinking!

Goldenblade takes the second sandwich, and it goes down as fast as the first. It must be her insane evasion skill keeping her fingers clear. The sandwich is gone in 4 bites, and the debuff is now gone, though it shows she's still a meal or two low. Just not debuffed for lack of food. She nods to Curtana, the, about her hydroelectric project, and admits, "Only worked on one, myself, and I was just a bricklayer then, but here, I can work out all of how it's supposed to go. Couldn't do this back in the real world, of course."

At the mention of swords, she will draw one of the two at her hip. The steel itself has a golden tint, but it's not gold, it's somehow infused with raw elemental fire. She grins. "This one's mine, made them myself as well," she notes. That seems to be a weaponsmith thing. "Need to improve my skill, though, before I can really do more with it."

At Viviene's mention of iron in the stones, and says, "Yeah, I may need to smelt it myself. Kaydon from NWA's helping me. The steel we use will be really critical, and he's about the best in the game. I know the basics of metallurgy, but he's got all the details."

The compliment helps to ease Curtana and he smiles towards Hyuga. "Thanks. I know it can be silly having a personal attachment to a sword, but it's been a constant companion wherever I go." He draws the weapon out for Goldenblade to take a look if she desires, and he whistles an impressed tune at her own blade. The longsword was of simple design and doesn't have any sort of element imbued into the blade, but it shines in the moonlight even more than his heavy armor. "What kind of metal you use? It still sounds like you know what you're doing, so any tips could help it last longer."

Curtana nods his head towards Viviene after the boulder is sent flying. "I'm the same way. It's either monster drops or whatever someone is selling that I use in my little projects. Even if I find the ore, i'm terrible at refining it." Frowning slightly and with his curiousity getting the better of him, the brown-haired swordsman walks on over to a different boulder and gives it a tap. "I feel silly but...mind if I try as well?"

Hyuga looks to Goldenblade. "We should talk shop, though my penchant is more for armor, and... well, you have seen my usual anxiety for speaking." He looked to Viviene and watched her form, chuckling and shaking his head. He thought that he'd be able to heft the large boulders without employing magic, but he did not want to try that in front of new people, lest he fail and make a fool of himself.

    Curtana gets another nod. "Personal attachments are what make us human, I say." He bangs a lightly clenched fist on his shield. "I take more care of this big bastard than I do myself at times." That greatshield looks equal parts metal and hewn from rock.

Viviene fistpumps as she manage to skip a stone across to some degree at least, and steps back, aiming to give Curtana a hefty pat on the shoulder. "Go for it! Lets see what you can do. Oh yeah, I'm Viviene, Bladesinger and Sleeping Knights Guildie." she introduces. "You ever want a duel, find me and we'll throw down!" she exclaims with a daring grin. "Let see if you can get more than three skips!" she offers Curtana a high five, then looks at Goldenblade. "Let me know if you want any help with the heavy lifting moving stuff. Helping out Eas is a good cause!"

Goldenblade says to Curtana, "Oh, it was pretty normal looking, when I forged it. It's probably the equivalent of maybe a 439 equivalent in real life," she's referring to grades of steel, "titanium-stabilized, chrome alloy, low carbon, heat resistant. Practically immune to corrosion. The tint is because my best attacks channel fire through the blade, and that's changed it a bit. Not for the worse, because 439 doesn't care about heat."

To Hyuga, she says with a wry smirk, "Oh, I'm an armor smith as well. But there's so many in game, no one really cares about me." As far as anxiety for speaking, she can only look on cluelessly. "Why? If you know the subject, speak up, and if you don't, ask questions and learn." She's from an era when shy people were browbeaten until they grew a backbone or shrivelled up and died, so it's sink or swim with her. No treading water.

She nods to Viviene about helping at Eas, and says, "That's always going to be needed, until we kick the Palace Landers out. I know why they attacked Mac Anu, though. They'd tricked the Guardians and got them on their side. The city would never have fallen without that. The garrison at Eas held them off once, and they'll do it again, but we all need to rally around."

Curtana's smile grows as he sees Hyuga seems to really take pride in his shield. He could honestly see the greatshield being a weapon unto itself, and it's always good to see pride in your possessions. It shows just how far you have come. "I'm kinda the same way, but usually when it comes to helping out other people. Adventurers or Landers, as long as they need help, i'll do my best to give it."

The hedge knight nods his head to himself as Goldenblade goes into depth on the blade and makes a few mental notes to go looking for better quality steel in the future. "I channel fire as well, but I also dabble in light-based magic as well through mine, but no changes like your swords there. Maybe because I mix up the two." The mention of Mac Anu does draw a disgusted look from Curtana, and he sighs. "I been wondering how it fell to the Palace Landers, and that explains a lot. I been there a few times and always loved looking out on the canals."

With the goahead from Viviene, Curtana places both hands on his boulder of choice and molds it a more naturally smooth and rounded shape, perfect for skipping. Perhaps a bit too smooth though, as when he starts to spin in place to get the proper speed for the skipping boulder, it slides out of his grasp and goes flying out of his grasp! Rolling straight into a second boulder and with a loud CRACK, both shatter into rubble. He rubs the back of his neck in embarrasment. "...well, with that embarrasment, I should introduce myself as well. I'm Curtana, a member of Moon Tree and a self-styled knight. And apparently bad at skipping rocks."

    Rubbing the back of his head, Hyuga blushed a bit. He had always had some trouble talking to people, but that felt like another life ago. He shook his head. "Things that come easy to others have never come easy to me, but that was back then, and this is now I suppose. I am Hyuga of the Porcelain Hunters." Reaching into the pouch, he found it empty, and made a sad face very quickly. Instead of dwelling, he watched where Curtana's throw had landed, and moves his head appreciatively. Once more, he considered trying himself, and decided the same thing: better to be thought a fool than proven one.

Viviene gives Curtana an encouraging thumbs up. "Just gotta keep pracitcing, you know? It takes time and effort to get good at somethin' like this, doubt you ever threw huge rocks on the otherside, huh?" she said, then looks at Goldenblade. "Doesn't matter what world you're from, a place has war and soldiers. I know all too well, I was military on the other side before the apocalypse. Lieutenant." she said. "I do wonder how my squad's doing now and then.. but if you need someone with those skills, point me at the enemy, help me build a team, and I'll send them packing." she said simply and seriously.

Goldenblade nods to Curtana about Mac Anu. "Yeah, with the Guardians on their side, there was nothing anyone could have done. I was expecting them to land at Takamatsu, and we were going to take them to the cleaners, but I guess that's why they didn't land there." As far as channeling fire, through the sword, she can only shrug. "It started happening after I started using the Ragnarok Blade attack."

Hyuga's explanation draws a shrug. She's barely socialble in a strange mood, she's not going to be sensitive to nuance or feelings. She's barely that when she's /not/ stramge mooding.

She arches a brow at Viviene and her RL military experience. "Wait, Army Lieutenant or Navy?" she asks warily. "Wait, a squad would be Army, right? Well, hopefully you studied ancient tactics in school, because we don't have anything like squad-level weapons or long range artillery. We're probably Napoleonic, tactically. We've got magic equivalent to muskets or cannon, but nothing bigger, and no tanks..."

A fellow Hunters Guild member as well? Hyuga is certainly full of surprises. "Well, if you ever need aid when you go on any quests for the Guild, let me know. It's basically my full time job at this point."

Viviene is right about that, though it doesn't make his failure less of an embarrasment. "That's very true. A few years ago, I didn't carry anything heavier than my desktop computer for LAN parties." Curtana does raise an eyebrow as he tries to picture the short Spriggan as the leader of a military squad, but everyone was different before the Apocalypse. "I'm sure they're doing fine, if they're here with us or on the other side."

Curtana gives a not to Goldenblade. "That makes sense to me, I only been using basic attacks such as Firebrand. I been meaning to do some practice, but I get distracted with just exploring." But he does shake his head as Goldenblade starts to question the value of that military experience. "Not necessarily. There's proper trigger discipline, hand signals and knowing how to make a group work together that Viviene could still use. I'm certain her firearm knowledge would come into use for firing lines as well."

    Hyuga nods at Curtana, accessing the proper menus for his note taking system. He took that down, then sent Curtana a friend request. It would do no good to forget such a resource out in the world. Who knows when it would come in handy? "I tend to draw enemies' fire, in case you had not discerned that. If you need a reliable front liner, give me a whistle." He had no military experience, and so he could not comment much on the military conversation. "To be honest, I have not seen a great deal of combat, and no PvP to speak of, but I am always ready to assist."

"Army, though it was a nonstandard squad. Specialist operatives focusing on breaching tactics and infiltrations." Viviene started with to Goldenblade. "Its less about what we don't have, but what we DO have, and how we can apply what was standard tactics to our world to things that are here. Its a matter of careful and thoughtful application, Just like how you are applying what you know about Hydroelectrics to create something. Discipline, team cohesion, and a plan make all the difference." she looks to the sky, a bit, and yawns a little. "There are some tactics we can employ that landers probably don't know about, and when it comes to war, I prefer the most cleanest, effective soloution to a battle with the fewest lives lost." she yawns again. "Well, I should go 'n get some rest. See you all later, going to find a place to camp out."

Goldenblade arches a brow to Curtana. "'Group management' is modern pansy-ass bullcrap you get from college sissies who can't handle someone shouting at them." Goldenblade is apparently letting the seventy-five year old grumpy old man out. Kids today! "Leadership is telling people to do the right thing at the right time. And if they don't do it, they're dead. Except here, you respawn, so no one really takes the lessons home. And trigger discipline? Well, /no one's/ got that, in this game, if anyone had it, people would choke in surprise. It's totally free fire, that I've seen. Hand signals could be useful in some situations, I guess. But overall, the battlefield's mainly Napoleonic. Infantry on foot, Cavalry on horse, or those idiotic peko things." She sighs at pekos. "The important tactics are when to charge, when to hold, and like that, and mages are like grenadiers, or field artillery maybe." As to firearm tactics, she shrugs. "Maybe..."

She nods as Viviene describes her squad. "Ah, one of the /special/ squads." She touches her finger to the side of her nose. She thinks she's in the know. "They're pretty different from regular soldiers, right enough." She nods at what Viviene says about the things they did, and says, "And I need to go find tons of steel. Where'd they put that stupid marketplace." Hint, it's a full day's hike away elsewhere on the Island.

Curtana doesn't hesitate in the slightest as he accepts the friend request. "I'm kinda all over the place, so i'm an army knife on the battlefield. Frontlines as well, but I can be a second shield or a damage dealer for you, and even a few basic healing spells. Never be afraid to send me a chim if you need aid."

Goldenblade certainly lays into him with a small rant, but there's certainly a lot of truth in there. "It's facts like that is why i'm certain I would be terrible if I try to give aid in the war. I don't exactly have any military experience myself. If i'm in a group, i'm the type to take orders and not give them." A gauntlet raises to scratch the back of his head and the hedge knight lets out a sigh. "I'll just stick with slaying monsters here."

It certainly seems like Viviene has a lot on her mind, heavier than the boulders she's been tossing. Thinking about it for only a moment, he sends her a friend request as well. "You should get some rest while you can, but why not do it here? We can use the boulders as shelter." Focusing on the Spriggan, the tall Pooka looks her in the eyes. "Besides, i'm certain your friends are looking for you as well. I lost someone several years ago myself, with no clue if they still draw breath." It's best to show that he cares when someone seems lost. Sometimes, it's all they need.

    Curtana made a fair point. Hyuga found himself rather tired suddenly, as if all his adrenaline from actually talking to people was finally wearing off. Nodding to himself, he began to access his item menus, looking for the camping gear he knew to be there. It was a sizeable item of note, though nothing Epic or anything, but he was proud of having a better than average camping system. Soon, his greatshield seemed to be like a doorway into his tent, and Hyuga disappeared inside. "Camping here is a good idea. I really do not feel like walking home..."