ERode — Roleplayer Guild

From atop the sandy dunes of the Scorchrise, heavy boots skid against the decline as a girl half-ran, half-leapt down the final stretch of land separating the dunes from the abandoned hamlet. An avalanche of sand heralded her arrival and an equal amount found its way inside her shoes, but she was all hearty cheer as her laces came undone and she tripped on them, sending her head over heels, rolling all the way down as her belongings were strewn out all around her. The oil lamp bounced a few steps away, the pickaxe buried itself a few inches away from her head, and a broken compass rolled to a stop right in front of the intrepid treasure hunter, its needle tick-ticking away as it slowly spun to a stop.

She pushed her head out of the sand, shaking the particles out of her hair and ears with the affection of a shaggy dog, before her emerald eyes locked onto the compass, upon where the needle pointed.

A toothy smile formed. The needle still pointed towards the village, so it had to be where her next big jackpot would be! Jumping up to her feet, she gathered her scattered belongings, emptied her boots of a bucketful of sand and said good-bye to the dunes.

As the marital dispute between Daryl and Sheryl turned into a non-verbal exchange of laughs and sighs, a newcome stepped into the heart of the nameless village. Baby-faced and lightly-dressed, there was no doubt that she had come from the Scorchrise Dunes: her skin was cooked reb as a boiled crab and her lips were dried and cracked, split apart with the blood having congealed into something darker. Her rucksack, which must have once been full, was now wholly empty, swaying with every step she took, and her clothing, while undoubtedly made of durable material for a trek through the sands, was fraying and sported amateurish patches.

And yet, upon reaching the heart of the settlement, this girl was still energetic enough to throwing her hands up into the air and draw in a deep lungful of air.

“Rahahaha! I have ARRIVED!”

Then, it was ten strides towards the old well, a cheerful tune sung out in an off-kilter pitch as she pulled up a leaking bucket of water that she promptly upended over herself. Once. Twice. Thrice! She shook her hair out once more, flecks of water spraying everywhere, then tied it back into a simple ponytail. Finally, it felt like she could breathe in without inhaling dust. And thus, what else was to do except pump a fist in the air and shout, “And now, I have REVIVED!”

Hurt like a mother hen though, now that her lips were bleeding properly and her aches were roused away by the cold water, but what was a girl to do but grin and bear with it? Setting the leaky bucket on the side of the well, she finally turned towards the couple who looked just as new as she was to this empty village and waved at them.

“Heya strangers,” she said, emerald eyes sparkling, “Name’s MacKinnon. You’re settling here too, yeah? Got that kinda feeling, and I always trust those feelings. Anyhow, saw like a whole buncha others from this hill I was standing on, all heading towards this place, so ya wanna be neighbourly and help me patch up this well real quick?”

The girl motioned towards the rotted rope, the hole-y bucket, the wobbly pulley.

“We can host a whole drinking party afterwards!”

And die together, if it turns out that this village was abandoned due to the poisoned well, but MacKinnon was the lucky sort, so what were the chances of that happening?

Practically zero!
ERode Member

A Spiny Ant

Status

Bio

Most Recent Posts
