SoS B1 C5 X1: Getting Acquainted
Car by car, they filled the trundler. It quickly became evident that there was a lot of work to be done, and Allarah was going to make sure it got done. Before they were even aboard she and Immuena had put their heads together to develop a work schedule for the week. Lots to do, but also a whole lot of downtime. Duties called for some very odd hours, and would be in that way stressful.
Tskhan picked up his stuff and wished his teammates luck till they meet up again in the evening. He was off to meet up with the members of the Valuselu Pact to board. The Sheljt found kinship with his new group. Unlike the Federation, which tried to keep all races on even standing, the Pact embraced the differences of the people, playing into their strengths to shore up their weaknesses. They took pride in their race and culture, almost competitively so, but they made it work. Gruist the Ka, Morkun the Aen (their leader), Sorja the Ral-Mi (who only spoke Saza), and Nashu the Parisan. Nashu seemed to take to Tskhan the most, and offered him drink from his personal stash. "Helmshigh brew," he said. "Made with the tears of Mount Helmshigh." His week was uneventful, but pleasant. Guard duty was a cinch.
Allarah tossed her bags onto her bunk, pulled her journal out, and tucked it under her arm. Her main focus was helping Immuena get things rolling. When she found a moment, she slipped away into Hedon's room and settled into a desk to update her journal and work out schedules. Allarah found more skinship than kinship with the Hedonists. Flirtation seemed to be their default mode of communication. She realized quickly that she might have to watch them around the supplies -- they were prone to gorging themselves. Laemon was moderate, at least; most times he seemed quite the contrast to his comrades. They often teased him about this. Synna the Vodalkyn, Mir the Manne-Kin, Lysjho the Ral-Mi, Laemon the Sauthe, Dimmu the Firstheart. All seemed comfortable enough with her. Even Mir let her pet it a bit. Her week was stressful. One doesn't reconcile the differences of the factions with a few pretty speeches. Everyone seemed intent on getting barbs in against the Somnolent envoy, and they enthusiastically returned the favor.
Immuena departed from her comrades with handshakes and well wishes. Once she got to the Somnolent's room-- her room-- she greeted the members, asked for names she didn't know and introduced herself in kind. Immuena found neither kinship nor skinship. It was very obvious very quickly that the Somnancy had only taken her on out of a sense of duty, and didn't particularly plan to include her on many things. They didn't speak to her much. Dmitri even turned his back to her multiple times, unmoved by her attempts at conversation. They followed orders well enough at least.
Tyodor the Firstheart (leader), Lev the (seemingly mute) blond Ireheart, Dmitri the Irheart, Misha the Gearheart, and Agata the pale. Agata seemed afraid to talk to Immuena, and usually laid in bed with the blankets over her head. She did not speak nor respond to calls to do duties. Dmitri did them in her place. Her week was difficult and demotivating. The Somnancy did not seem to have any intention to play nice.
They had yet to encounter much. Charged towers dotted the landscape, recent constructs which drew the ghosts away at night. Monsters hardly roamed the lands between towns, ("At least not on this side of the wall," Sal-Khef had told them cryptically before they'd departed.) and so the train's first week was largely uneventful, if tense.
They were five days into their journey and a day from their first stop, Vien. Sal had told them that beyond Vien was mystery. Vien itself had been the town that had fallen to hold back the horrors of the north. He did not know what they should expect. Perhaps the same as Gritm, but worse.
Immuena purposefully distracted herself with her daily duties as day-time manager, in hopes it would ease the stress set upon her by the Somnolent. At the worst points in her day, she muttered to herself, "I know... I know..." but otherwise remained intent on baring through her decisions and mild isolation. At some point, she decided to bug Tskhan with some leisurely conversation, to satiate her need to socialize and take a small break. Immuena turning to Tskhan might not have been the wisest of choices. Though the Somnolent didn't mention her hanging with her friends, they did seem to up the ante of following them. They never got in the way of her work, however, and did as she ordered. In that sense they were maddening.
Allarah woke early to scratch out a new work schedule and review power usage over the first week before meeting with the faction leaders. During her free time after the first meeting she spent her time in the Hedon room meditating, staying in the same place for hours and seemingly solidifying into stone. She acknowledged those who spoke to her, but only as much as necessary. When she finally moved, it was to log complaints, make adjustments to power usage in her data pad, and start her work for the evening. Outwardly, she remained as calm as she had been the first day, but her expressions appeared less frequently during her shifts, to those who had noticed them at all.
The complaints during the meeting were minimal. It became evident quickly to Allarah that her own faction would prove to be the power hogs. It was difficult for her to ration the heat or resources, as everyone involved in Hedon liked things just-so, and weren't a fan of rationing themselves until it was totally requisite. Synna recognized the stress they and the others were collectively putting on Allarah, and tried to help, but even she had a hard time stopping herself from overeating, oversleeping, and overdrinking. It was evident that they did not have enough liquor aboard.
Tskhan awoke in the morning and met with Morkun and the rest of the Pact for breakfast. He inquired with Morkun what the plans for day were. He was enjoying his time with the members of the pact but he was growing concerned for Immuena and Allarah. Especially with the stress of the mission on both of them. Tskhan, it seemed, had the easiest time of it. The Pact treated him well, and were all very well disciplined. As Laemon had put it: "They've really got their shit together." He'd sounded almost jealous.
"I'm expecting Vien to be another Gritm," Morkun said during a meeting with the leaders and whomever else was free to listen. "It's been left alone for a while, outside of the protection of Starcrest, so who knows what sort of things are holed up in it. I talked to Lady Venistasia while the others went to Gritm, and she said that Vien is the gate to the north, built during the war of an old era. It's the shortest way through the mountains. It's a giant tunnel they bored through the mountain and built a city inside of, and there are multiple sealed bulkheads we're going to have to restore power to to get through." He looked at Allarah. "I don't think that going through Vien is the wisest decision. I think we should risk a longer path."
"Mmmm. Uh-uh," Laemon said, shaking his head. "Lady Venistasia wants us to restore power to as many points as we can. I don't think we should skip the very first one we hit."
She frowned and nodded to Laemon. Her eyes met Morkun's. "What did you have in mind?"
"It's a three day detour over the mountains, going by the maps in the engine room."
"Those maps are old," Tyodor objected. "Who knows what passes are valid and which aren't."
"Tyodor has a point.” Allarah admitted grudgingly. “Morkun, on these maps, were there any notable settlements? Anything that may have produced a lot of power in its day?"
"There's a couple outposts on the mountain crests. Nothing that was inhabited, but they were maintained from the days before Vien was built, and would still have power going to them. Unfortunately, with Vien offline, they'd be offline too."
"No," Tyodor said. "Too risky. With Vien we know what we face, at least. Monsters we can handle."
"There was power in Grit'm. The beasts we fought there are drawn to the stuff like moths to a flame. Though it's probably better to fight the familiar enemy, it's more likely we will run into an excess of them going through Vien than going over a mountain, and retreat would be difficult. Though, going over the mountain means seriously cutting back on what energy we use because we would be the first bits of electricity passing through in a long time. Not to mention the other creatures that may have wandered over that we haven't encountered and unforeseen blockages that may very well make a three day detour a week long one. Any thoughts Narissa?" Allarah cast her eyes over to the quiet Syndicate leader.
Narissa peered over the map, brow arched. "There were batteries in Gritm, maybe there would be some in the outposts as well," she mused, scratching the bridge of her nose.
She leaned back in her seat. "People are a finite resource, energy is not, we can always park and charge. Either way we go there's going to be risks, question is which resource we think we can safely risk. Might be better to risk Vien while we're all still sharp eyed, but... I don't know. This is a real humdinger. There's good arguments for both."
"No there's not," Tyodor insisted. "Vien is where she wanted us to go. Vien is somewhere we need to restore. Vien is the road we know ."
Allarah's eyes sharpened. She studied him for a moment and could see the sweat forming on his brow. He wanted something from Vien, and she planned to keep it from him. She finally nodded to Tyodor then looked to Morkun keeping her face vacant. "He has a point. While traveling over the mountain has it's appeal, there are too many unknowns. I think I'll go with Tyodor, azrachne1.” She smiled as if embarrassed. "Sorry, force of habit. I used to travel with a Sheljt in my youth."
Morkun looked momentarily confused, then pursed his lips and rubbed his brow. "Lady Venistasia trusted you to lead and so shall I. Know this isn't an easy choice for me, though."
Tyodor did not seem to notice the comment.
"I understand. Thank you." She cast a meaningful look to Morkun then turned to the others. "We go through Vien. Now that that's settled, is there anything else of note?"
1.) A Saza word meaning “Poisonous intent." She’s basically telling Morkun that Tyodor has ulterior motives, while trying to play it off as if she had called him by some Saza nickname.
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