{WS Herd Event} And Comes The Flood

[magnadearel]

((This is a closed Wind Serpent Herd Event.))




Tibantas eyed the dark sky on the horizon warily as he stood near the river bank. It seemed this spring the storms were thick all around them, but not much had been over them. That had been worrying enough, but today he'd noticed something else even more concerning. The river near the herd was rising. It had a bend that directed it away from the herd's camp.

The stallion watched as more bank crumbled into the rushing river. No this wouldn't wait. He took off quickly and went to find the herd's leader, Zosime. He clattered into her den.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but there's something you need to see."

Zosime looked up and frowned slightly. "Alright." Tibantas led her to the developing situation, and explained what he'd found. The pair took a moment to look it over.

"Good job. We need to get started on this right way. I'll go call the others." Zosime headed back to their dwellings and made a summoning call. She waited while the others gathered and joined her in the opening. After most of them had arrived, she broke the news.

"We have a crisis developing and we need everyone's help. The river is about to break it's bank. We will need two task forces. One will work to shore up the failing bank, and the other will dig out a trench to help divert the water. If we fail, the river will come right through here."

She fixed a red eye on each of her precious wind serpents. "I know we can pull through this if we work together and work hard. Let's go!"





Welcome to the Wind Serpent Herd's first rp event!
To participate, your wind serpent must pick a task and roll a 1d10 with a small rp post with what your pony is doing. It is possible to fail or succeed in this event. Please direct any questions to magnadearel. Enjoy!

Your mission options:
Assist with shoring up the crumbling bank.
Assist in clearing a channel to help direct the flow of water away from camp.

Starts: 6/16
Ends: 6/23 6/27  

[xo maho]

Task: Assist with shoring up the crumbling bank.

(Picking task and rolling while on commute, will write out post when home! )  

[xo maho]

Mahogany Sunset

Task: Assist with shoring up the crumbling bank.

(Picking task and rolling while on commute, will write out post when home! )

[[Omg go me...]]

Alarm bells began ringing in Yarara's head as soon as he heard the summoning call. It was not often he was unaware of the reason for the call before it went out; often, he had reason to know about the call in advance or even could be the source of the call. In his mind, his not knowing about the call meant it was something internal and emergent. The fact that it was Zosime's call was even more startling, since they often coordinated together.

Yarara put down the nesting material he had been gathering in his individual, private quest to ready the nests the herd might someday use. Running to the gathering place, he listened intently as Zosime described the critical situation. He immediately piped up, declaring that he could lead the party to shore up the bank. If nothing else, his physicality could buy them time. He called for a strategist, if any wanted to volunteer.

Leading the way to the questionable bank, Yarara began scooping rocks and sand toward the edge. The bank curved up, with water dribbling over the edge of the bowl it created. The bank needed to be higher, but he wasn't sure how to accomplish that. Hoping his strategists could help, he moved as much material as he could toward the river.

---
218 words  

[Avid_RPer18]

The summoning call went up when Paion wasn't actively tending his grow beds. The storms that had been lashing the area lately had been providing plenty of water for his herbs and plants, so they've been flourishing in the spring rains. Keeping on top of the weeds did well to keep the worst of the labor at bay, it was an easy season for growing. He flew to join the others forthwith and listened on with grim expression at the news that was passed on to them.

Considering the time of year, it was of utmost importance that every wind serpent pull their weight to make sure they and their home remained safe. Come hell or high water, as the saying was. The herbalist had zero issues with getting messy and volunteered to be among those to help clear or dig a channel to divert the water away. Humming thoughtfully as his green eyes scanned the estimated start for the channel, Paion pondered aloud. "For any significant digging we do, we should keep well woven baskets or blankets or hides on hand to collect the earth and rocks we displace. It could be perhaps used for the other team, to help shore up the banks. I'll grab what I can from my stores." With a beating of his wings, he headed off to his den and work spaces, collected what baskets and blankets he could spare, and returned to the head of the to-be channel with them balance on his back, with a basket in his mouth. Setting the things down for others to use, Paion set himself to digging.

WC: 270
Task: Assist in clearing a channel to help direct the flow of water away from camp  

[xo maho]

Yarara called a loud "thank you" to Paion, filling some of the baskets with the debris he could gather from the small trench that had been started. His neck muscles worked overtime as he ferried the dirt - mud, really - back to the riverbank. There was not much more he could do than drag it across the ground, but using the basket was a hundred times more efficient than shuffling with his feet and scooping what he could with his wings.

Piling dirt high around the river's bank, he did what he could to build and reinforce it.

Task: shoring up the crumbling bank
WC: 97  

[magnadearel]

Tibantas jumped right in with his herd mates. His usual task of hunting and gathering didn't leave him with much knowledge of building, particularly a bank that was eroding away. He nodded to Yarara for taking on that difficult task. The stallion headed over to join Paion. A better trench for the water to flow away from their home if the bank should break was important. And digging was easy.

"Good idea," he said as Paion gathered some baskets. He had some hides from hunting too. Tibantas went to get them and laid them out. Filling them up with dirt and taking them over to Yarara to be used with his task. He hoped the herd could save their hard work and precious home.


Task: Assist in clearing a channel
WC: 124  

[xo maho]

Yarara grinned at Tibantas as the stallion scooped dirt into Paion's baskets. "Good teamwork, everyone," he said. Trying to figure out how to deal with more than one basket at a time, Yarara hooked one with his mouth and another with his tail. He walked backwards toward the river, pushing one basket with his tail and pulling the other with his long incisors. When he reached the bank, he slopped the mud held in the basket in his mouth over the growing mound. He smoothed it with his tail, ignoring the grating between his scales. If they failed, he supposed he would get a decent bath, anyway... Grabbing the other basket with his mouth, he did the same as he had with the first, smoothing the mud strategically between rocks whose steadying soil was quickly eroding away from the burgeoning water.

Stacking the baskets, Yarara scooped them up and ran them back to Paion and Tibantas. "I'll be right back!" he said as he dropped the baskets. "I'm going to get some straw to give the bank some strength." Thinking again about the baskets, he picked one up and took it with him. He headed back to the nesting grounds, half-running and half-flying, sweeping the unused straw and thrushes into the basket. They could gather more whenever foals came. To his knowledge, no one was awaiting foals at the moment...

Throwing a piece of canvas over the basket to keep the lightweight material in place, Yarara ran back to the river. Unpleasant though it was, he grabbed the straw in his mouth and spread it out over the bank. He added more mud on top of it, hoping it would add some structure to what was basically a pile of running river muck.

WC: 293
Task: Shoring up the bank!  

[magnadearel]

Tibantas grinned. They were all pulling together to get the job done. He only hoped their efforts were enough! No time for slacking. Hooves may not have been the best for digging soppy mud, but he did the best he could. He scooped it out of the channel and filled whatever basket was placed near him by Yarara.

"Good idea!" He called when he saw the other bringing back straw. Every little bit could help. For several minutes he focused upon digging and filling baskets. It didn't take him long before he was covered haunch deep in mud. He looked at his flank and snorted. "Perhaps ya'll should stick me on the bank too," Tibantas joked. He worked to broaden the channel and deepen the middle to encourage the water to flow through it instead of through their home. By the time he was done, he was sure even his crest feathers would be muddy!


Task: Assist in clearing a channel
WC: 155  

[magnadearel]

They were struggling, Zosime could tell as she watched the river. The water was winning. She saw Yarara go and fetch straw. Yes they needed more materials than just mud. She swooped off and went to collect small and medium stones. Hopefully the water would have a harder time washing these away, but she couldn't be sure.

"Don't give up!" She called as she brought the stones to Yarara. "I hope these can help too."


Task: Shoring up the bank.  

[Avid_RPer18]

Everyone coming together to fight the impending disaster made him feel proud of his herd mates, but there was much work to be done and not a lot of time to do it. The curve or depth of the channel could be too shallow lest in the event of the banks failing, the water simply rushing over all of their combined work. Paion made sure to firmly tamp the sides and bottom of the channel once he was satisfied that that particular portion that he had been digging and clearing was deep enough.


Task: Clearing a channel
WC: 93  

[xo maho]

(Task: Shoring up the bank. WC: 157.)

Yarara watched the others clear a trench as he pushed on, pressing mud into the side of the bank. He grinned at Tibontas as the stallion mentioned sticking himself to the bank. "Leaning on it had occurred to me! Maybe if this all works out, we can all take a rest against our new wall when we're done..." He gazed down the length of the bank, hoping it would be enough.

When Zosime brought him a batch of stones, he pressed them in layers into the mud - mud, stone, mud, straw, and on. He thanked her as she rushed on, whether that was to thought or to action. Would the added structure keep it together? He just hoped he wasn't near the bank if they ended up with a disfavorable result.

Switching out the baskets again, Yarara kept going. Nature didn't stop for anyone, and to protect his home - his family - he wouldn't stop until he dropped.  

[Avid_RPer18]

Paion took some time to transport a couple of baskets of stones and earth up to those shoring up the riverbanks. It was slow going, since one was balanced on his back, supported by his wings, and the other hung from his mouth. The urgency of their tasks kept him focused. He did make a note to himself as he dropped off the filled baskets to collect an empty one and an emptied hide to carry back down to the channel. After everything either came to a head or the disaster was averted, after everyone's adrenaline wore off, he'd need to make the rounds to see if there were any sprains, strains, or pulled muscles after all was said in done. Everyone was working so very hard, it warmed the very cockles of the herbalist's heart. Barring the worst happening, heavens forbid, he'd check in on the lot of them. Back at the channel, Paion set out the basket and hide along the way to returning to the section of channel he was working on.

Task: Clearing a channel
WC: 175  

[xo maho]

Task: Shoring up the bank.
WC: 127

As Paion brought him more stones, Yarara carefully helped unload them from the stallion's back. He balanced the basket with the arch of his wing, with his tail - whatever limb he could offer to help. With each round, Yarara offered Paion a nod and a quiet vocalization of gratitude. Fatigue was setting in, and he was pretty sure places of his skin were growing raw. Funnily enough, some of it felt protected by the mud, while other parts of him were more irritated by it. His muzzle, particularly, felt more sore with each row of stones he set down.

Still, though, he had to keep going. They would take care of each other after this - but they had to have a place in which to do that.  

[magnadearel]

Tibantas could feel his muscles burn. They weren't use to this kind of use and were protesting. He paused to gasp for breath. All four legs trembled under him. How many baskets of mud had he moved? Was the bank high enough and wide enough to withstand the onrushing torrent? They'd find out all too soon he feared.

The stallion groaned as he forced himself to move. Once this was over he was going to lay down some where and not get up. Paion and Yarara and Zosime were still working hard. He reared up and drove his hooves into the hard ground to kick up clods. With enough dirt loosened up, he shoveled it into baskets for the others.


Task: Assist in clearing a channel
WC: 120  

[magnadearel]

Zosime hissed encouragement to her herdmates. They were getting tired and so was she. It felt like the heaviest rock always ended up on the same side. She stacked the stones she gathered for the bank builders within easy reach.

Something made her pause. Zosime stood and looked upriver. Her ears swiveled and she watched the rushing water. She could sense something was something and it filled her with dread. "Quickly now, we must clear out soon."

Task: Shoring up the bank