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oz

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Registered: 2016-11-20

Posts: 1,659

Hotroot and..A Box Ghost?-Camp Willow Log

==I spoofed a couple otters for the log==

Who:

Taran-Camp Willow Cook and Guard

Baxtor- Camp Willow Guard

Hawkeye - Visiting otter..retired warrior

Gaheris -Skipper

Some other spoofed otters

Log:

Over by the residential clearing by the Dormitory Gaheris and a few volunteers had assembled, shovels ready for some hot root hunting. The ruins of the old houses were just beyond the clearing surrounded by trees and overgrown with the woods taking over it was hard to see them now but wander far enough and one might tip over a bit of wall or find some partially burnt wood in the brush.

Hawkeye had came to visit and decided to stick around and help out as well, the otters would need extra help most likely so...why not.
Taran stood nearby, he had a bandage on but was hidden by the tunic but he was well enough now to help look.

Baxtor had a rake and some gloves, he was ready to help and to keep an eye out for danger.

A couple guards stayed within sight of the group of otters, the woods may seem peaceful but a guard or two will always be around, just in case.

"Righ'. We got all who's comin'?" The Skipper asks before continuing on regardless "Righ'. Y'all know wha' hotroot looks like but if y'forget the plant Wavey 'ere's drawn one" it's a bit of a crude drawing which Gah shows the group but it gets the important details across like leaf shape and stuff "We're not expectin' any t'ave grown pods yet so look careful. Y'see some y'call out. Don't go yankin' it out of the ground. If y'see anythin' wha' looks like seeds in the house grab 'em, we'll work out wha' they are later. Also if y'see anythin' in the houses tha' looks important or like it ain't goin' t'survive out 'ere take it and we'll store it" they've salvaged some personal items but not everyone likes digging through the remains and working on surviving always took so much time. Gah waves his spade over his head and moves in to the trees "Come on then! Watch yer step. Y'need a place t'start let me know and I'll point yer at a house"

Taran nods, he was ready and willing to help find something today, hopfully a hot root plant or two."i am ready Skipper"

Hawkeye smiles "I remember there use ta be a lot of hotroot around. I am for sure wanting to do my best to help out"Hey he is visiting so why not help as well, he use to help the camp many seasons ago in fact.

Baxtor nods as he glaces around, he knows what to look for but is unsure of digging any other memories up, but he stays here, for the time being .

The two guards just keep a look out from the treeline, the day is sunny so that will be helpful, a few clouds in the sky but otherwise not too many to worry about rain any time soon.

Gaheris as a map of the old homes and points a few otters one way, another couple the other way and finally looks to Taran, Hawkeye and Baxtor "Well we're 'appy f'the 'elp Hawkeye. Used t'be a dozen different kinds just in the camp. Now we 'ave one and it's rubbish. 'ere. Y'lot can come this way. Ol'Lochear used t'win the 'ottest hotroot contest every year, his place was this way...used t'ave his garden all walled off an' he'd yell at y'if y'looked at it..." he's also not entirely comfortable with being in the ruins.

Taran nods as he follows the Skipper and hmms "So..the wall is likely damaged some, or maybe still in tack but there would be like weeds, right?"

Hawkeye smiles"I may remember that name, he also didn't seem ta like dibbuns...course I didn't come into camp..too often, course me sister did..I mean she and her mate lived here.."He frowns but then smiles at a memory and a thought"A wall might of helped the plants not get as damaged as some of the other areas, one never knows till ya look and see"

Baxtor frowns "I dislike weeds and thorn bushes and some of those likely are growing too now, a couple otters had started ta clear some old wood from houses, then stopped"

A guard heads to another part of camp and one stays nearby just sort of watching. One otter starts to clear some old boards, carefully, in an area close by.

Gaheris chuckles "Yer in the wrong place if don't like weeds and thorns, this is the wilds woods now" he smiles at Hawkeye for a second "Oh aye, he did not like dibbuns. He complained t'me mum so much when any tried t'break int' the garden. It was a game, get in, get a left, get out before 'e caught y'...hardly anyone got out" he passes by the remains of a few places as he talks, wading through undergrowth and having to stop and find the ruins some times as he counts cabins to find the right one.

Taran is not sure which one they are looking for so he waits, the one he use to live is is in a slightly different area not too far from this area, he might look some more there but not right now, right now he is helping with any for sure possible locations for hot root plants, and the good kind of hot root plants.

Hawkeye chuckles "Anything can be a game fer a wee dibbun and sometimes even teens." He glaces around and moves a blacken board out of the way carefully so no one steps on the nails in the board.

Baxtor frowns "True...this could take a while ta clean, then again if we know a fer sure area its just the plants we be looking fer right now..but we still should clean up some of this even after that...slowly and surely, maybe leave some overgrowth but not much"

One guard walks over to a pile of burnt boards and moves one with help while another guard takes over to help keep watch, still just in case there is trouble as it always pays to be on guard.

Gaheris comes up to remains of a wall that's partly collapsed next to the blackened remains of a cabin. Most the the buildings in the camp were made out of wood, they burnt well. He pats the wall which comes up to about knee height but it about twice as tall in places "This is it" he says before hoping over the wall and pausing, his ears perked. After a moment he speaks again "...When we were kids we didn't even think death would stop 'im, thought he'd haunt 'is garden forever...guess not" he sounds sad about it. The garden is wild. Vegetables and herbs have broken free from their patches and strayed in to the remains of the house. The fire did a good job fertilising the place "I ain't cleanin' this up...and I'm not makin' anyone else do it either. The woods can 'ave it, we don't need the room" too many died there and after the early days of digging the dead from the rubble he has no desire to do more than he had to with the place, he doesn't even go near the house to search for anything left in it.

Taran nods "Ok..so we just look for hot root plants, that's sounds...good sir" He looks at the house and then the gardens and looks around "Any..herbs that are useful maybe?"

Hawkeye nods "Best ta just look fer the hot root, leaving some of the homes...covered and taken over by weeds and stuff be best since some are close to the woods..a vermin may just think tis abandoned place and move onwards"

Baxtor says, "I know very little on wot herbs be good and what herbs are not, that's healer business I say, though good ta make sure we stay, well stocked suppose"

The guard nods, he sort of finds the ruins creepy but stays close by as he looks around for what looks like a hot root leave or two.

Gaheris looks around the garden and ducks round a bush, pushing further in "Aye, lookin' is the general idea. 'ave a look at the house too if y'like...Don't know wha' the healers might want. Taran probably knows the cookin' ones...maybe grab a bit of each. If the 'ealers want it we know where it is t'get more"

Taran nods as he looks around, he looks close to one side of the wall, sort of for little wooden stakes like ones for a garden, he hmms softly ..there is a lot of dandelion leaves, those are good for salads and has some healing uses too..he looks closely at one small leaf he finds but is not for sure on what it is, maybe there is some bigger leaves close bye.

Hawkeye asks, "The healers be best to carefully look I say, think we will have any luck finding the plant and is there a plan and place on where ta place them after found?"

Baxtor snorts "Dandelion leaves....we want hot root plants."Has to be some somewhere...right?"

Gaheris squints in thought for a second "There's dandelion in some drinks. Dandelion an' burdock, stuff like tha'...don't 'ave a clue how y'make it though and we don't 'ave a brewer...mind dandelions are common as fleas, we'd 'ave no problem findin' 'em if we wanted" he grabs a bit of something herb looking as a sample as he replies to Hawkeye "Depends how much we find. If we only find one plant we're just goin' t'ave t'leave it where it is and try t'arvest some seeds from it f'fear it dies if we move it. If we find a bunch we can move some t'the fields"

Taran is busy gently pulling away some weeds and seems to have found a small plant, he uncovers another couple small plants and studies them, he smiles "I..may of found some of the hot root plants skipper."

Hawkeye nods "True..."He looks near one area of the wall "Did he have like a lot of plants?" He looks over at Taran as the other otter speaks.

Baxtor sighs like he is going to go insane, he did see tiny leaves that may of been one starting to grow but he was not sure and he wasn't going to try and move any other weeds near it just in case, if it was hot root he decides it will grow taller

A guard glaces over curious as he looks over the wall "Is it?" He is not able to really see from where he is, he suddenly gasps as something comes out of the tall weeds, its just a grasshopper as he sighs in relief and shoots it away.

"Who knows, 'e never let anyone in 'ere" the Skipper replies to Hawkeye before his ears perk at Taran's words "Really?" even he sounds surprised. He quickly hurries over, trying not to crush too many plants on the way. He grins when he sees it "I...think it is...it looks right'" His thought is interrupted by the guard's gasp and his mood snaps, a paw going to one of his swords as he's suddenly alert and paranoid. He looks around quickly...sees nothing and looks at the guard...then the grasshopper....."Did y'fear f'y' safety? Y'life flash beneath his tiny hoppy legs?" he sounds gruff as he struggles to relax when he's on edge but he's clearly poking fun for being scared by the insect.
Taran chuckles and points to the two small plants, one is a little taller and smiles, gently moving a little more of some thin weed, "See, one may be safe to move maybe?"

Hawkeye chuckles "Least it was not a bee..."He looks at the otters and grins "Hotroot? Though how long till its fully a plant ya think?"

Baxtor says, "We should try and find other plants too though, maybe close to those two..even if its like one now and one later in couple weeks or so, or see if"He looks towards the house and a possible door to a storage area "Seeds maybe or would seeds be good still?"

The guard frowns, then just sighs "It could of been a vermin ya know" A otter close by chuckles "Yeah a tiny tiny vermin with a tiny sword here to attack us all, oh look another one"He shows another grasshopper to the guard who backs up and trips over a bit of the wall and frowns, well a beast can be afraid of a grasshopper...right?

Gaheris snorts, amused when the guard trips over "Ooo, watch out, I think it's comin' f'yer" he shakes his head but smiles faintly as he crouches down to look at the plants again "Aye, that's a good point" he says to Baxtor "More might yet grow 'ere. We'll take one t'the fields an' clear out the weeds. We can check back, keep the other growin' and see if more sprout up" he nods to Baxtor "Aye, go check the house. Seeds, left over pods. Don't know if the fire will 'ave killed 'em but we'll try 'em anyway if y'find any" he looks back to the plants as he replies to Hawkeye "Well, one plant won't feed the whole camp, it'll take a while t'build up...but maybe we can stretch it, use it t'spice up the weak hotroot we've got. Even if it takes years it's somethin' back I thought we'd lost, the return of Lochear hotroot...I'll take tha' any day"

Taran smiles in a good mood "But if we can find a couple more plants....maybe get them too and let some grow and see what happens, could end up with a...well decent amount I don't know"

Hawkeye nods "Well good things come ta those who wait am I right?"

Baxtor frowns "Years?" He sighs but hey its a start right as he looks around and stays where he is.

The guard frowns, ok so grasshoppers creep him out he is still a good fighter and guard, he just dislikes grasshoppers "So..wot the plan then Skipper?"

Gaheris chuckles at Baxtor "Plants grow slow. The more y'find, the faster y'get y'hotroot" he gestures to the guard "Easy, y'get me a pot" they didn't really have pots but they found anything that could carry a plant; bowls, buckets, someone brought a wheelbarrow, and left them by the dormitory ready "We'll mark this spot t'come back an' check, dig one of the plants out and then, if there's no seeds t'be 'ad we'll look elsewhere until it gets dark. Then we can see if the others 'ad any luck too"

Taran nods "Just will need to be extra careful is all...and get the roots too."A bucket should work for one and maybe a large bowl for a smaller one.

Hawkeye smiles as he watches "If someone finds seeds in the house rains that be good as well...maybe in like a pouch or bag maybe"

Baxtor has been looking and did get what was a storage area opened and unblocked finally and frowns..old stuff is there ...some sort of torn sack of...oh never mind ruined seeds, and there is a box he hmms and then frowns as he backs up "Its says...umm no touching me box or die" Well it does he isn't lieing but its unclear if anything is in the box or not, could be empty.

The guard just hmms softly "So...do we leave the box alone, will he like haunt us if we take it?"

Gaheris is carefully trying to dig around one of the plants with his paw when the hidden stash and box is discovered. He glances over as Baxtor looks through stuff but it's not until the message on the box is read out that he pauses. He's silent for a moment "...I might 'ave been wrong about 'im not 'auntin' us...He was grouchy but never seemed dangerous...it's probably fine...?" he sounds unsure.

Taran looks over and blinks and then helps to get a couple of the plants into a bucket and large bowl...very very carefully, one is left to grow taller"Why would it say not to touch it?"

Hawkeye frowns and shrugs "I don't know.."He seems unsure of weather to touch it or not, maybe a long stick will work to move it..but it falls and he gasps..luckly what is inside stays only barely opens..its some sort of seeds....hot root? Not very many seeds though and a few may be worthless but some look fine.

Baxtor backs off "Yeah good he can haunt you now...good job "He looks around as if making sure a ghost dorsnt suddenly show up, it seems none does or maybe its asleep for all he knows.

The guard even tenses and then relaxes "Oh its...seeds...maybe we should just take that and go, I mean..he would want us to still enjoy his hotroot..right?"

Gaheris grimaces as the box falls and he quickly comes over to crouch and look at the seeds though he doesn't touch the possibly cursed contents "It's probably no worse than he'd do f'us messin' with his garden'" he reasons "...D'they look like hotroot t'y'? They've got t'be special or he wouldn't keep 'em like this...we should grow 'em"

Taran nods and smiles "Just be careful I guess." Haunt?" He shrugs and picks up the seed pouch carefully "We can keep them somewhere dry and safe right?"

Hawkeye nods "And see if they grow, some should as seeds tend to stay good a while and maybe those are stronger than most seeds"

Baxtor shrugs, he then speaks "Yes ghosts haunt beasts if disturbed...duhhhh or like disturbed stuff"

The guard blinks and frowns "Like a box ghost or something..."He is tapped on the shoulder and jumps only to see a chuckling buddy of his beside him and they grin and makes a sort of woooooooo noise "I am the box ghost...fear me"He falls down and chuckles, well least some fun is being had.

Gaheris nods too "Put 'em in the box and we'll take the whole thin'. It's been keepin' 'em safe this whole time, it'll keep 'em until we can plant them" he looks back at the guards and smirks again "'hopefully that's the only ghost we're stirrin' up. Come on, we'll get this out an' then try another house"

Taran nods and is extra careful with the box and whats inside now" Yeah a break be good, maybe stop for food and then look some more"They do need time to replant the plants anyways.

Baxtor smiles "Food is good..what kind of food anything a little different maybe? Maybe something sweet even?"

The couple guards will still be around and one will help with the replanting and they should be able to get it all done before sunset and in time for dinner

Gaheris chuckles "Alright, y'get some food and get this stuff safe. I'm goin' t'see how the other searchers are fairin'"

Taran nods as he smiles "I am unsure yet...hmmms maybe there is some stuff to make a couple apple pies, just enough...I will look into it"He goes to get dinner ready, like some spring salad and some fish as well, and some sort of drink.

The otters do get done in time for a very nice relaxing dinner.

---

I play:
Oz-  Badger-young adult-Wanderer