White Chain (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
peace_keeper) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
daybreakacademy2019-02-04 11:01 am
peace_keeper) wrote in daybreakacademy2019-02-04 11:01 am
I will see you in Samura
Who: 82 White Chain and the Outlands Cosmology Class
What: Field trip!
Where: Dead Kingdom of Samura, The Outlands.
When: Early February
Warning: I hope you got a signed consent form from your legal guardian.
After weeks of talking about the voices of gods and the void between worlds and the King's Road and other such esoteric topics, it would not be surprising for even a studious student to still not have a good grip on what The Outlands were. They were a big place, after all. Far larger than the Earth, and far stranger.
Eventually, you had to just go there.
White Chain had been reminding her class of the upcoming trip for the last week, but it might still be surprising to see a large stone archway set up in the front of the classroom. It was covered in carefully carved runes, and would not have looked out of place in a wizard's tower or a crumbling dungeon full of goblins and beholders. It definitely looked out of place in a classroom.
Once the class was gathered, White Chain addressed them all with her hands clasped behind her back. "Once active, this gateway will lead to the dead kingdom of Samura. Samura was once a land dedicated to peace. A land of philosophers and poets. Such things rarely last, but Samura's end was not what you might assume. No one conquered it. No, Samura fell because of wars in neighboring regions. Refugees, seeking peace, continually fled to Samura until eventually there was not enough food and shelter for anyone. The result: Famine, riots, and collapse. Now, only ruins and bones remain. It is a somber place. It is also safe, and so an ideal place to first experience the outlands."
Each student was offered an emergency kit that included a signal flare, should they get lost, a lightweight emergency blanket, and a water bottle. She touched a rune on the gateway and a portal of shimmering light swirled into being before turning clear, and suddenly instead of seeing the blackboard behind the gate, you could see a starlit desert. "Are there any questions before we go?"
The Ruins of Samura
The first thing anyone noticed on stepping into the Outlands was that Samura was COLD. Breath fogged the near freezing air. The second thing anyone noticed that this was like no place on Earth. A desert of vividly purple stand stretched out to the horizon. Strange, alien trees remained here and there, stunted, twisted, and dead from centuries of drought and famine. Above, a sky impossibly dense with starts of a thousand vibrant colors lit the land almost as bright as daylight. The portal stood in the middle of what must have once been a beautiful plaza lined by building that looked to be almost as much sculptures of art as they were homes and businesses. Now, most of them were falling apart or just rubble, but a few remained upright.
The main street led away from the plaza towards a large cliff which appeared to have a waterfall flowing down it and the shapes of more buildings along the top. On closer examination, however, it became obvious that the "waterfall" was actually a sandflow, and that it was flowing up the cliff face. Indeed, there appeared to be an entire river of shifting sand that wound through the ruins of canals that criss crossed the ruined town.
Here and there, one could find bones. Human bones. Nothing lived here. Not anymore.
"Be cautious with the ruins. Some of them are quite fragile, and could collapse. We leave in three hours time. I will set of a signal flare by the gateway half an hour before we leave, and will leave the gate open until all students are accounted for. If you get lost, set off your flare and I will come for you as fast as I can."
What: Field trip!
Where: Dead Kingdom of Samura, The Outlands.
When: Early February
Warning: I hope you got a signed consent form from your legal guardian.
After weeks of talking about the voices of gods and the void between worlds and the King's Road and other such esoteric topics, it would not be surprising for even a studious student to still not have a good grip on what The Outlands were. They were a big place, after all. Far larger than the Earth, and far stranger.
Eventually, you had to just go there.
White Chain had been reminding her class of the upcoming trip for the last week, but it might still be surprising to see a large stone archway set up in the front of the classroom. It was covered in carefully carved runes, and would not have looked out of place in a wizard's tower or a crumbling dungeon full of goblins and beholders. It definitely looked out of place in a classroom.
Once the class was gathered, White Chain addressed them all with her hands clasped behind her back. "Once active, this gateway will lead to the dead kingdom of Samura. Samura was once a land dedicated to peace. A land of philosophers and poets. Such things rarely last, but Samura's end was not what you might assume. No one conquered it. No, Samura fell because of wars in neighboring regions. Refugees, seeking peace, continually fled to Samura until eventually there was not enough food and shelter for anyone. The result: Famine, riots, and collapse. Now, only ruins and bones remain. It is a somber place. It is also safe, and so an ideal place to first experience the outlands."
Each student was offered an emergency kit that included a signal flare, should they get lost, a lightweight emergency blanket, and a water bottle. She touched a rune on the gateway and a portal of shimmering light swirled into being before turning clear, and suddenly instead of seeing the blackboard behind the gate, you could see a starlit desert. "Are there any questions before we go?"
The Ruins of Samura
The first thing anyone noticed on stepping into the Outlands was that Samura was COLD. Breath fogged the near freezing air. The second thing anyone noticed that this was like no place on Earth. A desert of vividly purple stand stretched out to the horizon. Strange, alien trees remained here and there, stunted, twisted, and dead from centuries of drought and famine. Above, a sky impossibly dense with starts of a thousand vibrant colors lit the land almost as bright as daylight. The portal stood in the middle of what must have once been a beautiful plaza lined by building that looked to be almost as much sculptures of art as they were homes and businesses. Now, most of them were falling apart or just rubble, but a few remained upright.
The main street led away from the plaza towards a large cliff which appeared to have a waterfall flowing down it and the shapes of more buildings along the top. On closer examination, however, it became obvious that the "waterfall" was actually a sandflow, and that it was flowing up the cliff face. Indeed, there appeared to be an entire river of shifting sand that wound through the ruins of canals that criss crossed the ruined town.
Here and there, one could find bones. Human bones. Nothing lived here. Not anymore.
"Be cautious with the ruins. Some of them are quite fragile, and could collapse. We leave in three hours time. I will set of a signal flare by the gateway half an hour before we leave, and will leave the gate open until all students are accounted for. If you get lost, set off your flare and I will come for you as fast as I can."
no subject
When the day came, she wasn't sure if she should still go. The monster that attacked Peter was still out there, and it was bound to come after her brother. But at the end of the three hours, it would still be light outside, so being away for a little while wouldn't ruin the plans they made. So she went.
It took a few moments for the true cold of the place to work itself into her bones, and she found herself wishing she'd brought her coat after all. It was only for a few hours, though, and she didn't want to waste a single minute of it, so she didn't go back. Instead she hugged her arms tightly across her chest and set off, glad for the chance to do some exploring on her own time.
She kept her distance from the ruins where she could observe them without a pillar falling on her head. Too many accidents around campus grounds had encouraged her not to tempt fate! But she could look around the landscape itself, and she did, following the river of sand with a look of wonder on her face. When she saw that it flowed upward, she tilted her head back and let her jaw drop open.
"S...so cool...!"
She was shivering, but ignored her discomfort to go in for a closer look. She stooped to dip her fingers in the rivulets of finely grained sand, letting it sift over her hand. What was this for, she wondered? She gazed up at the multi-colored sky and tugged the collar of her shirt up to cover her mouth and nose. What a sad, pretty place...
no subject
She made no attempt as stealth as she walked up behind Orihime, so it probably wasn't a surprise when she dropped an old leather jacket over her shoulders.
no subject
"Thank you. That's really nice of you." And it would make her short stay infinitely better, too!
She shrugged her arms into the sleeves and zipped the jacket all the way up, keeping her hands inside of the coat cuffs. "Is the temperature always like this? Do the Outlands get exposed to the same sunlight that Earth does?"
no subject
"Samura has a day night cycle. Many places in the Outlands do. And many do not. My home has an artificial sun, which was broken many thousands of years ago. So it hangs in one place in the sky forever. It's always about 3:30 in the afternoon."
no subject
"Wow, I had no idea. I just thought you came from...you know?" she said, pointing her finger skyward.
Then Orihime looked around her once more, again admiring the wavering patterns of scintillating color in the sky above. "It's like being on a completely different planet..."
no subject
no subject
Somehow she doubted the Outlands heaven had anything like that, so she didn't bring it up.
"Is it difficult to sleep when the sun is always up?"
no subject
"My kind do not sleep, but I am told it takes some getting used to."
no subject
"I'm a little bit jealous, ha ha! It'd be nice to have eight extra hours to spend each day." She pressed her palms together in front of her, hoping she wasn't being too intrusive, but figuring White Chain would say something if that were the case. "Then...do you do something else to rest? Or relax?" she asked, growing increasingly curious.