fandomhigh | Tracking: Urban v. Wilderness; Thursday, Period Three [ 11/04 ].

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Tracking: Urban v. Wilderness; Thursday, Period Three [ 11/04 ].

To the Danger Shop, into the wilderness, for the class today. Angua would be waiting for the students in a clearing in a forest thick with brush. "How did the tracking go?" she asked with a faint smile. "Did you figure out who had you? Did anyone figure out you had them? We'll take some time to swap stories if you have them, but we'll focus on today's class first. The next few weeks, we're going to go over some basic wilderness tracking and survival techniques and working together to adapt them to urban environments. I've emphasized that staying hidden is important, so we're going to start with shelters, namely debris huts."

"In the wilderness," Angua said, "a debris hut is basically made of a framework of sticks and covered with brush so that it blends in with the surroundings, protecting and hiding whatever might be inside. Those of you already familiar with these sorts of shelters, bear with me for the benefit of those who don't. You'll start with one long, sturdy ridgepole," and, of course, she demonstrated, "and you'll prop it on a convenient tree or a tripod of small sticks. Then sticks will flank the side, providing the triangle-like framework, see?

"After the frame is done, you'll add a lattice work of smaller sticks, which help keep the debris, which we pile on next, out of the actual hut. There are plenty of leaves and grass and the like around us to use as the debris. The tricky part is to remember to leave the entrance open and free of debris cover so you can still get it.

"That's all there is to it. Now, of course, there's effort, and you might not have enough time to construct something like this and may have to rely on more naturally made shelters. But they're essential if the tracking takes you overnight and you need a safe, warm place to sleep, or even pause for a bit to catch your bearings, feed yourself, and other things.

"We're going to spend some time here and practise building some huts; you can pair up if you'd like. But then we're going to take this into the city, and adapt a wilderness shelter to an urban one, which should be interesting. And remember a few things to avoid: building on low ground where water can seep, don't underestimate a wide variety of debris that might be used, and conserve space, you don't want to make it too large."

"All right," Angua smiled. "Let's get started. You can tell me about your tracking during the week while we work, and then halfway through the class, we'll head into the 'city' and see what we can come up with there."

[[ ~~wait for~~ the ocd is hidden but ready! ]]

[[ Previous Classes ]]

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In something!

Jacob Black

Tahiri Veila

Makita

Ben Skywalker, in a scarf!

Kurt Wagner

Katniss Everdeen

Dana Scully

Zack Fair

Andros

Maladicta

Roy Harper

Jason Todd

Bruce Wayne

Dru Anderson

Long lecture is long, but at least it involves an attractive blonde doing things with sticks.

Pff, actually being able to build a shelter was roughing it, if you asked Tahiri, but then guess who'd heard the story about Han, Luke, and the tauntaun way too many times? She knew the basic principles of doing something like this, but it'd been a while since she'd ever had to, so . . . she watched with a great deal of interest.

Ben had gotten pretty good at improvising shelters on Ziost, but that had been years ago and his skills needed sharpening.

Oooh, neat. Shelter things! Zack was pretty resilient when it came to just chilling out in the elements, but you never knew when this kind of thing would come in handy, so he paid attention.

Bruce paid careful attention to the technique with which the attractive blonde used the sticks, all in the name of survivalism.

How'd tracking your classmate go? Did you even get a chance to, or were you too busy changing into things?

There's certainly no lack of supplies out in the woods, so spend some time working with each other or by yourself building your own debris hut.

No, there will be no bonus points for interior decorating.

Jake doubted he was going to be needing this kind of thing, but he was gathering supplies to build one anyway. He'd need a bit more room in his hut than most, which meant gathering more supplies.

Kurt got stuck on the very first part -- building his framework. No matter how well he thought he'd propped it up, it kept falling over.

"Not AGAIN!!!" He kicked at the fallen remains. "I think the sticks hate me!"

Scully was being dogged about this. (Not wolfy.) Her progress was slow but steady, and very very cautious. Which is why she only had half a hut.

Hey, woods! Zack had grown up in a jungle, so he knew his way around this sort of thing well enough. Heavier pieces of wood at the bottom, leafy boughs up top. It wasn't a permanent shelter by any means, but in his line of work, you never really got the opportunity to settle in any one place for too long anyhow.

Bruce used all but the last couple minutes of his time to create a fairly sturdy hut. The last couple minutes were used to bribe a chipmunk into being a guard.

He didn't trust squirrels to guard. They would presumably be too busy taking notes to protect the hut.

Halfway through class, Angua will relocate everyone back to the usual Ankh-Morpork-like city they'd been working in so far.

"Different debris," she said, "different setting to blend into, but it might benefit you knowing you still have hiding spots ala Assassin's Creed to avoid being caught or just to keep a better, unsuspecting eye on your target."

"So, get together, talk about it, and see if you can come up with any debris huts for the cityscape."

The city was, of course, completely moddable.

Kurt's first thought was to look around for Dumpsters and cardboard boxes, neither of which was exactly prevalent in Angua's kind of city.

Piles of trash, though, those could be found. The next problem? Actually working up the nerve to touch some of it.

It took Zack a few moments of consideration before he decided to just go with what he had seen around here before. There was a bridge that crossed that soupy mess that was supposed to pass for a river, and so Zack started by ducking under that.

And, if he needed any more cover than what he had, he supposed he could always start to just pull things out of the river as they kind of oozed on by.

Bruce started out by finding some old sheets, then settling into a deep doorway. Fortunately you got that a lot in old cities like this.

Who probably don't really have a lot of use for debris huts, all things considered...

Edited 2010-11-04 13:21 (UTC)

Not really, but hey an attractive blonde doing things with sticks was a plus. What? He didn't make up that narrative.

Also, he was totally there to talk to. Yes.

Unless it was sunny out! But then, Maladicta would probable have an umbrella. Ella. Ella. Eh. Eh.

Like she did now!

She's available, should you wish to speak with her.

"Master Angua," Ben said, loitering around after the rest of the students had gone. "I want to apologize for missing class last week."

Angua blinked at Ben for a moment, but she could smell the sincerity.

Seriously, though, she thought missing class was just par for the course for the students around here.

"Nothing to worry about," she then offered with a smile. "It happens. All you missed was a game of track your classmate while another classmate tracks you."

Ben's smile turned a little wry. "Oh, I got plenty of being tracked practice."

"As a teacher," said Angua, her head tilting slightly, "I think I should make you write a report about it."

"It's not going to be the happiest report," Ben warned.

"Thankfully for both of us, then," said Angua, "I'm also a Watchman, which means I have enough paperwork. I'll take the fact that you survived as evidence enough that you're good enough when it comes to being tracked, Ben."

He blushed. "Well, I've had some practice before this class," he said.

"Aren't people supposed to take classes to learn things they don't already know?"

"I can always learn more," Ben said, "and my experience was mostly in urban settings."

"Good answer," said Angua with a faint smile. "Now, next time you skip my class, at least try to make it something more fun?"

Ben nodded. "I'll try."

I wanna go play in the woods now, but I have to go to work instead. D'aawww.

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Tracking: Urban v. Wilderness; Thursday, Period Three [ 11/04 ].

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OOC -- Tracking, 11/04.