15 Saun, Arc 720
Oram wiped off some of the sweat drenching his brow as he watched the lambent white plume glide down the upper slopes of Syper. Not even the extra sunlight of Saun could completely melt the snow that capped the highest peaks of the Scalvoris Mountains; however, it did sometimes loosen the pack built from the snows of colder seasons, giving rise to numerous avalanches such as the one the traveler now witnessed. He knew full well that this was a normal and natural thing, yet he could not help but imagine that the mountain was taunting him. Hot enough for you down there, little human? it seemed to be asking him. It’s nice and cool up here. But then, isn’t it always?
Almost as if he were trying to prevent his rider from taking the bait, Mule chose that moment to pivot about a switchback, briefly wrenching Syper from Oram’s view. Now the traveler faced a different horizon, dominated by a nearby ridge of the hill he was on; the only proper mountain visible in this direction was the dry rocky summit of Shatter Peak.
Just behind -and thus beneath- Oram on the zig-zagging trail walked two goats laden with most of his gear. The hunter wondered idly if they could see Syper, or the avalanche, with their caprine eyes. Was it taunting them, too? After a few more paces they also rounded the switchback, making this a moot question until the next turn. All three of his animals were at ease and surefooted on these sorts of trails, more so perhaps than even he the human would be on foot. For Wether and Ornot, in particular, these hills probably felt like home. To Oram, they were a path to cooler, drier air and better fur-trapping than could be found this season in the lowlands where he otherwise usually hunted.
It was, as the hunter had hoped, cooler and less humid up here than down near the ‘Run, but the two suns of Saun still bore down mercilessly upon him and his team. He resolved to stop as soon as the path opened up enough to allow it, and water his team, take the packs off to let their backs cool for a few bits. If he was hot, how must the goats feel? Or Mule?
The path opened up near, but not quite at, the crest of the hill. The face sloped more gently near the top, and the trail turned to move more directly up its face, rather than biting sideways into it for better footing. The trees here were mostly scrubby, with foliage too low to the ground to comfortably sit under. Oram was able to find one decent-sized pine with enough shade for him and his animals, if they squeezed in a bit. The traveler’s only concern with setting down here were the pine needles on the ground, which he knew weren’t good forage for his animals. Mule was smart enough not to eat them; the goats weren’t. Looking around, he found a scrubby tree which branches were too low for him and Mule, but not the goats. He tied up Wether and Ornot there.
As he set out water for the animals and removed their packs, Oram considered whether to camp here. Too sloped, he thought after a moment. It might be flatter nearer the top. From the packs he extracted some hay and apples. That was for the animals, though he did take an apple for himself, as well. He sat with it against the trunk of the pine tree, even though he knew that meant getting some sap on his tunic, took off his straw hat, and drank some water. He wasn’t wearing his gambeson, nor his cloak, so he could feel the the bark of the pine tree through his light clothes.
They would need to find water up here, he realized, and a steady supply. He could no longer simply rely on the run or its various creeks. He hadn’t seen any obvious bodies of water all trial. He had, however, seen plenty of crevices and other spots in perpetual shade where moss grew, so he knew there was water to be found. Hopefully, he could find a place, or even a couple places, to build seeps, so that he wouldn’t have to make water runs all the way down and back up the hill every couple trials.
And with that idea came another one: seeps attracted animals, and that meant he could use them to lure quarry to his sets. And a seep in a crevice was even better, since it restricted movement and funneled animals of practically any size into narrow confines.
Once he had cooled off sufficiently, Oram set off to look for suitable crevices, and was able to find two promising sites for seeps after about a half a break of exploration. And the best part about it was, their floors were well enough shaded even in mid afternoon that he didn’t cook as he worked. The hunter scooped a patch of dark soil about an ell long and half again as wide and deep. There was standing water in the bottom before he had even finished digging, but he wasn’t about to drink that yet. He lined the seep with stones, scooping out the dirty water as he did so. Once he had enough stones lining the seep, the water appearing in it no longer seemed as murky. Satisfied, he covered it with branches to keep animals out and went to the other crevice to dig another seep.
He groaned when he emerged from the cool, shaded crevices back into the Saun sunslight. The relief had been welcome, and had enabled him to think more clearly. He would set his traps tomorrow, giving the wildlife some time to find his seeps. Animal visits to seeps meant the water in them would no longer be safe to drink, and he would have to scoop it out and wait for clean water to fill it. He set up his tent as a fly, stretching it out between trees and leaving the sides mostly rolled up. Under it, he set up a hammock. An old mariner had sung the praises of a web hammock rather than a canvas one in the hot weather, and so Oram had improvised one from a fishing net.
There were still a number of breaks of sunslight left, but Oram was already tired and wanted to loll in his hammock. He knew he should eat but wasn’t hungry. And starting a fire was the last thing he wanted to do. He knew, however, that he must. With a heavy sigh he rolled out of the hammock to built a fire pit, gathered sticks and started a tinder bundle.
