Day 3 | Afternoon | The Trial

[Efren Lanville]

Efren could feel the wear on his muscles that each new discovery was taking.

Amidst the wind he could almost hear the voices of countless others who had only been this far...

There was only one path he could feasibly see to be able to conquer the mountain... and it entailed a jump upwards and outwards. The mountain couldn't be conquered any other way.

It was there to try those who climbed it... push them beyond safety and into danger... Was Efren ready to take that leap?

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D3 The Trial Too F*cking High Band Attempt 3, One Fellow Climber Boost, Roots Statement, 10 Adv for Boosts: 3eP+1eA+8eB+2eD+3eC 0 successes, 4 advantage


Pool: 4 Advantages

[Kannon]

The mountain was The Trial. For the body, for the mind, for the soul. No-one could climb it and stay the same. Or so the Muadh believed.

[Efren Lanville]

Together Yar Zell and Ef Ren Lanville creeped over to the ledge.

They could see the fear in each other's eyes. It was not an easy jump to make. It was possible that Ef would drag them both down to their deaths.

There was no other way.

Yar secured himself as best he could and held the rope which was tied to Efren's waste.

The wind blew furiously in Efren's face. All the voices of those who had failed screaming at him to turn back... But Efren had come too far to stop now. He closed his eyes. The fear that had once paralyzed him had been replaced by a quiet determination. The faces of his father, his mother, his cousin, the Old Mother, Paul, Kiran, and Laila all rushed to him... They needed him. He was needed...

All the doubts, the struggles, and the barriers... He would push through them and emerge stronger. This climb was no longer just a physical challenge; it was a test of his inner growth. He was needed... and he would answer that need.

He opened his eyes, and with one final burst of energy, he leaped...



His hand found the edge of the neighboring cliff face. He pulled himself up, holding himself with one hand while the other reached... He lifted himself inch by agonizing inch, until finally, he stood atop the summit. The world stretched out before him, vast and open, and for the first time in a long while, he felt free. He stood atop two worlds... no longer pressed beneath both.

Efren looked back at the path he had climbed, the jagged cliff that had once seemed insurmountable. Each step had brought him closer to understanding his own strength, to embracing the person he was becoming.

He had conquered the cliff, but more importantly, he had conquered himself.

And he lowered down the rope for others to climb...
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D3 The Trial Too F*cking High Band Attempt 4, One Fellow Climber Boost, Roots Statement, 4 Adv for Boosts: 3eP+1eA+5eB+2eD+3eC 3 successes

[Cuyler Gray]

Watching from a ledge far below, Cuyler gave a celebratory yell. It was difficult to see from her vantage, but she felt certain of Efran's success.

This was confirmed once the secured rope was lowered. Tge chef remained where she was as the supplies were brought up. She and Eileen would guide them past the difficult areas.

[Kannon]

After hard, strenuous work, they all made it to the top with their gear and supplies, especially the antenna.

Efren was observed. Primarily, by the Muadh, after Yar Zell had told them something about the climb. He could notice that they looked at him with awe that could be religious in nature, but also with uncertainty. They seemed like they wanted to give him a title that could incorporate him into the matriarchal hierarchy and were at a loss.

But there was something even deeper beyond the desire to worship an achievement. Here he stood, having surmounted what the Old Mother deemed insurmountable. He stood atop a broken taboo, right betwixt the sacred and the profane. Should they be appalled, or the opposite? He had drawn them into this, they had taken part, and so they were at some crossroads too now.

Efren felt something tectonic happening in the minds of those four people, especially Yar Zell, who had observed his actions from up close. He felt that... he could give it direction, show them the way, and they would decide to follow him regardless of where he would lead them, and to what end. Perhaps even their pacifism was at stake? Should he use his moment of triumph to bend their deeply seated pacifistic beliefs, to awaken warriors, against the Old Mother? His own mother had defied her once, would she approve? Because the change that lay at his fingertips might not be reversible.

A position of leadership among the Muadh, and the first followers... quite tempting. Would he?

And there was one more set of eyes on him, that of Sinsei's. She didn't explain. She didn't comment. She just sat there at the edge of the cliff, with cheeks flushed, legs shaking, fists balled, sweaty from exertion, intense in her gaze.

The climb had torn a hole in his old world. The new one... was strange, with so little time to contemplate it. They had won a fantastic advantage over their enemy - they had penetrated their perimeter from an impossible direction and had a golden opportunity to strike, though most likely just once. Before that, however, there was the issue of the antenna and the landing field, and then scouting down, all while staying unnoticed. Should he act like on the cliff - push through, try his luck, or rather follow with the plan? Who would mind if the hostages were freed earlier, by him? Certainly not Sinsei.

[Efren 20 XP, Cuyler 10 XP]

[Cuyler Gray]

Cuyler stared over the edge. Her life had literally dangled over the precipice during the ascent. This was not the life of a chef or a sommelier.

What was she now? What was she becoming?

[Kannon]

Growth is limited by that necessity which is present in the least amount. The stentorian voice returned to her awareness like an echo. She must have heard it, because it felt like a long-lost recollection. Intelligence takes chance with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary.

[Cuyler Gray]

"We need to set the antenna." She finally said. Cuyler took in the view a moment longer, then turned her attention to the remaining gear.

[Efren Lanville]

Efren looked around the gathering at the top of the mountain. He saw the forming devotion in the eyes of the local men. Some kind of longing deep within them for direction…

And while he felt he knew himself better… he still did not know where to direct such men. He would not pull them around like tools. They were his comrades now.

He walked up to each and pressed his forehead into theirs. He shared the ‘breath of life’ with each one, taking in a deep breath together through their nostrils. He patted them each affectionately on the shoulder.

He then turned to the red-haired woman who had led them to the village. He had not spoken with her much yet… and she looked taxed already.

He leaned down to check on her and gently place a hand on her shoulder, “Are you alright? The air is rather thin up here…”

When Cuyler mentioned the antenna, however, he was quickly brought back to the task at hand.

He turned towards her and said, “That’s right. We should get things up and running as soon as possible. The others are sure to be sticking to the plan. We need to come through on our part.”

[Kannon]

The nexus passed, Efren's humility foreclosing some futures. From it, comrades and friends, but not followers, walked out. By sharing the moment of exultation, the experience and the achievement became remembered as collective, Efren as one of them, not a standalone figure whose existence challenged their worldview. Pearls of awe dropped deeper and turned latent.

Yar Zell stood over some supplies, including the parachutes, but also carbines, wondering if he should carry them further or stow them away in some safe place.

"I... will be." Sinsei replied to him with a breath more baited than winded, then slowly got up as Efren's attention moved quickly elsewhere.

No more terrible disaster could befall a people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero. The patronising head-voice admonished Cuyler, as if she was co-responsible for any such situation. And yet here she observed one to relinquish the right to shape others through his moment of heroism. Could humility and mythmaking truly coexist in one person? And for how long?

[Efren Lanville]

He gave Sinsei a brief looking over. Was she… drawn to him? He made a note in his head and extended a hand to help her stand on her feet.

Efren turned to Yar Zell and spoke as intently as he could, “[Thank you. I must lead Demons away.]”

He pointed down to the enemy camp in the distance. “[I protect village. You return and watch village. Keep safe.]”

He smiled and clasped his shoulder again, “[One day I return to village. See again. Tell Young Mother. See all again. Watch village well for me.]”

He then turned back to the task force squad.

“We need to get this antenna up and running. Calling in reinforcements for follow-up is the best way we can hope to keep us all alive after the extraction.”

He looked around the group, “We’ll need to identify a landing zone for a thopter somewhere along this range. And one person to stay here to keep communications open… I’ll lead the team that travels down to scout and extract.”

[Kannon]

The enemy compund had yet to be found. They only knew the direction.

Yar Zell vocalised a hunting sqawk.

"[Tell village God guard, we climb Trial]."

He exuded a conflicting mixture of relief and disappontment that his part was ending there. He did not protest though.

"[You return we smoke barra.]" He did not voice any wishes of success or expectations. Instead, he gestured for the other Muadh to descend, and they would soon be gone.

His hunch about Sinsei may or may not have been correct but she did not refuse his help up, dusting off and fixing the fury of her hair afterwards. She then checked her equipment, including the portable comm and the medkit.

"And I think Ms Gray is grazed. Which of these tasks you'd like me to commit to, Corporal?" Her voice was even as she set the device on receiving and started listening to it.

[Cuyler Gray]

"I'm definitely sore. But, bruises and scrapes are far better than what could have happened." She looked at Efren. "Thank you again. I'm in your debt."

[Efren Lanville]

He smiled softly and shook his head, "I'd be a pretty lousy person if I just let you fall."

He then looked at both of them intently, "Life is important. And we have more to save."

He then looked back over the wilderness wherein the cartel base sat hiding from view.

"As for what we each do... This being our first time together, I'll leave that up to each of you. What are you all most confident in? Tell me what you can do and I'll trust you to do it."

[Kannon]

"I think I can find the spot for the antenna and try to make it work. You would still need to be there to set it to Atreides frequencies and pass the message you want."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded, "Then that's what we'll do first."

He looked to her, "Are you confident going down for the extraction or would you prefer to stay up here? I know it must mean a lot to you..."

He tried to relay in his tone and eyes that he didn't doubt her abilities in the jungle, or her ability to deal with the potentially compromising nature of the day for her. He was just looking for her honest assessment of how she was processing these things... to have her make her choice for herself.

[Cuyler Gray]

"It is probably best if we all stay together." Cuyler suggested. "Not knowing what we may encounter, no one should be alone. Even separating into pairs could be risky."

[Efren Lanville]

"We'll need someone to keep the lines of communication open." He replied.

"Perhaps, Eileen? You'd be comfortable protecting the uplink here and coordinating the reinforcements?"

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OOC: I assume the answer is yes... And the trio of Cuyler, Efren, and Sinsei will go about doing the other things.

[Kannon]

[Eileen would agree.]

"I can shoot this carbine, and I can throw a bolo." She patted the Muadh hunting weapon stuck behind her belt. "I also have taken a flare gun, just in case. I'd be poor at direct combat. Having come this far, I won't give up on making sure that I will have done everything to save my father." She was as no-nonsense about it as Efren wanted to hear.

"Now, this comm." She turned on the portable one she'd brought and started listening. "...the static's different than in the jungle. Let's walk around so that I can find the best spot. Just make sure I don't fall into a ravine or something."

[Efren Lanville]

Efren nodded and began walking and keeping an eye out for danger...